Handicaps are an excellent way to track your personal progress over time, though there are no physical badges awarded for them.
How Handicaps Work
- The Scale: Handicaps range from 150 down to 0. As you improve, your handicap number gets lower.
- Separate Tracks: You maintain completely separate handicaps for indoor and outdoor shooting, as well as for different bow styles.
- Official Tables: Every round and score corresponds to a specific handicap number. You can find these in the "Outdoor and Indoor Handicap Tables" under the Member Resources section of the Archery GB website, or by using online archery calculators.
Calculating Your Handicap
- Initial Handicap: To get started, you must submit your first 3 rounds. Your initial handicap is the average of these three scores, rounded down to the nearest whole number.
- Improving Your Handicap: Once established, your handicap can only improve (go down) during the season—it will never get worse because of a bad day.
- The Formula: Each time you shoot a round that is better than your current handicap, your new handicap becomes the average of the two, rounded down.
Linking Classifications
Handicaps act as a universal bridge across different types of rounds. For example, to achieve an "Archer 3rd Class" classification, the threshold score required for a Warwick round, a National round, and a Western round will all share the exact same handicap rating.
Levelling the Playing Field (Handicap Matches)
Handicaps allow archers of completely different skill levels to compete fairly using an "Allowance":
- Everyone shoots the same round.
- Each archer looks up their handicap allowance in the Archery GB tables and adds it to their actual score.
- If you shoot exactly to your current handicap skill level, your adjusted score will be 1,440.
- If you shoot better than your handicap, you will score above 1,440. The highest adjusted score wins the match.
While rarely used in major tournaments, this system is a popular way for clubs to determine Club Championship Handicap trophy winners, giving beginners a genuine chance to beat the club's top archers.