Top 10 tips - Preparing for your archery competition

This is a nice little check list you may find helpful when preparing your equipment the day before your competition. Top archers are able to shoot perfectly unaffected by distractions, but the last thing you want is to be worrying about something you forgot to pack or look up the day before! Below is a series of things to double check to make your competition stress free.

This isn't a blog about how to prepare your technique and coach your self for a tournament - that's a topic I'll save for another time! 

1. Know where the competition is and the time

Double check your shooting time with the target lists that are sent around. Take maps and directions along with the address and postcode for Sat Navs. Google street view the location so that you can recognize it easily and give plenty of travel time to allow for set up and relaxation before shooting starts. 

2. Take spare equipment

Essential spares include...

Fletches

Knocks

Piles

Complete arrows (minimum of one fully made arrow in practice another whole set of 6 arrows is best)

Arrow rest (recurve)

Tabs (recurve)

String (recurve)

Finger/wrist sling

Glasses/contact lenses for those of us that need them!

Ideally you would take two of everything you have - however, this is impractical & expensive for most archers! 

Other spares to consider include...

For compound archers -

     Scope lens

     Spirit level

     Release aid  

     D-loop

For recurve archers - 

     Knocking points

     Button  

Of course tools to fix your equipment is also helpful - often though you will find other archers with the right tools. 

Basic tool kits for archers include... 

Allenkeys 

Screwdrivers 

String wax 

Fletching rig 

Fletching glue 

Bracing height gauge 

Screw (to get out those stubborn broken knocks) 

Knock pliers

Tape (you never know when desperation calls upon creativity!)

Don't forget to call equipment failure if you need to change something (ie like your arrow rest falls off!!!). 

3. Be prepared with a range of Clothing

Weather can change rapidly (especially if it's anything like this years non existent UK summer) and it is idea to keep an "archery clothing set" in your bag at all times. Some ideas include...

Hat 

Sunscreen

Large umbrella

Sunglasses

Towel

Hair band for those windy days

Flat, even boots that you can shoot in any weather/amount of mud

Tight fitting T-Shirt and jumper (pref club cloths/colours)

Trousers that aren't camo colours or jeans (check your local/country rules)

4. Supplies

Don't rely on competition food. Take your own food that is easy to eat in a field, quick to eat and non sticky. Take water and energy drinks/coffee if this is your thing. Also painkillers can be handy if your unlucky enough to need them!

5. Creature comforts 

At the first competition I attended the first thing I noticed was all the tents! There were tents every where - you couldn't even see the registration table and had to smell your way to the food table. Then within a few competitions I quite rapidly realized how important they were. Tents provided the much needed shelter between showers (or even from the sun on those rare hot days) and give you somewhere to set up your bow out of the mud/keep your bow dry until you shoot. 

A ground sheet to go with the tent is some what obvious - but still handy.

A seat is also becoming a necessity for me. Archery isn't the most tiring of sports, but save your energy for shooting! Somewhat over thinking, but a seat that is mildly water proof (ie not cloth) might be a better buy or even one you can carry as a rucksack - as it's not as if we already have enough stuff to lug around! 

6. Know the rules

Tournament rules is a topic I'll save for another blog, but it is important to know some of the rules after all if you are new to archery the last thing you want is to be disqualified before you start!

Some key beginner tips include...

Clothing - there are rules on colours (ie no cammo and jeans), sponsor apparel and club colours that judges can choose  to enforce.

No touchy theee arrows! - point at your arrows as you call out your score, but don't touch until all scoring has been done. This is to make sure people don't push the arrow over into a higher scoring zone if it is close to the line. Also you can't write down your own scores.

Call fast if - an arrow is hanging off the target, someone/something is across the shooting line or someone has drawn their bow on the shooting line but has no arrow knocked. 

Get a judge if a score is incorrectly written down. Adding mistakes can be crossed out, but actual arrow score mistakes have to be checked and initialed by a judge.

On the day a judge will explain the whistles and how many arrows will be shot at a time along with any other key info - so insure you are there early to listen to this.

7. Know your round

Double check the day before what round you entered and how many arrows at what distance you will be shooting. If several archers and you begin to think the distance is wrong then say sooner than later as you can't start your shoot again. 

Also worth checking the county and national records for your round. You never know, you might just shoot that supper round & you need to point this out to the judge on the day.

8. Check your sight marks

Perhaps more important for new archers, but check your sight marks a few days before the competition. You never know what changes you have made to your bow you forgot about since you last got some sight marks and your technique may have changed.

Unless something is broken, don't fiddle with your bow after you got your sight marks!

9. Identification and membership details

If you wish to claim any records or your six gold end (for example) you will need to show your GNAS membership card (UK). Judges can also ask for membership details at any point throughout a competition so always have this handy.

10. Other helpful equipment

There were a few other helpful things I thought of but couldn't justify them having their own number so here is a random selection of tips...

Foot pins (daisy's get squished)

Scope to check your arrows as you shoot them 

Calculator in case you are the addddeeruppper :(

Pen 

Plastic bag to keep scores dry

Please feel free to leave a comment with any of your helpful competition preparations no matter how strange and crazy (tho not technique related as I will cover that another time).