Archery handicap and progress: are you actually improving?
A 590 indoors and a 640 outdoors tell you nothing next to each other. To know whether you're progressing, you need one scale that every round sits on — and the discipline to look at it.
Handicap: one number for every round
Your handicap converts any score on any round into a single number. Lower is better. It means a Portsmouth in January and a 720 in July can sit on the same line — and that line tells you the truth about your direction.
Every completed round gets a handicap on the Archery GB 2023 scheme, plotted on a progression chart you can filter by round and distance. Incomplete sessions are left out so they don't drag the line around.
Classifications and personal bests
Classifications give you a target that means something — thresholds set for your bowstyle, age and gender. Personal bests give you the proof, round by round.
Each completed round is checked against the Archery GB classification thresholds automatically, and your best score for every round type is kept with its handicap. Switching from another scoring app? Your history, classifications and PBs come with you.
Make high scores feel normal
Here's the part most people miss. Progress stalls less because of technique, and more because a good score still feels unusual. The moment it starts happening, your brain gets involved.
"The thing is that doing the 339, that just exposing you to 56s, 57s, 58s, 59s, so that you get used to it… That's normal. And you're not even thinking that. It is just normal. Rather than you stick three 10s in and then your brain's going, oh, this could be that, this could be that."Patrick Huston, coaching session
Your score history is how you build that. When your chart shows the scores are already there, they stop being exceptional — and start being boring. Boring is what you want.
Break a plateau with challenge rounds
If your scores have stalled, go closer. Shoot a distance where the scores you want actually happen — ends of 56, 57, 58 — and keep shooting it until they feel ordinary. Then move back one distance and do it again.
The 360 Progression is the exact structure I built and use with my own athletes — and it's free in the app for every user. It sets a score standard from your 720 personal best and starts you three distances closer than your full distance. Hit the standard twice and you move back a distance. Show consistent near-misses and it moves you on automatically; if a distance is clearly too far, it suggests dropping back. The classic 252 Scheme is there too, and every step earns a badge.
The quickest points on the chart
If you want the handicap line moving fast, the biggest lever for most archers isn't a new shot. It's keeping your group centred:
"You get them fully centered really quickly, and you keep them there, and you're really on it. Well, that could be 30 or 40 points on whatever your average result is."Patrick Huston
Questions archers ask
What is an archery handicap?
A single number that puts every round on the same scale, so scores on different rounds can be compared fairly. Lower is better.
How do I know if I'm actually improving?
Watch your handicap over time rather than raw scores. A falling line is real progress, even when you shoot different rounds week to week.
How do I track my classification?
Classifications are awarded against thresholds for your bowstyle, age and gender. Level Up checks each completed round against the Archery GB thresholds for you.
Why do I score worse in competition than in practice?
Often because high scores still feel unusual, so your brain reacts when they start happening. The more often you see those scores, the more normal they feel.
How do I break a scoring plateau in archery?
Go closer. Shoot a distance where high scores come more easily until they feel normal, then move back one distance at a time. Level Up's 360 Progression — the structure Patrick Huston uses with his own athletes, free for every user — sets the standard from your 720 personal best and moves you back as you hit it.