At 70 m a crosswind moves the arrow far more than a head or tail wind

The summary today

The comparison exists, but all of it comes from calculation. The first, in 2011, concerns a compound arrow: at 70 m three metres per second of wind taken head on or from behind changes the height of impact by only 24 millimetres, far less than the same wind moves it sideways. For the recurve two independent simulations of arrow flight, built on measured aerodynamic parameters, say the same thing: at 70 m, in three metres per second of wind, a crosswind moves the point of impact by 26 or 36 centimetres depending on the model, while the same wind taken head on or from behind moves it between 8 and 10. The gap between the two crosswind figures, about a third, shows how much the modelling assumptions matter; the direction of the answer does not change. The more recent model adds that crosswind drift grows almost in proportion to wind speed, while head and tail winds stay within a few centimetres across the whole useful range, and that a head wind displaces the arrow slightly more than a tail wind, by seven millimetres. Nobody has measured any of this with archers on a field, and a cruder calculation shows that even a wind too light to feel, 0.3 metres per second, is already worth two centimetres at seventy metres. That is why the claim stays transferred: it stands on physics, not on competition measurements.

Also phrased as: "crosswind is the worst wind"; "how much does a crosswind move the arrow at seventy metres"; "head wind or crosswind"; "lateral drift of the arrow in wind"; "tail wind and point of impact"

Evidence

• 2011
  For Model Published later

  Ballistic model of a Protour 470 compound arrow launched at 79.2 m/s: across the range the drift grows linearly with wind speed and roughly with the square of the distance, while three metres per second of head or tail wind changes the height of impact at 70 m by ±0.024 m. The author concludes that a crosswind is the most demanding for the archer.

  Minimizing wind drift of an arrow · J L Park

• 2018
  For Model Published later

  Simulation of an A/C/E arrow at 57.3 m/s over 70 m, with aerodynamic coefficients taken from a wind tunnel and from free flight: in three metres per second of crosswind the radial deviation is 0.36 m, against 0.10 m for a head wind and 0.09 m for a tail wind.

  Trajectory and attitude of an archery arrow in free flight:: estimation of the influence of the background wind. · Julio Ortiz, Masato Ando, Takeshi Miyazaki

• 2018
  For Model Published later

  In the same model the deviation grows with wind speed in every direction, but with a crosswind it triples, from 0.11 m at one metre per second to 0.36 m at three, while head and tail winds stay around a tenth of a metre.

  Trajectory and attitude of an archery arrow in free flight:: estimation of the influence of the background wind. · Julio Ortiz, Masato Ando, Takeshi Miyazaki

• 2018
  Context Model Published later

  The same model also gives the mechanism: in three metres per second of head or tail wind the arrow's maximum angle of attack stays at 0.45° and 0.54°, inside the zone of transition between laminar and turbulent flow, while the same crosswind takes it to 3.0°.

  Trajectory and attitude of an archery arrow in free flight:: estimation of the influence of the background wind. · Julio Ortiz, Masato Ando, Takeshi Miyazaki

• 2019
  Context Model Published later

  Elementary calculation on a cylinder 7.5 mm by 809 mm weighing 26.22 g, with constant drag: a crosswind of 0.3 m/s gives 5.11 mm at 18 m and 19.4 mm at 70 m. It shows that even the lightest wind displaces the arrow; it does not compare directions.

  Statics Investigation about Archery Robot in Drawing a Bow · Takuto Nakamura, Yogo Takada, Hitoshi Watanabe

• 2019
  Context Model Published later

  In the same calculation, up to one and a half metres per second, the strongest wind the Beaufort scale counts as imperceptible, the deviation at 18 m reaches 128 mm: the threshold of wind that matters is far below the one that can be felt.

  Statics Investigation about Archery Robot in Drawing a Bow · Takuto Nakamura, Yogo Takada, Hitoshi Watanabe

• 2019
  Context Review Published later

  Narrative review on the atmosphere and arrow flight: in moderate wind a recurve arrow can drift three or four rings at 70 m and a compound arrow one or two at 50 m. These are the author's estimates in the introduction, with no measured data, and they do not separate wind directions.

  The impact of the atmosphere on target archery · James L Park

• 2020
  Context Model Published later

  Flexible-beam model of Easton arrows: in a steady three metres per second crosswind a recurve X10 600 drifts 245 to 261 mm at 70 m depending on the point, more than four 61 mm rings, and a compound X10 or Protour drifts 75 mm at 50 m. It looks only at the crosswind and does not compare directions.

  The dynamic behaviour of an arrow in wind · James L Park

• 2025
  For Model Published later

  Computational fluid dynamics model of a 19.7 g Easton X10 arrow at 70 m, initial speed 57 m/s: in three metres per second a crosswind displaces the arrow by 0.258 m, against 0.085 m for a head wind and 0.078 m for a tail wind.

  Influences of an Arrow’s Aerodynamic Pressure Center on Recurve Bow Shooting · Wenfeng Shen, Liang Hu, Jing Hu, Yiming Xu, Xixia Xu, Jieqing Zheng

• 2025
  For Model Published later

  In the same model the lateral drift grows almost in proportion to wind speed: 0.091 m at one metre per second, 0.161 m at two, 0.258 m at three.

  Influences of an Arrow’s Aerodynamic Pressure Center on Recurve Bow Shooting · Wenfeng Shen, Liang Hu, Jing Hu, Yiming Xu, Xixia Xu, Jieqing Zheng

• 2025
  For Model Published later

  The same model also separates head and tail wind, which practice lumps together: at equal speed a wind taken head on displaces the arrow slightly more than one from behind, 0.049 against 0.046 m at one metre per second and 0.085 against 0.078 m at three, a difference of about seven millimetres.

  Influences of an Arrow’s Aerodynamic Pressure Center on Recurve Bow Shooting · Wenfeng Shen, Liang Hu, Jing Hu, Yiming Xu, Xixia Xu, Jieqing Zheng

• 2025
  Context Model Published later

  A reading of the target photographs of two elite recurve women in a World Cup semi-final: with wind almost entirely head on, about 4 m/s, and one metre per second across, the first arrow lands 0.13 and 0.12 m from the centre while the lateral component is only 0.08 and 0.03 m, so the spread becomes vertical. These are two archers and a handful of arrows, and in those conditions the authors declare a model error of about 0.03 m, of the same order as the difference observed.

  Influences of an Arrow’s Aerodynamic Pressure Center on Recurve Bow Shooting · Wenfeng Shen, Liang Hu, Jing Hu, Yiming Xu, Xixia Xu, Jieqing Zheng

Status history

1. 1990 Not studied No one in the registry's bibliography has yet calculated how far a crosswind moves the arrow compared with a wind taken head on or from behind: the question is not asked, neither by calculation nor on a field.
2. 2011 Transferred The first calculation to set the wind directions side by side concerns the compound. A ballistic model of a Protour 470 arrow launched at 79.2 metres per second gives a lateral drift that is linear with wind speed and grows roughly with the square of the distance, while three metres per second taken head on or from behind changes the height of impact at 70 m by only 24 millimetres: for the author a crosswind is far more demanding for the archer. No archer is measured: the checks on the calculation use a shooting machine, in a wind tunnel over ten metres and outdoors at 70 m, and only for crosswind at that. Transferred.
3. 2018 Transferred The first calculation for the recurve arrives, and it says the same thing: a simulation of the flight of an A/C/E arrow at 57.3 metres per second, with aerodynamic parameters measured in a wind tunnel, gives a radial deviation of 36 centimetres at 70 m in three metres per second of crosswind, against ten centimetres for a head wind and nine for a tail wind, and the crosswind figure triples as the wind goes from one to three metres per second. It is a model with no participants, so the status is transferred.
4. 2019 Transferred Two papers add the order of magnitude without adding measurements. A simple calculation treating the arrow as a cylinder shows that even a crosswind too light to feel, 0.3 metres per second, is worth five millimetres at 18 m and about two centimetres at 70 m, and that one and a half metres per second reaches twelve centimetres at 18 m. A review of target archery gives the figures that matter on the field, three or four rings at seventy metres with a recurve, but they are the author's own estimates. The status does not move: nobody has yet measured the effect with archers in competition.
5. 2020 Transferred The author of the 2011 calculation reruns it for the recurve with a model that lets the shaft flex: in a steady three metres per second crosswind an X10 600 drifts 245 to 261 millimetres at 70 m depending on point weight, more than four 61 millimetre rings, and a compound arrow at 50 m drifts 75 millimetres. It looks only at the crosswind, so it adds nothing to the comparison between directions, but it gives its scale in rings. Still a model: it stays transferred.
6. 2025 Transferred A second simulation, independent of the first and using computational fluid dynamics, confirms the direction of the result and revises the size: at 70 m, in three metres per second, 25.8 centimetres of crosswind drift against 8.5 for a head wind and 7.8 for a tail wind, with crosswind drift growing almost in proportion to wind speed. The same paper compares the model with target photographs from a World Cup. Three models agreeing and no measurement with archers on a field: it stays transferred.

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Research lines

• 12 studiesWind and heat in archery: research since 2011
• 32 studiesArrow aerodynamics: drag, boundary layer, vanes

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