The Gold Game

A fantastic shooting challenge for archers of all levels!

THE OBJECTIVE

To progress out to the furthest distance, whilst keeping your arrows in the gold.

THE RULES

• Archers start at close distance, 10m with a 122cm target face

• For every arrow that you shoot in the gold (9 or 10 rings), you get 1 point

• If you shoot an arrow in the red (8 or 7 rings), that gives you 0 points

• If you shoot an arrow outside the red (6 or lower), that is -1 point

• Once you get to 10 points, you can move the target back 5m, and continue

• If you get to a point where you are on -10 points, move the target closer by 5m, and continue

As archers progress back in distance, the challenge becomes more and more difficult, until eventually every archer gets to a point where they are challenged to progress to the next level. This may be 15m, 50m or 90m!

This is one of my favorite challenges to introduce to beginner or developing archers, as it rewards them for consistency, and doesn't punish them too much for making mistakes. Many archers focus too hard on hitting 10's and worry too much about their mistakes, resulting in over-aiming and shot anxiety.

I also sometimes use this as an ad-hoc handicap system to level the playing field for matchplay practice.