Your current Handicap and Classification, if you have them, are shown on the WAC’s website at
https://www.wokingarchery.club/home/members-information/handicaps-and-classifications/.
If you want detailed access to your historical scores, you can request a personal login to the online records via email to records@wokingarchery.club . Here you can see all your submitted scores by round as well as a variety of graphs and charts of your shooting. You can also download your data for your own use.
Handicaps and Classifications Explained
Many members, not just new ones, have asked questions about the Archery GB Handicap and Classification scheme. The following is an attempt to explain them. For those interested, there are further details on the Archery GB website (archerygb.org). We don’t provide direct links to them here as they do get broken from time to time, so just search for Classifications or Handicaps on the AGB site to find the latest information.
Handicaps and classifications are maintained separately for the indoor and outdoor seasons (and for each bowtype you shoot) by the Club Records Officer. An archer can only have a handicap or classification if they have shot at least three qualifying rounds that have been entered into the club’s record books.
Archery GB publish tables of handicaps for scores gained in all standard rounds, Imperial and Metric. Lower scores have higher handicaps and vice versa.
Handicaps are used, amongst other things, to allow competitions across all levels of archers and for you to compare your performance across different rounds.
Classifications chart your progress through the sport as a series of classes and reward improvement with achievement badges.
Initial assessment
A beginner, or archer does not receive a handicap until they have shot and scored three complete rounds (and submitted them to the Records Officer).
The handicap awarded will be the average of the handicap rating for the 3 completed rounds, rounded up to the next whole number.
For example,
First 3 completed rounds have handicaps of 79, 71 & 68, (average 72.6 ) giving an initial handicap of 73.
Ongoing Reduction of handicaps
The process of handicap reduction is continuous, and will be reduced every time an archer shoots a round to a better standard than their current handicap. The new handicap will be an average of their current handicap and the handicap for the round shot, again, rounded up to the next larger whole number. The archers handicap cannot go back up, if the new handicap is higher than the current handicap, then the current handicap will remain.
Examples
An archer with a handicap of 45 who shoots a round with a handicap of 44 (average 44.5) retains a handicap of 45.
An archer with a handicap of 45 who shoots a round with a handicap of 46 (average 45.5) retains a handicap of 45 because the handicap cannot increase.
An archer with a handicap of 45 who shoots a round with a handicap of 43 (average 44) has a new handicap 44.
An archer with a handicap of 45 who shoots a round with a handicap of 40 (average 42.5) has a new handicap 43.
These examples show that an archer must shoot a round with a handicap at least 2 better than their current handicap for their handicap to improve.
Annual reassessment of Handicaps
At the end of each season, your three best handicaps from scores made during that season are averaged together and this becomes your new handicap for the next season. The Outdoor season runs from 1st January to 31st December and the Indoor season runs from 1st July to 30 June.
Archery GB Classification Scheme
The classification scheme gives the archer goals to aim for, as your scores increase (and handicap decreases) you can move up through the classification classes gaining achievement badges as you improve.
Outdoor classification: There are nine different classification levels available to all archers, which are grouped into three sets of three. A beginner starts off with the Archer tier, progressing to the Bowman tier and finally the Master Bowman tier.
Each tier has 3 levels, these are (in order of improved shooting standard: Archer 3rd Class, Archer 2nd Class, Archer 1st Class, Bowman 3rd Class, Bowman 2nd Class, Bowman 1st Class, Master Bowman, Grand Master Bowman and finally Elite Master Bowman.
You can find more information than you will ever need at Archery GB’s Website.
Indoor Classifications: These are tiered in the same way as outdoor classifications just preceded by the word Indoor i.e. Indoor Bowman 2nd Class.
The qualifying scores you need to achieve depend on the round shot, bow type, age group and gender, and these are set out in the Archery GB Classification tables. Generally the longer distance rounds with more arrows allow you to claim higher Classifications. You can claim Archer tier classifications by shooting rounds during practice. Higher classifications must be shot during a formal competition, although this can be organised by the club (e.g. one of the Sunday rounds listed in the club calendar).
For outdoor rounds, Classifications up to Bowman 1st Class are administered by the club records officer. Above that you will need to claim via Archery GB.
If you have any problems with handicaps or classifications please do not hesitate to contact the records officer records@wokingarchery.club.