Reading the range
Meteorological wind reading on an archery field is visual estimation. Every environmental cue tells you something about speed and direction at a particular height and position between you and the target. Experienced archers scan in a fixed order: the flags at the target line first, then mid-range grass and trees, then the air around the shooting line. The descriptions below follow standard wind force observations and give a starting estimate you can refine against your own impacts.
| Observation | Approx. speed | Engine regime |
|---|---|---|
| Flags hang limp, smoke rises almost vertically | 0–1 m/s | Calm |
| Leaves rustle, flags lift and flutter loosely | 1.5–3 m/s | Variable |
| Flags extend partially, small branches move | 3–5 m/s | Variable / Gusty |
| Flags extend fully and snap, loose dust lifts | 5–8 m/s | Gusty |
On the Teamstoviewticker range, two copper flags stand either side of the target boss. They extend further and wave faster as the crosswind component grows, and they droop when the wind is mostly along the range — exactly the visual behaviour you should learn to interpret.
Resolving the wind vector
Only the component of wind blowing across the range moves the arrow sideways. Head and tail components change drag and therefore elevation. If φ is the angle between the wind direction and the line of the range:
w_cross = w · sin φ w_along = w · cos φThe clock method makes this practical. Picture the target at 12 o'clock. Winds from 3 or 9 o'clock are full value — the entire speed acts sideways. Winds from 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 or 10:30 are worth about 70% (sin 45° ≈ 0.71). Winds from 12 or 6 o'clock have no crosswind value at all but cost or add elevation. The HUD's wind readout does this resolution for you: the compass needle points the way the air is moving, and the detail line shows cross and head or tail components separately.
Drift values to memorise
Using the engine's drag and fletching coupling, the following drift figures apply to each 1 m/s of full-value crosswind for a full-draw arrow. Scale them by the crosswind component you estimate.
| Distance | Drift | Ring width | Rings per m/s |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 m | ≈ 0.5 cm | 2.0 cm | 0.25 |
| 30 m | ≈ 1.4 cm | 4.0 cm | 0.35 |
| 50 m | ≈ 4.0 cm | 4.0 cm | 1.0 |
| 70 m | ≈ 7.8 cm | 6.1 cm | 1.3 |
| 90 m | ≈ 13.0 cm | 6.1 cm | 2.1 |
The "rings per m/s" column is the number to carry in your head. At 90 m, a 3 m/s full-value crosswind moves the arrow more than six rings — enough to leave the gold entirely unless you compensate.
Crosswind mitigation: aim-off, sight or timing
There are three ways to handle a crosswind, and elite archers blend all three:
- Aim-off: hold the pin into the wind by the expected drift. It is immediate and suits shifting conditions. In the simulator this is the only option — move the reticle upwind and the Wind Compensation readout will grade your hold.
- Windage adjustment: when a steady wind persists for an entire end, move the sight horizontally so the pin can stay centred. Follow the arrow: arrows drift right, move the pin right.
- Timing: in gusty conditions, wind speed oscillates. The engine's gusty regime swings roughly ±25% around its base value on a cycle of about 3.7 seconds. Watching the flags and releasing during a lull reduces both drift and its variability.
Reading the grade: a Wind Compensation of 100% means your aim-off exactly cancelled the drift. Figures above 100% indicate over-correction; figures near 0% mean you ignored the wind; negative figures mean you held the wrong way.
Environmental adaptation
Wind is not the only atmospheric variable. Drag is proportional to air density ρ, and density shifts with temperature, altitude and humidity. Dry air at 0 °C is roughly 1.29 kg/m³; at 30 °C it drops to about 1.16 kg/m³ — a 10% reduction in drag. On a hot summer range arrows lose less speed, fly slightly flatter and drift a little less; on a cold morning the reverse applies. High-altitude venues reduce density further. Humidity has a surprisingly small effect, because moist air is actually marginally less dense than dry air.
Rain changes things more than the air does. Water on vanes and shafts adds mass and alters fletching behaviour, and wet fingers or tab faces can change the release. Adapt by shooting a sighter end whenever conditions change, and trust the data from those arrows over any assumption.
A four-step wind routine
- Read the target flags and estimate speed from the cue table.
- Resolve direction into a clock value and take the crosswind fraction.
- Multiply by the drift-per-m/s figure for your distance to get the hold.
- Watch for a lull, commit to the hold and release — then compare the telemetry.