Modelling archers’ scores at different distances to quantify score loss due to equipment selection and technique errors

Abstract

Archers lose score through parameters that vary either linearly or quadratically with distance to the target. An archer’s arrow group on the target can be modelled using a normal distribution with the standard deviation depending upon the archer’s skill level and the distance to the target. Structuring the standard deviation to include both a component that varies linearly with distance and another that varies quadratically with distance provides a mechanism to quantify the impact on the archer’s score of various technique and equipment errors. In this article, the impact of wind drift and variable lateral bow angle (bow cant) have been quantified using the archer’s scores at target distances of 70 and 50 m, together with simulation using a Monte Carlo technique.