How to Judge Yardage in Archery Tournaments

There are a number of techniques that can be used to help master the art of judging yardage in archery tournaments. The dominant theme in each of these techniques is practice. Simple repetition is critical to training the ability to successfully judge yardage. To speed up the process, and allow for more repetition in each practice session, the use of a laser rangefinder is recommended for checking the accuracy of all estimates.

Things You'll Need

  • Laser rangefinder
  • Orange traffic cones
Show More

Instructions

  1. 20-Yard Pole Technique

    • 1

      Practice judging a 20-yard distance.

    • 2

      Imagine a pole 20 yards in length, with one end at your feet, and the other 20 yards away in the direction of the target.

    • 3

      Flip the pole in your mind toward the target, counting the number of flips needed to reach the target. Repeat this until the pole is just short of, or just past, the target.

    • 4

      Multiply the number of flips times 20 to achieve the approximate distance.

    • 5

      Adjust this number to increase or reduce it by the partial distance that remained, if any.

    • 6

      Check your estimate with the laser rangefinder for accuracy.

    Calibration Technique

    • 7

      Place several cones between your position and the target. These should be placed at 10-yard increments.

    • 8

      Return to the original position.

    • 9

      Study each cone in turn. Repeat. This will train the mind what each distance looks like.

    • 10

      Attempt to judge the distance to various targets that are not along the traffic cone sight line.

    • 11

      Check your estimates with the laser rangefinder.

    Snap-Judging Technique

    • 12

      Find a location with numerous targets at a wide variety of distances. Objects such as trees and rocks are great as their distances will be random.

    • 13

      Select a target and quickly judge its yardage.

    • 14

      Check your estimates with the laser rangefinder.

    • 15

      Change locations after several estimates. This will alter the distance to the targets.

    • 16

      Repeat the exercise with either the old targets or new ones that have been revealed.