The essentials in 30 seconds
To improve at archery, three families of numbers are enough. Each one answers a different question:
- The result: the normalised average, scaled to the official format (out of 600 indoors, out of 720 outdoors), and the held zone, the zone that 8 arrows out of 10 reach.
- Accuracy: the mean distance to the centre of the target face, in centimetres. It judges both the shot and the sight setting.
- Consistency: the group size and its horizontal and vertical spread, measured around the centre of the impacts, not the centre of the face. They judge the shot alone.
The rule that follows: a tight group off-centre is fixed with the sight; a wide group is fixed with the shot. Volume, training load, how the archer felt and trends come next, to understand what moves those numbers.
CapTarget Archery (iPhone and Android) calculates these indicators from the impacts plotted on the target face. CapTarget Coach shows them to the coach, archer by archer or for a whole group. To choose an app for your profile, see also which app to improve at archery.
1A score you can compare: the normalised average
Comparing a 30-arrow round with a 72-arrow round makes no sense. So CapTarget scales everything to the official format: 60 arrows indoors (out of 600), 72 outdoors (out of 720).
It is an average weighted by arrows, not an average of averages: a 90-arrow session weighs three times as much as a 30-arrow one. For a season or for a group of archers, add up the points and the arrows, then divide.
- What counts
- Scored rounds and drills that give points. A round entered only by its total counts once it is 100% complete.
- What does not count
- Arrow sorting, rounds the archer has excluded, drills without points.
- Best session (record)
- Only a complete round in the official format: exactly 60 arrows indoors, 72 outdoors.
Period summary (example). Each number is compared with the previous period of the same length, or with the same point of the previous season. For the distance to centre, a drop is progress.
Changes are coloured by size. In points: neutral under 3 points, strong from 10. In volume: neutral under 5%, strong from 15%. In centimetres: neutral under 0.2 cm, strong from 0.5 cm.
2Where the arrows go: centre, group, spread
Once each arrow is plotted on the target face, you no longer know only how much it scored, but where it went. The impact plot gives several measurements, in centimetres, valid whatever the target face.
- Group centre
- The mean position of the impacts. Its offset from the centre of the face, left or right, up or down, reads in cm: 1.1 cm right, 0.7 cm low.
- Mean distance to centre
- The mean distance of each arrow to the centre of the face: 2.9 cm. It judges accuracy, sight setting included.
- Group size
- The mean distance of each arrow to the group centre, multiplied by 2: 5.4 cm. It judges dispersion alone.
- 80% circle
- The smallest circle, around the group centre, that holds 80% of the arrows (at least 5 arrows): 7.3 cm in diameter.
- Horizontal and vertical spread
- The width and height that hold 80% of the arrows on each axis: 3.7 cm wide × 6.4 cm high (taller than wide: +73%).
- Re-centred score
- The score the same group would have given if it were centred: 331 points instead of 329 (+2). The gap is what the sight setting costs.
3The held zone: where 8 arrows out of 10 land
An average mixes good arrows and accidents. The held zone answers a more concrete question: which zone can the archer hold for sure? Arrows are ranked from best (X) to worst (M), stopping once 80% of them are counted.
Here, the archer holds the 9: 81% of the arrows land in the 9 or better. It is the first ring to pass 80%. The average says “548 out of 600”; the zone says what the archer can guarantee.
This calculation only uses arrows plotted on the face, one by one. A round scored end by end counts its points, but does not say where the arrows went.
4Consistency: start, finish and steadiness of sessions
Two archers averaging 550 can have opposite profiles: one starts slowly, the other collapses at the end of the round. Four charts show it.
The end profile
End by end, in the official format: the median, the mean and the range between the first and third quartiles. It needs at least 4 complete rounds, or 2 picked by hand.
Score by series position
Series of the same session shot less than two hours apart are chained together. The first, the second and the following ones are compared, with at least 3 series per position. It is the best way to know whether the volume of a session is becoming counter-productive.
Session steadiness and score distribution
Session steadiness: for each week, the gap between the best and the worst session. The narrower the band, the more consistent the archer. Score distribution: the histogram of ends, series or complete rounds, from 8 rounds. A distribution stretched downwards points to accidents more than to a lack of level.
5Volume and training load
Volume is counted in arrows, broken down by type: scored, target face, blank bale, visualisation, resistance band. The most useful number is arrows per week. For an archer, it is calculated over active weeks, from the first session to the last.
- Smoothed load
- A local regression (LOESS) over 7 neighbouring steps, calculated on whole weeks only. It needs at least 4 steps. It reads by week, month, quarter or half-year.
- Phases
- Load increase, load decrease or stable load: a phase counts when the change reaches 15% of the average load over at least 3 steps.
• more than 10% extra load every week: a fast climb, to keep an eye on;
• a stable load but weeks that swing strongly: an irregular rhythm rather than progress;
• a week more than 25% away from the current load: well above it, or well below.
The shooting rhythm completes the picture: one square per day, the number of days shot per week, the longest streak and the number of arrows per day shot.
6Feelings and causes: what moves the score
After each session, the archer can fill in a review: goals of the day, what went well, what to work on, a free note and a message to the coach. They also rate three gauges out of 10: commitment, enjoyment and goals reached. These ratings become curves, comparable with the scores.
“The week and the shooting”, in CapTarget Coach
Each point is a week, Monday to Sunday. Pick a cause on the horizontal axis: the week's volume, the previous week's volume, days shot, enjoyment, intensity, goals reached, the share of target face, blank bale, visualisation or drills. Pick an effect on the vertical axis: score, distance to centre, group size, horizontal or vertical spread.
The correlation coefficient r is calculated from 4 weeks. Under 0.2: no clear link. Under 0.5: a weak link. Above: a clear link.
7Form peaks
A form peak is the 3-week window leading to the top of the trend, when its gain over the rest of the period is clear given the archer's usual dispersion. For a very consistent archer, the thresholds tighten.
The trend is a local regression weighted by arrows. Training and competition are read separately. A statistical test (Welch's t-test) rules out peaks that could be mere chance. It needs several weeks of data: about a dozen training rounds, or 6 competitions.
8Equipment: arrow sorting and tuning tests
Arrow sorting
Each arrow has a number. For each one, CapTarget calculates its average and its group, then ranks it. It then searches every possible combination for the trio (or the group of the chosen size) that groups tightest. Finally, it compares what that trio would have scored once re-centred with the rest of the set. It needs at least 4 arrows and 6 impacts per arrow.
Over 1,215 real sorts, the chosen trio scores on average 0.549 points per arrow more than the rest of the set. The figure is an upper bound, to be read with its limits: see the arrow sorting analysis.
Tuning tests
Bare shaft, button (plunger) setting, tuning test, fletchless arrows, paper test: the same number of arrows is shot for each value of the setting. Group sizes are then compared, measured by the perimeter around the impacts. Several sessions of the same kind and on the same face can be pooled.
“The best group is obtained at … Then fine-tune around this value.”
For the steps, see the recurve bow tuning guide. The equipment sheet also tracks sight marks by distance, with a confidence level, and the estimated wear of parts.
9Matches: what an end is worth
In a match, the average matters less than the threshold that wins a set. Only complete sets shot by both archers count, never shoot-offs. CapTarget shows the end score from which the set is won at least one time in two, the share of sets won, tied and lost, and the breakdown of arrows in the 10, the 9, the 8 and 7 or less.
10With a coach: CapTarget Coach
The archer keeps their data in CapTarget Archery, and the coach finds it in CapTarget Coach, with no re-entry. What the coach gets on top:
- Group dashboard: arrows and sessions per archer and per week, the group's normalised average. It is calculated by adding up all the arrows, never by averaging averages.
- Archers table: average and record in training and competition, held zone, load trend over the last weeks.
- Archer messages: the message left in the session review is raised as an alert until the coach reads it.
- Archer profile: overview, activities, progress by season, zones and impacts, consistency, reviews, planning and equipment.
- Season planning: phases, arrow load week by week, mix of arrow types, events. Planned and actual are compared automatically.
- Live qualifications: ranking updated end after end, projection over the full qualification round, comparison of up to 3 archers. Excel exports.
Summary: which number for which question
| Question | Indicator | Minimum data | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am I improving? | Normalised average, compared with the previous period | Scored rounds, one venue | Archery free · Coach |
| What is my real level? | Held zone (8 arrows out of 10) | Plotted arrows | Archery free · Coach |
| Is it the sight or the shot? | Distance to centre and group size | Plotted arrows, at least 5 for the circle | Archery · Coach |
| Do I spread more vertically or horizontally? | Horizontal and vertical spread (80%) | 5 arrows per round | Archery full version · Coach |
| Do I start badly or finish badly? | End profile, series position | 4 complete rounds, 3 series per position | Archery full version · Coach |
| Am I doing too much? | Smoothed load and its phases | 4 whole weeks | Archery full version · Coach |
| What helps me shoot well? | The week and the shooting (correlation) | 4 weeks | Coach |
| When was I at my best? | Form peaks | Several weeks, about a dozen rounds | Archery full version · Coach |
| Which arrows should I take? | Arrow sorting | 4 arrows, 6 impacts each | Archery full version · Coach |
| Which end score wins my sets? | What an end is worth | Complete sets | Archery full version · Coach |
Method and limits
- All impact measurements rely on the arrows plotted by the archer. A plotting error ends up in the numbers.
- Feeling ratings are self-reported: they describe the archer's perception, not a measurement.
- Minimum data thresholds avoid drawing conclusions from three rounds. Below them, the app shows nothing rather than a misleading number.
- A correlation does not prove causation, and a trend is not a promise.
- Numbers describe the shooting; they replace neither the coach nor technical work.
Frequently asked questions
Which statistics should I track to improve at archery?
The average scaled to the official format for the result, the mean distance to centre for accuracy, and the group size for consistency. Add the held zone, the zone that 8 arrows out of 10 reach, and the number of arrows per week.
What is the difference between group size and distance to centre?
Group size measures how the arrows spread around their own centre: it judges the shot. Distance to centre measures how far they are from the centre of the face: it judges the shot and the sight setting. A tight group far from the centre is fixed with the sight.
How do I calculate my archery average over rounds of different lengths?
Add up all the points and all the arrows, divide, then multiply by 60 indoors or by 72 outdoors. That is the normalised average CapTarget uses, weighted by the number of arrows.
What is the held zone?
It is the zone of the target face that the archer reaches with 8 arrows out of 10, or better. For example, “holding the 9” means 80% of the arrows land in the 9 or the 10.
Which app analyses archery groups?
CapTarget Archery, on iPhone and Android. It calculates the group centre, its offset in cm, the circle that holds 80% of the arrows, the horizontal and vertical spread and the re-centred score. CapTarget Coach gives the same analyses to the coach.
See your own statistics
More than 80% of CapTarget Archery is free, on iPhone and Android. The advanced statistics can be viewed as a demo before upgrading to the full version.