Following on from the Board's decision, the IT Committee is pleased to announce that as from 1/1/19 Archers Diary will implement 12 month floating handicaps. What this means is that where previously your rating only went up after you shot a higher standard result and it stayed at the higher level, the system will now look at your past 12 months results and then work out your rating based on that data. So the system will automatically adjust your rating downwards should you not continue to shoot at your earlier level.
To obtain a handicap you will need to have shot in at least three events that have been recorded in Archers Diary. Once this is done your initial rating will be the average of those three events. (Remember that you will have different ratings for target, indoor, field and clout, as well as any different bowtypes you shoot). After that your rating will be calculated as normal based on the scores shot up to the last 12 months.
Where previously your rating would have been calculated as a result of all scores recorded in the system, it will now only look at the scores shot over the past 12 months. In this way the system will automatically adjust both upwards and downwards over time. This will better reflect your current standard.
When you shoot a higher rating than you previously had, the system will increase your rating by half the difference. Athletes’ ratings will be adjusted by the Calculator when they record scores to a different standard than their existing rating. It will be adjusted by half the improvement unless the improvement figure is an odd number; in this situation the adjustment will be by the nearest whole number less than the improvement.
Previously your rating would have stayed at the highest level you had obtained. Now the system will look at your last 12 months results to work out your rating. If the athlete has less than 10 ratings recorded in this period, then up to the last 10 ratings will be used, irrespective of the dates the ratings were achieved. A handicap will be calculated as long as the minimum number of ratings has been recorded (refer 4.3.1.3). In this way for example an experienced athlete is not entirely treated as a new archer upon their return.
Archers Diary will automatically keep track of your performances and adjust your handicap based on your last twelve months of results. Handicaps may reduce if your performances have lowered over time or will increase as a result of higher performances. Initial handicaps will be allocated after you have shot in three events and will be for target, field, indoor and clout for the various bowtypes you are shooting. Manual adjustments can only be done to an archer's handicap by the Archery Australia National Recorder. Should you believe you have a reason why your handicap needs to be manually adjusted then ask your Club Recorder to contact the National Recorder to discuss your situation and reasoning. The decision of the National Recorder after consultation with the Tournament and Records Committee shall be final in regards to any handicap adjustments. Examples of situations that may require an adjustment might be, Major medical incident Change of hand that you now need to shoot based on permanent injury, etc.