Within the club we run the handicap system as defined by Archery GB on their Handicap Explainer page. Scores are submitted to the Records Officer who then maintains the records for individual archers and calculates their handicap.
Handicaps are similar to those used in golf – the lower the handicap, the more skilled the archer. Unfortunately, unlike in golf, an archer shoots different rounds, with different maximum scores over different distances and at different sized faces, so a handicap is not simply added to every scoring round. Instead, a handicap is either calculated by the records officer based on the round that was shot, and the score achieved, or, for handicap based trophies, for example, a target score is calculated based on your current handicap. A handicap is calculated after an archer has shot three eligible scoring rounds, and during a season your handicap can improve – if you shoot a score better than your current handicap – or stay the same, but cannot get worse (i.e. increase) during a season. At the start of the following season your new starting handicap is calculated based on your three best scores of the previous season.
This complicated calculation is all taken care of by the Records Officer, who will tell you your current handicap before any handicap shoot, or on request.
You can calculate your own handicap based on a particular scoring round using this online calculator. Alternatively, you can use this calculator to generate a list of target scores for particular rounds, based on a score on a different round.
Note that a handicap is specific to a bow styles (barebow, recurve etc) – an archer may have different handicaps for different bow styles and it enables different bow styles to compete against each other, with the handicap system taking into account any allowances for different bow styles.
We also award Badges when your handicap reaches certain milestones, for you to proudly wear on your quiver belt. Or your hat.
Bow Style Allowances
Some trophies are competed for which do not use handicaps, but instead provide a fixed allowance for different bow styles so that the different bow styles can compete against each other. These generally amount to a penalty for compound bows, zero for recurve, and a positive allowance for barebow/traditional bow. The details may change for different trophies.