IMPERIAL COLLEGE ARCHERY CLUB

About GNAS rounds

GNAS (the Grand National Archery Society) is the governing body for UK archery. GNAS rounds are only shot in the UK and the distances shot are measured in yards. Most GNAS rounds are named after cities. Indoor GNAS rounds use metric scoring and outdoors rounds use imperial scoring.

Indoor rounds

Indoor rounds are shot in 3 arrow ends with 2 ends of sighters and metric scoring.

Portsmouth: 5 dozen arrows at 20 yds on 60cm faces.

Outdoor rounds

Oudoor rounds are shot with imperial scoring and a single round involves shooting multiple distances. The furthest distances are shot first then the bosses are moved closer to shoot the shorter distances. Archers get one end of sighters at the furthest distance and the rounds are shot in 6 arrow ends on 120cm faces.

York: 6 dozen arrows at 100yds, 4 dozen at 80yds, 2 dozen at 60yds.
Hereford: 6 dozen arrows at 80yds, 4 dozen at 60yds, 2 dozen at 50yds.
St George: 3 dozen arrows at each of 100, 80 and 60 yds.
Albion: 3 dozen arrows at each of 80, 60 and 50 yds.
Windsor: 3 dozen arrows at each of 60, 50 and 40 yds.
American: 2.5 dozen arrows at each of 60, 50 and 40 yds.

About GNAS rounds

FITA (Federation International Tir L'Arc) is the international archery governing body. FITA rounds are internationally recognised and distances shot are measured in metres. All FITA rounds use metric scoring and shooting is timed. Archers are allowed 2 minutes for 3 arrow ends and 4 minutes for 6 arrow ends.

Indoor rounds

Indoor rounds are shot with metric scoring in 3 arrow ends and archers get two ends of practice before scoring begins.

FITA 18: 5 dozen arrows at 18m on 40cm faces.
FITA 25: 5 dozen arrows at 25m on 60cm faces.

Outdoor rounds

Outdoor rounds are shot with metric scoring and a single round involves shooting multiple distances. The furthest distances are shot first then the bosses are moved closer to shoot the shorter distances. Archers get around 45 minutes of sighters at the furthest distance (around 3 ends in which the archer can shoot as many arrows as they like). The further distances (90, 70 and 60 metres) are shot in 6 arrow ends on 120cm faces. The closer distances (50 and 30 metres) are shot in 3 arrow ends on 80cm faces.

Gents FITA: 3 dozen arrows at each of 90, 70, 50 and 30 metres.
Ladies FITA: 3 dozen arrows at each of 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres.
70m Olympic Round: 6 dozen arrows at 70 metres.

Target Faces

Most rounds we shoot are shot on circular target faces with 5 concentric coloured rings. The colours from outside to inside are: white, black, blue, red and gold. Each coloured ring is further subdivided into an inner and outer concentric circle of equal width. The faces come in varius sizes, the largest being 120cm across which covers a whole straw boss. The example below is an 80cm target face.


Imperial vs Metric Scoring

The rounds we shoot use two different scoring systems. In metric scoring the archer can score 1 to 10 points per arrow. The inner gold ring is the 10 ring working down to 1 point for the outer white. The 10 ring also has a smaller ring inside it called the X ring. The X ring is still worth 10 points and the number of Xs shot can be used to determine ties. In imperial scoring only the different colour zones are used. The archer scores 9 points for an arrow in the gold, 7 for red, 5 for blue, 3 for black and 1 for white. In both cases if the arrow shaft cuts a dividing line the archer is awarded the higher score for the arrow.