Every Field ⧸ 3D Longbow Rule Explained ｜ World Archery Rules

Welcome back to World Archery Rules. We're going to go through the final bow type, not including compound, because compound is compound, but we have recurve, barebow, and traditional, and now we have longbow. Like with traditional, this is a fairly obscure division in world archery because it's only used for field and 3D. Again, these are most commonly used in European circuits. They are not as common in other circuits, at least in world archery definitions. It's important to underline here what exactly world archery rules cover. So you might be seeing people shooting traditional or longbow in your target competitions. World archery does not have a division for traditional or traditional recurve or barebow or longbow in their target ruleset, but every regional governing body or national association has their own definitions for their own divisions, which means that they can include more divisions than what world archery covers. For example, archery GB uniquely does have an Asiatic recurve division. Archery Australia does have a specific longbow division. Therefore, you can and will see people shoot these divisions or bow types in national competitions, even though they're not defined at world archery level. So you won't see an international world archery longbow target championship, but you will see longbow as division in the field and 3D championships. So that's a thing we'll reference later. So yeah, like we said, the world archery rules are derived from the Western European tradition. World archery or VITA was and is a European organization, which now represents international archery, but the lineage is Western European. Hence why the target rounds or the formats field and 3D are derived from the traditions from European archery, not necessarily Native American or Middle Eastern or East Asian. So some things might technically apply, but the definitions of the longbow here specifically might exclude a lot of the forms. And again, if you're not shooting in the world archery event, it actually doesn't really matter, but it's fascinating to see at what point in time these rules had to be frozen. Because the longbow division isn't just about the bow itself, it's also about the technique and the style which is preserved in order to maintain a certain originality or purity that was used in a particular format at a particular point in time. So it is fascinating. So let's go through the rules for longbow. So let's begin with the definition of a longbow or called the world archery. This itself is quite controversial because longbows could mean anything. People might think like English longbow, like medieval English longbow. That isn't the only definition for longbow. It doesn't refer to the geometry or the cross-section of a longbow. There is one particular definition that is actually generally accurate for longbow, and it's the following definition. The bow should correspond to the traditional form or shape of a longbow or American flatbow, conforming to a limb design that when strung, the bowstring should not touch any other part of the bow but the string nocks. Now with a recurve bow, the limbs curve away from the archer. So when strung, the string will make contact with the limb itself. There's a limb, there's a string groove near the tip of the limb, and that's what makes the slap sound when the bow is shot. A longbow does not have that contact point, so the string does not touch the limb apart from the tip of the limb. That's unique to longbow. So as long as the string doesn't touch the tip, touch the limb itself, then it counts as longbow, which means that quite a few bow types, which might be hybrid bows, would qualify as longbow. The bow may be two-piece takedown. Assumably, it can be one piece or two-piece. It can be takedown, but the sections need to have similar length. So it's basically a bow that's split in half, which you attach by the handle. Therefore, the three-piece I or F style takedown bows cannot be used, and may be made from any material or combination of materials. And important to note, this doesn't specify wood. So while virtually every longbow shooter will use a wooden or laminate wood longbow, it doesn't say you have to use wood as far as I know. So any material or combination of materials. I don't think anyone's making like high-performance carbon or aluminium longbows, but there's nothing stopping you. The shape of the grip or grip area is not restricted, and a center shot is allowed. So again, not the straight-stave English medieval longbows. You can have a shelf or a cutter or a window, and the grip itself isn't restricted. And this means you can use the modern pistol grips, or you can use a straight-stave with no grip. The bow should be free from protrusions, sides or side marks, marks or blemishes, or laminated pieces within the bow area, which could be used for aiming. So same with the traditional rules. You can't have anything on a bow which could be used as an aiming or ranging tool. So any stripes, paint jobs, marks, which are clearly used for aiming within the bow window, are not allowed. 22-5-1-1. The bow should not be less than 150cm in length. The length is measured on a strung bow between the string nocks along the outside or back of the limbs. So there is a minimum length. A longbow actually has to be long. 22-5-2. You can use a bow string, any number of strands, no limitation material. So it doesn't have to be synthetic, it doesn't have to be natural. It can be any material and any number of strands. Next rule. The strands can be multicolored and the serving can be used. Serving can be used to accommodate drawing fingers and one or two knocking points, which can be padded to have extra fit for the knock if necessary. At the end of each bow string, there's a loop which is placed on the string nocks of the bow when braced. The serving of the string should not end within the athlete's vision at full draw. The bow string should not in any way assist aiming through the use of a peephole, marking or any other means. So like with bare bow and like with traditional, the string cannot have anything that can be used as a real sight. So no colors, no stripes, which are in the archer's field of view, that can be used to range or to aim. But you can have multicolored strings or serving, that's fine. 22-5-2-2. The string can also have string silencers, provided they're no closer than 30 centimeters from the knocking point. So again, that's the same rule as the traditional. You can have those puffy fluffy balls which can dampen vibration, they're legal, but they can't be closer than 30 centimeters from the knocking point. So in other words, again, not in the eye line. You can't have them in a way which can be used to aim. That's the spirit of the rule. 22-5-3. Arrow rest. If the bow is an arrow shelf, the shelf may be used as an arrow rest. It may be covered with any type of material on the shelf only. The vertical part of the sight window may be protected by material which should not rise more than one centimeter above the resting arrow or be thicker than three millimeters. Measure directly adjacent to the material. So you can shoot off the shelf. You can have a bow window, you can have a shelf. The shelf can be covered by a shelf rug which protects the bow. Notably, it doesn't allow you to shoot off an elevated arrow rest. So therefore, you can shoot off the knuckle, shoot off a shelf, but you cannot shoot off a stick-on arrow rest, for example. This is different from traditional. So longbow preserves that tradition of shooting without the extra add-on. Virtually every longbow event I've seen will use the American-style cutout and not shoot off the knuckle, although you are allowed to shoot off that knuckle or shelf if you want to. 22-5-4. String and face walking are not permitted, and again, this is quite unique to longbow specifically. So with traditional, you can face walk. In longbow, you cannot. So the distinction is face walking is when you change the anchor point on your face in order to shoot different distances. This is popular with barebow and traditional because depending on what your point on is, you might tune your bow to shoot at a very specific distance. Let's say you anchor at your cheekbone for a 30-meter shot, and then you change your anchor point for a longer shot or a shorter shot. That's not allowed in longbow. You can only use one anchor point. If you change your anchor point between different rounds or ends, your wife is qualified. String walking, that means you must touch the nock with your finger. You can shoot three under, or you can shoot split finger, and you cannot change your finger placement. That also means you cannot move your fingers up or down the string. That is string walking. It's used particularly for barebow because it's a functionally a rear sight for barebow, and it's not allowed in longbow. Longbow is, in the spirit of traditional shooting, meant to be quote-unquote instinctive, but most people will do gap shooting as a technique. 22-5-5, no weights, stabilizers, or vibration dampeners are allowed. So you can't attach anything extra on the bow. So nothing that's going to stabilize it, no stabilizer rods, no weights. It's purely the bow itself. The actual description here mentions that you can have a weight inside the bow during manufacturing. So basically, if the bow is designed to have a certain shape or weight in the hand, that's fine, but you cannot modify the bow to add a weight. Therefore, it says here the exterior of cannot be covered by anything which might block or might show there are visible holes or plug holes or covers or caps. Basically, if you have somehow hollowed out your bow and maybe put in some extra like lead or something to make it heavier, and then cover it up, that's not allowed. They do mention the exception of the manufacturer's inlay or logo. In quite a few traditional bows and longbows, the manufacturer will have a metal badge on the bow. That's fine, but technically you could hide a weight inside there, but no one does that. So that's okay, but if you've put something in the bow and you cover it up, that's illegal. All right, the arrow rules. 22-5-6, only wooden arrows are allowed. This is unique to longbow in world archery and quite different from recurve or traditional, which allow any material, but longbow preserves the wooden rule. It's also different to, again, things like Archery Australia, which allow aluminium as traditional form, but wooden arrows only for longbow in world archery rules. And there are kind of a few specifications. We'll skip the clarification here because this is no longer valid. It's de-historically, so it's kept it as a document, which we'll look at, but I will go through the definition of an arrow. So an arrow consists of a wooden shaft with a tip or point, a nock, which emphasize must be attached directly to the wooden shaft, or a self-nock cut directly into the shaft. So the nock, it doesn't have to be a self-nock. They're quite common, but you don't have to have them, but if you do have a nock, it must be attached directly to the shaft. Now, it doesn't specify what material the nock is made from, so therefore I assume it can be a natural material or can be a plastic nock, but you must attach the nock directly on the shaft. Now, for those shooting other trad events, this may not be the case. I know by fact that the World Nomad Games, by standard, requires organic nocks, so wood, maybe horn, but mostly wooden nocks. Same rules, it must be attached directly to the shaft, but it must be wood. For world archery, it doesn't require wooden nocks, but the nocks, whatever you use, has to be directly on the shaft. Now, that's why the clarification here seems to be defunct, so no longer valid. This is the interpretation. It's the outserts, so pin nocks and outserts. So the pin nocks, and these are pretty sure the eastern ones, right? They're very popular for target recurve because they protect the back of the arrow from being split as easily. You still can split them, but they're pretty hard to do because you have a metal pin which protects the shaft. So basically, they mount the outsert of a pin nock, and then stick the nock onto the pin, as with standard. So you normally put this inside the shaft, and you put the pin, and then you put the nock on, but in this case, a longbow clarification, they have an outsert, then the pin, then the nock. So originally, this was legal in world archery, but it's now invalidated, which I assume because it says refer to this rule, which came into effect in 2019. This directly says that it must be on the shaft directly, which I assume means you cannot have a pin nock system. You can have the nock itself attached to the shaft, but you can't have the nock attached to a pin, attached to an outsert, attached to the shaft. That's what I think it means. Okay, so it can be self-nock or can be directly attached. Fletching and, if desired, cresting, so wraps are allowed. The maximum diameter should not exceed 9.3 millimeters. The wraps and the arrow tip can be 9.4 or thicker, but the shaft itself can be 9.3 millimeters at maximum. All arrows should be marked as its name or initials on the shaft, not the fletchings. All arrows used in any inn should be identical in appearance and have the same pattern and color of fletchings, and then mixing and matching. You can't have different feathers, you can't have different nocks and different wraps. They must be the same, and the arrows used in longbow should not cause undue damage to targets. In other words, you cannot use broadheads. Now, clarification. Bamboo is allowed. The rule here is bamboo is basically the same as wood. Technically, bamboo and wood are the same thing, but functionally they are. The committee sees no difference in use, and they've used bamboo alongside wood for hundreds of years, therefore it's legit, it's legal. Nothing wrong with that. Okay, next, 22.562. The points should be field type or bullet, conical or cone shape, meant for wooden arrows. 22.563. Only natural feathers should be used as Therefore, no plastic veins, no spin wings, and no synthetic feathers. That's pretty important, because you often find bows that use synthetic feathers. It says here only natural feathers are allowed. That will limit quite a few arrow types. 22.567. You can use finger protection, glove or tab or tape, as long as there's no device on your finger protection that can assist in holding, drawing, and releasing. Once again, we have the thumb ring interpretation, but in the World Archery field and 3D, this is not legal. The thumb ring can be designed to hold the string, make it easy to draw. I know that's not why we use it, but it can be used in that way according to the rules interpreted by World Archery. It's a little awkward, but that's how the thumb rings sit in the rule set according to World Archery by its lineage, which is different from the eastern 22.571. The anchor plate should not have anything basically to help it, so there's no tool on the glove or tab which can be used to help anchor. So nothing which sticks out, nothing which can help you find a reference point, and more specifically, the bow must be shot using the Mediterranean Luce, which is defined as one finger above the arrow nock or fingers directly below the nock, so basically split finger or three under. You must touch the nock or be no more than two millimeters below the nock with one fixed anchor point. Therefore, you cannot thumb draw in the longbow division. I believe you can thumb draw in the trad division as long as you don't use the thumb ring, but in this division, you cannot thumb draw and you can't use a thumb ring. It's specifically the western European longbow tradition, so you cannot string walk. By definition, that means you cannot move your fingers. You must touch the nock effectively. You cannot change your anchor point. You cannot change your finger placement, so therefore, according to the rules, the athlete must choose either Mediterranean, which is a split finger, or fingers under, but they can't use both. That's a very important rule. You cannot change halfway, so again, in this sort of competition, the change in the finger placement or anchor point is going to help you aim for different distances. They don't want that, so they're enforcing this rule to basically force you to shoot gap or instinctive. The finger protection when shooting with fingers under the nock must have continuous surface or connected surface. Therefore, no ability to shoot split finger. For those wondering, if you shoot three under, which is common for barebow, you can have finger tabs which have no finger space or no gap. Normally, finger tabs have a gap for the arrow, but you wouldn't really normally use that for a three under use, so three under tabs have no finger space or nock space, whereas these Mediterranean tabs do. If you do shoot three under, you must use a tab with no finger space and no split. If you are using Mediterranean or split finger, you can use a separator, so you can have that plastic bit between the fingers. That's legal, but you can't have it with three under. And then accessories, the usual things, arm guard, protector, bow sling, finger sling, belt, back, hip, or ground quiver. Quivers are fine. You cannot attach the quiver on the bow, so no bow-mounted quivers, but you can have any other kind of quiver which you wear on your body. And there are other rules like no electronic devices, binoculars, no ranging tools, no communication devices, the same as other rules. So that's basically the Field 3D rules. Again, they are very specific to World Archery Field and 3D. In my experience, which isn't very much, it's far more common in Europe. Other places will have Field and 3D, although they're more likely to run their own rules rather than World Archery rules. There is significant overlap between these rules and World Archery, but not necessarily the same. And in many cases, they might incorporate different definitions for different kinds of traditional bow. Again, you might have longbow, you might have traditional recurve, you might have barebow recurve, you might have a bowhunter recurve, which define things like bow materials, drawing style, whether you use carbon arrows or not, rests or not. It gets a little complicated, but this is their version. So again, unless you're shooting in World Archery Field and 3D events, this won't apply to you, and you probably won't need to judge this. But if you do, this is where it sits. Anyway, I hope you found that interesting and helpful. Thank you all for watching. One day I might do compound, but for now, that covers most of the bow types as defined by World Archery. And once again, these rules may differ to national rules, but if you do shoot a World Archery sanctioned event, especially Field and 3D, then these are the rules which you'll be exposed to. Thanks for watching, and hopefully we'll see you next time.