Beginners guide - Essential overview to different archery shooting types

For new archers wondering what different shooting types there are, I have drawn up a helpful outline below. 

Want to read about some of the more unusual shooting types? Take a look at Poppinjay

Target

Target archery is as simple as the name implies, it is shooting your arrows at a target. Target archery is the only category to be included as an Olympic sport. All bow types can be shot at a target; this includes recurve, compound and longbow.    

The target is circular with two rings of gold, red, blue, black and white emanating from the centre. Arrows shot closer to the centre are highest scoring, but the size of the target face varies at different distances and rounds and scoring imperial rounds differs to that of metric rounds. There is a multitude of target rounds (which I will outline in another blog) and these are different in their distances, target face size and number of arrows.

The max-required distance for female archers is 80 yards, but is 100 yards for men. Target archery can be shot throughout the year utilising both indoor and outdoor ranges. Tournaments are held regularly and there are often dress regulations (no camouflage or jeans for example). There are various medals to be one including the traditional gold, silver and bronze medals along with prizes for hitting particular colours at certain marked positions. Men and women compete separately as do the different bow types and juniors (under 12, under 14, under 16 and under 18).

 Field

Field archery is often shot with a wooded area (rather than a field!) and is considered a greater challenge compared to target archery. Field archery can also be exciting as the shoots are varied and there is a great challenge in not knowing exactly what to expect.

Targets are put at a maximum of 80 yards (often much closer) and the targets can be marked (with their distance) or unmarked. Target faces vary and often animal face targets are used and scoring can include both target hits and hits to a particular zone on a target. Targets can vary in size and some even 3D!

Field archery is considered difficult due to the archers need to judge the target distance within uneven ground, which is often dark due to tree tops blocking out sun light.

Field shoots are tightly regulated and controlled due to the dangers involved (compared to target archery). It can also be expensive due to the loss and damage of arrows as it can be difficult to hit the target.

Equipment used can be slightly different to target archery. For example, shorter stabilisers will make manoeuvring easier in heavily overgrown forests

Clout

Clout was initially introduced as a training aid and is now often shot for fun, that is not to say that it isn’t taken seriously! A Clout shoot is where the archers shoot their arrows at a flag and the closer the arrow to the flag the higher the score. Scoring is achieved using a bit of string attached to the flag that is divided into colours. The different colour sections denote the scoring group.

Two-way clout is where archers shoot at the flag and then shoot back to the starting flag. One-way is where archers shoot at just one flag.   

Although longbow, recurve and compound can all compete at tournaments in clout, compound archers have to take care to shoot down, rather than up in the air, at the flag for safety reasons.

Future blogs will concentrate further upon each shooting style. In these blogs  I aim to give an overview of scoring, tournaments, bow types and the attractions of each style.

Top 10 - Tips to find your first bow and accessories.

After passing your beginners course and a few months practice you want to move on from your starter wooden bow and buy your own. Take a look at the tips below to ensure you get a good bargain.

1)    Hire, if you can, for a few months from a local club.

2)    Don’t buy vastly heavier limbs straight away in aim to save money thinking you will eventually get used to them. It is a little annoying regularly replacing your limbs when you start archery, but injury, frustration and bad technique that develop from limbs too heavy will bring your score down.

3)    Buy second hand from other club members. You can also try the equipment for a couple of weeks before you buy, if they are willing.

4)    Keep an eye on ebay – seeing as you shouldn’t rush into your first bow, take your time and check ebay once a week for any suitable bargains. You will also get to know how much equipment is selling for and how much you should pay.

5)     Make sure you know what bows you would be interested and which ones would be suitable, so if you see a second hand one then you won’t miss out (for example you may miss bidding on ebay because you needed time finding out if the bow is suitable for you). 

                            

6)    The UK has the Archery interchange forum. There may be other forums dedicated to selling of second hand archery equipment in your country.  

7)    Some archery shops stock second hand equipment – but you often have to ring around as it is not always shown on their internet shops.

8)     Limb exchange and arrow “try out” is offered by companies in the UK such as Perris Archery, Silver Arrow Archery and Stylist Bows.

9)    Some shops such as Perris archery run workshops to allow you to try different bow types. This could be handy if you can’t chose between compound and recurve, especially as it is difficult to try a compound bow set up for someone else.

10)  Keep your costs down. There is no need to buy an expensive bow, technique is more important. In face I have seen many archers shoot amazing rounds with wooden club bows. Equipment that is right for you is more important than expensive equipment. 




Read my other blogs "Beginners guide- Archery Essentials getting started" and "Beginners guide - Things to consider before buying your first bow". 

Week 2 - 25 June 2012 - Winact recurve limbs: Short 28# ideal for first bow!

Winact recurve limbs: Short 28# £120 down from £206.80! Merlin Archery

Described as having a smooth draw, especially for shorter archers you can't go wrong with the short Winact limbs. 28# is perfect for beginner archers, or even mid level junior archers. Normally priced over £200 these carbon limbs are out of the price range for beginners and juniors. However, with a 42% discount this is perfect for keen beginner archers and mid level archers looking for a bargain or a lower poundage to perfect their technique. 

Beginners guide - Things to consider before buying your first bow

So you’ve just passed your beginners course and you’re keen to buy your own kit? Owning your own bow is an exciting thought and browsing archery stores and looking what you want to buy is even more fun. Sadly, colour coordinating my arrows and kit has been so much fun I still haven’t decided and am just making do with what I have at the moment!

Something that I can’t emphasise more, is that it is not a great idea to go buy equipment straight away (unless you have endless money – if so please contact me :P). Below is a list of reasons that I hope will persuade you to hold back on spending your money for a minimum of 3 months (ideally 6) after completing your beginner course.

i)                  Lack of experience - you don’t know what equipment is available to buy and what is good.

ii)                While wait you can try out other people’s equipment.

iii)     As you are coached and you begin to feel what is right for you your technique will change dramatically over the first few months. This may impact the equipment you wish to buy (especially arrows as this will depend on your draw length).

iv)         Recurve is the best beginner bow, however for various reasons you may change to a compound bow 6 months later (such as being short like me! Or for hunting). Archers who shoot target often prefer different equipment set up from field archers, and those who choose bare bow (no sights) require less equipment.

v)                If you wish to compete, which can be fun even as a beginner, you should keep in mind competition regulations. One example is fully carbon arrows. Completely carbon arrows are often banned as lost arrows can be difficult to find (only the pile will be detected by metal detectors) and the carbon splinters posing safety issues to other sports men that may utilise the field. 

vi)            One thing that is least likely to change is the riser. Once you have a riser suited to you that you like, there is no reason to change. Therefore, you may want to invest more in this initially compared to other bow bits.

A bow is made up of the riser and limbs and you need arrows to shoot :). To get the right bow for you, you need to consider i) arrows that will be the correct length, ii) a bow that will be the correct length and iii) a bow that will be the right poundage for you.

Arrow length


It is advisable, for beginners, to ensure that the arrows are a little longer than your draw length (1/2” - 1”). This is for safety reasons, as you do not want to shoot your arrow if it has slid off back off the rest. As your technique improves and you know exactly how far you draw the bow back, you can then invest in some shorter arrows (or even, with the right equipment, shorten your existing arrows).


Measuring you draw length

Draw length is the length from the nock point of the arrow to the throat of the handle + 1 ¾”. This information will allow you to determine the length of arrows you need and to help you decide what compound bow to buy.

One way to measure your draw length is by holding your arms out to your side (do not stretch) and measuring the distance between your two middle fingers (requires help from a friend). Divide the distance by 2.5 and that’s your draw length. For the ladies, make sure you measure from behind, as you don’t want your womanly bits increasing your draw length measurement!

Compound 

For compound bows, it is important that you take into account the D-loop. This is a short length of string to attach a release aid. Although this will not change the draw length, or length of arrows required, it will change your anchor position by about ½”. Thus, say your draw length is 27” and you set your compound to 27”, then the anchor point may be too far back. I only mention this because if you buy a compound with draw lengths in the range of say 27 to 29”if your draw length measures at 27”, then the extra ½” with the D-loop may mean the bow is not capable of such a short draw length. On the other hand, you can add extra twists into the string and shorten the D-loop to help, but this is not guaranteed.      


For recurve it is helpful to have the shortest arrows possible to increase distance and accuracy. Although compound bows have a fixed draw length that you can not draw past (so no danger of your arrow sliding off your rest) an extra inch is not such a big deal, but not optimal.  

Your height and the bow length

A general guide for your height compared to a suitable bow length is below. Bows shoot better at their optimum draw and this is why your height, which is affected by draw length, affects your optimum bow length. If the bow is too short then you may be putting too much stress on it and if it is too long then you will not be drawing it back far enough to give you the power needed. Longer bows are easier to draw and are more forgiving. However, shorter bows can be difficult to shoot (due to pinching of the arrow and it is less forgiving).  

<5’6” tall & a 64” bow

5’6” - 5’10” tall & a 66” bow

5’10” - 6’2” tall & a 68” bow

6’2” + & a 70” bow.                

These bow lengths are the total length, including the riser and limbs. You can purchase different length risers and limbs typically come in short, medium and long. On a standard 25” riser, the small limbs make a 66” bow, the medium a 68” bow and the long a 70” bow. Archers under 5’2” should consider a 23” riser and those above 6’2” a 27” riser.

Brace height

This is the distance between the throat of the handle and the string. The shorter this distance the more likely a beginner is to slap their arm, until you have perfected your technique. For shorter archers this can be an advantage by increasing the power. Brace height is a more important consideration in compound bows as this often cannot be changed.

Poundage

Poundage is a personal decision. Start low and work your way up 2-4 pounds at a time. Poundage on limbs are given for a standard 28” draw length. However, for every 1” over this you drawing 2 pounds more (2 pounds less per 1” under 28”). 


You should not have limbs heavier than you feel comfortable for several hours shooting. This is so you do not injure yourself or others by accidental release and develop poor technique. Higher poundage will however increase the distance you can shoot and help increase accuracy as the arrows will fly straighter for longer. 


The best way to decide your poundage it to visit a shop and give them ago, different quality limbs will feel very different (I drew some high quality W&W 45 pound limbs and it felt like an elastic band...yet I have my compound set far far below this!). You can try friends bows, just take into consideration their bow length as if it is a short bow it will feel considerably heavier than a longer bow.


As a very rough guide, 


beginners will shoot < 30 pounds
women 30-40 pounds
men 40 + pounds

I will be following this blog with "Top 10 - Tips on how to find your first bow" and beginner equipment guides with prices and examples. 

Top 10 - Interesting Olympic Archery Facts

1. If the archers’ arrow bounces off the target the archer holds up a flag to let the judges 
     know and their score is taken from a mark on the target, if it can be identified.  

    

2. In the archery team rounds the athletes can be coached while on the shooting line.

3. The modern Olympic recurve bow is based on a design from 1500 BC.

4. Archery first appeared in the second Olympics in 1900 Paris and continued to appear at 3 
     further Olympics until it was dropped for 50 years until 1972. From 1972, its consistently 
     remained a an Olympic sport.

    

5. South Korea has obtained, in total, the most Olympic gold medals so far.

6. France has taken part in 12 out of the 14 Olympic games that have include Archery to 
     date – this is the highest participating nation (not by number of archers). 

    

7. A protected area known as the blind is where you can find the judges and their spotter 
    (who uses a telescope to record scores).

8. There are several classifications for Olympic sports such as cycling, swimming and 
     gymnastics, but only one classification/bow type for archery. This is the recurve bow (not 
     counting the Paralympics where there are two bow types, recurve and compound).

9. Archers have just 40 seconds to release the arrow

10. If an arrow is dropped/miss fired on the shooting line then the archer can re shoot the 
       arrow if they can reach it (from the shooting line).

Archery - Find out how your Olympic archers are selected

As the 2012 Olympics draw near read about what the athletes from around the world had to do to qualify their places to shoot at Lords Cricket ground in London. Archers really have to prove themselves under pressure in a large competition environment and have continuous great performance win Olympic place. The main qualifying event took place in Italy 2011. Since then there have been several other opportunities at continental tournaments and recently at the final qualification tournaments in Ogden for archers to prove their worth. The whole process is somewhat complicated but here is a simplified overview.

128 archers shooting at the 2012 Olympics

                             Only 3 men and 3 women from each national Olympic Committee allowed.

             64 places are men and 64 are women.

6 places to the host country – GB 

                3 men and 3 women.

                Each Olympics 6 places are automatically given to the host country.

116 places through qualifying tournaments 

                58 men and 58 women

               

                32 places are allocated at the World Archery Championships, Italy 2011

                                24 team allocations

                                                These are the top 8 teams (9 if GB is in the top 8).

                                8 individual places 

                                               Top 8 archers that haven't already qualified through the  

                                                team allocations. Only 1 archer per national Olympics committee.

                                 13 places allocated at continental qualification tournaments

                                               

                                                 6 Asia, 6 Europe, 6 America, 4 Africa and 4 Oceania

                    3/2 men 3/2 women each continent

                      

              Any national Olympic committee already allocated a place at the world archery championships can not enter these competitions with the same gender.  

                                  9 places allocated at the Final World Team Qualification Tournament, Ogden 202

                                                3 best ranked teams per gender

Tournament only open to national Olympics committees that did not qualify a team through the World Archery Championships. If someone qualifies at this tournament that has already been allocated an individual place then this place will be added to the places available at the Final World Individual Qualification Tournament (below).   

                                4 places allocated at the Final World individual Qualification Tournament, Ogden 2012

                                                        This is the final opportunity for archers to qualify and the 4 best individual archers who do not already have a place will qualify.

6 Tripartite commission places        

                                          

3 men and 3 women

           This is a commission aiming to strengthen the international representation. This is achieved by allowing archers from national Olympics committees with few or no qualified athletes to participate. Only archers from national Olympic committees that have less than 7 athletes over the last two Olympic games can be invited to submit their best archer(s).

However, all archers need to meet a certain standard before they care considered. This includes achieving the following minimum scores between 2^nd July 2011 and 1^st July 2012 at registered WA events.

Men WA round 1230 or 70 m round 625

Women WA round 1230 or 70 m round 600

There are detailed reports discussing the qualifying process including documents from the internationalarchery federation and tripartite commission. 

Now you know how Olympic archers are selected, look at the archers that have been selected in the documents for men and women available on the World Archery web site.

A guide to understanding Olympic archery to come shortly along with a blog of Olympic Archery history – how it all began.

All things archery, including beginners guides, weekly bargain buys, how too, reviews, event information and Olympic blogs

Top 10 - Coaching tips, perspective from the student

  

This blog is aimed at new archery coaches. Coaching courses will give a great overview of ways to teach and this is just a quick addition of things to keep in mind. However, the tips here are from the point of view of new archery students – what the students want.

   1.       Be consistent

Think carefully about your suggestions, as constantly changing your students technique leads to confusion. It is inevitable that things will change, but just give some thought to your suggestions for each student before you start teaching.

   2.       Keep it simple

Simplicity will increase the student’s ability to remember the point you are trying to make. Be concise when explaining something, vague ideas or rambling and unnecessary information make it difficult for the student to pick out the important information.

    3.       Ask what the archers want to achieve

From the students point of view they often wish to solve a particular problem. You will have a greater chance of keeping their interest and enthusiasm if you mould your lesson plans to their goals. Although it may be important for the archer to concentrate on other aspects, keeping the lessons interesting is particularly important when teaching juniors.

   4.       Be approachable

There’s nothing worse than a grumpy, shy, mean or a quiet coach. This will rapidly put off new members and decrease archery performance due to the lack relaxation. Students learn a lot from the questions they ask, so make sure they feel comfortable asking. 

   5.        "I don't know"

Archers would prefer if you are honest and say “I don’t know” rather than try to give them wrong advice. As always, you can look it up and get back to them or refer them to another archer.

   6.       Positive reinforcement – never be negative

Although you often see coaches encouraging juniors by phrasing good arrows, it is still important to be positive with adults. I can’t think of many people who would respond well to consistently pointing out their errors as this will just stress the archer and decrease performance.

     7.       Point out good reading media

Keen new archers often want reading material. If you know of a good web site, a good book or even a good DVD then point them in the right direction.

   8.       Be interested in their development

This is particularly important when coaching juniors. Juniors look up to good archers, and having interest shown in their development will increase their enthusiasm and thus how often they practice.

     9.       Explain your reasoning

Keep explanations simple, but do explain why you are suggesting something. This will help the archer remember the suggestion. For more advanced archers, an explanation will give a base to decide which techniques are right for them.

   10.   Remember what it was like for you to learn

Some coaches have been shooting many years before they undergo the coaching course. Try to think back to when you started, what information do you wish you were told and if you had any bad coaches, why were they bad?

Whatever your reasons for becoming a coach, whether for business or for your club, speak to other coaches and some valuable tips. For further information on becoming a coach visit the Archery GB web site   

All things archery, including beginners guides, weekly bargain buys, how too, reviews, event information and Olympic blogs.

Archery Essentials – getting started

Once you have decided to take the plunge into this amazing sport read these helpful tips for getting started.

   Beginners courses

It is essential that you attend a beginners course. Without your pass certificate you cannot join a club. Beginners courses will teach you basic safety and shooting technique.

Beginners courses can have long waiting lists so sign up straight away. Most clubs run around two beginners course a year so plan ahead.

These courses tend to last between 4-6 hours over 2-4 sessions and are often done in small groups.  

   Clothes

Ensure that you have appropriate clothing. Unfortunately the best type of tops is the unflattering close fitting tops. Avoid tops with buttons, else you do what I did and manage to propel a button all the other way to the end of the indoor range!

Pick the flattest most comfortable shoes you have. Once you pick a pair it is a good idea to stick with the same ones to shoot in all the time. This way you get used to a good shooting stance and there is no change in angle form a slight heal. Also keep in mind how quickly the weather can change and turn shooting fields into mud – don’t want to ruin a nice pair of shoes (there is a fair amount of walking required to collect arrows).

Wear thin layers, at first it can be difficult to judge how warm you will get when shooting, but there is also a lot of standing around. Therefore be prepared and take a thin top layer than you can add if you get chilly during the less practical bits of the beginners course.

    Equipment

I will no doubt mention this a lot, but it’s important that you don’t go and buy equipment fresh after the beginners course. Without all the technoblabble your strength will increase so rapidly that one pair of limbs won’t last you very long. It is not until you have figured out “your style” that you will know what to buy. I would recommend leaving at least 3 months following your beginners course before you buy equipment (longer if possible). Also during this time you can ask to try out other people’s equipment and get a feel for what you like.

Buying the right equipment is not all about money, but this is another topic by its self.

   Journal and pen

Everyone is keen to help new members and the amount of advice you can get can be overwhelming. Someone suggested to me recently that you could keep a journal of your coaching.

Make note of which coach suggested something and this may give you an idea of which coach gives advice best suited to you. Also if something is going wrong you may be able to trace back the change to something specific.

Coaches tips will take practice to perfect and advice can easily be forgotten. A pen and paper at the beginners sessions will help you remember what you have been taught.

   Find a club

Take time to find the right club, you don’t have to join the club you did the beginners course with. There are lots of clubs in the UK (nice list posted here) and it’s more than likely that there are two or more within driving distance.

The right club for you will depend on what you are looking for. I would suggest that a big club is a good idea. Bigger clubs generally have more coaches and technical expertise. This way you can get a range of opinions (and archers are full of them) and choose to take on board what advice suits you the best. Larger clubs often have more equipment to hire; this can be of great help when getting started.

Take a look at the facilities the club has to offer, remembering to look at both indoor and outdoor locations. What is the club set up, can you shoot whenever you wish and are the targets easy to put up in a pair?  

Make sure you double check the club costs, this is often fairly similar between clubs but you don’t want a nasty surprise. Generally you pay for a year in advance, so it’s worth giving some consideration as to which one to join.   

All things archery, including beginners guides, weekly bargain buys, how too, reviews, event information and Olympic blogs.

  

Is archery for you?

Archery is for everyone.

It is very satisfying when all your hard work and practice gets your arrows in the gold. i will be producing more blogs covering a range of archery for beginner's topics and will list these below, so come back for more.

So you’ve decided archery could be for you, read my blog on how to get started with archery.

Anyone can do archery

I would have said nearly everyone, except a blind person. However, the near blind 26 year old archer, Im Dong-Hyun, has won several team gold medals at the Olympics in 2004 and 2008! I think we would all wish him well in the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games, an inspiration to us all. There are many disabled archers and coaches will be prepared to teach any new members regardless of their age, ability and knowledge.

All ages

Archery is suitable for all ages and a wide range of age groups are seen at both club and competition levels.

Many clubs run junior evenings, this enables the younger archers can shoot together without feeling pressure from more mature members (or their parents).

There is no age limit! With age comes experience and some of the best archers are those who have the time to practice; being young and fit doesn’t necessarily give an advantage. If you’re retired and looking for an alternative to golf then look no further. Archery is a sport that you can start at any time in your life and the ability to learn isn’t really affected by age (as some may say - learning a new language or learning to play an instrument is more difficult as you get older).

Archery makes a great family sport as all ages can shoot. Although women are the minority group in archery there are still plenty of us and we compete separately to the gentlemen, so don’t let this put you off.    

Archery is a combination of physical capability and mental ability

No matter how fit or unfit you are, currently the muscles you need for archery will develop with practice. You don't need to have strong arm muscles; in fact if you are shooting correctly it's all about the back! So if you think archery is not for you because you are not particularly strong or fit then this shouldn't hold you back. Using a low poundage bow and lots of light regular practice can even help injuries through a gentle exercise. 


The best archers have a good mental attitude; they don't allow the last arrow to affect the next and after perfecting your technique the next step is to be able to fully focus. Archery can be used to de-stress for those with hectic work environments, but a good mental attitude goes a long way to making a good archer. 

Cost

Archery is a fairly cheap sport compared with many others and certainly didn’t come with the high cost tag I thought it would.

Beginner’s courses start from £35 to £60 and this is often a 4 to 6 hour event run over 2 to 4 weeks. Once you have passed your beginners course you can join your local club for around £50 to £150 a year. Although clubs will vary, this cost will cover your insurance, give you membership to several archery associations (entitling you to magazines and competition entry) and often allow you to shoot as often as you like at the provided grounds (clubs often supply targets, etc). Valuably, clubs have coaches who are usually keen to help and provide pointers.

Buying a bow is something you should not rush into, and I can’t emphasise this enough. If you can hire equipment from your club for 6 months I would strongly recommend it. For the first few years you will be swapping equipment left right and centre so don’t invest too much money initially. I think equipment will be an important blog to cover so I will add this to my list!

Commitment

Perhaps one of the highlights of archery is that you can often shoot whenever you like. There are often no rules to own often or how little you turn up and once club membership has been paid often use of the field is free. As with most things archery improves with practice and the more time you can take to go shooting, when not scoring, to practice the better you will become.

Difficulty

Archery has a simple aim, to put your arrows where you want them to go. Although the science behind a good shot is complicated the general principles of archery are simple. It is fairly easy to become a decent archer, the difficult bit becoming a fantastic archer. Some of the rules and regulations and different types of shoots as well as bow tuning can get a little more difficult, but these are not greatly important if you are shooting for fun. Difficulty can easily be adjusted by changing the distance you shoot.

Environment/Social

Archery is a very social sport. You can easily stand around chatting and forget to actually shoot! Clubs are generally friendly and keen to offer advice. If you don’t feel like shooting, it wouldn’t be unusual to turn up for a chat. Things can get a little serious at competitions, but there are many more “friendly” competitions held.

Ease of access

Archery clubs are everywhere, so no matter where you are or where you go later in life you can join an archery club. Archery shops are more difficult to get too, although there are several in the UK they are spread out and if you wish to try equipment it can be a bit of a trek. Beginners courses are in high demand so get on the waiting list as soon as possible. 

Competition

There are lots of archery competitions in the UK throughout the year, especially during the summer shooting season from April to October. Keen archers often attend a competition every weekend in the summer! For those keen to take part I will be posting a list of UK competitions each month (a month in advance) and I will cover topics from explanations of the different shooting rounds, tournament tips to awards and medals. There are several classes, of note these include senior lady, senior gentlemen, juniors (under 18, 16, 14 & 12 all separate groups) and bow style.

Competition isn’t for everyone, and it is a totally personal choice if you wish to compete. There are plenty of club shoot nights and often clubs provide an outdoor field where, as long as there are two adults present, you can shoot as often as you like in a non competitive environment.    

I hope this blog has inspired you to give archery ago, if so head over to my Archery – getting started blog. Lots of blogs covering beginners topics, how to and equipment guides will follow.

All things archery, including beginners guides, weekly bargain buys, how too, reviews, event information and Olympic blogs.