Rules of archery are different for indoor archery and outdoor archery. For indoor game, the arrow is normally shot at one distance, whereas for outdoor competition generally consists of many distances. As the equipments of archery are potentially dangerous so much attention is paid for safety. The participants must wait for the right command to start shooting and are also not allowed to collect the arrows while the shooting process for others is still on. These are basic rules and apply for al types of target archery. There are some rules for etiquette, and they are;
1. The commands- "Fast", depicts, immediately to "Stop Shooting" and return the arrow, that is not shot, to the quiver. This happens when the situation turns dangerous unexpectedly.
2. One of the crucial rules is to refrain from disturbing other archers during shooting.
3. In case, one archer damages or destroys another archer`s arrow, then proper compensation must be paid by the one who has done the damage.
Rules of Target Archery
(a) Competitors: Archers compete as individuals and as teams.
(b) FITA Round: A FITA round consists of 3 dozen of arrows shot from four distances, i.e. 90 m, 70 m, 50 m, and 30 m for men and 70 m, 60 m, and 30 m for women.
A tournament will have either one or two FITA rounds. A single round may be shot in one or two days as decided by the tournament officials:
(c) Target is allotted by draw.
(d) Three or four archers are allotted one target.
(e) Six sighting arrows may be shot, which are not scored.
(f) Archers shoot in turn. During one end, an archer shoots three arrows within 21/2minutes. A warning signal is given after two minutes. After shooting he returns to the waiting line when the other members of the group participate in shooting.
(g) Penalty: Any arrow shot outside the time limit shall cause forfeiture of the highest scoring arrow of that end.
Rules of Scoring in Archery
An arrow head touching a colour zone of the target scores that many marks. Scoring in various other situations are given below
(a) In World and Olympic championships, the scores are counted after every second end, at distances 90 m, 70 m, and 60 m. It can be counted after each end also, whereas at 50m and 30m, scores are counted after each end.
(b) An arrow which gets embedded in another arrow on the target will score the same as the previous arrow.
(c) An arrow, deflected from the target or another arrow will score, if the deflection mark can be clearly identified.
(d) An arrow hitting the wrong target will not score.
(e) An archer shooting more than three arrows within the allotted time will score only the lowest three. Repeated offence of similar nature may cause disqualification.
(f) All holes are marked on the target after the arrows are withdrawn from it.
(g) An arrow touching two colour zones will score more marks.
(h) Winner: The archer who scores the highest wins the competition.
In case of a tie: If there is a tie, the winner will be the one with the greatest number of scoring shots. If the tie is not broken, then the winner will be the one with maximum hits in gold, then the maximum shots scoring 9 points
The archery range is laid out preferably on a plain ground with closely cropped grass. Adequate safety zone behind the target must be provided for.
The ranges for men and women are separated by a clear lane with width of five metres. The range is divided into lanes with five metres width. For men, target lines are marked at 90 m, 70 m, 50 m, and 30 m. For women, target lines are at 70 m, 60 m, 50 m, and 30 m. These distances are measured from the shooting line to a point vertically below the centre of the target.
