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The Sport of Archery

In the sport of archery, the archer uses a bow to propel arrows to hit the target from set distance(s). Derived from Latin word ‘arcus’, archery was only used for combating and hunting purposes in ancient times. But today it’s a popular competitive sport. In the 1840s, archery was taken to the level of modern sport from merely a recreational activity.

Archery target shooting

At the 1900 Paris Olympics, Archery was approved as Summer Olympics sport. The only discipline of this sport featured at the Olympics is Recurve Archery - a type of Target Archery. Archery is also a Summer Paralympics event.

Common Archery Sport Types include:

• Target Archery — competitions held indoors or outdoors between 18 m and  90 m from the target.
• Field Archery — a form of Archery that involves shooting at targets of varying distance, often in rough terrain.
• Clout Archery — a form of Archery, similar to Target Archery, except you aim at a flag among a group of concentric circular scoring zones from long range.
• 3D Archery — a form of archery in which the goal is to strike targets in the shape of animals at unknown distances.
• Crossbow Archery — an archery discipline in which a crossbow is used instead of a regular bow.
• Flight Archery — a form of archery in which the aim is to shoot the arrow as far as possible.
• Ski Archery — involves skiing and shooting arrows at targets.
• Horseback Archery — shooting arrows at targets while riding a horse.
• Darchery — a combination of darts and archery, using bows and arrows typically used for archery, but the target is a dartboard.

Similar Sports

• Knife Throwing — like archery, the knife is thrown towards a target.
• Axe Throwing — competitors throw axes at a circular target.
• Target Golf — players hit a golf ball at a large net, scoring points based on where the ball lands.
• Popinjay — a shooting sport with either cross-bows or rifles, in which the bird-like target is suspended from a pole.
• Hunting — an activity that involves tracking and killing animals with various weapons.

Related Pages

• See more about Archery
• Archery at the Olympics
• The Basic Rules of Archery
• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports

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