CHAPTER - I

INTRODUCTION
Archery was a sporadic part of the modern Olympic schedule through the early 1900s,
with events in the 1900, 1904, 1908 and 1920 Summer Games. In archerys early
years, competitors were allowed to compete in a more than one event, allowing them
to win a multitude of medals. One of the best was Belgian Hubert Van Innis, who won
six golds and nine archery medals in total in both team and individual
competitions. After a hiatus of 52 years, archery returned to take a full-time
place in the rosta of Summer Games sports in Munich, Germany, in 1972. Team archery
for three-strong squads was added to the events list for the 1988 Summer Games in
Seoul, South Korea. One of the best archers of recent times is South Korean Soo-
Nyung Kim, who wowed the crowds at her home Olympics in 1988 by scoring gold in
both the womens individual and team events at the age of 17. After another
individual gold medal-winning performance in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992 she retired
from the sport at the age of 21, but returned to Olympic competition in Sydney,
Australia, in 2000 to win a fourth gold in the team event.
Archery is a challenging outdoor discipline in which the archer takes on the
terrain as well as the target. This is the most commonly practiced form of archery
worldwide and is practiced within most Archery Indian clubs. Target tournaments are
conducted regularly and held both indoors and outdoors. Shooting distances vary
from 18 metres (indoor) to 90 metres (outdoor), with target sizes being 40 or 60
centimeters for indoors and either 80 or 122 centimeters for outdoors. Targets have
five colours with each colour being divided into 2 to provide 10 scoring zones. The
innermost ring is given a value of 10 points, down to the outermost ring with a
value of 1 point. Target rounds involve shooting a set number of arrows over one or
several distances. Indoor events involve shooting a total of either 30 or 60
arrows; with outdoor events shooting 72, 90, 120 or 144 arrows are shot.
Physical anthropology refers to the measurement of living human individuals for the
purpose of understanding human physical variation.
Today, anthropometry plays an important role in industrial and clothing designs,
ergonomics and architecture, where statistical data about the distribution of body
dimensions in the population are used to optimize products. Changes in life styles,
nutrition and ethnic composition of population lead to changes in the distribution
of body dimensions (e.g., the obesity epidemic), and require regular updating of
anthropometric data collections.
Anthropometric measurements were central concerns of the first phase of the
scientific era of measurement, which began in 1860s. Current interest in
anthropometric measurement focuses on their areas, growth measures, body type and
body composition. The use of such measures includes classification, prediction of
growth patterns and prediction of success in motor activities as well as assessment
of obesity (Timonthy, Alex, & Mortorrel, 1998).
Measurement of the body size include such descriptive information as height, weight
and surface area, while measures of body proportion describe the relationship
between height and weight among length, width and circumferences of various body
segments. It has been found that top athletes in some sports tend to have those
proportions that biomechanical aid, the particular performance required.
Anthropometry (measurement of humans), in physical anthropology, refers to the
measurement of the human individual for understanding human physical variation.
Today, anthropometry plays an important role in industrial design, clothing design,
ergonomics and architecture where statistical data about the distribution of body
dimensions in the population are used to optimize products. Changes in life styles,
nutrition and ethnic composition of populations lead to changes in the distribution
of body dimensions (e.g., the obesity epidemic), and require regular updating of
anthropometric data collections (Phillips and Hornak, 1979).
Elite athletes of different sports differ in physical and physiological
characteristics. It is expected, the elite athlete to represent an expression of
heredity, physical training, nutrition, and socio-cultural factors. Description and
analysis of top level athletes include kin anthropometry, which is the study of
human size, shape, proportion, composition, and gross motor function in order to
understand growth, exercise performance and maturation. The quantification of
physique, which can be called anthropometry, of top level athletes is a reference
in relating sports performance and body structure.
Anthropometry was not born for medicine or science, but for the arts, impregnated
by the spirit of Pythagorean philosophy. Painters and sculptors needed instruction
about the relative proportions of legs and trunk, shoulders and hips, eyes and
forehead; so