For some reason, the website is not letting me add pages. Suzanne from the County sent this through – it will be especially useful for archers new to outside competition. I will add this as a page when the website starts behaving itself again.
Mark Carne, Vice-Captain
Tips for Preparing for a Competition
Check out the venue, make sure you know in advance where you are going.
Check out assembly time and aim to be there at least ¾ hour before this time.
Get a good night’s sleep beforehand.
Take food and plenty of water with you.
As well as the obvious of making sure you have sightmarks for the distances some other things to bear in mind are
Dietary advice
When it comes to having a drink, have a tea or water
Also remember, do not wait until you feel thirsty to drink as that’s too late, you should keep the drink with you and just have a sip every other end, so you are just topping up on fluid throughout the day, along with the odd snack.
The important thing is to keep your energy levels stable and not eat or drink foods which will cause a spike and then sudden drop in sugar levels.
The rule is little and often and of the right food.
Arrows
It is always a good idea to have a couple of spare arrows with you in case one is damaged or lost, so for Outdoors a minimum should be 8
All arrows must be nocked and fletched in the same way and must have your name or initials on the shaft to identify them.
Sensible Shoes
You must wear footwear that covers the entire foot and it must be worn all the time whilst on the field, so no sandals or Crocs. You will be on your feet all day and doing a lot of walking, so make sure they are comfortable and if possible waterproof.
Dress Regulations
Tops must cover the front and back of the body and must not be strapless and, for gentleman, have sleeves. The top must cover the midriff when at full draw.
All colours can be worn except blue denim, olive drab and camouflage patterns.
Take wet weather gear/change of clothes with you. Remember it’s not the wrong type of weather, but the wrong type of clothing.
AGB Card Make sure you have this with you as you will need it at registration.
On Arrival
Go to registration and check in.
Set up your equipment.
Find your target.
Stand on the line in your allotted detail place and set yourself up with foot-markers as to where you are going to stand.
Scoring
Once everyone has shoot there will be 3 blasts on the whistle so you can go forwards to score.
Only archers are able to walk to the targets, if someone else wants to walk to the targets they must ask the Judge’s permission first.
All the archers should gather in front of the target, do not go behind to look for missing arrows yet.
The person who is doing the scoring will then call the name of the first archer on the score sheet.
The scoresheet will probably be passed between a couple of archers, as the scorer is not allowed to record their own scores.
If you make a mistake when calling out your arrows or they are written down incorrectly, then call for a Judge who will come and ask for the scores to be recalled and then correct the scoresheet, do not alter it yourself.
You can alter the adding up yourself, just not the actual arrow values.
Scores should be called out in groups of three, starting with the highest score, so for example 9,9,7 pause 7,5,5.
If it is a World Archery round, then the arrow holes will need to have a small mark put against them in case of bouncers or pass throughs.
Once everyone on the target has scored then the arrows can be pulled and any missed arrows can be picked up from behind the target. Help your target companions pull the arrows and look for any lost arrows.
You may also want to record your score in your own score pad for future reference and also to help you double check the scorers adding up.
Etiquette
Don’t walk on or off the line when someone is at full draw. It is not strictly against the Rules, but some people find it disturbing. If someone does it to you, then ask them politely not to.
Try not to swear or make any comments whilst on the shooting line, even if you miss.
Do not touch anyone else’s bow or equipment without permission.
When waiting behind the Waiting Line don’t start talking loudly to anyone.
If you have any problems, or are unsure of what to do then ask a fellow archer or a Judge. The Judges are there to help and to try and make sure you have the best day possible. Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question.
What to do at the end of the Competition
Once the competition has finished you will be asked to check your scoresheet carefully. Make sure that all the adding up is correct, and complete all the total boxes, including the number of hits and golds. Once you are happy with it, then signed it. You get the score that you sign for.
One tip for Archery GB (5 zone scoring) rounds is that if you have an odd score you must have an odd number of hits, an even score means you must have an even number of hits.
Oh and if you have won or if you have not, it is good etiquette to stay for the prize giving, if you can.
Club Shooting days
You may not be shooting for County records or rankings but you still need to abide by the ROS at all times. ‘Just another club day’ also means you need to abide by the Rules of Shooting. It would be awful if your score was rejected because you had not followed the ROS. Every club Records Officer will reject your score if you have self-scored it on the main scoresheet and your score will not be valid for a county claim, either for a record or ranking score. Everyone has to get into the habit of scoring correctly i.e., there is a target captain who is either shooting with you or scoring for you every end. The target captain will take all scores other than their own and then pass the scoresheet to another archer to fill in the target captains score.
Please remember you MUST follow the ROS to get any scores shot at club verified. To sign off a score as target captain you must have been to the target at every end and noted the archer score. If you have not witnessed each end then you can not sign off the scoresheet.
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