The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of manipulating different quantities (one, three, and five) and scheduling (blocked, random) of variable practice in acquisition phase on retention and transfer of an archery target shot in a physical education instructional setting. Sixty-six undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of five practice conditions. During the first week, participants were instructed on proper shooting techniques and told they would shoot from various distances according to a predetermined schedule. The second week consisted of a pretest from 9.14 m. The acquisition phase covered six weeks. The specific condition practiced a total of 180 acquisition trials with 30 trials performed from 9.14 m each week. The specific + variable-blocked and specific + variable-random conditions practiced a total of 180 acquisition trials with 30 trials performed each week. The 30 trials consisted of 10 trials from 6.10 m, 9.14 m, and 12.19 m and were organized in a blocked or random schedule. The specific + varplus-blocked and specific + varplus-random conditions practiced a total of 180 acquisition trials with 30 trials performed each week. The 30 trials consisted of 6 trials from 6.10 m, 7.62 m, 9.14 m, 10.67 m, and 12.19 m and were organized in a blocked or random schedule. The target center for all acquisition trials was 1.13 m above ground. The tenth week consisted of a retention test of 10 trials from 9.14 m with target center 1.13 m above ground. Three transfer tests were also administered: #1 – 10 trials from 9.14 m with target center .51 m above ground; #2 – 10 trials from 15.24 m with target center 1.13 m above ground; and #3 – 10 trials from 15.24 m with target center .51 m above ground. Mean radial error (MRE) group centroid radial error (GRE), and bivariate variable error (BVE) for trials in retention phase and transfer phase were calculated into blocks of 10 trials. Results of retention test and transfer test #1 revealed no significant differences between practice conditions. Results of transfer test #2 and #3 revealed the specific + variable-blocked, specific + variable-random, specific + varplus-blocked, and specific + varplus-random conditions performed with significantly smaller MRE and GRE than the specific condition. Results of retention and transfer tests support other investigations that have shown supplementing specific practice with variable practice in acquisition phase is as good as, and sometimes significantly better than, specific practice.Keyword(s): performance, research