Swiss crossbow sport: 10 m, 30 m, clubs | Sailmaker's Fieldbook

Three checks before you act

1. 01
   A beginner should join a club and shoot under supervision before buying equipment.
2. 02
   Start at 10 m.
3. 03
   Read the rulebook for the class you shoot.

What separates 10 m from 30 m

The two distances are not a single sport shot at two ranges. They differ in target face, in bow class limits, in the number of ends, and in the conditions under which a result counts.

At 10 m the shooting is indoors. Light, temperature and wind are controlled, so the score reflects the shooter's hold and release rather than the weather. The target face is small and the scoring rings are tight, which puts a premium on a repeatable anchor point and a clean trigger.

At 30 m the shooting is outdoors. Wind acts on the bolt over a longer flight, and the range has to be read before each end. Elevation and drift become part of the routine. A shooter who is competitive at 10 m is not automatically competitive at 30 m, and the reverse also holds.

Equipment rules follow the distance. Bolt length, fletching, sight type and trigger weight are all specified per class, and a setup legal at one distance may be illegal at the other. The rulebook for each family is the primary source, and it is the version in force on the day of the match that applies, not the version a shooter learned from.

How does a match season run?

A season is a sequence of dated events, not a continuous league. Clubs publish their match dates, shooters enter individual events, and results accumulate across the year.

A typical match day has a registration window, a sighting period, then scored ends. The sighting period is not practice: it is the only time a shooter may adjust the sight on the range, and it is timed. Once scored ends begin, sight adjustments are limited by the rules of the class.

Scores are recorded per end and totalled. Ties are broken by the rules of the event, usually on the last end or on a count of inner rings. A shooter who wants to understand a result should read the event rules before entering, because tie-break procedure is published in advance and is not negotiated at the range.

The season has a shape. Indoor 10 m events cluster in the colder months, outdoor 30 m events in the warmer ones, and a shooter who wants to compete at both distances plans two calendars rather than one. Regional championships and the national championship sit at fixed points in the year, and qualification for the national event usually runs through results at the regional level.

Safety roles and stop signals on the range

A crossbow range runs on named roles and unambiguous signals. The roles are not decorative: each one carries a specific authority, and the range does not open until they are filled.

The range officer controls the line. This person declares when shooting may begin, when it must stop, and when it is safe to walk forward. The signal to stop is given loudly and is obeyed immediately by every shooter on the line, including a shooter at full draw. A bolt that is already loaded is unloaded under the range officer's direction, not on the shooter's own initiative.

Scorekeepers work behind the line and do not cross it during a live end. Equipment checks are carried out before shooting, not during it. A bow that fails a check is removed from the line until it is brought into compliance.

New shooters are supervised. A beginner does not shoot alone, and the supervisor has the authority to stop the end. This is the same authority the range officer holds, exercised at a smaller scale, and it is the mechanism that keeps an inexperienced shooter from developing a habit that has to be unlearned later.

How is the sport organised in Switzerland?

Organisation runs through clubs, a cantonal or regional layer, and a national association. The club holds the range, the equipment and the coaching. The regional layer runs the calendar and the regional championships. The national association holds the rulebook, the licence register and the coaching pathway.

Membership is individual and runs through a club. A shooter who moves cantons transfers membership rather than re-qualifying, provided the licence is current. Clubs that host matches publish their dates and their entry conditions, and a visiting shooter enters under the rules of the host club's event.

Coaching is structured. Instructors are trained and assessed, and a club that runs a youth section is expected to have qualified supervision in place. Youth protection is handled at association level, with named contacts and a published procedure, and it applies to every club that takes minors onto a range.

Regional history is documented unevenly. Some clubs have continuous records going back decades; others have gaps. A reader looking at a club's history should distinguish three things: the object (a target, a bow, a score sheet that survives), the source (a minute book, a newspaper notice, a photograph with a date), and the interpretation (what a later writer concludes from them). The three are not the same, and a claim about the early years of a club is only as strong as the source behind it.

Technique and equipment control by rule family

Technique is taught within a rule family, not across both. The 10 m hold and the 30 m hold differ because the flight time differs, and the sight picture differs because the target face differs.

Equipment control follows the same split. A shooter preparing for a match should check the current rulebook for the class, then check the equipment against it, item by item: bow class, bolt specification, sight, trigger, and any accessory that the rules permit or forbid. A club armourer or an experienced shooter can carry out the check, but the rulebook is the authority.

Documentation matters. A shooter who records sight settings, bolt batch, and conditions for each match builds a reference that is worth more than memory. Coaches who observe and record a shooter's ends over a season can identify a drift in technique before it shows up as a score drop.

What a beginner should do first

A beginner should join a club and shoot under supervision before buying equipment. The club range has the safety structure, the loan equipment and the coaching, and a new shooter who learns the range commands first will progress faster than one who learns them after acquiring a bow.

Start at 10 m. The indoor range removes weather as a variable, so the feedback on hold and release is clean. Move to 30 m when the 10 m routine is stable, not before.

Read the rulebook for the class you shoot. Ask the club which version is current. Enter a club match before entering a regional one, and read the entry conditions before the day.