Scoring formats · Indoor
World Archery Indoor 18 m: how scoring works
World Archery Indoor is the standard indoor target round in international archery. You shoot 60 arrows from 18 meters (about 20 yards) at a 40 cm target, scoring each arrow from 1 to 10 for a maximum of 600. Recurve, compound and barebow archers all shoot it, from club level up to the World Archery Indoor Championships.
At a glance
The round in four numbers
- Time per end
- 2 minutes for 3 arrows.
- Scoring
- 10 at the center down to 1 on the outer white, with the X recorded for ties.
- Target faceDepends on bow type
- A single 40 cm face or a vertical 3-spot. The 3-spot is standard at World Archery events. Compound archers score only the inner 10 ring as a 10.
The target
Two faces, one set of rings
Each color holds two rings. The center gold is worth 10, and each ring outward is worth one less, down to 1 on the outer white. The dashed inner ring is the X.
The 3-spot (the rulebook calls it a "triple face") keeps only the 6 to 10 rings, so an arrow outside the 6 ring is a miss. Compound archers score only the inner 10 ring as a 10, on either face.
At the target
How to score it
Shoot three arrows.
You have two minutes for each end of three. On a 3-spot, shoot one arrow into each spot. If two arrows land in the same spot, only the lowest scores and the other counts as a miss.
Call them highest first.
At the target, read each arrow from highest to lowest, for example "X, 9, 7", while a partner writes them down and checks your total.
Touching a line? Take the higher score.
An arrow touching the dividing line between two rings scores the higher ring. A miss, or anything outside the scoring rings, scores M for zero.
Score it in NockPoint
Let the app keep the card
World Archery Indoor is built into NockPoint. Score each 30-arrow half end by end, tap where every arrow landed, and see your groups and personal bests build up on their own. Then take on other archers in a challenge on the same format.
- Every arrow plotted
- See where your group sits, not just what it scored.
- Totals done for you
- Ends, running totals, 10s and Xs, with no mental arithmetic.
- Challenges
- Shoot the same round as archers anywhere and compare.
Worked example
One half, scored end by end
Thirty arrows, ten ends of three, scored for a recurve archer, with the running total kept as you go. Total: 274 out of 300.
| End | 1 | 2 | 3 | End total | Running |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 28 | 28 |
| 2 | X | 10 | 9 | 29 | 57 |
| 3 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 26 | 83 |
| 4 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 27 | 110 |
| 5 | X | 9 | 9 | 28 | 138 |
| 6 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 29 | 167 |
| 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 25 | 192 |
| 8 | X | 10 | 9 | 29 | 221 |
| 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 28 | 249 |
| 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 25 | 274 |
| 10s: 10 · Xs: 3 | Total | 274 | |||
Don’t mix them up
World Archery Indoor or Vegas
| World Archery Indoor | Vegas 3-Spot | |
|---|---|---|
| Distance | 18 m | 20 yards (18.3 m) |
| Arrows | 60, maximum 600 | 30, maximum 300 |
| Face | 40 cm single face or 3-spot | 40 cm single face or 3-spot |
| Per end | 3 arrows, 2 minutes | 3 arrows, 2 minutes |
| Two arrows in one spot | Only the lowest scores | The highest is taken away (Championship divisions) |
The two are easy to mix up. For two arrows in one spot the result is the same either way.
Questions
Common questions
What is a perfect score in World Archery Indoor?
600: sixty arrows, all scoring 10. Each half of 30 arrows is out of 300.
Is 18 meters the same as 20 yards?
Close, but not the same. 18 m is about 19.7 yards. Vegas and NFAA indoor rounds are shot at 20 yards, which is about 18.3 m.
What is the difference between the single face and the 3-spot?
The single face has all ten rings. The 3-spot has three small faces with only the 6 to 10 rings, one arrow per face, so a single arrow cannot damage another. An arrow outside the 6 ring on a 3-spot is a miss. The organizer chooses the face; the 3-spot is standard at World Archery events and required in head-to-head matches.
Do compound archers score differently?
Yes. Compound archers score only the inner 10 ring as a 10, and the rest of the gold counts as 9. That applies on the single face and on the 3-spot.
What is an X?
The inner 10 ring. For recurve and barebow it scores 10 like the rest of the 10 ring, and the number of Xs is recorded to help separate tied scores. For compound, the X-size ring is the only 10.
Based on World Archery Book 2 and Book 3 rules, checked October 2026. World Archery rulebook
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