The Archery Handicap Scheme exists to measure an archer’s ability regardless of who they are and what bow they shoot. Any score can be assigned a number on the handicap scale representing the accuracy with which it was shot. Handicaps form the basis of the classification system and tables, but have a wide variety of uses beyond this such as comparing performance on different rounds and tracking an archer’s progress throughout the season and their career.  Read more about handicaps here:  https://archerygb.org/resources/outdoor-classifications-and-handicaps

 

Important - The handicap schemes were revised for the start of the outdoor season 2023 and the indoor season 2023/24.  The new version is available here:  https://archerygb.org/files/complete-handicap-tables-120923153719.pdf

 

Please bear in mind that if you are using an archery App to calculate your handicap, this may be redundant if the software developer has not implemented these changes

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Initial handicap

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For archers without a handicap their initial handicap is the average of the handicaps for the first three rounds recorded. All handicaps are quoted in whole numbers and the average must be rounded down to the nearest whole number. 

 

For example, if an archer shoots 3 outdoor rounds with handicaps of 82, 75 and 70 then the initial handicap is 75 (82+75+70 = 227, 227÷3= 75.6, rounded down = 75).

 

Ongoing handicap

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As an archer progresses through a season, it’s likely that their shooting will improve and their handicap will decrease.

 

End of season

 

For archers continuing into further seasons, their handicap at the start of the next shooting year is an average of the handicaps for their best three scores in the preceding year (again rounding down).

 

Handicap Competitions

 

Handicaps can be used to enable archers of all standards and bowstyles to compete against each other. This is achieved by adding a certain number of points (allowance) onto an archers score at the end of the round. The lower an archer’s handicap, the fewer points get added to their score. The winner is the archer with the most points after the handicap has been taken into account. The handicap tables set out these allowances.