The IATF exists to develop and grow the sport of axe throwing. Our rule set has continued to develop over the past 14 years and we believe it’s time for the next evolution of the sport. All rule updates will take effect May 1, 2021, and will be rolled out as new league seasons start.
The IATF is fortunate to have an involved and engaged community. We solicited input on the changes below from our members, throwers, and key focus groups through surveys and a series of virtual meetings.
The following is a high-level overview of the rule changes. The complete IATF Rules and Guidelines can be found here.
1. We support different levels of difficulty.
We’ve introduced our Premier ruleset in AxeScores (more detailed rules available here)
Both Standard rules and Premier rules will send competitors into Round 1 of the IATC. Premier rules leagues will send their top 8 champions points finishers at the end of each full league season into Round 1, while Standard leagues will send their top 4 finishers.
Both Standard rules and Premier Rules will continue as supported options for all levels of competitors within the IATF.
2. Our game needs to continue to evolve as it becomes increasingly popular and the community grows.
We have eliminated the ‘3 paint then points’ rule for big axe tiebreakers for all levels of competition, instead allowing 1 practice throw before a player’s first big axe tiebreaker in a given day of matches.
Clutches will be shrunk by ⅝ of an inch to 2” in diameter for all rulesets moving forward.
We have codified our hatchet and big axe specifications by adding minimum blade face sizes for both, minimum head height for both, and shifting to an inclusive ‘total’ weight to continue to allow varied equipment for our competitors (more detailed rules available here)
We have clarified the wording surrounding throw motion and a player’s step, adding the requirement for throwers to pause in order to establish themselves as a thrower prior to beginning their motion (more detailed rules available here)
3. The highest levels of competition are more exciting when we push our top competitors to their limits.
Both Round 1 and Round 2 of the 2021 IATC (as well as all IATCs moving forward) will be played using the Premier ruleset.
The IATF will be developing more tournaments for competitors of all skill levels throughout the year.
Additional Updates:
Custom Leagues
IATF has officially launched Marathon leagues, Big Axe leagues, Youth leagues, and Recreational leagues in the Axescores software for all members under our Custom League module.
Statistics for these leagues will be made available soon for all these new league types through a player’s profile, allowing them to track their progress across all rulesets.
IATC 2021
Instead of taking only the top 4 champions points finishers per individual league into Round 1 qualification, we will be taking the top 4 champions points finishers from every season begun during the 2020 league year to increase the opportunity for all league members who competed during the year.
Any Wild Card tournaments held prior to Round 1 of the 2021 IATC will be able to send their top 4 finishers to Round 1 rather than just the winner of the tournament in order to further account for players whose seasons may have been interrupted.
Your IATF member organization/league organizer will take you through all rule changes before the competition starts in May 2021.
We continue to grow the sport of axe throwing and are excited to see these new rules in action! However, we realize that you may have questions. We will be providing more resources to help implement the rule changes to answer as many of your questions/ comments as possible in the coming weeks.