Damage to sports hall floors from Arrows?

Pittishead

New member
Hi,

Been contacting various venues regarding using their halls for archery...

One question that seems to come up again and again is about damage to the floor from arrows.

Anyone got any idea on how to reassure them of the the likely hood of damage to the floor?

I've never seen anyone shoot the floor, and any arrows that have landed on the floor just seem to slide along.

I've told them that there is more chance of damage to the floor by someone dragging a chair accross it! :indiffere

Any feedback most welcome.
 

Woodie

Member
The only thing I can sugest is finding a facility used by another club nearby and ask if you can use them as a reference.
 

wychcraft

Member
Many of the holes in our wall (and the very expensive acoustic panelling) are above the 3m netting, and were almost all created by experienced archers (compound and recurve) who should know better. It's simply carelessness - if that sort of shot happened outdoors we would never find the arrows.

No damage to the floor (that I know of) in the 8+ years I've been shooting there.
 

Whitehart

Well-known member
It depends on the floor

Some sports halls have tiled floors these should pose no problems.

You would think wood is damaged by arrows that have been shot and missed the boss but I have never seen this. Letting a compound down and shooting the arrow well thats like the strongbow advert but again I have never seen it happen.

The worst floors are the soft ones, they get damaged by arrows and even rolling coiled bosses on the floor.
 

bowman104

New member
We use a bit of carpet underlay under the target stands. The hall is happy with this and at the end of the season we have a tube of filler on hand for the end wall!
 

Stikphlinger

New member
Used to shoot in a school gym that had a soft, green, rubbery playing surface. The caretaker claimed the archery club were damaging the floor - suspicious though that all the serious damage was concentrated around the 5-a-side goal areas, at both ends, though we used the full width of the hall and only ever shot one way!

Never seen a wooden gym floor damaged by an arrow - they tend to slide. Have seen bounce-outs try to return to the shooting line along the deck if they've put a really glassy polish on it!

In the days when ACEs were a recent advance, I watched a clubmate shoot a brand new one through a tiny gap left where 2 backstop nets had been overlapped (badly!). He'd just been telling us how great they were and how much they'd cost!! I don't think the minor damage to the wall was what bothered him.
 

Tropicalshot

New member
Wall - Yes

Light Fittings - yes

Floor Flood lights - Yes

Louvered wondows - Yes

Pride - Yes

Floor - never been damaged and we have a highly polished wooden floor
 

DarkMuppet

Member
I remember shooting at the British Indoor Champs at RAF Cosford many years ago, and much to the RAF's horror, saw an archer miss the target and put an arrow through a "bombproof" door !!! ........ :eye-poppi

Probably the reason why it wasn't held there again ....
 

Emera

New member
Pittishead, we have the same problem in trying to source a new hall to practice in. Right now we have 10 weeks left in the current sports hall, but the local council are reluctant to let us have any of their facilities thinking that their nice wooden floors are going to be damaged by arrows... :no: There have been a few door hits & wall hits for arrows that went above the net or through a gap in the 2 nets, but this is very rare. Any arrows that don't make the target simply drop on the floor and slide. A piece of lightweight aluminium falling side on because it lost power is hardly going to cause damage. Agree dragging a chair across it would do more damage! People who don't do archery have preconceived notions that are hard to shift! Why they think she shoot the floor is beyond me!!! Even if someone accidentally kicked over a bow, all that will happen is the sight will break! Frustrating... we need a bigger hall to practice in! Hope you find a place to shoot in soon.
 

darthTer

Active member
Supporter
Ironman
American Shoot
If woodsplitter's about, the floor is safe!!!!

He's the only person I know that can aim at the ground....and miss!!!!
 

woodsplitter

Member
Supporter
Ironman
American Shoot
If woodsplitter's about, the floor is safe!!!!

He's the only person I know that can aim at the ground....and miss!!!!
I'm sure anyone CAN aim at the ground and miss; I'm just the only one you know who admits to having done it.

Anyway, back on topic. I've never seen an arrow damage a wooden floor. I have seen an arrow hit the wall above the backstop net, bounce onto the floor and slide right back to the shooting line, but still no damage to the floor.
 

Hoyt Hooligan

The American
Ironman
American Shoot
I remember last year a compound archer coming down and shooting the floor.
there was talk of a rule that when coming down you must point the bow towards the target but the rule never came in, but at our competitions we do ask archers if they come down to pointing towards the boss but then we do shoot in a very nice hall with a polished wood floor.
 
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