Rudy's Archery Tracking

People mix up Vegas 450 and American Indoor 300 constantly. Same building. Same twenty-yard vibe. Completely different cards.

If you grab the wrong format on a phone or a paper pad, you will either invent numbers that do not exist on the face, or you will “fix” a night of practice that never happened. This article is the decision guide. The deep format pages are still Indoor 300 and Vegas 450.

The short version

• Indoor 300: 12 ends × 5 arrows, values 0–5 plus X, max 300.
• Vegas 450: 15 ends × 3 arrows, 10-ring values, max 450.

Different rhythm. Different math. Different faces. Pick the format your club hung on the bale.

What Indoor 300 feels like

Indoor 300 is the club-league grind a lot of US ranges mean when they say “indoor night.” Five arrows per end gives you a longer conversation at the target. The face is often a 5-spot or a single spot scored 0–5 with an inner X.

The mental load is “stay honest for twelve ends.” You have more arrows to call per walk-up. Tiebreakers often live in the X-count, so marking a 5 when it was an X is a quiet way to lose a mug without noticing.

If that is your club’s default card, log Indoor 300. Do not “translate” it into Vegas numbers later. There is no 10 on that paper.

What Vegas 450 feels like

Vegas is the faster indoor card: three arrows, score, three more. Perfect is 450. Distance is often 18 meters (or 20 yards in a lot of US clubs). The face is usually a three-spot (three small 10-rings) or a single 40 cm spot. On a 3-spot you put one arrow per spot — you do not park two arrows in the same ten.

Some leagues shoot ten ends (a “Vegas 300”). The full Vegas card people mean for a 450 is 15 ends. If your club only shoots 10 ends, follow their card for competition; you can still log practice as what you actually shot — just do not pretend a 10-end night was a 450.

Vegas faces are busy. From twenty yards a 9 and a 10 can look the same until you walk up. Call with a partner, then touch the phone. Same honesty rule as 300: do not invent the line rule on end twelve.

When clubs choose which

Clubs usually do not choose based on what looks cool on Instagram. They choose based on:

• What faces they have hung. If the bales are 5-spots, you are probably in Indoor 300 land.
• What the league bylaws say. Winter league paperwork wins arguments.
• How long the line can stay. Fifteen ends of three moves differently than twelve ends of five.
• Who is shooting. Some nights are “everyone on the club face.” Some nights split divisions.

If you are a guest, ask before end one: “Is this a 300 or a Vegas card tonight?” That one sentence saves you from writing 8s and 9s on a 5-spot.

Practice: pick one card and finish it

The worst training habit I see is stitching formats together because the night got weird.

If you are training for a Vegas-style event, log full 15-end cards when you can. If you only have twenty minutes, shoot five ends and stop — but label it mentally as partial practice so you do not compare it to a full 450.

If you are training for Indoor 300, shoot Indoor 300. Do not “warm up” with Vegas numbers on the same face and then wonder why your history chart looks drunk.

On this site, one round object should equal one real card. Do not stitch three partials into a fantasy total.

Mental differences that actually matter

Arrow count per conversation. Five arrows means more calling, more chance to rush, more chance to pull early. Three arrows is shorter — until someone wants to renegotiate a 9 after the arrows are out.

Tiebreakers. Indoor 300 often cares about Xs. Vegas often cares about inner 10 / X rules that vary by face and club. Know which night you are on before you care about bragging rights.

Fatigue shape. Fifteen shorter ends can feel “easy” until end 13. Twelve longer ends can feel slow until end 10. Take water either way.

Common mix-ups

• Writing Vegas 8/9/10 on an Indoor 300 5-spot.
• Writing Indoor 5/X on a Vegas 10-ring face.
• Calling a 10-end Vegas night a 450.
• Comparing a garage Indoor 300 to a friend’s Vegas 450 as if the totals mean the same thing.

If you want the product context for why I care about locked ends and photos on hosted nights, that is on About and in the photo-proof guide.

How I would choose for next Saturday

1. Look at the face on the bale.
2. Ask the line captain which card the league is using.
3. Open that format on your phone before the first end.
4. Call with a partner. Photo if it is hosted. Lock. Pull.
5. Do not switch formats mid-night because someone next to you is shooting something else.

FAQ

Can I shoot Vegas on a 5-spot?
Only if your club says that face is being scored that way. Usually no. Trust the paper and the captain.

Is Vegas always 18 meters?
Often, not always. Shoot the distance your club set.

Does an inner 10 count as more than 10 points?
Usually no — it is still 10 points, used for ties. Follow your club card.

Which should beginners learn first?
Whichever your club shoots on league night. Learning the card your friends actually use beats collecting formats.

Where are the full format pages?
Indoor 300 guide · Vegas 450 guide.

Keep going

If you are still unsure after reading this, walk up to the bale and read the face. The face wins. Then log the format that matches it — not the format you wish you were shooting.