Archery distances, target faces and how arrows are scored

The short answer depends on which world you shoot in. In World Archery and FITARCO target archery the recurve shoots at 70 metres on a 122 cm target face, the compound at 50 metres on an 80 cm face and the barebow at 50 metres on the 122, while indoors everyone shoots at 18 metres on 40 cm faces; the face has ten scoring zones worth 1 to 10, an arrow touching the line between two zones takes the higher value, and the qualification round is 72 arrows outdoors, for a maximum of 720 points, and 60 indoors, for a maximum of 600, followed, where the event has them, by head-to-head matches. In IFAA and FIARC field archery you shoot in the woods instead, moving from target to target. In the IFAA field and hunter rounds the faces range from 20 to 65 cm, adults shoot from about 6 to about 73 metres and each arrow scores 5, 4 or 3, for a maximum of 560 points over 28 targets; at FIARC events you shoot at animal targets over unmarked distances of up to 55 metres, and an arrow scores according to the zone it hits, the animal, the spot or the super spot, and to whether it is the first arrow at that target or a later one.

The rules come from the four federations' rulebooks in force today: next to each rule you will find the article number, and the list of documents is at the end. For World Archery and FITARCO, its Italian member, I cover target archery; both also run field and 3D archery, with different faces and scoring, which I cover in the guide to field archery and in the comparison of 3D and target archery. For the IFAA I cover its official rounds, outdoors and indoors, and for FIARC, its Italian member, the four animal-target events in its Sports Regulations.

Distances in target archery

The international rules set a distance for every combination of bow and age class (Book 2, art. 4.5.1.1). Your class depends on your year of birth: you are Under 15 up to and including the year of your 14th birthday, Under 18 up to the year you turn 17, Under 21 up to the year you turn 20, and 50+ from the year you turn 50 (art. 4.2).

The compound's 80 cm face often has only the six central zones, from 5 to 10, and at international events this version is mandatory. Indoors, again at international events, archers shoot on triple faces: three small 40 cm targets, in a triangle or a vertical column, one for each arrow of the end. At other events the choice between a full face, a six-ring face or a triple face is up to the organisers (notes to art. 4.5.1.1).

National federations use the same adult distances and usually add classes of their own, with shorter distances for younger archers. Italy's federation, FITARCO, is a good example (Book 2, art. 4.5.1 and 4.5.2). In Italian, Allievi is the name for Under 18, Juniores for Under 21 and Master for 50+.

The age limits of the youngest national classes are set by each federation's own regulations, and your club will tell you which one you belong to when you register. National practice varies in other ways too: at FITARCO target events, for instance, the longbow and the traditional bow shoot in the barebow division (Book 2, art. 4.3.2), and inter-regional events offer 36-arrow rounds alongside the 72-arrow qualification, at the same distances and on the same faces (art. 4.5.1.3, 4.5.1.4, 4.5.1.5 and 4.5.1.7).

Distances in IFAA and FIARC field archery

In the IFAA the distance depends on your age division, not on your shooting style. From the age of 17 up, Young Adults, Adults, Veterans and Seniors all shoot from the same pegs, which the rulebook calls markers; Juniors, aged 13 to 16, shoot from the adult pegs up to a maximum of 50 yards, and Cubs, under 13, have pegs of their own, black and closer in (By-Laws, art. VIII, IX and X). Field and hunter rounds are 28 targets, two units of fourteen, with four arrows per target. The rulebook gives distances in yards and converts them to metres in an annexure (art. V and Annexure 04): those are the metres in the table.

In the field and hunter rounds, and in the marked animal round, the distance is written on the peg. In unmarked rounds, such as the animal and the two 3D rounds shot at the World Bowhunter Championships, it is not, and you judge it by eye: binoculars are allowed, but nothing that measures distances or angles (By-Laws, art. IV H 2 m; WBHC rules, E 3).

At FIARC events, by contrast, every shot is at an unmarked distance, which is why you may not shoot more than one arrow at the same target from the same peg (FIARC Sports Regulations, art. 3.11 k). The rules only set the maximum distance for each target group, with a 5% tolerance (art. 3.3 e). The targets are animal figures, on paper or three-dimensional, split into four groups by the size of the spot (art. 3.4), and the higher the group number, the shorter the maximum distance. FIARC has four events, known in Italian as the Battuta, the Percorso, the Tracciato and the Round 3D.

Each event includes some special targets. In the Battuta, the Percorso and the Tracciato ten arrows are shot kneeling. The Battuta also has four moving targets, four timed groups of three animals and six "herds", three animals of the same species shot from the nearest to the furthest, while in the Percorso ten targets are timed (art. 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1). In the Round 3D nobody shoots kneeling: eight targets are timed, with a starting peg from which you set off when the timekeeper gives the signal, and four have moving targets (art. 7.1).

Distances also change with the class. Cacciatori (hunters), from the year after an archer turns 18, and Seniores, from the year after they turn 55, shoot from the yellow pegs. Cuccioli (cubs), from the age of 7 up to the year they turn 13, have a red peg no further out than half the group's maximum distance, and may choose to shoot from the Scout or Cacciatori pegs instead; Scouts, up to the year they turn 18, have a blue peg on group 1 and 2 targets, at least 2 metres in front of the nearest Cacciatori peg, except in the Round 3D (art. 2.1, 3.10 and 7.1). Cuccioli and Scouts also have a draw-weight limit: 25 lb for the first and 40 lb for the second (art. 2.1).

For a beginner, in either world, these distances are a goal: on a course you shoot close and move back over time. How much the way you do it matters has hardly been studied, because the only controlled study, from 1966, found no difference between beginners who started at ten, twenty-five or forty yards, and in the registry the claim that starting close and moving back gradually gives no better results than starting far is reported. The claim that scores fall with distance is reported too, and the data suggest that what matters most is how big the target looks from the line: that is why seventy metres on the 122 and fifty on the 80 come out much the same, and IFAA rounds likewise pair the small faces with the short distances. I have written separately about training distance and indoor and outdoor shooting.

The target archery face: ten zones and the X

The 122, 80, 60 and 40 cm faces differ only in scale. They have five concentric colours, from the centre outwards yellow (the gold), red, light blue, black and white, and each colour is split by a thin line into two zones of equal width. That gives ten scoring zones, worth 10 in the centre and 1 at the edge, each 6.1 cm wide on the 122, 4 cm on the 80, 3 cm on the 60 and 2 cm on the 40 (Book 2, art. 7.2.2.1 and 7.2.2.2). The 10 ring on the 122 is therefore a circle 12.2 cm across, and the whole gold 24.4 cm (art. 7.2.2.3).

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Inside the 10 there is a smaller circle, the inner 10, which is marked on the scorecard as an X: it is worth ten like the rest of the ring and is used to break ties in the ranking. It measures 6.1 cm on the 122 cm face and 4 cm on the 80 (art. 7.2.2.1). Indoors the compound has a rule of its own: on the 40 and 60 cm faces only the inner ring, 2 and 3 cm across, scores 10, and the rest of the gold scores 9 (art. 7.2.2.3). That is why there are recurve, compound and combined triple faces.

Reduced faces carry only the central zones: the 80 cm six-ring face starts at 5, the 40 cm triple faces at 6, and anything outside is a miss. On a triple face you shoot one arrow per spot, and if two land in the same spot only the lower one counts, while the other is recorded as a miss (Book 3, art. 12.2.2.2).

IFAA and FIARC targets

The IFAA field and hunter rounds use four face sizes, 65, 50, 35 and 20 cm, with just three scoring zones: the central spot scores 5, the inner ring 4 and the outer ring 3. The spot and the inner ring measure 13 and 39 cm on the 65, 10 and 30 on the 50, 7 and 21 on the 35, and 4 and 12 on the 20 (art. V A 2 and A 3). The field face has a black spot, a white inner ring and a black outer ring; the hunter face is all black with a white spot, and has the same dimensions (art. V B 2). On the 65, the 50 and the 35 all four arrows go into the same face, while the 20 cm faces are set out in blocks on the butt and you shoot one arrow per face, in order: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right (art. IV B and C). Executive Clarification no. 7 of 1 June 2026 confirms that this order applies in every outdoor round, and that an arrow shot out of sequence or at another archer's face does not score.

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The expert round uses the field face with each zone split in half, scoring 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 from the centre outwards, with a white X in the spot that is used for ties only (art. V H). Indoors the IFAA face is 40 cm across and a dull blue: the white centre, 8 cm across, scores 5, and the zones outside it 4, 3, 2 and 1, with a 4 cm X that again counts for ties only. The organisers may allow the five-spot face, each spot 16 cm across with the white scoring 5 and the blue 4, one arrow per spot (art. V J 2 and J 5).

Animal and 3D rounds are shot at animal targets. On the paper faces of the animal rounds the high-scoring zone, the kill, is an oblong with rounded ends, from 22.9 by 36.8 cm on group 1 down to 6.4 by 9.2 on group 4; between the kill and the hairline lies the low-scoring zone, the wound, and an arrow outside the hairline does not score (art. V C 2 and C 3). On the 3D targets of the 3D Hunting and 3D Standard rounds there are three zones: the inner circle is the kill, the outer one the vital, and the rest of the animal, out to the hairline, the wound; horns, antlers and bases do not score, legs do (art. V E 3 and E 5).

FIARC targets, on paper or three-dimensional, have three scoring zones: the animal itself, the spot, marked by a closed line inside it, and the super spot, a circle inside the spot. The lines need not be visible from the peg; on 3D targets horns and supports do not score, and the base must be separated from the animal by a clearly visible line (Sports Regulations, art. 3.4). What each zone is worth depends on the event and on the arrow: in the Percorso, the Tracciato and the Round 3D the first arrow at a target is worth more than the second, and the second more than the third.

In the Percorso and the Round 3D every arrow at the target is added up, while in the Tracciato only the first scoring arrow counts. In the Battuta, on the herds, the running total stops at the first animal missed; on the timed groups, though, all three arrows are added up even if some fail to score (art. 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1).

How an arrow is scored

The first rule to learn is the line rule: an arrow scores according to where its shaft sits in the face, and if the shaft touches two colours or a dividing line it takes the higher of the two values (Book 3, art. 12.2; FITARCO, Book 3, art. 14.2). The lines are printed inside the higher zone anyway, so touching one means you are already in. You look at the shaft, not the nock or the fletchings, and in doubtful cases the judge decides.

At the target, scores are read in a set order. Each archer calls their own arrows from highest to lowest, the scorer writes them down in that order and the other archers on the same butt check them; if there is a disagreement the judge is called and has the final word (Book 3, art. 12.1.3). Until every arrow has been recorded nobody touches the arrows, the face or the butt, and after each end the holes are marked so they are not confused with new ones (art. 12.2.1 and 12.2.4). An arrow outside the scoring zones, or on another archer's face, is recorded as M, a miss, and scores zero (art. 12.2.6 and 12.2.8).

An arrow that lodges in the nock of another scores the same as the arrow it hit; one that bounces out or passes through the butt is scored from its hole, if the judge can identify it (art. 12.2.6.1 and 12.2.6.2). At the end you sign the scorecard, with the total and the number of 10s and Xs, or of 10s and 9s indoors (art. 12.4): signing means you agree with every arrow, so check it first.

Time depends on the arrows in the end: World Archery allows 40 seconds per arrow at ordinary events, four minutes for six arrows and two for three, and 30 seconds at world ranking events and wherever the organisers announce it in advance (Book 3, art. 11.2.1); at events on the Italian FITARCO calendar it is always 40 (Book 3, art. 13.4).

In field archery the line rule is not the same. In the IFAA, on hunter, animal and expert faces and on 3D targets, the line dividing two zones lies inside the lower one: to score the higher value the arrow must break the line, and if it only touches it, it scores the lower zone. On the field face, which has no lines, the shaft must cut into the higher zone, and here too it is the shaft's position that counts, not the tear it leaves in the paper (By-Laws, art. IV I 1 d; Annexure 03). Under FIARC rules, if the arrow hits the line between two zones with different scores, the shaft must show contact with the outer line to take the higher score (Sports Regulations, art. 3.12 h).

Scoring is organised differently too. In the IFAA each group has a Target Captain and two scorers, who keep a running total and compare it at every target; if an archer disputes the value of one of their arrows, the majority of the rest of the group decides, and that decision cannot be appealed (By-Laws, art. IV H 4 d, f and g). Nobody touches the arrows until they have been scored; an arrow that bounces out or passes through the scoring area is reshot with a specially marked arrow, while on 3D targets an arrow that enters close to the hairline and does not stay in does not score and is not reshot (art. IV I 1 a, b and d). At FIARC events two scorers record the arrows: the group leader gives each arrow its value, the first scorer does the same for the group leader's own arrows, and disputes are settled by the officials, the capicaccia (Sports Regulations, art. 3.9 a and 3.2 e). Arrows must stay embedded in the target, so one that passes through it does not count, while one deflected by an obstacle or bouncing off the ground does (art. 3.12 e and f); in the IFAA, by contrast, an arrow that skids off the ground into the target does not score (By-Laws, art. IV I 2 c). FIARC scorecards may only be filled in with indelible ink, and at the end the scorers and the archer sign them; once the archer has signed, no claim can be made (Sports Regulations, art. 3.12 c). Under both rulebooks, as in target archery, an arrow lodged in the nock of another takes its value (By-Laws, art. IV I 1 c; Sports Regulations, art. 3.12 g).

Time limits differ as well. Indoors the IFAA allows four minutes for an end of five arrows in the indoor round and three for an end of four in the flint round; outdoors the rules leave the Field Captain the option of setting a time limit per target or per round (art. V J 4, V I 4 and IV G 4 c). At FIARC events you have one minute per arrow, so one, two or three minutes depending on the arrows at the target, counted from when you pass the target's sign board and including any use of binoculars; on timed targets the arrows must be shot within 30 seconds, which the officials may extend by no more than ten (Sports Regulations, art. 3.11 d and 3.7 a).

Ties in the ranking

Two archers with the same qualification total are separated by counting rings, and here World Archery and some national rulebooks do not currently agree. In the 2026 Book 3, outdoors the number of Xs counts first and then the number of 10s, while indoors it is 10s first and then 9s (art. 12.5.1). National rulebooks do not always follow the latest international edition straight away: the Italian federation's Book 3, in the edition in force since 1 January 2026, still counts 10s first outdoors, Xs included, and then Xs, with the same 10s-then-9s rule indoors (art. 14.5.1). If archers are still level they are ranked equal. World Archery events follow World Archery's rules and Italian events follow FITARCO's Book 3; if in doubt, ask the judges before the start.

When a tie decides who goes through to the matches, however, rings are not counted: there is a one-arrow shoot-off, and if the scores are level the arrow closest to the centre wins (Book 3, art. 12.5.2). Whether counting 10s really rewards the better archer is something I analysed in a separate article.

In the IFAA, ties for an award are not broken by counting rings: there is a shoot-off, run as the tournament rules set out, once the scores have been verified (By-Laws, art. IV I 1 f). At the World Field Archery Championships the shoot-off is over three field targets at 50 yards, four arrows each, on the 65, the 50 and the 35 cm faces, and if the tie remains it goes on one arrow at a time on the 35; at the World Indoor Championships three ends are shot, then the Xs are counted and finally each archer shoots one arrow, and the one closest to the centre wins (WFAC rules, E 6; WIAC rules, E 5). At FIARC events a tie goes to the archer with more spots, then the one with more super spots, then the one with more scoring arrows, and if those are level too the archers are ranked equal (Sports Regulations, art. 3.12 l).

Head-to-head matches: sets and cumulative scoring

After qualification, where the event includes them, come the head-to-head matches. Recurve and barebow use the set system: each set is three arrows, whoever scores more in the set takes two set points, a tied set gives one each, and the first to six set points wins, over a maximum of five sets (Book 3, art. 12.1.4.1). Compound adds up the points instead: five ends of three arrows, and the higher total wins (art. 12.1.4.3). If the match ends level, five set points each or the same total in compound, each archer shoots one arrow and, if the scores match, the one closer to the centre wins (art. 12.5.2.2). How you can score more and still lose I explain in the article on the set system, and what a single arrow decides in the one on the shoot-off.

The IFAA and FIARC rulebooks have no head-to-head matches, and the highest total wins: by division in the IFAA (By-Laws, art. III B 1), by class and category at FIARC events (Sports Regulations, art. 3.12 l). At the IFAA World Field Archery Championships archers shoot two field rounds, two hunter rounds and an animal round on successive days (WFAC rules, D).

What score to expect

Anyone watching an international final sees mostly 10s and 9s, and comes away with an idea that applies to very few people. Even in competition at the top level most arrows do not land in the 10: in Chinese professional events one arrow in five does, and in the registry the claim that even at the top most arrows are not tens is corroborated. In studies of competitive archers in five countries the mean score sits around seven points per arrow, and the claim that the benchmark is seven rather than nine is corroborated too. For a beginner the useful comparison is with your own score from a few weeks earlier, at the same distance and on the same face; the figures by level are collected in this article.

These figures come from target archery, on ten-zone faces, and do not carry straight over to 5-4-3 scoring. In the IFAA the rulebook itself offers a benchmark: every archer has a Score Record/Classification Card on which competition scores are recorded, and in the Adult, Young Adult and Junior divisions your class, A, B or C, is set by your two best scores of the past year on 28-target field or hunter rounds (art. VII A and C). Class A starts at 400 out of 560 in barebow, 500 in freestyle unlimited and 250 in longbow (art. VII B); Executive Clarification no. 4 of 2026 specifies which scores may be recorded. FIARC's Sports Regulations have no score classes, and the maximums, worked out from their tables, are 624 points in the Battuta, 648 in the Percorso, 528 in the Tracciato and 600 in the Round 3D: here too the useful comparison is with your own score in the same event.

To follow your progress it is worth recording where your arrows land as well as what they score, because the same total can come from very different groups. With the site's tap target you mark each arrow with a finger and get the score, the centre and the spread of the group; the plotting sheet is a 122 cm face to scale that you print and fill in with a pencil.

@misc{campagna2026_distanzebersaglipunteggio,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Archery distances, target faces and how arrows are scored},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/articoli/archery-distances-target-faces-and-scoring},
  note = {accessed 2026-10-16}
}