Field card: Competition and scoring
An A4 sheet to take to the range: the terms that recur in the studies in this domain, with a one-line definition, and the registry claims that are currently corroborated, contested, contradicted or refuted.
It fits on a single A4 sheet. You can also print with Ctrl+P, or Cmd+P on a Mac.
Terms
- End
- The group of arrows shot in a row before archers walk forward to score and collect them.
- Dispersion
- How far the arrows spread from the centre of their own group.
- Mean score per arrow
- The total divided by the number of arrows shot.
- Shoot-off
- The single arrow, one per archer, that decides a tied individual match: in recurve after a 5-5 finish in the set system, in compound when the scores are level.
- Crosswind and tailwind
- A crosswind blows across the shooting line, while a tailwind pushes from behind the archer towards the target.
- Coefficient of variation
- The standard deviation of a series of measurements divided by their mean and expressed as a percentage.
- Set system
- The match format for recurve and barebow head-to-head matches.
- Heat index
- A value that combines temperature and relative humidity to estimate how hot the body feels.
- Arrow group
- The set of holes a series of arrows leaves in the target, read for its size and for where it sits relative to the centre.
- Rating of perceived exertion
- How hard the archer rates the effort being made, marked on a numerical or visual scale.
- Qualification round
- The round that opens a competition and sets the bracket for the head-to-head matches: at World Archery outdoor events it is now 72 arrows, shot with no direct opponent.
- Five all
- The score of a set match that ends level, five set points each, after the five scheduled sets.
Claims
- Corroborated Four measured samples put top archers between 8.65 and 9.14 points per arrow at 70 metres: it is the level of national-squad archers.
- Corroborated In professional competitions one arrow in five is a ten, and in head-to-head matches two tens in a row happen in 13 per cent of series.
- Corroborated Every study that reports individual scores finds a wide spread within the group, from beginners to masters of sport; it narrows only in national teams.
- Corroborated Across 188 archers and two independent Turkish samples, the step from club to national team is worth about 150 points on a 1440 FITA round.
- Corroborated Three independent samples and three instruments: before a competition heart rate and anxiety run higher than in training, at rest and before the first arrow.
- Corroborated Three independent samples: heart rate and breathing rise with what is at stake, and in the experienced archers alone vagal tone falls end after end.
- Corroborated Six samples of competitive archers sit between 5.9 and 7.65 points per arrow, none close to nine: nine is the level of national-squad shooting.
- Contested Nearly every study of the single arrows of elite archers finds the odd one away from the centre, but one small study finds none at all.
- Contested Many measurements taken while shooting fall between 95 and 108 beats a minute, but in competition and in kyudo other studies find heart rate above 130.
- Contested In a study of 3,196 Chinese archers, days below 18 °C cost no points in the main model, but they do in the model that leaves out the wind.
- Contested Years of practice and past scores are among the best predictors of results, but in one study resting blood pressure on the day ranks above them.
- Contested In the laboratory, systems that read images of the target face score arrows well; in the only field test they get two arrows out of three right.
- Contested Two qualitative studies of top national squads: archers seek out the coach when needed, but an unrequested, well-aimed word can also help.
- Contested In a simulated competition women archers had about fourteen more beats per minute than men while aiming, but in young archers the difference does not show up.
- Contested In 2013 upsets in head-to-head matches clustered between archers close in the rankings, but in the wind, in compound, they also came from far below.
- Contested At the top of compound sixteen archers score 350 of 360 at 50 m and the top twenty-two lose six points in all, yet per place the ranking is no tighter.
- Contested In ten experienced adolescent archers the first arrow of the end outscored the others, but in eighteen elite archers the third beat the first.
- Contested In a large study of Chinese competitions rain and humidity did not affect scores, but heat did: above a heat index of 34 degrees scores fell by 10%.
- Contested At major events the shoot-off arrow is worth 0.9% less, but at the Olympics the last arrow of a set scores higher: two studies, two different measures.
- Contested A poster on elite Australian archers finds more sway on the left foot on the raised finals platform, and no difference on the right foot.
- Contested Over 72 and 144 arrows lactate stays low and the day weighs no more than a rest day, but single sets are felt and the novice tires more.
- Contradicted Six national-team recurve archers average 8.2 to 8.9 per arrow at 18 m: the only study of recurve alone stays below nine and a half.