Rudy's Archery Tracking

If someone at a US club says “indoor 300,” they almost always mean the same shape of card: 12 ends of 5 arrows, usually at about 20 yards, with a max of 300. You shoot five. You score five. You shoot five more. That pause is the whole round.

This is not a replacement for your organization’s rulebook. NFAA, USA Archery, and your local league can each have a house rule about faces, bouncers, and whether you shoot a 5-spot or a single spot. Use their rules on the line. Use this write-up to keep the *card* honest once the arrows are in the paper.

For the format reference page on this site, see the Indoor 300 scoring guide.

What you are actually shooting

Sixty arrows. Twelve groups of five. Clubs call each group an end. After twelve ends you should have a card that lands somewhere between “I left a few on the floor” and a perfect 300.

Distance is usually 20 yards indoors. Some houses post meters. Follow the line captain. For scoring, the important part is the face and the values, not whether your club’s tape measure is sentimental about yards.

The face is usually a 5-spot (five small spots on one paper) or a single larger spot. On a 5-spot you generally put one arrow per spot. You do not stack two high scores in the same blue because you felt like it. Either way, the math people expect on an American Indoor 300 card is the same family of values: each arrow is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or X.

What the rings are worth

5 is the high scoring ring. X is the even smaller ring inside that 5. An X still counts as 5 points toward the 300. The extra X-count is the tiebreaker when two people shoot the same total.

4, 3, 2, and 1 step outward. 0 is a miss — off the paper, or in a club that scores the rest of the face as nothing. Mark 0 on purpose. Do not leave a blank and hope someone remembers later.

Quick reference for one arrow:

• X — inner 5; counts 5 points + one X for ties
• 5 — high ring, not inside the X
• 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 — outward rings
• 0 — miss / non-scoring

If your club uses a face where colors map differently than a poster you saw online, trust the paper in front of you and the line judge.

End 1 through end 12: a boring, correct rhythm

Here is the rhythm that keeps arguments short:

1. Shoot all five arrows of the current end.
2. Walk to the target (or wait for the line to clear, per club rules).
3. Call each arrow with a partner: “5, X, 4, 5, 3.”
4. Enter what you called — including misses as 0.
5. On a hosted shoot, take the photo while the arrows are still in the face.
6. Lock the end. Only then pull.
7. Repeat through end 12.

Do not call from the shooting line unless your club explicitly allows it and you are both sure. From twenty yards a 4 and a 5 can look the same until you get your eye over the shaft.

If the arrow is cutting a line, use your club’s line rule (shaft touching vs color break). Put that rule in words before end one. The worst indoor nights are the ones where people invent the line rule on end eleven.

Why X matters more than people think

Two shooters can both finish 287. The X-count is why one of them wins the mug.

If you mark 5 when it was an X, your points are still right and your tiebreaker is wrong. That is the most common “honest” mistake I see on Indoor 300 cards. Tap X when the arrow is in the inner ring.

If your club uses a different tie rule (number of 5s, then Xs, then first miss, etc.), follow the club — but still record Xs honestly so the card is useful later when you look at your own history.

5-spot vs single spot

Same math on this kind of card. Different shooting problem.

On a 5-spot, you usually put one arrow per spot. That changes how you aim and how you talk about a miss. On a single spot, all five share one face, and the paper gets crowded. Crowded faces are where people start calling from memory after the first two arrows come out. Don’t. Call what is still in the paper.

If your club hangs a face you have never seen, ask before end one. “What are we scoring tonight?” is not a dumb question. It is how you avoid writing Vegas numbers on a 5-spot.

Mistakes that wreck an Indoor 300 card

• Marking 5 when it was an X. Points match; tiebreaker does not.
• Scoring Vegas numbers on a 5-spot. There is no 10 on this format. If you want 0–10, that is Indoor Vegas 450.
• Locking before all five are called. Finish the call first.
• Treating practice like a league. Skip the camera on a personal round if you want. Do not skip it on a hosted shoot.
• Editing after the walk-up with no photo. That is exactly the failure mode photo-proof scoring is built to stop. See photo proof.

How I run it on this site

Start an Indoor 300 from Home, or join a club Indoor 300. Shoot the end. Tap a score for each of the five arrows — including misses as 0. Lock the end. End 2 opens. Repeat through 12. Past ends stay locked. There is no bulk paste and no “I’ll fix it later.”

Photos are optional when it is just you. On a club tournament or league they are required before the end locks. That is the honest card for a hosted night — the same picture a club officer can open if two people disagree about a line.

I wrote more about who I am and why the site works this way on the About page.

First-night checklist

• Confirm face (5-spot vs single) and distance with the line captain.
• Agree who calls arrows and who holds the phone.
• If it is hosted, test one photo on end 1 before you get rushed.
• Mark misses as 0 — do not skip.
• Mark Xs as X, not as 5.

FAQ

Is Indoor 300 the same as a Vegas 300?
No. Vegas values and end length are different. See Vegas 450 vs Indoor 300 and the Vegas 450 guide.

Do Xs add extra points?
No. X = 5 points. Xs matter for ties and for knowing how centered you were.

Can I fix an end after I lock it on a hosted card?
No — that is the point. Personal practice is still meant to be a real sequence; do not build a habit of rewriting history.

What if my club shoots 10 ends?
Follow your club for competition. For logging, use the format that matches the card you are actually shooting.

Is this an official NFAA / USA Archery rules document?
No. Use your organization’s rulebook on the line. This page explains the common American Indoor 300 flow and how I keep the card in the same order you shot it.

Keep going

If you want the shorter reference page, use the Indoor 300 guide. If you are choosing between formats, read Vegas 450 vs Indoor 300. And if your club night needs proof, start with photo-proof scoring.