A1.1 Safety

•1. Be certain that there are no paths from target to target or shooting positions which could be in jeopardy if an arrow goes astray. Take a look at the actual terrain - don’t rely on the organizer’s map of the course.

•2. Be certain that all paths from target to target are properly marked so no one walks in a wrong direction and happens to get into a shooting lane. It is a good basic safety rule that athletes leaving a target walk approximately 10 metres in a ninety-degree direction away from the shooting direction on that target, but apply this rule with common sense. Make sure you walk the safe and correct direction between targets when checking the marking of the path. It is also very useful to have Judges remaining on the shooting line with others following the paths to check that no-one is accidentally in the line of fire when moving to other targets.

•3. Paths usually used for public purposes must not cross the shooting direction, in front of the target or behind the target. If this cannot be avoided, there must be guards present or the paths must be thoroughly barred in addition to warning signs.

•4. Be certain that the background of a target is fully exposed to the athlete in the shooting position. If not, take the necessary steps to make the shooting on that target safe. What is over the crest of the hill on which the target is placed? Guarding may be necessary. Be aware that single nets will not stop carbon arrows that miss the target, so additional precautions may have to be taken.

•5. Spectators are usually controlled by leading them into special areas in the terrain - all the route marked with ropes or ribbons. Normally a shooting lane of approximately 25 metres width, giving a distance of approximately 10 metres from athletes to the spectators on each side of the lane, is safe enough. However, if the athletes are shooting through a narrow gate of trees, the width must be increased. An arrow hitting a tree may take quite an unexpected direction.

•6. Also remember that the organizers have to take into consideration that it may be necessary to bring in first aid personnel and/or spare equipment without having to stop the shooting or endanger the personnel going into the course. The Organizing Committee should have special personnel available for guiding people in and out of the competition field as well providing “first aid lanes” in which medical personnel or spare equipment can be brought in without stopping the flow of the tournament. Judges must be able to walk safely between targets, and thus they must study their designated area thoroughly.

A1.2 Target Layout

Ensure that each individual target is properly prepared. Before beginning an inspection, you must have the organizer’s map of the course, and the target sizes and distances for each target. This includes the distances for the unmarked round. Before entering the range, quickly check that the correct number of targets of each size is planned and that all distances correspond to the target sizes. Note: Except for the Judges designated to check unmarked distances, the rest of the Judges have no need to know the distances. Thus the risk of having lists with the distances of the unmarked round accidentally going astray is almost eliminated. From the map you may be able to check that the altitude variation and distance from assembling point is within specifications. It is wise to mark uphill or downhill shoots by simple drawings: Approach each target from the point of view of the athlete;

•1. Is the face clearly visible from both shooting positions? Do not forget that some athletes are very short - e.g. 150 cm

•2. Is each shooting position possible for both left and right handed athletes?

•3. Are the standing conditions adequate for both the athlete to the right and to the left of the peg, and is the marking appropriate?

•4. Are there any overhangs that could interfere with light draw- weight bows? Try to allow for changes - rain might lower overhanging branches.

•5. Is the target the correct distance from the shooting position? While you might not have the time to measure each, try to measure as many as possible. Remember the 1-metre tolerance which allows the use of rangefinders in order to do the checking for distances longer than 15 metres.

•6. Is the target position at least the minimum distance above the ground and the buttress at least of minimum size? To expose the face fully to the athlete make sure that the position of the target is close to a right angle to line of vision.

•7. It is a good idea to write the size of the face, which a buttress is to carry, on the back part of the buttress with a felt pen. The possibility of an error in the haste of preparing a course for use on the morning when shooting begins will be much reduced. This is particularly important on un-marked courses. Also check that the

replacement faces - usually placed behind the buttress covered in plastic to protect them from getting wet are of the correct size. For checking the target faces, the same procedure as described in section 3.12.1 of this Guide Book apply.

•8. Avoid having buttresses leaning on to a tree, which may cause damage to arrows passing partly through the buttress.

A1.3 Shooting and Scoring

According to latest rules, the athletes in a group are quite free to decide on “shooting positions” among themselves. What is important is that the two first athletes of the group, whoever this may be, to approach the shooting peg of the target, will shoot on the top on 40cm faces and in column 1 and 3 (respective left and right athlete) on the 20cm faces.

The next two athletes will shoot on the lower centres at 40cm and in column 2 and 4 on the 20cm faces. Unless other information is given, this will decide if an athlete has missed his targets or not.

If – at 20cm targets – you find two arrows belonging to the same athlete in one of his centres, only the lower arrow value will score as it lies in the face, while the other arrow becomes a miss (scores a M). Ref. indoor scoring.

A1.4 Judges’ Assignment to the Area

Judges will have to be placed around the range so that each target is accessible. Look for ways to travel between targets and shooting locations safely, and for ways to efficiently split up target assignments. The Chairperson of the Judge Commission or his/her deputy will assign Judges to specific areas. With two or more different courses it may be advisable to divide up the Judges into parties, one for each course. To allow the Judges to become familiar with their control area they should be assigned to the same course during the two days of qualification round.

A1.5 Inspection Procedures

For field archery be aware of any additional item possibly used only for estimating distances or items modified solely for that purpose (measuring target face sizes or angles). This applies for all divisions. Check the stabilizer(s) in order to prevent them from disturbing other athletes. For field archery they must not offer any help in estimating distances, target faces or angles. If the pendulum type of stabilizers is in use, there must not be any scales on them which may give angle information.

A1.6 Applying the Time Limit

Generally speaking, World Archery never intended to officially time field events. If they had, they would have had an official timer accompany each group in as much as all shoot at different times. This time allowance rule had to be imposed some years ago because some very slow competitors were causing a

bottleneck and slowing down the competition. Do not think that you as a Judge have to stand and time every athlete who passes through your assigned position. The rule is there to help you maintain control and avoid a slow competitor or group disrupting the competition. Use your authority in this matter sensibly.

If you find it necessary, according to Articles 24.6 -24.7 (Book 4) to time an athlete, who then exceeds the time limit of 3 minutes, the procedure to use is as follows: You make a note on the scorecard, possibly on the back side (to be decided by the Judge Commission of the event), indicating the time and the target number at which the note was made, then sign the note. If the athlete is observed to exceed the time limit a second time, the Judge will verbally warn the athlete and at the same time make another note on the scorecard. Any subsequent violation on time will result in the loss of the athlete’s highest scoring arrow of that target.

The time limit is allowed from the time the athlete takes her/his position at the post, which he/she shall do as soon as it becomes available. The main point here is that the athlete is not allowed to use any time for judging distances or other variation in the terrain before taking the position at the post. In such cases you will advise the athlete to go to the shooting post, where after you will start your time control from the moment the post could have sensibly been occupied. However, if, for example, the athletes have just approached the target after climbing uphill, you may give them some extra time to regain their breath. Time warnings are not carried over from one round of the competition to the next. The Field finals event timing is more like timing Target archery event, and is described in the C&R Book 4.

A1.7 Range finding.

The athlete is not allowed to use his/her equipment solely for estimating distances. It would be wise to underline this point at the Team managers’ meeting. The World Archery Field Archery Committee has given some advice on what is acceptable or not.

Please note that an interpretation of 2012 says that using body parts (i.e. hand or fingers) as aids in estimating distances is acceptable.

A1.8 Field archery Finals’ Course

You will probably find the finals’ course in a central position of the championships area, which means that the course is planned so that spectators will have easy access to the terrain of the finals.

For the Judges this presents two major challenges:

1.Safety is an important factor again. Use the same guidelines as described above (A1.1). To avoid problems with people crossing the shooting lanes and walking paths of the competitors, it is preferable to have all the spectators on one side of the barrier and shooting directions away from the barriers. However, the terrain may offer safety precautions itself, use common sense.

2.Because of the central position of the finals’ course, you will probably find that the layout has not been finished until after the championships have been opened. Since all targets and distances have been planned the Judges will do most of the checking when inspecting the courses beforehand, and return to the final control after the elimination rounds have been finished. Because of the interest of the media and the spectators, access to the shoot-off target(s) must be very easy. The last target of the finals’ round may also be used as the shoot-off target if the distances for that target and for the purpose of shoot-offs are the same. A separate shoot-off target may also be used.

A1.9 Conduct of Shooting

The conduct of shooting follows the normal procedures for Field Archery, but the rules say nothing about the time intervals for the groups. The starting order for divisions is: Barebow - Recurve - Compound. Within each division you will have two groups, women and men of 4 athletes each, and the time interval is approximately 15 minutes. It is recommended that the organizers fix the start times of each division. For media and spectators it is essential that the groups are not shooting at the same time, especially we must avoid the possibility that the men are shooting at Target No. 4 (semi-finals) at the same time as the women have their finish at Target No. 8. Some delays may therefore be instituted for the benefit of the media and spectators

A1.10 Judges’ Assignment to the Groups

The following is recommended:

1.There will be a Judge accompanying each group in case of arrow calls.

2.One Judge will time the athletes, by indicating “go” and “stop”. When 30 sec. are left the Judge will also raise a yellow card. Another Judge will have the backup time control. At the target one Judge will immediately check the scores and confirm the result ( and the winner of the match at the end).

3.Personnel assigned to the media (or if necessary a Judge) must also supervise the conduct of the media. In the terrain photographers and cameramen are often quite close to the athletes in order to find a proper position, and it is important that they stay in the position during shooting, in order not to create unnecessary disturbance to the athletes, or create a safety issue.

A1.11 Field Championships Elimination and Finals Procedures.

Shooting procedures for the Team Elimination

The top 8 (eight) teams proceed to the Team Elimination Round. The position of

the teams is decided by totalling the scores the individuals obtained in the Qualification Round. They are then placed in the order of the totalled scores in the Team Seeding Table for allocation of shooting matches. The higher ranked team shoots from the left position. The higher ranked team starts shooting, thereafter normal rotation. The order of shooting will be Women’s Teams followed by the Men’s Teams. In this stage all the matches are shot simultaneously, each match accompanied by its own Judge and scorer. Each team member will shoot one arrow from the appropriate shooting post in the order decided by the team. Timing – see below.

A1.12 Order of shooting for the Finals Rounds

Individuals and Teams Match Play:

The new rule books (2012) describe the procedures in detail.

Shoot-offs

Should there be a shoot-off in the Semi-Finals, this will be carried out on the last target shot, (Target No.4). Should there be a shoot-off in the Gold and Bronze medal matches, these will be carried out at the longest distance for that division (this may be on the last target or on an extra target put up for the shoot-off). There will be one arrow shoot-off (one for each member of a Team), and if the score is still the same, the arrow closest to the centre will decide the winner. Ref. shoot-off rules for target archery.

A1.12.1 Target Faces – Setup

All faces will be set up as in the Qualification round but on the targets with 60cm and 80cm faces you will have two faces each, one face for the left athlete who will be shooting on the left target face and one face for the right athlete who will be shooting on the right target face.

A1.12.2 Taking Time ( individual)

3 (three) minutes is the time allowed to shoot the 3 (three) arrows. The assigned Judge will start and stop the shooting verbally.

A1.12.3 Taking Time (Teams)

3 (three) minutes for 3 (three) arrows, each athlete shooting one arrow. The timing to commence as soon as the first Team member passes the number board. The Judge will indicate when the target is available.

A1.12.4 30 Seconds – Warning

There is a time warning, which is shown by the Judge raising a yellow card, when only 30 (thirty) seconds of the time limit are left during the Finals Round. An arrow shot after the expiry of the time limit causes the athlete to forfeit of the highest scoring arrow of the end.

A1.13 Team Finals

Athletes can select to shoot in any order, but only one at a time. There is no extra time given for equipment failure during the Finals Round. The Team managers or another appointed person may carry spare equipment along with the

group. The first group will start at a specified time. The groups following will start at approximately 15 (fifteen) minute intervals. When groups are approaching the end of a match, the following groups may be held back from shooting to make it possible for media and spectators to concentrate on the final target. A Judge will be assigned to each group.

A1.14 What is allowed and not allowed on unmarked World Archery Field rounds.

Please note that you may shoot a World Archery unmarked field round only, a marked round only or a combination of both. We also remind you that in national competitions you may shoot with fans and walk ups as well. Please make sure that if you use walk ups, that you shoot the correct number of arrows at the correct distance for each face size as laid down in the Rule Book.

However, in World Archery Championships there will be two rounds in the Qualification Round, one with marked distances and one with unmarked distances, and in the Elimination Rounds and Final Round only marked distances will be used.

We know that in some parts of the world some people enjoy shooting like in ‘the good old days’ with walk ups and fans, while elsewhere they prefer to shoot marked distances only. Since the majority like to shoot unmarked distances we need rules to keep the distance ‘unmarked’, which is why we do not allow range finders of any kind, however simple or amateurish they may seem. The fact is that if you allow one, there will soon be another a little more advanced – and so on.

From WA’s Field Manual we quote:

The following are NOT ALLOWED on unmarked rounds:

Having more than one personal sight scale on your sight bar, your bow or your notes – will indicate that you may be using your sight as a ranging device and that you measure the distance and read the distance by means of a scale which is not the proper way of doing it. If you have scale(s) on your sight bar in a place that disagree with the sight setting you will have when shooting, you may be ‘accused of’ having made an extra scale for ranging. Judges and competitors may look for that!

If you have sight marks used for a different set-up on your sight, something you want to keep for the future, just cover it with a piece of tape – and you are safe!

Note:

A recent interpretation states that you may have one personal sight marks scale in addition to the manufacturer’s original scale on your bow sight or your equipment.

It is also a very good indication that you measure the distance if you lift your bow and aim and take it down again more than once or twice before you shoot. If you do – you are also out of line – maybe using much too much time and thus

probably being a nuisance to the competitors with whom you are shooting. If you have added (glued or screwed) a piece of plastic vane or similar to your equipment with which you can compare the size of the face with the size of that extra piece you obviously break the rules – you may make use of some part of your standard equipment instead.

Generally speaking you may not alter your equipment with something that is intended to be used for measuring. It is not allowed to use a scope with a cross and one or more lines on that cross – to have a scope with more than one circle or more than one line in either direction, or a combination of a circle and a cross in which the cross passes through the circle. You may have nothing on your sight or in the window region of your bow with several lines or dots that is not natural parts of your equipment. You may occasionally meet compound athletes with a hunting sight, a sight with several pins. This is not allowed on unmarked field, but may be used on marked field.