NFAA Traditional bow category rating criteria:
Grade D: 0-189 Archer
Grade C: 190-209 Rings Bowman (Archer)
B: 210-249 Ring Expert B
Level A: 250-279 Ring Expert
Level AA: 280-300 Ring Expert
- What Level Are You In?
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Probably the most widely known variant of archery due to its inclusion (in recurve form) in the Olympics. Target archery involves aiming for a static target over a flat range, and is popular with both recurve and compound bow archers.
Target Archery is where most of us begin, learning the sport and honing our skills before making a decision to focus on this aspect, or look for alternatives based on our own personal preferences and style.
Competitions distances vary, with the well known outdoor ‘FITA Round’ (now called the World Archery 1440) involving shooting a total of 140 arrows over 90, 70, 50 and 30 metres.
The Bowman Tier
Once they have gained the Archer 1st Class classification, archers can move up to the Bowman tier. Archers at this level are typically taking part in competitive events from club level right up to national level.
To discuss the rounds which need to be shot for Bowman tier classifications, we need to take a short diversion to one of the key concepts of the classification system: the Prestige Rounds.
Prestige rounds
Each archer has three rounds, which for competitive and historical reasons are more prestigious than other rounds. Each category has three such rounds, which vary depending on their bowstyle, gender and age.
The first category: those prescribed by World Archery for international competition and equivalent rounds for categories not recognised by World Archery. There are three families of rounds in this category, divided by bowstyle:
|
Bowstyle |
Round Name |
Distance |
Face Size |
Arrow Count |
|
Recurve / Longbow |
WA 70m |
70m |
122cm |
6 dozen |
|
WA 60m |
60m |
|||
|
Metric 122-50 |
50m |
|||
|
Metric 122-40 |
40m |
|||
|
Metric 122-30 |
30m |
|||
|
Barebow |
WA 50m |
50m |
122cm |
6 dozen |
|
Metric 122-40 |
40m |
|||
|
Metric 122-30 |
30m |
|||
|
Compound |
WA 50m |
50m |
80cm |
6 dozen |
|
Metric 80-40 |
40m |
|||
|
Metric 80-30 |
30m |
The second category: these are the former standard World Archery rounds. These rounds are now known as the 1440s but may still be referred to as “FITAs”. These challenging rounds consist of 36 arrows each at four different distances and have been adapted to shorter distances as the Archery GB Metric I to V rounds.
| Round Name | Distance | Face Size | Arrow Count |
| WA1440 Men | 90m, 70m | 122cm | 3 dozen at each distance |
| 50m, 30m | 80cm | ||
| WA1440 Ladies | 70m, 60m | 122cm | 3 dozen at each distance |
| 50m, 30m | 80cm | ||
| Metric II | 60m, 50m | 122cm | 3 dozen at each distance |
| 40m, 30m | 80cm | ||
| Metric III | 50m, 40m | 122cm | 3 dozen at each distance |
| 30m, 20m | 80cm | ||
| Metric IV | 40m, 30m | 122cm | 3 dozen at each distance |
| 20m, 10m | 80cm | ||
| Metric V | 40m, 30m | 122cm | 3 dozen at each distance |
| 15m, 10m | 80cm |
The third category: the traditional Archery GB rounds, based on the York round shot at the first Grand National Archery Meeting in 1844.. These rounds consist of 144 arrows shot across three imperial distances.
| Round Name | Distance and Arrow count | Face Size |
|
York |
6 dozen at 100 yards, 4 dozen at 80 yards and 2 dozen at 60 yards | 122cm |
| Hereford / Bristol I | 6 dozen at 80 yards, 4 dozen at 60 yards and 2 dozen at 50 yards | 122cm |
| Bristol II | 6 dozen at 60 yards, 4 dozen at 50 yards and 2 dozen at 40 yards | 122cm |
| Bristol III | 6 dozen at 50 yards, 4 dozen at 40 yards and 2 dozen at 30 yards | 122cm |
| Bristol IV | 6 dozen at 40 yards, 4 dozen at 30 yards and 2 dozen at 20 yards | 122cm |
| Bristol V | 6 dozen at 30 yards, 4 dozen at 20 yards and 2 dozen at 10 yards | 122cm |
Scores for an archer’s prestige rounds (and longer variants) are available for ALL classification levels, irrespective of other restrictions.
Indoor competitions are over a shorter distance, usually 18 metres/20 yards, but don’t be fooled into thinking that’s going to be any easier to master – the target faces you’ll be aiming for are a lot smaller!