Tournaments vary game by game, but usually, players will be competing to get the highest possible score (the most money) in the game of the tournament, before the time runs out. You pay a set amount to enter the tournament and are given credits to play with, which you use to accumulate the highest bankroll you can in the time allotted. The very first question should be how slot tournaments work. Yes, the basic point is that you make bets for real money in slots and the more of them you have, the closer you are to the first place. Even now when you know what are slot tournaments, it’s not enough. Be clever and careful – there are many types of them.
So you’re somewhat new to archery and you’re looking into entering your first archery tournament – butwhere do you start? There’s a lot of information out there that can make it a bit confusing to figure out exactly how these things work.
Well look no further, this guide is just for you. I’ve tried to cover everything you need to know to not only understand how archery tournaments work, but how to get started shooting in them yourself.
First off, we’ll need to figure out exactly which type of tournaments you’re interested in. As far as tournaments go, there are three main types of archery: Target archery, field archery and 3D archery, respectively. I’m not including hunting and traditional archery as I’m not aware of any tournaments for either of them.
Regardless of what type of tournaments you’re interested in, you’ll want to bring one of these – it’ll come in handy for lots of things throughout the day.
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Let’s take a look at each one, and how their respective tournaments work:
Target Archery
Probably the most well known and popularized type of archery is target archery. Target archery is what you’re looking at when you watch Olympic archery on TV. In fact it’s the only type of archery that’s shot in the Olympics.
What Bows are Used in Target Archery?
In target archery archers shoot mainly recurve bows and compound bows. However, only recurve bows are used in Olympic archery. In some instances other types of bows may be used – but for the most part target archery is down to recurve bow and compound bows.
The good news for newer archers is that only a few tournaments have any stipulations as to who can enter. So in most cases, you can enter almost any tournament you like.
Plus, most of these tournaments are also pretty laid back, so you shouldn’t feel intimidated or too much pressure when you compete. Many of these also actively encourage newer, less experienced archers to enter.
If you’re not sure whether or not you’re good enough to enter your first tournament yet, just use the following guideline. When you practice shoot, are you hitting the target most of the time?
If your arrows are consistently landing on the target, not the bullseye, just the target itself – it’s time for you to enter your first tournament. So just pay the (usually small) entry fee and sign up.
If you’re not sure what tournaments are in your area or available for you to shoot in, there are a few ways you can find out. A quick search online for something like: “archery tournament your city, your state” should turn up some good information.
Alternatively, you can always hit your local archery shop, if there’s one in your area. They’ll be the ones who’ll know about all of the local tournaments, as well as other tournaments and events in surrounding states.
Also, if you have an archery club nearby – ask around there too. Even if you’re not a member of the club, most archery club members tend to be pretty laid back and helpful to beginner archers looking to get into the sport.
Target Archery Tournaments
In target archery there are both indoor and outdoor tournaments, obviously the outdoor tournaments are shot during the warmer months of the year. During the winter months, the tournaments move indoors and the distances shot may vary a bit from the outdoor tournaments.
Generally you’ll be shooting at targets that are placed around twenty yards from each archer. In outdoor tournaments, however, you’ll be shooting at targets at several different distances away.
In target archery, outdoor tournaments will feature distances from thirty to ninety meters for men and thirty to seventy meters for women. While indoor target distances tend to be either eighteen or twenty five meters away from the archer.
In both indoor and outdoor target archery, tournaments are split up into rounds. These “rounds” will be called by different names, depending on where you’re competing. They could have different names if you’re in the United States, the United Kingdom or Australia. You can check the web site of the organization that runs any tournament that you’re thinking of competing in if you want to find out for sure.
In target archery, the organization that oversees all of the tournaments, rules and regulations is the World Archery Federation or WA. The WA also oversees Olympic target archery rules as well.
Many competitions are split up into what are called “ends”. In each end, every archer will shoot either three or six arrows. Exactly how many will vary from competition to competition.
Then all of the competing archers will head to the targets to score their shots. Typically, an indoor target archery competition will last for twenty total ends with three arrows shot in each one.
There is a time limit in these competitions, and all of the competitors will shoot until the end is over. Archers will then shoot at the next target distance, shooting at all of the various distances until the competition is done. There’s usually a break for a few minutes about half way into each tournament.
Be Aware of the Whistle
Whistles are used to signal the archers, and for safety reasons, so it’s very important that you pay attention to any whistles your hear and know what the whistle codes mean.
Two whistles tells all competitors to step up to the shooting line. A single whistle lets the archers know that they can start shooting. You are not permitted to move beyond the shooting line until all competitors have finished shooting.
Once you hear three whistles you can approach the target and retrieve your arrows. If you’re ever in a position where you feel out of place or you’re not sure what to do – just have a look at what the other archers are doing. It could help a beginner from committing a tournament faux pas.
How Do Volleyball Tournaments Work
How Long Do Archery Tournaments Last?
For the most part, target archery tournaments tend to take about three or four hours to complete, but they can sometimes go on even longer. As a general rule, plan on spending the day at any tournament you enter, just to be on the safe side.
Target Archery Tournament Scoring
The circle within a circle type of target used in target archery is scored quite simply. The scores run from ten down to one, with the scores getting lower the further away from the center of the target you hit. Each different colored section away from the bullseye your arrow hits, the score gets lower.
The “bullseye” is worth ten points and is mainly referred to as the X ring, as there’s a little X on it if you look closely. It’s also used for tie breakers – whoever shoots closest to the X wins.
Best player odds casino games. The only difference is in tournaments or competitions using AGB rules. In AGB rules, the different scoring areas are worth nine, seven, five, three and one, respectively.
Competitors will score each end of the tournament by adding up the total score of all of their shots through the entire competition, and the winners are announced.
Field Archery Tournaments
In field archery, tournaments can also be shot indoors and out. One of the differences, however, is that while you may be shooting in a straight line – you will also be shooting at targets that are uphill, downhill and more.
The added challenge of shooting at various distances, angles and target that may be partially obscured is part of what makes field archery so interesting. The targets may or may not have marked distances – meaning you may have to judge the yardage yourself. The extra skill and talent it takes to shoot field archery is sometimes called fieldcraft.
Normally, outdoor field archery is shot in small groups of archers, each taking turns shooting. You will walk a course outdoors, stopping to shoot at each target along the course.
In field archery you’ll be shooting at one of three different types of targets, depending on which type of “rounds” you’re shooting. There are hunter rounds, field rounds and animal rounds, each with their own unique targets and scoring.
If you’re interested in field archery, I wrote a guide all about it here.
What Bows are Used in Field Archery?
In field archery, archers may shoot recurve bows, compound bows and longbows. If you’re shooting a recurve or compound bow, you’ll want one of these to keep your bow tuned up throughout the day.
There are two main divisions or competition classes in field archery: Individual and team class. There are some other classes that aren’t as frequently shot, and are a bit beyond the scope of this guide.
Field Archery Individual Tournaments
In individual competition tournaments archers will shoot forty eight targets over the course of two days. The first day they’ll shoot twenty four targets at various marked distances, while on the second day they’ll be shooting at targets of unknown distances.
Both recurve and compound bow archers will shoot three arrows at each target, with their shooting line being marked by red stakes. Longbow archers will shoot the same three arrows per target, shooting from behind blue stakes, which are closer to the targets to compensate for the reduced shooting power of longbows compared to recurves or compound bows.
The archers are scored on the total of all of their shots for the entire forty eight target tournament. The top sixteen will then move on to the first of the elimination rounds, in which they’ll three arrows per archer at twelve targets with marked distances.
Once the first elimination round is scored, the top eight archers will then progress to the second elimination round. In the second elimination round the remaining archers will shoot three arrows at eight targets with marked distances.
Once that round is scored, the top four archers will continue to the semi finals, where they’ll compete for the bronze and gold medals. Any ties are resolved with a shoot off – where whoever shoots closer to the X ring wins.
Field Archery Team Tournaments
In team tournaments, men and women are split into their own divisions. After which, three archers of each bow style are put together into teams. So there are teams of three that consist of one recurve archer, one compound archer and one longbow archer.
How Do Slot Tournaments Work
All of the archers shoot in head to head elimination rounds, similar to individual tournaments. In these tournaments, the competition starts at the quarterfinal stage.
The best eight teams will shoot three arrows at each target, one from each archer on the team. They start by shooting at eight targets with marked distances.
The top teams will then move on to the semifinals, in which the two losing teams of the semifinal will compete for the bronze medal – while the winning teams compete for the gold medal.
These rounds are made up of four targets with marked distances, any ties will be resolved the same as in individual tournaments, as mentioned above.
NFAA Field Tournaments
The National Field Archery Association, or NFAA, have their own tournament rules which can get quite complicated at times and are a bit beyond the scope of this guide. If you’re interested, you can check out their rules here.
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As with any archery tournament, if you’re at all confused as to what’s going on – don’t be afraid to ask. You may be surprised at how many of your fellow archers would be happy to show you the ropes.
3D Archery Tournaments
My own personal favorite type of archery, 3D archery has it’s own tournaments for 3D archers. These can also be shot indoors or out, and have their own sets of rules.
There are both smaller, more laid back local tournaments as well as the large tournaments in which the pros compete for bigger prizes. Both can be a lot of fun to shoot. If you do hit a 3D tournament, be sure to bring along one of these, it’ll make life a lot easier.
There are lots of smaller local clubs and organizations across the country, but the ASA and the IBO are the two big ones. Most 3D tournaments and shoots base their rules on one or the other.
If you want more info on 3D tournaments, check out this guide I wrote about how 3D archery shoots work here.
I hope I’ve cleared up any questions you may have had about archery tournaments and how they work. It may seem confusing or overwhelming at first to beginner archers, but it’s really nothing to stress over.
Enter yourself in your first tournament – you’ll learn a lot pretty quickly. If you don’t feel up to it yet, why not attend a few and just watch? You’ll at least get a feel for how they run, and you may find that it even makes you more encouraged to compete in a tournament yourself.
Good luck on the journey to your first tournament, they’re really a lot of fun – so get out there and get shooting!
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A double-elimination tournament for seven players. The losers of games 4, 5 and 7 still play in games 6 and 8
A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournamentcompetition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost two games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimination tournament, in which only one defeat results in elimination.
One method of arranging a double-elimination tournament is to break the competitors into two sets of brackets, the winners bracket and losers bracket (W and L brackets for short; also sometimes upper bracket and lower bracket, respectively) after the first round. The first-round winners proceed into the W bracket and the losers proceed into the L bracket. The W bracket is conducted in the same manner as a single-elimination tournament, except that the losers of each round 'drop down' into the L bracket. Another method of double-elimination tournament management is the Draw and Process.
As with single-elimination tournaments, most often the number of competitors is equal to a power of two (8, 16, 32, etc.) so that in each round there is an even number of competitors and never any byes. The maximum number of games in a double-elimination tournament is one less than twice the number of teams participating (e.g., 8 teams – 15 games). The minimum number is two less than twice the number of teams (e.g., 8 teams – 14 games).
Conducting the tournament[edit]
If the standard double-elimination bracket arrangement is being used, then each round of the L Bracket is conducted in two stages; a minor stage followed by a major stage. Both contain the same number of matches (assuming there are no byes) which is the same again as the number of matches in the corresponding round of the W Bracket. If the minor stage of an L Bracket round contains N matches, it will produce N winners. Meanwhile, the N matches in the corresponding round of the W Bracket will produce N losers. These 2N competitors will then pair off in the N matches of the corresponding major stage of the L Bracket.
For example, in an eight-competitor double-elimination tournament, the four losers of the first round, W Bracket quarter finals, pair off in the first stage of the L Bracket, the L Bracket minor semifinals. The two losers are eliminated, while the two winners proceed to the L Bracket major semifinals. Here, those two players/teams will each compete against a loser of the W Bracket semifinal in the L Bracket major semifinals. The winners of the L Bracket major semifinals compete against each other in the L Bracket minor-final, with the winner playing the loser of the W Bracket final in the L Bracket major final.
The championship finals of a double elimination tournament is usually set up to be a possible two games. The rationale is that since the tournament is indeed double elimination, it is unfair to have the W Bracket champion eliminated with its first loss. Therefore, while the W Bracket champion needs to beat the L Bracket champion only once to win the tournament, the L Bracket champion must beat the Winners' Bracket champion twice.
Pros and cons[edit]
The double-elimination format has some advantages over the single-elimination format, most notably the fact that third and fourth places can be determined without the use of a consolation or 'classification' match involving two contestants who have already been eliminated from winning the championship.
Some tournaments, such as in tennis, will use 'seeding' to prevent the strongest contestants from meeting until the later round. However, in tournaments where contestants are placed randomly in the draw, or in situations where seeding is not available, it is possible for two of the strongest teams to meet in the early rounds rather than a final or semifinal as would be expected in a seeded draw. Double elimination overcomes this shortfall by allowing a strong team which loses early to work their way through the L Bracket and progress to the later rounds, despite meeting the strongest team in the early rounds of competition.
Another advantage of the double-elimination format is the fact that all competitors will play at least twice and three quarters will play three games or more. In a single-elimination tournament with no byes, half of the competitors will be eliminated after their first game. This can be disappointing to those who had to travel to the tournament and were only able to play once.
A disadvantage compared to the single-elimination format is that at least twice the number of matches have to be conducted. Since each player has to lose twice and since the tournament ends when only one player remains, in a tournament for n competitors there will be either 2n − 2 or 2n − 1 games depending on whether or not the winner was undefeated during the tournament. This may result in a scheduling hardship for venues where only one facility for play is available.
It is possible for the Championship finals to be determined by just a single match if the W Bracket winner defeats the L Bracket winner. It is therefore unknown, until this match has been concluded, whether the final scheduled match will in fact be required. This can be seen as a disadvantage of the system, particularly if broadcasting and ticket sales companies have an interest in the tournament.
Examples of use[edit]
A double-elimination bracket from the 2004 National Science Bowl
One such athletic event that employs a double-elimination format is the NCAA baseball tournament, including the College World Series, where a team is not eliminated until it loses twice in each of the four rounds (regional, super regional, College World Series, and CWS championship, with the super regional and CWS championship series featuring two teams in a best-of-3 format). The NCAA softball tournament (including the Women's College World Series) uses the same format. The Little League World Series switched from round-robin to double-elimination formats for each of its pools starting in 2010 in an effort to eliminate meaningless games.
It is also used in video game tournaments and table football tournaments. Double-elimination brackets are also popular in amateur wrestling of all levels, pool, surfing, windsurfing and kiteboarding freestyle competitions, as well as Curlingbonspiels (where triple-elimination is also used), Hardcourt Bike Polo. The World Baseball Classic used a double-elimination format for its second rounds of the tournament in 2009 and 2013, as well as in its first round in 2009. In contract bridge, the English Bridge Union Spring Foursomes, first contested in 1962, uses a double elimination format.[1][2]
It is also used, in modified form, in the All-Ireland Senior Gaelic Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
World Championship Wrestling was the only professional wrestling promotion to date to use the double-elimination format. They used the format for a tournament for the vacant WCW World Tag Team Championship in 1999.
Variations[edit]
In judo, players that end up in the L bracket can finish in third place at best. The winner of the W bracket will win the tournament, with the losing finalist finishing second. The other losers of the W bracket will end up in the L bracket, which will only be played to the minor stage of the final, resulting in two 3rd placed players. Thus, compared to double elimination, there is no major stage of the L Bracket final played, and there is no game between the winners of the W and L Brackets.
Another aspect of the system used in judo is that losers of the first round (of the W bracket) only advance to the L bracket if the player they lost to wins his or her second round match. If a player loses to a second round loser, they are eliminated from the tournament.
Another variant, called the (third-place) challenge, is used, particularly in scholastic wrestling. The winner of the L bracket may challenge the loser of the finals in the W bracket, if and only if the two contestants had not faced each other previously; if the challenger (the winner of the L bracket) wins, he is awarded second place, and the loser of the W final is dropped to third place. This system is used particularly where the top two places advance to a higher level of competition (example: advancement from a regional tournament to a state tournament).
Another is the balanced variant which is a bracket arrangement that is not strictly divided into two brackets based on number of losses.[3] Players with different numbers of losses can play each other in any round. A goal of the variant is that no player sits idle for more than one round consecutively. The added complexity of the brackets is handled by using 'if necessary' matches. The flexible approach allows practical bracket designs to be made for any number of competitors including odd numbers (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, etc.).
A possible alternative is a single-elimination format where each match is a best-of-5 or best-of-7 series. This format still allows a competitor to lose (perhaps multiple times) while still remaining eligible to win the tournament. Of course, having multiple games in each series also requires considerably more games to be conducted.
Another is the modified single elimination tournament which guarantees at least two games per competitor, but not necessarily two losses for elimination.[4] The brackets are similar to the double elimination format, except the two finalists from the L bracket (each with one loss) face the two finalists from the W bracket (neither with a loss) in a single elimination semi-final and final.
The College World Series (a baseball tournament) has frequently tried to modify the double-elimination format to set up, if possible, a single championship game. Until 1988, the College World Series did this by adding an extra round to the L Bracket. What would be the L Bracket major semifinals (i.e. the round where the W Bracket semifinal losers dropped down) became the L Bracket quarterfinals. The winners would then progress to the L Bracket semifinals against the two participants in the W Bracket final (i.e. the WINNERS of the W Bracket semifinals drop down). This thus left open the possibility that the W Bracket champion would pick up a loss, albeit in the L Bracket semifinal. If, however, the W Bracket champion prevailed in the L Bracket semifinal, the same two-game final setup existed in effect, albeit not in practice .. for under the CWS pre-1988 version, the unbeaten W Bracket champion would be playing a once-beaten L Bracket opponent in the L Bracket final, with the winner to advance to play the unbeaten W Bracket champion in the finals (if necessary). The CWS subsequently broke up its eight-team field into two four-team double elimination tournaments, with the winners meeting in either a sudden-death or, currently, a best-of-three final.
A way to reduce the number of rounds is to do cross-bracket elimination in the last rounds. For instance, in a double-elimination tournament of eight teams, you could have both the winner and the loser of the W Bracket final join the third round of the L Bracket, the winner facing the lowest-seeded L Bracket team or crossing inversely how W Bracket semifinal losers are placed in L Bracket. If the W Bracket team wins, there will be two teams left and they will go straight to the finals (with the W Bracket team having a one-game advantage as usual). However, if the W Bracket team loses then three teams will still be in the tournament, all with one loss. Usually in the subsequent fifth round either the last W Bracket team that just lost has a bye round or the top seed remaining will have a bye, while the other two teams square off. This leaves two teams for a one-game final in the sixth and last round. Whether the W Bracket team wins or loses in round four, this cross-bracket procedure shortens an eight team double elimination tournament from 6–7 rounds to 5–6 rounds. This system also gives more odds to a single game final (75% of situations, instead the ordinary 50%)
The Little League World Series began using a modified double elimination bracket in 2011. Eight U.S. teams and eight international teams compete in respective double elimination formats until their respective championship games, which are single elimination. That is, irrespective of whether a team has one loss, or no losses, that team would be eliminated with a loss in either the U.S. or international championship game. The two respective champions then play a single elimination game for the World Series championship.
In the Philippines, many sports leagues there award a similar concept called twice-to-beat advantage to the top seeds; in this case, the teams with this advantage need to be beaten twice by their lower-ranked opponents. Essentially a one-sided double elimination and a modification of the best-of-three format, one team is given a de facto 1–0 lead in a best-of-three series. First applied in the semifinals of the scholastic UAAP basketball and volleyball championships, it was later adopted by the Philippine NCAA and other associations in their scholastic basketball and volleyball championships. The professional Philippine Basketball Association, its semi-pro D-League, and the Philippine Super Liga have adopted the format only in the quarterfinal rounds of their conference playoffs.
A similar situation also existed in later versions of the Argus finals system used commonly in Australian rules football competitions in the early part of the 20th century.
Later versions of the system had a 'right of challenge' for the minor premier (the team on top of the ladder) if they lost the Semi-Final or the Final, meaning the minor premier had to be beaten twice for another team to win the premiership. In the event that the same team played the minor premier in the Semi-Final or the Final and in the Grand Final, the right of challenge became equivalent to the minor premier holding a 1–0 lead in a best-of-three series.
Many esports competitions, such as The International use a variation on the double elimination format where, after the initial group stage, the first round of the L bracket begins pre-seeded with the lower-performing teams from said stage, rather than all teams starting in the W bracket. Additionally, the Finals are a single series regardless of winner, without any chance of a bracket reset if the L bracket winner wins the series. Much of this is due to time concerns, with some esports games taking upwards of an hour per match in a series, and the schedule not allowing for the additional time costs of scheduling like a traditional double elimination tournament. However, many events that employ this format also schedule the event so that the W bracket teams have advantageous scheduling, with L bracket teams often having to play additional series on the final day, and W bracket teams getting considerably more time off to watch opponents.
A Draw and Process tournament requires less intervention by the manager. The competitors are allocated their first round positions on the competition grid and this is played as if it were a single elimination event. This grid is called the 'Draw'. A second competition grid called the 'Process' is then produced and again played as a single elimination event. The fixed arrangement of the Process ensures that players who met in the first round of the Draw cannot meet until the final of the Process. Similarly, players who meet in the second round of the Draw cannot meet until the semi finals of the Process. If the same person wins both the Draw and Process then they are the overall winner and the losing finalists will play each other for second and third place. Otherwise the winners of the Draw and Process will play off to determine the winner.[5]
Other tournament systems[edit]
Variations of the double-elimination tournament include:
Other common tournament types are
- Playoffs – a variation of the single-elimination tournament where instead of one win, a team needs to win a specific number of games in a series in order to advance.
References[edit]
- ^'Schapiro Spring Foursomes - history'. English Bridge Union. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^'Schapiro Spring Foursomes'. English Bridge Union. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^'TournamentDesign.org'. www.tournamentdesign.org. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^'Pool Rules for APA League and Tournament Play- Billiard Rules'. American Poolplayers Association. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^'United States Croquet Association. Draw and Process Format'. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
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