Archery Etiquette

 

Most of archery etiquette is simple common-sense, meant to make the sport enjoyable and to preserve good humour and not spoil other people’s concentration. Etiquette helps a club to run smoothly and is a must at tournaments.  Courtesy and good manners reflect on both yourself and your club and they enable other archers to enjoy their sport.

A good archer does not:
  • Talk to another archer who prefers to be silent.
  • Talk in a loud voice or make an exclamation when others are on the shooting line.
  • Distract or disturb people who are on the shooting line by making excessive noise on the waiting line
  • Offer advice unless asked.
  • Exclaim on the shooting line for themselves or others, either in joy or disgust.
  • Touch another archer’s equipment without their permission.
  • Walk up and down the line comparing scores.
  • Linger while retrieving arrows, or while walking back from the target
  • Go behind the target to retrieve his arrows before their score has been recorded.
  • Leave the shooting line while archers to either side are at full draw
  • Walk up to the shooting line while archers are at full draw
  • Swear or make inappropriate remarks (remember that this is a gentleman’s sport, and there may be children about)
  • Drop any litter.
A good archer always:
  • Offers to pay to replace someone’s arrow (or any other piece of equipment) if they break it through their own carelessness. (He / She Pays on the spot)
  • Helps to put out the equipment and put it away.
  • Helps to look for someone else’s missing arrows
  • Asks to join a target if it is already in use
  • Thanks the target captain (scorer) at the end of the round.

 


 

Matches and Tournaments:

 

  • Don’t be late.
  • Leave nothing on the shooting line, except for foot markers.
  • When shooting in 2’s, don’t place yourself on the center mark.
  • Keep your equipment behind the waiting line.
  • If there is still one other archer shooting as you are preparing to leave the shooting line, stay with them for company.
  • Non-participants should not go forward to the targets with the archers without the permission of the field captain
  • Give your score to the target scorer in the following way: Highest score first, and in 2 groups of 3, e.g. 9-7-7 pause, 5-3-1, pointing at the nock of the relevant arrow as you do so.
  • Don’t enter your own scores on the score sheet. Hand it to another archer to complete.
  • Ask whether it is OK to draw the arrows once scoring is complete. Do not touch any arrows in the target prior to this.
  • When drawing other archer’s arrows from the target do so with as much care as if they were your own.
  • Unless express permission is given by the owner, never touch other people’s equipment, not even the arrows in the target. The exception to this rule is when the arrows are found in the grass. The correct procedure there is: draw the arrow carefully out of the ground and stand it point down in the ground where it was found.
  • Help look for lost arrows
  • Don’t walk up and down the line comparing scores.
  • Retrieve arrows which have dropped in front of the target before the scores are taken down.
  • Don’t go behind the target until the scores have been recorded.
  • Keep to the left when leaving the shooting line or walking beyond the target.
  • If you have shot badly, don’t spoil your friends’ success with your misery!
  • Don’t give up!

Remember that when competing in a tournament, practice is not allowed on the same grounds on that day. Some clubs and venues do not allow the use of all-carbon arrows.