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The average score per arrow tells you an archer's level

48 studies · 1,167 archers measured

ForContextAgainst2016201820202022202420262025, context, n = 2072025, for, n = 1042023, for, n = 602023, for, n = 602022, for, n = 452025, for, n = 452023, for, n = 442018, context, n = 322020, context, n = 312018, for, n = 302023, for, n = 302023, for, n = 302025, for, n = 302017, context, n = 302023, context, n = 302025, for, n = 252023, for, n = 242024, for, n = 242024, for, n = 242021, context, n = 232024, for, n = 222025, for, n = 222018, context, n = 222021, context, n = 202022, context, n = 202024, context, n = 202016, context, n = 192018, for, n = 182024, for, n = 182025, for, n = 172024, for, n = 162022, for, n = 152021, context, n = 152023, for, n = 142023, for, n = 142025, context, n = 142024, for, n = 122021, context, n = 112024, for, n = 102024, for, n = 102019, context, n = 102020, context, n = 102022, context, n = 102016, context, n = 82018, context, n = 82020, context, n = 72019, context, n = 62023, for, n = 52016, context, n = 2
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

On this question the registry holds plenty of measurements and little proof. The two studies that compare levels within one sample define those levels by the score itself, so it is a given that the groups come apart: thirty Japanese archers split by ranking over 72 arrows at seventy metres sit at 633, 593 and 557.5 points out of 720, and what adds something is that the three groups also differ in age and years of training; in one Korean national selection the archers placed first to tenth finish 36 arrows about sixteen points ahead of those placed twentieth to thirtieth, which measures how wide the spread is inside a single selection. The support that holds comes from the mosaic: groups of known level, from adult beginners on 250 points out of 600 to Hong Kong competitors on 625 out of 720, measured one at a time, line up in the expected order. The tests do not resemble each other, though, thirty-six arrows at seventy metres or six at ten, faces of 40, 60, 80 and 122 centimetres, so the claim is read in points per arrow and says where a group stands under those conditions rather than giving an absolute ranking. Where it breaks is plain: these are cross-sectional comparisons, many of the journals are regional and some have questionable editorial standards, and nobody has followed the same archers as they changed level.

Also phrased as: "how many points per arrow does a good archer shoot"; "average per arrow and level"; "what score do you need to be competitive"; "reference score per arrow"; "how many points per arrow does a beginner shoot"

In practice

Archers often measure themselves in points per arrow, and the figure circulates as a quick way of saying where you stand and when you are ready for a competition.

Evidence

Status history

  1. 2016 Not studied The first reference bands arrive, but each describes one group at a time: a national squad training between 288 and 343 points over 36 arrows, Korean college women on 349 out of 360 at thirty metres, two university archers landing on the 8 more often than anything else at seventy. Nobody compares different levels with the same yardstick, so the question has not yet been asked.
  2. 2018 Reported The first two studies to compare different levels with the same yardstick arrive in the same year. Thirty Japanese archers over 72 arrows at seventy metres, split into three groups by that very score, sit at 633, 593 and 557.5 points out of 720: that the groups come apart is a given, since they were formed on the score, and what does tell us something is that they also differ in age and years of training. Inside one Korean national selection, nine archers placed between first and tenth finish 36 arrows about sixteen points ahead of nine placed between twentieth and thirtieth; here too the groups were formed from the ranking, so the figure measures how wide the spread is inside one selection more than it measures level. Around them come single-group bands, from young archers in a development programme to adult beginners, consistent with these figures. These are cross-sectional associations, which go no further than reported.
  3. 2020 Reported The status holds, because what arrives fills the scale in rather than calling it into question: elite Indian archers hitting the 10 on more than half their arrows indoors and never dropping below the 8, elite Korean archers a little under nine points an arrow at seventy metres, Cypriot first-division archers around 7.7.
  4. 2022 Reported Two measurements on archers arrive that point the way of the claim: young archers at a Malaysian sports school on 255 points out of 360 at seventy metres, about seven points per arrow, and national-level compound archers on 9.7 points per arrow at thirty metres. These are only two groups and one of the two journals has questionable editorial standards, so the supporting evidence stays thin and the status does not move. The starting rung arrives too, as context: among ten beginners at an Indonesian club, half sit between 3.3 and 6.2 points per arrow.
  5. 2023 Reported The year the scale fills up. National-level Malaysian recurve archers on 286.91 out of 360 at seventy metres, Indian academy archers between 531 and 536 out of 720, a regional Indonesian club between 168 and 188 out of 360 at forty metres, another club on 210 out of 360, university students starting from scratch below five points per arrow at ten metres, young Turkish archers with one to three years of practice around five points at eighteen metres. The status stays at reported because these are all cross-sectional comparisons between different groups.
  6. 2024 Reported The top of the scale fills in: 619 points out of 720 for Indonesian sub-elite youngsters, 614 for national-level Ukrainians, 625 for Hong Kong competitors, between 279 and 299 out of 360 for Malaysian archers at the national games. A Malaysian state compound squad splits its archers into elite, intermediate and junior, but it does so on the score itself, so it is a given that the three groups come apart and the question is not put to the test. The status does not move, because the design is still cross-sectional.
  7. 2025 Reported The picture closes from the bottom, where it was missing: less than three points per arrow at ten metres for secondary-school pupils after a basic course, 19.50 points out of 90 at three metres on first contact with a bow, 7.5 points per arrow in club recurve archers registered for at least a year. No study points the other way, but none follows the same archers as they move up through the levels either, so it stays at reported.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Studies describe groups of archers, and your own numbers show how far the finding applies to your shooting.

See the full assessment
Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). The average score per arrow tells you an archer's level (Version 3). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/score-per-arrow-and-level

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_punteggioperfreccialivello,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {The average score per arrow tells you an archer's level},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/score-per-arrow-and-level},
  note = {Version 3; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Other claims in this domain

See all claims on competition and scoring