Archery Tournaments 101 | Details on Target Sizes, Distances, Whistles, Time to Shoot etc.

In today's video, we're going to cover Archery Tournaments 101. Essentially, we're going to cover the basics of an archery tournament for those people out there who have never been to one, and for those who are interested in competing for the very first time. So, the first time that I competed, especially when I went outside, I was completely unprepared, had no idea what was going on, and really just wish I knew some more information. So, I'm going to help produce a bit of information in this video, kind of giving the basic rundowns of what a tournament is, or types of targets that you will be shooting at in case you are not familiar with the system. For those of you that are new here, my name is Jake Kaminsky. I'm a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the sport of archery. I'm working to make this channel a great resource for all types of archers. So, if you haven't yet, hit that subscription button and the notification bell. That way you're notified every time a new video is uploaded. I'm working on producing a lot of content to help make you a better archer. So, this video has been requested a couple times. I did get a request from a Patreon member, specifically because they are a new archer just getting into the sport, stumbled upon my channel, and wanted me to shed some light on Basic Tournament 101. Now, I'm going to cover things like how many arrows an end you shoot, the whistles, what do they mean, and target sizes that you will be shooting at for different distances. Now, a lot of this information is basically based in World Archery Format, or FIDA, which it used to be called. There are a lot of other styles of archery, like NFAA, field archery, different international rounds, field archery rounds, Old York rounds, lots of stuff like that. But in this video, we're basically going to focus on mostly FIDA or World Archery-based tournaments. So, essentially, it's pretty simple. You're either going to shoot 3-arrow ends or 6-arrow ends, depending on the actual tournament itself. Now, mostly indoors or tournaments that are at 50 meters or less, you will be shooting 3-arrow ends. And then anything longer than that, this is speaking for adults or junior-level archers, of course, you will then be shooting 6-arrow ends. In general, you never shoot more than 6 arrows and never less than 3 arrows. The reason that we do 3-arrow ends up close is because we're preventing arrow damage, we're preventing arrows from smacking against each other and breaking them. Although that is fun when you are a beginner, it becomes very expensive once you start spending upwards of $50 an arrow. When I am saying 50 meters and in, that is for an adult. Some youth archers will shoot a maximum of 30 meters or even shorter when they're going outside. So at those distances, you will be shooting 6-arrow ends. So if you're shooting a multi-distance tournament, like a feet-around, an old feet-around where you shoot 4 different distances outside, your 2 longest distances, you will shoot 6-arrow ends, and your 2 shortest distances, you'll shoot 3-arrow ends. Now, how much time do you have for each arrow to be shot? In general, you can say you have 40 seconds per arrow. It is a ton of time, trust me. It may be daunting to hear you only have 2 minutes for 3 arrows, but it is plenty of time. Plenty of time, I promise. So you have 2 minutes for 3-arrow ends, and 4 minutes for 6-arrow ends. So again, that averages out to about 40 seconds per arrow. Now, that does not include when you're shooting head-to-head match play, so a match against another person. Especially in the finals rounds, you are shooting alternating arrows. So you shoot an arrow, your opponent shoots an arrow, and you only get 20 seconds an arrow for that format. Now, there are whistle blasts that basically signal when to shoot, when to go to the line, when to retrieve arrows, and when to stop in case there's an emergency. So either they're whistles, or beeps, or tones, something along those lines. But essentially, the amount of whistles and the amount of beeps are the same no matter where you are across the world. So, it is 2 whistles to approach the line. So you will be standing about 10 meters back. There's behind the waiting line. They'll beep twice. You have then 10 seconds to get up on the line and get set. After that 10 seconds, they will blow 1 whistle. And that 1 whistle means shoot. Your time now starts. So if you have 6 arrows, you've got 4 minutes to shoot them. At the end of that time when it is up, they will either blow 2 more whistles for the second line to approach, and you must retire because your time is over when those 2 whistles are blasted. And then they have their 4 minutes. And then when everybody is done and when it is safe to go downrange, they will blow the whistle or beep 3 times to retrieve your arrows. That's all standard again across the world. Doesn't matter where the tournament is. And then, of course, if you have 4 whistles or more, that means there is some imminent danger, some emergency. Whatever you are doing, stop shooting. Even if you're at full draw, about to shoot, you set your arrow down, put your arrow back in the quiver, step off the line, and wait for more instructions. Generally, there's a person walking behind the targets or an animal out on the field or a target blew over. Who knows what? But essentially, that's what 4 whistles would mean. Just stop what you are doing and wait for further instructions. There are many, many different target sizes. There's everything from a 20-centimeter target, which is about this big, to a 122-centimeter target, which is about this big. You shoot each target at different distances. In general, again, for this FITA World Archery style format, indoors, if you're shooting indoors, you're going to shoot on either a 40-centimeter face or a 60-centimeter face. 60-centimeter faces are a little bit bigger. If you're shooting recurve archery in your youth, like junior level and under, excuse me, cadet level and under, you'll be shooting on a 60-centimeter face. Once you become, I believe it is 14, you will drop down to a 40-centimeter face. And that 40-centimeter face is about this big, okay? Your 10-ring to your 1-ring is about this big. A 60-centimeter face is 60 centimeters. It's a little bit bigger. All compound shooters shoot 40-centimeter faces, and then cadet level and up and adults shoot 40-centimeter faces with a recurve. Again, this is all at 20 yards standard or 18 meters. If you're very young, you're going to be shooting 10 yards, and that will be on the bigger 60-centimeter face. Now, when you're shooting outdoors, there are two standard target sizes, an 80-centimeter face, and then that big 122-centimeter face. Now, the 80-centimeter face, you shoot at your two closest distances, and your 122-centimeter face, you shoot at your two farthest distances. So, for adult men, if the feed-around still is being shot, you shoot 90, 70, 50, 30 meters. So, 90 and 70, you shoot the big face. 30 and 50, you shoot the small face. Six arrows at 90 and 70. Three arrows at 30 and 50. And that basically makes up the round. 36 arrows at each distance, a total of 144 arrows. It may seem like a lot of numbers. It's very clear-cut and dry in the rule books, as far as which actual format you will be shooting. So, if you're really serious and interested about archery, don't hesitate to ask your friends, hesitate to ask your coaches, your shop owners, whoever is around, and they will happily explain to you the basics of a tournament. It's really basic and straightforward. I just figured, because I had a few requests, that I should cover this information in a video, just to kind of have it laid out in a really quick, easy-to-follow format. So, thank you to those people who are my patrons. I really appreciate their support. If you're interested in becoming a Patreon member, there'll be a link in the description below, plus I'll put a card at the top here. There's a few exclusive benefits to becoming a patron, and I genuinely appreciate everybody that's supporting this channel. It allows me to make free content for everyone else at home. Thanks for watching, and thank you to my Patreon supporters. If you want to become a Patreon supporter, check out books, apparel, and some seminar info, head to jakominski.com, and be sure to hit that subscribe button and the notification bell to be notified every time a new video is uploaded. And I appreciate you watching. Thank you again.