Arrow Size
>From the Easton Document page:
Easton uses various arrow shaft outside diameters and wall thicknesses to obtain the necessary number of shaft spines needed to shoot well from nearly all bow weight and arrow length combinations. The outside diameter is the main factor in determining shaft stiffness, AKA "SPINE". This diameter is coded in the first two digits of the shaft size number—for example, in 2312, the 23 = 23/64". This is the shaft diameter rounded to the nearest sixty-fourth of an inch. The wall thickness code is the second two digits of the shaft size number. These digits indicate the shaft wall thickness to the closest one thousandth of an inch—for example, in 2312, the 12 = 0.012". The wall thickness is the main factor in determining the shaft weight. For two shafts of the same stiffness, a larger diameter, thin-walled shaft will be much lighter than a smaller diameter, thicker walled shaft.   In USA Archery competition, the largest arrow you can legally shoot is 2317. 

Which are better, plastic vanes or feather fletching? (or why do arrows have feathers?)
>Arrows often fly through the air at more than 100 miles an hour.  Aerodynamics have a lot of influence on the accuracy of a archer's shot.  If the worlds' best archer shoots a shaft with no fletchings, the score will still be very high.  Their good technique will offset the bad aerodynamics of the bare shaft.  But for the vast majority of archers, the fletchings are necessary to average out the flaws of the shot.  Fletchings cause drag, which is why they are applied to the back end of the shaft instead of the point, this keeps the front end of the arrow pointed downrange to the target during flight.   The arrow itself may have small flaws or a weak spine, or the archer may not release the shot cleanly, and the arrow would therefore tend to curve or veer off.  So the fletchings are aligned to make the shaft ROTATE as it flies through the air.   Any flaw on the shaft will therefore, due to rotation,  spread it's bad influence evenly over the 360 degrees of rotation, so that the AVERAGE effect of the flaw is still to the center of the flight.  

SO WHICH ARROW IS BETTER?  
>The answer to that question depends largely on shooting style. There are no wrong choices, only personal preferences. Archers who shoot aluminum arrows using finger tabs or gloves are usually best serviced with feather fletchings. The natural texture and softness of feathers allows them to grab the air and quickly stabilize an arrow as it speeds towards it target. Feather fletching compensates for minor flaws in the arrow release, allowing for consistent shooting accuracy despite human error.

>Feather fletching is sold in left- or right-wing (or left-hand/right-hand) versions. A subtle right- or left-hand twist is used when gluing turkey feather fletching onto the arrow shaft. This slight twist in the feathers helps stabilize the arrow during flight (causes rotation)  and gives better accuracy.  The feathers that are derived from turkeys (the vast majority of feather fletchings come from turkeys) are segregated by whether they are from the left or right wing of the turkey, as this determines whether the fletchings are right-hand or left-hand in nature.

>Natural feather fletching isn't without its problems. A lack of durability is a common complaint of some archers. Feather fletching is easily matted (making them ineffectual)  in wet weather and can be quickly damaged if the feathers come in contact with the target or other arrows while practicing. These also provide the most drag, which limits how far an arrow can be cast by a bow.

>Plastic vanes are more durable that feather fletching and they provide excellent arrow flight when used properly. Those archers who use compound bows and mechanical release aids will find plastic vanes deliver consistent accuracy in all conditions.

>Plastic vanes may be attached to the arrow shaft in a straight, left-wing, or right-wing pattern. The most common configuration is a slight right-wing twist. A slight twist in the vane helps the arrow stabilize arrows quickly resulting in better accuracy.

>Plastic vanes are also available in different styles and sizes. Style normally relates to the vane height and size to overall length.

>Three fletch (two hen feathers and one cock feather) arrows are the most common with target archery buffs.

>A special kind of plastic fletching is the mylar spin wing. This is used on the smaller-diameter carbon aluminum arrows and provides a lower profile, less drag and thus better long range accuracy.  It is attached in straight-line alignment to the shaft. The vast majority of olympic medals have been taken with these mylar vanes on slender, carbon&aluminum X-10 Easton shafts. >

TARGET PANIC: (The targets do not shoot back; what is the deal?)
This is something I would rather not be able to write about from first-hand knowledge.  Target Panic afflicts most good archers at some point in their career.  It will help you to understand it BEFORE it happens to your archer, so that IF and WHEN you might see it in an archer you know or coach, you will understand just a *little* bit better.

Target Panic has a number of names, and it afflicts athletes in a number of sports.  Any sport where the athlete has at least a moment to THINK about an action is a candidate sport for the equivalent of Target Panic.   Essentially, the conscious mind steps in and interferes with what should be an almost-unconscious action of the body.  A baseball catcher stands to return the ball to the pitcher, and it sails into the infield over the pitcher's head.  A golfer tries to address the ball for a simple putt, or a drive, and completely flubs the shot.  An NBA star goes to make a free-throw shot, something he does thouands of times in practice, and it's a brick that thds on the rim before falling out of the hoop.

In golf it is called the yips.  In archery, target panic, though I consider it more accurate to call it "shot CHOKE".   It only affects *good* archers.  New, basic, naive archers shoot without consciousness naturally but in the normal progression of excellence an athlete inevitably begins to ask "why" and "how", and their mind gets in the way of a perfectly simple process.  You cannot predict when nor why.  The archer may be asked to adopt a slight legitimate change in form by a completely legitimate and expert coach, only to affect the archer in a completely unexpected way.  Once it starts, it may cause only a mild perturbrance in the archer's path, or it may destroy an entire career, driving the athlete from the sport. 

Many "coaches" will make their entire career an effort to teach others how to NOT experience TP.  The problem as I see it is that every person finds their own particular way to establish panic in their mind about making a simple mechanical process with the upper body.  The disconnect has profound effects you will not even begin to appreciate until YOUR archer goes into that dark room.  First, accept that you may not be able to help your archer find a way out of that room.  That space.  That dark forboding hell.  Melodramatic?  no.  If you can put yourself into a space where you want to simply touch your nose with your eyes closed and cannot, then you may begin to understand how the simple art of shooting a bow is so difficult for someone with TP.  In one case, the archer has superb form during practice.  But when the tournament starts the archer performs 99.5% of an entire shot cycle but fail with the last 0.1mm of draw - the part that takes the tip of the arrow past click. Something in the archer's conscious mind simply intereferes with that unconscious process that the superb archer relies on.  Aiming is after all, best performed with total innocence and unconsciousness.  Once an archer starts down the road of "thinking" about how the shot is accomplished, many will be unable to continue improving.

When the archer has TP, he or she will become terribly frustrated.  A coach must be completely, completely non-judgmental about this.  You, the parent or the coach, cannot FORCE the archer to NOT HAVE TP.  It is just not that simple.  If it happens to your archer you need to be supportive, open to explanation, completely interested in *any* revealing emotions and thoughts the archer is willing to share with you. You can make suggestions, you can take "an attitude", but in 99+ % of the cases you will simplly help to destroy the athlete;'s future as an archer.

If you can regress the archer to before the point of the infection (and this is a viral infection of the mental sort) and help him or her to understand what is going on, the archer MAY be able to grow out of the hole.  You can HELP the archer, but you cannot FORCE the archer.  As much as you might wish to just MAKE the archer shoot as he or she did before, it likely will not happen.  You CAN MAKE IT WORSE if you are not careful.   My advice is to find a new coach, a level III or IV coach, that can introduce huge evolutionary changes in the archer's form that MAY help to actually distract the archer to the point of laying down a new mental track for shooting.

It can be a real bear.  I am sorry there is no one sure cure.  Do not believe anyone who says there is, he is only selling a snake-oil product that has little chance of success. (but not a 100% useless chance).

TARGET FACE DIFFERENCES: (The lore of the rings)

    JOAD - a US phenomena not used in other parts of the world - JOAD is a US style of youth archery that follows SOME of the "FITA/WA" rules but not all.

• >JOAD Recurve (Olympic-style Bow) archers use the 10 ring, 5 color, 60 cm size, FITA style target. Each color has two rings, each a different score.)

• >JOAD Compound archers use the 10 ring, 5 color, 40 cm size, FITA style target.  NOTE that this target has an additional inner 10 ring as well as the regular/larger 10 ring.  The inner ring is also called the "X" ring.  JOAD compound archers in all divisions use the outer ten ring for scoring , except for the "Junior" division.  In this highest of JOAD divisions (the junior) the archers will score using the inner ten ring, the outer ten ring is ignored and arrows in this area are counted as nines.

    FITA - the target is the same but is usually smaller than the JOAD uses

• >Youth Recurve archers competing in a FITA event will use a 10 ring, 5 color, 40 cm FITA style target face.  All recurve archers in FITA events score the outer ten ring.  Arrows which cut the line of the x ring or are within the inner ten ring are scored as "X's" which have a numerical value of 10.  Sort of an "A+" when a 10 is an "A", and is used to break ties.

• >Youth Compound archers competing in a FITA event will use a 10 ring, 5 color, 40 cm FITA style target face.  All compound archers in FITA events score only the inner ten(aka "X") ring as a ten.  Arrows which cut the line or are within the inner ten ring are considered "10's".  There are no "X's" for compound archers.

ROUNDS DIFFERENCES:

  JOAD

• >The standard Indoor JOAD round consists of 60 arrows.  There are 20 ENDS.  Archers will shoot 3 arrows per end.  There is usually a  break between rounds, say a 15 minute rest period after the first 10 ENDS, but some tournaments will have continuous shooting instead.

 FITA

• 
  >The standard FITA Indoor round consists of 60 arrows shot at a 40 cm FITA style target face. There are 20 ENDS in which an archer shoots 3 arrows per END. In a FITA round, there is usually a 15 minute rest period after the first 10 ENDS. The USA Archery Indoor Nationals consists of a double indoor FITA which means that two FITA rounds make up the event. The USA Archery Indoor National double FITA is broken down into 2 shooting periods. The first FITA (60) arrows are shot during one period. The second FITA (60) arrows are then shot at a later time, usually in the afternoon or next day.  Both the compound and recurve archers shoot the 40cm in the FITA indoor round. The compound scores/counts a "10" using only the inner 10 ring. 

3 spots? (Is anyone going to spot me?)

>When an archer gets to a high level of accuracy, a problem arises in that they will tend to hit their own arrows.  "Robin Hoods" are very rare due to modern materials and designs.  But a glancing shot will usually result in a loss of points - when the arrow is headed to the X ring, hits an arrow already there and ends up in the 7 ring, the archer will benefit in switching from a traditional target to a "3-spot".  A three spot takes up about the same amount of space as a tradition target face described above.  Instead of rings x/10 through 1, it has THREE x's through 6, spaced either in a straight line or else a pyramid.  When the 3 spot is used, the archer puts one arrow into each of the spots.  Despite the optical illusion, the rings are (really) the same size as the single 40cm spot but if the archer is inaccurate beyond a 6 ring then s/he will end up with a MISS instead of a 5,4,3,2, or 1 .  If the archer never shoots less than a 6 then since only one arrow is put into each spot, there is no chance of lost points due to a glancing shot.  It is no small thing to switch from a single target to the three spot - it usually takes an archer some effort to mentally switch, and even a single miss can put the archer at a deficit.

ROBIN HOOD?  (Finally a term I know.  Or do I?)
>a Robin Hood is the name given to (you guessed it) an arrow burrowing into or splitting an arrow already in the target.  Traditionally it is reserved for only when you hit those arrows which were in the bullseye (10 or x ring).  The nocks used today are designed to prevent this from happening since when it happens you are going to lose the use of at least ONE expensive arrow.  Many times the archer that shot the arrow executing the shot that robin hoods will buy the arrow from the splitee in order to keep the pair together as a memento.  You do NOT automatically "own" the arrow you just ruined.

What is an "Olympian" score? (DOES my archer have to go to the Olympics to get one?)
>The USA Archery has created a series of levels of proficiency for archers to use to provide milestones, or progress indicators, as they get older, gain experience, and generally get better in archery.  Just like scouting provides ranks of achievement, JOAD provides ranks.  Each archer will advance at his or her own rate, and the JOAD coordinator will assign the award once the archer shoots the score necessary for the rank.  It must be shot in a "tournament-like" condition with at least 3 JOAD archers shooting and an adult supervisor/sponsor present.   The best possible score is 30 arrows times TEN, which is 300.  Therefore an archer must shoot a perfect round of 30 arrows to achieve the GOLD OLYMPIAN level.  Very few archers will ever in their lifetime score a perfect set of thirty TENS in a row, but it always a possibility on a "good" day.  There is also the Silver Olympian and the Olympian ranks, for shooting slightly less than PERFECT rounds.

>Each Olympian will receive a JOAD recognition award from the USA Archery office. In addition, in the past, first-time Gold Olympians received a watch, first-time Silver Olympians received a sport bag (one time only for both). Archers earning Olympian status received a one-year free USA Archery membership (once for Indoor Olympian and once for Outdoor Olympian).

>The following is required to be sent to the USA Archery with the request for recognition:

• >Scorecard (or clear copy) signed by the archer and a witness

• >Archer's name

• >Complete address

• >Archer's Date of Birth

• >Rank earned

• >Style of bow used

• >JOAD Club name
  

Olympian Considerations (Could it be there is a "bad" time to shoot an Olympian score?)
>One benefit of shooting an Olympian score, if done at the right time of the year, can result in the USA Archery offering a trip to the Chula Vista ARCO Training Center in Chula Visa, California.   Only the top ranked archers will make the trip, 1 of each gender and each bowtype from each region of the U.S.  Selection is based on FOUR Tournaments shot in the previous year with a minimum of THREE to qualify.

>For each tournament listed above the archer must add up the points for the place the archer won.  The highest scoring archers are chosen provided that the archer has NOT been selected to the Junior US Archery Team (Jr. USAT). 

>The situation is this; a youngster can shoot their olympian AFTER all the tournaments that are used to determine the points for the free trip have occurred. This in fact has happened in 2000-2001 to three very good A archers.  They each shot their olympians in the period of August 2000 to February 2001. The tournaments used for the points to determine the ranking on who gets to go were shot in Feb. 2000 to July 2000, all before they shot their olympians, and they did not shoot all of the desired tournaments. The result is that unless the archer shot at least three and preferably four of the eligible tournaments (for example: Archival Archery state indoor JOAD, Indoor Nationals [FITA and JOAD], Regional JOAD outdoor, State JOAD outdoor, State outdoor FITA and JOAD Nationals), the youngster will not qualify for the trip.

The result is that for the up and coming youngsters you really have to "bet on the come". If you want your archer to be eligible for the trip and the prestige you need to make sure they are entered in the eligible tournaments, IN CASE they shoot their olympian sometime later. 

>Regardless, SAVE all scorecards and result sheets for the all tournaments. If it was a bad weekend, use it later to show the progress the archer makes when s/he turns in a good performance- always positive, rather than negative, feedback.

PINS:>
For each benchmark score, the archer can buy a pin to wear on his/her quiver to document her ability.  These are FITA pins, and are internationally recognized as an indicator of quality.  For more information on this, use this link.

What is an end? (Does everyone go home?)
>An "END" is the arrows shot during one shooting turn.  Ends are usually 3 arrows or 6 arrows by each archer in a given amount of town, then they are scored and pulled from the target.  Generally, only the ends for the longer distances outdoors are  6 arrows.  The name arose from early archery - in England the King required all men to shoot each week, and each town and village had a green area at the center of the town devoted to the purpose.  There were two berms of dirt with targets at each END of the green, and once all arrows were shot at one END, the archers carried their bows down to get their arrows, and then shot back in the other direction.  Hence a ROUND was originally two ENDS.  >Oh yes, and you only get to go home at the END of the tournament. 

ROUND?  (Who buys the round?)

>A "ROUND" is today a set number of ends, such as 10 ends per round.   At club shoots, there are sometimes rounds afterwards (in the pub), purchased by the losing archer(s), especially in England where clubs have been in existence for literally hundreds of years in villages, towns, and even at the royal palace. 

What is the difference between Indoor and Outdoor tournaments?
>It's a function of space availability.  It's hard to find 90 meters indoors in which to shoot arrows.  Generally, indoor FITA tournaments are held in the winter months, Outdoor tournaments during the spring and summer.  Indoor distance for USA Archery tournaments is 18 meters.  JOADs shoot two rounds of 30 arrows at 60cm targets for the indoor tourneys, at 18 meters. 

>Outdoor tournaments usually consist of rounds of 36 arrows per distance, shot either in ends of 3 arrows each at the two closer distances, or 6 arrows at the two longer distances.  Outdoor FITA/JOAD tourneys are usually composed of four distances for all but the Yeoman archers (two distances).  Generally the longest distance is shot first and then each subsequent round moves to the next closer distance.  See the combined table further below for both divisions, ages, distances.  It is legal to shoot the SHORTER distance first, and then work to longer distances.

>The above target distances are the same for recurve and compound archers, but all compound archers will score on the inner 10 ring.

>NOTE: as of around 2012, it became common to shoot all arrows in a qualifying event at one distance, rather than four distances. This is to prepare the archers for the olympic competition, some say. So the 4-distance FITA 1440 Round is not nearly as commonplace as it was in the past. More emphasis is also placed on having a series of head-to-head matches, OR Matchplay, so the archers will shoot against each other, two at a time, to determine the "best" archer on that day. This follows the same kind of bracket design seen in Tennis tournaments. You win your match, you get to play again. You lose your match, you are done and turn into a spectator.  

What determines whether my child is a Junior or a Yeoman!   ? (I'm so CONFUSED - is that why little Johnny keeps saying,  YO! Man! and aren't they all archers??)>
JOAD divisions are based on the age of an archer and his/her date of birth. Archers shoot in each division is through the end of the calendar year of the birthday that makes the limit.  Archers can shoot in HIGHER divisions than their age group if they want/need the challenge found in competing with older archers.  Once an archer's 20th year has passed and they turn 21 they are no longer eligible to compete as JOADs and are classified as "seniors" (adults).  By the way, "Masters" is the designation for those archers 50 years of age and up. American Archers recognizes Master 50+, Master 60+, and even Master 70+ categories, but World Archery groups all archers > 50 years as "Master".

>In 2001 the USA Archery Board of Governors (BOG)  made changes in the rules to bring the US JOAD divisions into line with the more recently adopted divisions of the world-wide archery organization (FITA).  As one of the primary goals of the USA Archery is to produce Olympian archers, this enables US youth archers to more easily compare their performance with archers of other nationalities.   The BOG also chose to create noncompetitive divisions to avoid forcing archers into competitive situations they might not like.   The names used for the newly adopted competitive divisions are (FITA) Junior, Cadet, Cub, and Bowman.   The two noncompetitive divisions are  USA Archery Archer and USA Archery Yeoman.  I suggest always including the "USA Archery" and capitalizing the "A" in Archer division to differentiate it from the generic term "archer". 

>For an example of what division your child belongs to, click on this link (http://achivalarchery.org/JOAD/age.htm ) to go to a division calculator.  If doing this during 2001, follow the instructions there to project a year in the future.

When to move up? ( Like, do we have a choice? )
>Young archers generally will stay in their age classification until they are forced up by the rules.  In some cases they will exhibit a level of accomplishment beyond their years and peers.  In such cases they will actually benefit from moving to an older/higher class division in order to provide them with continued impetus, competition, and motivation to excel.  One JOAD coach with a lot of experience in this area, Jim Krueger, recommends that once an archer has shot an Olympian (see above) that archer should probably move into the Junior classification.  

WHAT, "FOR"?:  (or in Texan, "WHUT, FER?)>
WHAT is a FOR?   FOR is short for "FITA OLYMPIC ROUND".  The FITA Olympic Round came about as an attempt to make the archery competition more exciting and decisive (exciting for the spectators, decisive for the archers).   In essence two archers stand face to face and alternate shots - in just a few shots  (12 or 18 arrows) one archer will win and the other, well, loses.  Many outdoor FITA tournaments now have two components - the FITA rounds, treated as a "qualification" or preliminary round, where an archer shoots 144 arrows (4 rounds of 36 arrows) and then shoots a FOR on the last day.   The FITA portion acts like a "ranking" tool for the FOR, where archer #1  from the FITA shoots against archer #64, and so on according to a stated formula in the FITA rulebook.  

>Generally JOADs do not have FORs except at the yearly Outdoor National JOAD Tournament, but other adult tournaments throughout the year will provide opportunity for this experience.  The AVERAGE of the FITA and FOR components together can determine the final outcome of the tournament.

>The ends consist of 6 arrows shot in no more than 4 minutes/end at 122cm targets 70 meters distance, a total of 3 ends (18 arrows= possible 180 points).  The winner advances, the loser sits down. When there are only 8 gentlemen and 8 ladies in each division left, the format changes to the "Finals Round", with  ends of 3 arrows, same distance and target face, for a total of of 4 ends (12 arrows= possible 120 points ).  Shooting alternates, one arrow/archer at a time, each archer has 40 seconds to loose the arrow.  This culminates in the Gold Medal Match.  

>You should try to have your archer participate in some practice FORs prior to the JOAD Nationals, as the format is very different and takes some getting use to.  It's very difference can "throw" the unprepared archer who might otherwise be shooting the FITA portion well.

Why should I encourage my JOAD archer to compete in tournaments? (Who, me, a pushy parent?)
>The USA Archery's JOAD program is designed specifically to provide a great degree of positive reinforcement to youth in a safe manner.  A goal of the JOAD coach is to get every kid shooting (safely) within only a few minutes of first picking up a bow, and to provide constant POSITIVE  encouragement as the archer progresses through the achievement levels.  JOAD coaches are taught to never (or rarely) use negative terminology when helping the archer.  For example, Instead of saying "You made a bad shot.  So don't drop your arm!" a JOAD coach will encourage improvement by saying "That was really close! The arrow will go low if you let your arm down early, so stand up tall, and keep pointing your arm to the target until the arrow hits it!"

>As for tournaments, it is only natural that parents want their child to excel AND have fun, and competing in JOAD tournaments will almost always provide further positive reinforcement as virtually every archer will receive formal recognition by the group, especially in the local and regional events.  It is remarkable how positive the tournament can be for an archer - there is usually anticipatory stress, but almost always the archer will be having a good time, by the time the first arrows fly!

>A unique thing about archery competition that sets it apart from other sporting competitions is that while there is a degree of "do better than the other guy" element, there is much more emphasis placed on "try to shoot your personal best" along with a social promotion between the archers.   During a Qualifying round the archer does not often see directly the performance of other archers in the same division so they cannot compare their own performance until the round is finished.  There is not the usual "I'm being beaten" stress and loss of self-esteem!  JOAD archers gain great self-esteem by virtue of competing against themselves and improving on their personal best scores.    It is important that parents not place too much pressure on "winning" as opposed to encouragement towards a "personal best" and "a good time".  By the way, there is no yelling at the referees at an archery tournament!  

>Webmaster's note: The archers I witnessed at the JOAD national outdoor tournaments I have been to almost seem to view the shooting as getting in the way of their socializing and friend-making (but not quite).  JOAD (and archery in general) is a non-contact sport that promotes manners and sportsmanship, as well as mental strength and physical stamina.  About the only folks I have seen that truly were not having fun at tournaments involved their parents having a go at each other while the kids were left looking on, embarrassed by the immaturity of their parents, or else were in reaction to inordinate and unreasonable pressures created by, you guessed it, the parents.

OF SPECIAL NOTE: >Archery is one of the few sports in which kids with physical disabilities may compete head-to-head with "regular" kids.   For example, archers in their 60s and 70s, and even in wheelchairs, have competed and fared well in the regular olympics in recent years, making archery a truly unique sport for an entire lifetime.  This provides the able bodied youth with valuable experience in associating with "disabled" people (archers) who may very shoot their pants off, and vice-versa of course.  World Archery specifically mentions archers with disabilities and provides for them to participate in all archery events that they might wish to, provided the tourney director is notified ahead of time so that any facilitative measures can be taken that might be appropriate.  How many Olympic sports can say that?  Archers in wheelchairs have represented their countries at the "able-bodied" Olympics as well as of course, the Paralympic Games.

>In addition, archery is surprisingly one sport where many ladies will shoot better than many men, on the same target and at the same distances.  Statistics on the FITA page from the 2000 Sydney Olympics show that many women scored better than many of the men!(see above)   Archery sends a great message to our young women AND our young men about equality of the sexes and the disabled, as well as sportsmanship.  See OVERBOW! below for further information along these lines.

>Many tournaments are both an adult (FITA) and JOAD tournament together.  JOAD archers are allowed to shoot in both categories and often do.  It amounts to a lot of arrows, but it is good fun.  Or rather, it CAN be good fun, or it can leave the young archer with a very bad feeling about archery!

>Parents of those youngsters planning on shooting BOTH the JOAD round and a standard FITA round in one tournament should make every attempt to spread the rounds over three days.  It is common for even very GOOD youth archers to struggle on their last round, even with the shooting spread out over three days. You must decide if it is really worth shooting all three rounds based on the drop in performance that so frequently occurs on the last round.  It is tacitly unfair for you to have your archer shoot a weekly average of say, 60 arrows during practice and then expect that s/he will suddenly be up to the physical demands of shooting 200+ arrows on a single weekend.   We see kids going home very frustrated by the "recency" effect: they can only think about the last exhausting round and what might have been, rather than the really good arrows (and the fun) they shot on the first or second rounds.  Think about this: If your archer uses a bow with a 25 pound draw weight, and shoots 120 arrows, it is the equivalent of pulling 3,000 pounds!   

WHY are all the archers so well behaved?  (Is it because they are always called Gentlemen and Ladies?)
>One of the keys to safety is an absence of misbehavior such as rowdiness, running, fighting, etc. on the archery range - behavior totally unassociated with both young kids today.  Yet it will be obvious at any JOAD session that something different is afoot.  Archers in general display a certain maturity beyond their years.   The USA Archery has very specific rules about behavior during tournaments, both JOAD as well as adult, and the rules apply to the parents as well as the competitors:

SPORTSMANSHIP AND CONDUCT (from the USA Archery)
>In the JOAD programs young women and men are referred to as ladies and gentlemen.  All lady and gentlemen members of a JOAD club have the responsibility to show good sportsmanship and proper conduct at all times.  This conduct should extend to time on and off the competition field.

>The rules of proper conduct are those defined in the Official FITA rulebook and those adopted by the USA Archery and JOAD programs.  If an archer displays conduct at a tournament which is viewed to be unsportsmanlike, he or she will be warned by a Judge and/or by a JOAD Committee member, if present.  A report in writing will be forwarded to the JOAD Committee, Officials and Rules Committee and the USA Archery Board of Governors.

DRESS CODE:
USA Archery Tournament Dress Code (as of January 1, 2000)
>
Target and Field Archery
a. During competitions competitors shall wear appropriate, professional and coordinated attire.
b. Skirts, skirts, shorts or trousers shall be constructed of any suitable navy blue, Khaki, or white material other than blue denim. Blue denim is acceptable ONLY for field archery. Shorts must have a minimum inseam of 5 inches.
c. Blouses, collared shirts and tee shirts may be composed of any color or combination of colors. For women, upper garments incorporating shoulder straps shall conform to a 3-inch or larger strap. Men are required to wear long or short sleeved shirts.
d. At no time may camouflage clothing be worn as an upper or lower body garment.
e. Footwear must be worn by all competitors at all times during the tournament.

Advertising and Trademark Restrictions
>a. Advertising and trademarks on clothing must adhere to the standards established in the FITA Constitution and Rules as set forth in articles 2.2.5, 2.2.6, 2.2.7 and 2.2.8.  FITA Rule books may be downloaded from the AA website on from the documents page, and from the FITA website.  Rule book TWO contains the articles cited, in chapter two.

Also from the USA Archery - If your archer gets good enough:

>{Webmaster: NOTE that the phrase "JUNIOR USAT" means "NOT THE SENIOR US ARCHERY TEAM" while "Junior division" applies to the JOAD division called Junior and not all junior-aged archers.   Those archers which compete in the division above cadet  called the "USA Archery Archer" Division are NOT considered with regard the Junior USAT, so if your archer is too old for the JOAD "Cadet" classification then s/he must shoot in the "junior" division in order to be eligible for the Jr. USAT team.} 
Shooting in a tournament in the USA Archery Archer division does not disqualify an archer from consideration for the Jr. USAT (team), however the score obtained in that division will not count towards the Jr.USAT. 

Junior US Archery Team (aka  Jr.USAT)  pronounced YewSat)   (sat?   where did I sit?)

>The team is made up of the top five Junior shooters and the top Cadet in each division. The JOAD Committee, along with the Athlete Training Committee, announced the Junior USAT team selection Process which was approved by the Board of Governors:

Junior USAT Team Composition

>The US Junior USAT team will be made up of the top five Junior shooters and the top Cadet boy and girl shooters in both the Recurve Division and the Compound Division.
The Athlete Training Committee determined the method of ranking and the necessary tournaments for ranking. They are:
Placement at the JOAD Outdoor National Championships - Cincinnati, Ohio July 12-14, 2002 (used as final tie breaker)
PLUS
>Placements at two of the following ranking tournaments:
USA Archery National Indoor Championships, regional sites March 1-10, 2002 (Final Ranking)
National Target Championships Canton, Michigan July 29 - Aug.2, 2002 (Final Ranking)
Junior World Trials Chula Vista, California June 7 - 9, 2002 (Final Ranking)
PLUS
>Posting at least one minimum qualifying FITA Round score at an USA Archery -Sanctioned Star FITA event or USA Archery - Sanctioned Qualifier.
(Junior Division only)
 

PLUS
>
Those born in or after 1985 are eligible for Junior USAT for the year 2003. For later years you must consult the USA Archery website for the latest rules on this.

Olympian Team Selection

>Check the American Archers website for this process, which constantly evolves as the sport does.

FITNESS - how hard can it be to shoot a pointy stick?

>Or, how much work is involved in a typical outdoor tournament?

>Let's estimate the following:

>8 practice ends of 6 arrows each, even at the short distance for twice at each of 4 distances. FITA of 144 arrows, 36 at each distance. Archer retires 10 meters behind shooting line after each end. Makes 2 trips to the portaloo, figure 50 meters each roundtrip to johnny. So I reckon the average archer will walk around 5300 meters (including trips to the loo). 5300 meters converts to 5687 yards, or around 3.3 miles!

Assumptions for an archer shooting 70/60/50/30 meters in tourney:
Competition consists of 12 ends of 6, 24 ends of 3. To/From Shooting Line: 36 ends + 8 warmups, total * 20 meters = 880 meters Warmups: 2 * 140 meters + 2 * 120m + 2 * 100m + 2 * 60m = 840 meters walked for warmups
Competition: 6 ends * 140m + 6 * 120m + 12 * 100m + 12 * 60m = 3480 meters total for FITA shooting

Assuming the archer lets down once per 20 arrows, and is shooting a 40 pound bow: 48 practice arrows plus 144 arrows plus 15 let downs = 8280 pounds pulled/lifted. I have no idea how much pull it takes to remove each arrow from a whitetail buttress, but I'll WAG it's at least 10 pounds, adding another 2070 pounds, so the archer is going to pull a total of around 10,000 pounds! Of course, the archers with the cams and let-off will pull much less<G>....

So an archer actually does quite a bit of exercise in a tournament!

National Tournament - Do we have to do BOTH of them!?

>Currently, there are two National Championships for archers under eighteen in the United States. Travel costs force many archers to choose between the two tournaments; having to attend both (especially when they may be on the other side of the US) may be prohibitively expensive.

For most years, the JOAD National Tournament is designated as the National Championship for the JOAD Division. PLEASE NOTE: The Youth divisions will usually also be shot at the USA Archery Nationals.

>The JOAD National tournaments are for the kids, immensely fun, provided that the parents don't do the typical parental overbearing  thing.  Regardless of how good the archer is (or bad, within reason) he or she will find plenty of potential friends to visit with in between the pesky interruptions to shoot arrows.  My advice to the parents is to follow the kid's lead and just sit back and enjoy it all.  Offer lots of positive encouragement and NEVER criticize negatively.   It is NOT your time, it is your archer's time. Honor it and him/her.

Outdoor Tourney Checklist

>If you are taking one or more kids to an outdoor tournament, particularly the nationals, you want to bring along certain items.

>Plan to bring or share a canopy or awning or sunshade of some kind - The kids will probably have their own shade provided by the Tourney organizers, but you need some, too.

>Comfortable, portable chairs.    Sunscreen, bug repellant, ice chest, water, may be called for depending on the climate.  snacks are good.  In A, misters and battery-driven fans are popular. 

>ARCHERS SHOOT IN THE RAIN!  Only lightning will cause a director to halt shooting, so be prepared with layers of tight-fitting clothes if rain would mean the archer would be chilled or cold.

>Binoculars or a spare spotting scope is usually useful so the parents can enjoy the competition.

Spotting arrows

>Especially in the beginning of tournament participation a young archer may have trouble figuring out where the arrow went.   It's important to know, in case an adjustment needs to be made.  If the archer waits for all 6 arrows to be done before s/he catches the problem a lot of points can be lost needlessly.  Most older archers will have a spotting scope on a tripod for the long distances, and a small pocket set for closer distances.  After each shot most will identify their arrow (by color of nock and/or fletches) to assure they have the right setting on their bowsight.  (That is why it's important to have a unique color, different from the other archers on the target - so take extra sets of nocks in various colors to allow your archer to switch out nocks if necessary to insure s/he can recognize his own arrows against all the other arrows in the target bail)

>As an alternative to a spotting scope, It is legal for a parent to hold some kind of system, say, a small target, and to point on that target in hand as to where the archer's arrow went on the target.  This is helpful to the kids who are not used to the environment, who might have trouble seeing where their arrows went.   The parent CANNOT call out to the archer, but can silently use a graphic to indicate results.  The only problem is that the archer must then change focus from the target and shooting back to the bleachers, find the parent, figure out the graphic, and then decide what to do.   Ultimately the archer should learn to use a scope, but in the beginning this is indeed legal and acceptable.

>BRING AS MANY SPARE PARTS AS YOU HAVE for your archer's bow kit.  At a minimum, you should have at least 12 arrows (in my humble opinion, since if a target with 6 arrows in it tips over and ruins all 6 - rare but it has happened), extra fletchings/spinwings, spare nocks of both the same and different colors (7 minimum of any color, in case the other archers on target have the same vanes and nock colors), another broken-in bowstring with proper nocking point/kisser button located, armguard, finger tab (again, broken in), finger-sling, mechanical release if compound shooter,chest protector. 

>A bowstand is not required, but is very handy - the alternative is that the archer props the bow up with an arrow, which gets messy if the ground is soggy due to rain.

>ALL ARCHERS MISS THE TARGET occasionally!   For newer archers, a metal detector is actually quite useful to find arrows that miss the buttress and burrow into the turf, often disappearing completely from sight.   Since they have metal in them, arrows can be found more easily.  Most JOAD tournaments will have a metal detector at the DOS stand - do not be afraid to ask for it and for help locating an arrow.  It is commonplace, even at adult senior events! Parents, choose arrows that have metal in them if you want to be able to find them! Pure carbon arrows (no aluminum in the shaft) are very difficult to find with a metal detector!

>
FINAL NOTE from the webmaster:  For anyone, archery should be fun.  This is especially important for youth archers.  Parents, encourage your archer, but don't force.  Many parents have found success by requiring the archer to commit and re-commit to the sport prior to each escalation (purchase) of equipment, and some have driven the archer from the field by overbearing and excessively competitive attitudes.

>Archery is indeed a sport for life, and one they can take pride in no matter how old they are - don't drive them away from it by trying to force the sport on them.   Try to use the archer's own "Personal Best" as your gauge, rather than any tournament or other outside criteria for advancement.   Place emphasis on what matters - the happiness and growth of your child as evidenced by her interest in the sport and encourage her to take pride in her accomplishment.  Even one point added to a personal best (PB) is a reason to celebrate!  When you run into trouble where the archer isn't happy, has a problem, or isn't continuing to improve, find a certified USA Archery coach to help you get past the problem and get the archer improving and enjoying the sport again.  

What is an indoor tournament like in A?