THIS POST CONTAINS OUTDATED RULES INFORMATION FROM 2019. FOR UPDATED RULES AND GUIDELINES TO RUNNING LEAGUES, PLEASE REFER TO THE OFFICIAL RULES PAGE.
If you are a WATL affiliate looking to set up leagues at your facility, please refer to the Affiliate Portal to find all updated information on getting started.
We have had many requests from new affiliates and players for a quick guide on the basics of Axe Throwing Leagues, so we’ve put this outline together for you. Please note, this is not intended to replace the Official WATL Rules Page. In the event something conflicts with the rules page here, the rules page overrides anything outlined here. Please make sure you read the rules page in its entirety. This is only intended to provide suggestions on best practices and context.
Running Axe Throwing Leagues
Some definitions:
- A match is a set of ten throws (Except in Big Axe Leagues which it’s 5 throws per match)
- A round is a set of three matches, with the best of 2 matches advancing and or winning. This is only used during tournaments.
- A lane is a set of two targets used for competition
- A target is a set of wood with the target circles drawn on it and assigned to a single thrower
- Sudden Death throws are used in the event of a tie at the end of a single match. Points are not counted or tallied during sudden death.
Target description:
- Bullseye is six points and is defined by a filled in red circle surrounded by a black circle in the center of the target.
- Concentric circles are then surrounding the bullseye worth 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point with lower point values being farther away from the bullseye.
- A Killshot is worth 8 points, and is the blue circle and able to be called twice during any throws during a single match. It is also used during the Sudden Death round.
League Year
Each year of WATL Leagues there are 4 seasons with a break of 3-4 weeks in between.
The seasons:
- Winter
- Spring
- Summer
- Fall
These seasons coincide with the northern hemisphere seasons.
Weeks
In each season there are 7 weeks of regular matches finishing with a tournament in the 8th week. Each week in the league can be played any day you wish, but the week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday.
Week 8 is a playoff to determine the champion in a double elimination bracket.
Leagues must take place during the stated sanctioned season dates, released by WATL. Throughout the season, the scores are uploaded the same week they are finished.
- Every league week, each player plays 4 matches. All four matches will equal to 40 throws per week.
- League is typically scheduled the same night every week to allow for league players a way to set their personal schedules
- In the rule book, if three weeks are missed and not made up, the players are not eligible for the playoffs.
Week 8 playoffs:
- Overall standings from Week 7, set the seed for the playoffs which are a double bracket elimination Playoff Tournament.
- It’s best to think of the first 7 weeks as qualifying for the Week 8th Playoff Tournament.
- Double elimination means that each person has to lose twice. After losing the first game, players drop into the B bracket for final placement.
- Additionally, the winner of the B bracket goes to the final round with the winner.
From the rule book:
- The final Championship round is between the winner of the A bracket and the winner of the B bracket consisting of best of 3 matches. Allowing for one practice throw between each match.
- The Winner: will be the person who wins 2 out of the 3 rounds first.
- The A winner must lose twice in order for the B winner to win the Championship.
- This means that if the B winner beats the A winner in a best of 3 matches, they must play another best of 3 matches in order for the B winner to win the Championship
League week
Before your first week of league starts:
- Weigh all new axes that have not been weighed yet during the season
- Ensure all waivers, liability forms, etc. are complete
- Create a new season in the app and add all players into the season.
- Be sure to have fun, and your players will too!
The first hour it is recommended to have a practice session and sign in. A standard is for an hour of practice around the league. Each person gets ten throws and then is cycled to the back of the line. Players do not have to participate in practice.
Before the beginning of the week night, there is an announcement period. Topics should be:
- Business promotions/announcements
- Community announcements
- League announcements for the season
- Review of all the rules
- Question and answers
After the briefing, games begin and the app assigns random matchups automatically. Custom matchups can be created if players wish to throw against a specific competitor.
Play all matches scheduled for the league night. Each competitor will end the league night with 4 total matches. If a player is throwing makeup matches, they will end with more than 4.
Duals and Big Axe Leagues
Both of these special leagues are run in the same way as our Standard League and have any additional rules on our rules page. Some things to note that is recommended for running Duals and Big Axe Leagues:
WATL Big Axe Leagues are a competition where competitors throw a big axe at a target, starting with at least one foot behind the 17ft line, but not ever crossing the 15ft mark. The major difference between this league and our Standard one is that it requires more room to throw a larger axe and each match is only 5 throws.
Duals is a partnered competition where two competitors each throw their standard axe simultaneously at the same target.
The WATL App
The scoring App for WATL is located at axethrowing.org.
Some things to note about app use:
- The app is mandatory for use in all official leagues and tournaments.
- In case of technical errors, scores must be input into the App within 48hrs from your league night.
- It is a web app so it is not one you will download on your phone.
- You must have an internet connection to record scores.
- It is optimized for tablets and laptops. It can be used on a mobile phone, but is much easier to navigate via tablet or laptop.
- It is suggested to always open the app in an incognito/private tab for use. This ensures that you are always using the latest version of the web-application.
For all app help, you can refer to the App FAQ or email [email protected],
As always, for updates on everything axe throwing around the World Axe Throwing League stay tuned to our News Feed, check us out on Facebook and Instagram or join our discussion group on Facebook to chat with the WATL community.
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