Archery terminology

Archery terminology

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Anchor Finger Tab Ankertab A finger tab or archer tab is a small leather or synthetic patch that protects an archer's fingers from the bowstring. It is strapped or otherwise attached to an archer's hand. With or without adjustable chin plate and a adjustble finger spacer.
Anchor point Ankerpunt A point to be touched by the draw hand or string when the bow is fully drawn and ready to shoot, usually a point on the archer's mouth, chin or nose
Archer's paradox Archer's paradox The effect produced by an arrow flexing as it leaves the bow
Clout Archery Clout schieten A discipline in archery to shoot at a flag. The closer arrow scores maximum points. Distance to the target up to 180 Yards - 164,59 Meter
Cock feather Haneveer Name for shaft feather which is away from the bow.
Draw length Treklengte Individual measure. At full draw the distance in inches from nock point on bow string to deepest grip spot (pivot-point) plus 1 3⁄4 inches (44 mm) (AMO standard).
Field Archery Veld en Jacht Target archery − From different distances, shooting a steady targets in a forrest, up hill, down hill. Arrowhead, field rounds are in a 24 Targets course. There is a difrent in target sizes and distances at the WA World Archery Federatie and the IFAA International Field Archery Association
Finger Tab Vingerleer A finger tab or archer tab is a small leather or synthetic patch that protects an archer's fingers from the bowstring. It is strapped or otherwise attached to an archer's hand.
Flu-flu arrow Flu-flu arrow A flu-flu arrow is a type of arrow specifically designed to travel a short distance. Such arrows are particularly useful when shooting at aerial targets or for certain types of recreational archery where the arrow must not travel too far. One of the main uses of these arrows is that they do not get lost as easily if they miss the target. A flu-flu is a design of fletching, normally made by using long sections of feathers; in most cases six or more sections are used, rather than the traditional three. Alternatively, two long feathers can be spiraled around the end of the arrow shaft. In either case, the excessive fletching serves to generate more drag and slow the arrow down rapidly after a short distance (about 30 m or 33 yards). Recreational flu-flus usually have rubber points to add weight and keep the flight slower.
Footed arrow Ingelegde pijl A footed wooden arrow is an arrow with a hard wood point end which is called a footing. They can be spliced in several ways. Either a single, two wing or four wing footing splice and several varieties of hard woods with purpleheart being the most common.
GPI GPI The weight of an arrow shaft can be expressed in GPI (grains per inch). This does not include the other elements of a finished arrow, so a complete arrow will be heavier than the shaft alone.
Handle Middenstuk The handle section of a bow
Hankyu Hankyu A short Japanese bow
Hen feather kippeveer-Hen Name for the 2 feathers which contact the bow.
Horse back archer An archer riding a horse.
Inch Inch 25.4 mm. Used to measure the draw length and the arrow length
Kisser Kisser A button used to indicate consistent vertical distance when drawing a bow
Limbs Latten Lower and upper arms of a bow. Take down with screws, ILF system and the Formula system are the most common in archery.
Longbow Longbow A tall wooden bow with a D shaped cross-section, approximately the same height as the archer, without significant recurve
Nocking point Nokpunt The point on a bow string over which an arrow nock is placed
Overdraw overdraw The use of a device, e.g. a siper, to allow the shooting of arrows shorter than the draw of the bow
Plunger or pressure button Drukpunt / Button A device used to correct an arrow's flex at the point of release
Riser Middenstuk The handle section of a bow
Spine Spine ATA (AMO) is the Archery Trade Association, formerly the Archery Manufacturers and Merchants Organisation. When they measure the arrow spine, they record the deflection in thousandths of an inch. An arrow is attached to two supports, 26 inches apart, and pressed in the middle with a weight of 2 pounds (907 grams). A deflection in the arrow of 0.4 inches gives an arrow spine of 400. The arrow spines of wooden arrows are measured according to the ATA system.
ASTM is the American Society for Testing and Materials. In their Test Nr. F2031-05, they record the deflection in thousandths of an inch. In this test, an arrow is attached to two supports, 28 inches apart, and pressed in the middle with a weight of 1.94 pounds (880 grams). The weight is smaller, but the distance between the supports is greater, which should give a similar deflection. Arrow spines of carbon fiber and aluminum shafts are specified according to the “modern” ASTM standard.
Target Archery Doelschieten Target archery − From different distances, shooting a steady targets in a open field
Yumi Yumi Yumi (弓) is the Japanese term for a bow. As used in English, yumi refers more specifically to traditional Japanese asymmetrical bows, and includes the longer daikyū (大弓) and the shorter hankyū (半弓) used in the practice of kyūdō and kyūjutsu, or Japanese archery. The yumi was an important weapon of the samurai warrior during the feudal period of Japan. It shoots Japanese arrows called ya.

Johan van Dongen
CEO
Archery Service Center