Monday 25 February 2013

Lesson 5 - Going Out with a Bang

So here I am blogging about the last lesson of the beginner's course; it doesn't seem like five minutes since we started, never mind five weeks.

As usual, the session started with us stringing our bows, selecting the correct length arrows and going through a number of warm-up exercises.  In the first half of the session we were shooting at 80cm targets at a distance of 20yds, with the aim of consolidating all that we had learned in the previous for weeks.  New for this week, though, was that we scored our shots.

Scoring is very straightforward as long as you don't make any mistakes!  The scoring sheets are pre-printed, and there are variants for each type of round.  For this (pretend) round we were shooting, there was a row of  twelve boxes, divided into six-arrow ends.  Each six had a sub-total box and each (dozen) row had boxes for hits, golds, score and running total.  The scores for each end (six arrows) are called by the archer in sets of three, repeated by the scorer, entered into the boxes and then totalled.  After two ends, the number of hits and golds is counted and entered, and the total of the two ends entered into the score box.  Finally, the running total column is updated by adding the score to the previous value of the running total.  Because we were shooting only four arrows per end, our final two boxes always recorded MISS-MISS.

All of this is very straightforward, even if it does tax your brain cells a little, but it is also very easy to start writing a score into the wrong place on the scoresheet, especially at the start of a round.  I have done a fair amount of scoring for my wife and son in the last year, yet I still managed to put the scores in the wrong place.  If a correction is required, it must only be made by the Field Captain, who will make the change and initial it, to ensure that there are no shenanigans going on!  Another rule that ensures fairness is that an archer must not record their own score; the scorer is usually the third name on the scoresheet, but someone else must record this person's score.  There were two of us on the same target at this session, so we simply recorded each-other's score.  At the end of the round, the scoresheets are totalled and signed by both the scorer and the archer before being passed to the records officer for checking and recording.  It is not unknown for the records officer to make comments in red pen on the state of completion or the accuracy of arithmetic!

So, what does the records officer do with the scoresheets?  The first thing he does is to check them for accuracy,and then enters the information into the club records.  An archer's score for a particular round is used to generate a handicap figure - the lower the figure, the better the performance.  There is a book of tables for generating handicaps from scores in each of the recognised rounds. As well as being a way of measuring individual progress, they also show how you are doing against others and are used in some competitions to ensure fairness between archers of different ability.  An initial handicap can only be given after three rounds have been scored, and is the average of the handicaps for these rounds.  As you shoot further rounds, the handicap is recalculated and, if it is lower, your new handicap is the average of the existing and new handicaps.  If it is higher, you maintain your existing (lower) handicap, which means that, during a season, you handicap can only go down.  At the end of a season, your best three handicap figures are averaged and this becomes your starting handicap for the next season.

Your scores are also used to qualify for classifications, which are awards for progress.  The GNAS (Archery GB) classifications are:

  • Third Class
  • Second Class
  • First Class
  • Bowman (or Junior Bowman)
  • Master Bowman (or Junior Master Bowman)
  • Grand Master Bowman
Classifications up to and including Bowman (or Junior Bowman) can be gained during club shooting sessions, but classifications for the higher awards must be gained at competitions or events run to certain criteria.  For each round, there is a qualifying score for each classification, and to make the classification you must achieve or exceed this score in three separate rounds (which may not necessarily be the same type of round).  GNAS publish a set of tables with the qualifying scores in their Shooting Administrative Procedures.  Last year both my wife and my son gained their Second Class awards having learned in April, so I think I should be aiming to at least match their progress this year.  Our club awards badges for each new classification earned, which are usually worn on the quiver.  To keep continue wearing your award, you must requalify in that classification in the following season.

During the coffee break, A demonstrated the last of the target archery bow styles: barebow.  This is simply a bow that uses no sights and must be shot using a simple tab - platform tabs are not allowed.  A used a recurve bow with the sight removed, but you can use any traditional bow that is not a longbow.  There are a number of differences between the barebow style and the sighted recurve style we have been using:
  1. The drawing hand holds the string below the arrow
  2. The anchoring point at full draw is when the knuckle of the second fingers is at the corner of the mouth
  3. the arrow is aimed by lining up the tip of the arrow with the gold on the target
Following coffee, the coaches decided to let us have some fun by pinning balloons to the targets and getting us to burst them.  Now this may seem quite straightforward, but is is much trickier than it looks.  If an arrow does not hit the balloon somewhere near its centre, the balloon is simply pushed sideways and stays intact.  Our target also had less balloons than the others, and more long, thin ones than fat round ones.  I suspect the coaches had a higher expectation of us than we did!  We did manage to burst quite a few balloons, and it is childishly satisfying to hear one go bang!




This session seemed to go a lot quicker than most and it was soon time to unstring the bows, bundle up the arrows and do a cool-down.  Finally, we were all told that we had successfully completed the course and were presented with our certificates by A (who is also the club chairman) and had a group photo taken for the club website.  We were also invited to join the club as novice members, and invited to shoot at the club field that afternoon.

Many thanks to the three coaches Martin, A and B, as well as the field captain, S, for all of your advice, encouragement and patience over the last five weeks.  I certainly intend to join the club and look forward to shooting with you in the very near future.  

I hope the readers of this blog find something of use in its pages and, now that the course is over, I will be blogging on my progress as I join the more experienced archers at the club field.  




EA (left) and A (right)




The successful novices with the coaches






Thursday 21 February 2013

Lesson 4 - Making it Real

Here we are at lesson four of five already! This week we are missing two of the three coaches - one through a prior engagement and the other through illness (get well soon B). Luckily we were also without three of the eight students, so the coach-to-student ratio was as good as any other week. We also had the benefit of S as a Field Captain, who also kept an eye on our technique as well as range safety.

Whilst stringing the bows Martin explained the importance of bracing height. This is the distance between the bowstring and the hole in the arrow rest, and should be set to particular distance for each bow. The distance is changed by twisting (increase bracing height) or untwisting the bowstring (decrease bracing height), and measured using a bracing gauge, which clips to the string and is marked like a ruler. Of course, if the string is removed from the bow - to transport it, for instance - it is very easy to lose twists in the string, thus affecting the bracing height. To avoid this, you can use a string saver, which is a simple plastic clip that holds the two ends of the bowstring together. Another bow tuning aspect that came up was the nocking point, which is the point on the string at which the arrow is clipped, and is usually marked by wrapping lengths of fine string (dental floss is a good substitute, fixed with superglue) or attaching metal clips at the correct points. The standard nocking point is 4mm above the arrow rest, and is once again measured using the bracing gauge.

After a warm-up (again led by the students) we had a quick review of signals and range safety, and were promised an incident requiring a call of 'fast'. We started at the 15m line, using the 122cm target faces we had used in previous weeks, and were encouraged to make our own assessments on each of our shots, identifying why something went wrong (or even right). Martin and S both observed us shooting and offered advice where it was required. We shot a couple of ends of four arrows and looked at where they grouped on the target, before adjusting our sights (remembering to move the sight the right way!). I did fairly well in this session, with the inevitable wayward shots, which could be explained by a number of faults, including:


  • not anchoring right hand under the jaw before release
  • snatched rather than smooth release
  • drawing elbow too low
  • incorrect hand position on bow handle
  • bowstring catching on armguard


Half time tea break came very quickly but was very welcome; although the outside temperature had risen into double figures (deg. C) it was still very chilly inside the unheated building! While downing our hot drinks, Martin got out his compound bow and showed us how it differs from the recurve bows we are using. The most obvious difference is that the bow has two cables and pulleys, as well as a string. The pulleys are cam-shaped so that the amount of force required to draw the string quickly reaches a peak before dropping off at full draw. This puts a lot of stored energy into the bow, but allows the archer to hold it at full draw with a relatively low draw weight ( about 20#/20lbs in this case). Instead of holding the string, the archer uses a release aid, which is clipped onto the string and held in the palm of the hand. Some release aids have a trigger to release the string, but the one Martin uses releases at a set draw weight (after releasing a safety catch). This means that he must use his back to pull back through the "draw stop" on the bow to trigger the release, but he does not know exactly when this will happen. Aiming is via a magnified sight, assisted by a peep, which is set into the string and must be lined up with the sight.

Martin shot a set of arrows at each of two Vegas targets, and the accuracy was phenomenal at 20yds (although these targets are usually shot at 18m). He explained that the targets are used in a worldwide competition in Las Vegas, Nevada, which had only just finished this year. The ladies compound competition was won by an archer from Woking who shoots at a club in Woking. S tells me that her bow was tuned by one of our club's members who was currently restringing his compound bow after the string broke mid-round last week. The compound bow generates much more energy than a compound bow, so targets are often fixed to Danage or doubled straw bosses. A 20m, four out of six of the arrows (fatter than the ones we use) penetrated right through the boss to depth of about 15 inches. I had a go at pulling a couple and almost burst a blood vessel! An arrow puller is an absolute essential!  Martin told us it is not unusual for two or more people to be needed to pull one arrow.

After the break the target faces were changed from the large, 122cm to smaller, 80cm faces, and while we were at the target end of the range, Martin explained the scoring systems in use in UK target archery (there are other types of archery including clout, field and popinjay, not to mention hunting - which is illegal in the UK).  Target archery rounds can be divided into two classes: Imperial (or GNAS) rounds and Metric (or FITA) rounds.  Not surprisingly  the Imperial rounds are shot at distances measured in yards, whilst the Metric rounds are measured in metres.  Metric scoring uses all ten scoring zones on a standard target face, as follows:

  • X (10 points) : circle within inner gold
  • 10 points : inner Gold
  • 9 points : outer gold
  • 8 points : inner red
  • 7 points : outer red
  • 6 points : inner blue
  • 5 points : outer blue
  • 4 points : inner black
  • 3 points : outer black
  • 2 points : inner white
  • 1 point : outer white
  • Miss (0 points) - anywhere outside the outer white

The X zone scores the same ten points as the inner gold, but is noted as X on the scoresheet, and is used in a count back situation where scores are equal.

Scoring for Imperial rounds uses only five scoring zones as follows:

9 points : gold
7 points : red
5 points : blue
3 points : black
1 point : white
Miss (0 points) - anywhere outside the white

With both scoring systems, any arrows that cut or touch the line between two scoring areas will score the higher of the two. If archers cannot decide on a marginal score, the decision is left to the Field Captain (or other official) and that decision is final. A magnifying glass may be required!

Usually each archer shoots six arrows per 'end', and scores are called to the scorer in groups of three arrows, highest to lowest. The scorer should repeat back every group of three as the score is written on the scoresheet. For example, a metric end with two arrows in the inner gold, two in the outer gold and one in each of the red rings would be scored as:

Archer : ten, ten, nine
Scorer : ten, ten, nine
Archer : nine, eight, seven
Scorer : nine, eight, seven


Although the targets were two-thirds the size, it is amazing how quickly we adapted to the smaller objective, although our accuracy didn't magically improve to match. Shooting from the 15m line, we scored our ends with alternate metric and imperial scoring. After a few ends, we were moved back to the 20yd line, which meant we were almost shooting a genuine round. As you might expect, our accuracy was not quite as good at 20m as it had been at 15m, but we all put in some creditable shots. Once again we scored our shots and had a fair few line-cutters.

The session concluded with warm-down stretches and packing away the equipment ready to be taken back to the clubhouse. Next week will be our last session, where we are all hoping to have proven to the coaches that we are both safe and competent archers. They must be fairly confident as we were reminded to complete our club membership applications!

Monday 11 February 2013

Lesson 3 - Baking a Cake

Welcome to the post after lesson three, which takes us past the half-way point of the five week course. I managed to make it to the scheduled lesson this week! One new face to me was one of the ladies who were not at the first session, whose name I can't really forget; it is the same as my wife's with the exception of one consonant in our surnames. As Mrs EmbryonicArcher also shoots at the club, I can see a fair deal of confusion ahead!

We had to string our own bows this time and select the correct arrows. It helps that arrows of the same length have the same coloured nocks, but two sets of arrows had the same colour fletchings, so there is an additional ring of coloured tape to distinguish them.  Usually archers will also personalize their arrows even further by using decals to apply their name or initials. I got to thinking what colour fletchings I would choose when I buy my first arrows, and concluded that red and white would be a good choice, the colours of my favourite football (soccer if you are reading in the US) team. At home later I happened to see Mrs EA's arrows, and guess what colours she has... Back to the drawing board!

Bows strung and arrows selected, it was time for the warm-up. This week the coaches decided that the students should lead the warm-up, so we each led one of the exercises. All of the warm-ups are movement exercises whilst the warm-downs are stretches to release the lactic acid from the muscles to reduce aching. The coaches asked if anyone had any aches and pains after the last session. One person had, so the coaches promised to look into the possible reasons and try to stop it happening again.

Finally we were ready to shoot so on went the armguard, sling and tab and we moved to the waiting line behind the 20 yard shooting line. One major equipment change for me this week was the tab. Rather than the simple leather tab I have used in previous sessions, I was trying a platform tab given to me by Mrs EA. This has a metal plate on top of which is a plastic platform that should be positioned under the jaw at full draw. There is still a piece of leather to protect the fingers.

This week, as well as the three coaches we had a Field Captain, which allowed the coaches to give their full attention to the students. There was a quick test to make sure that we had remembered the signals and were warned that someone would be shouting 'fast' at some point during the session. We split into three groups of 2, 2 and 3 - myself and two other gents made up the three.

The first half of the session was more consolidation of the techniques we had learned in the last two weeks, with the emphasis much more on self-awareness when anything went wrong (or right). However the coaches and field captain would always offer advice, and it was very valuable to stand and watch the other students to see their shooting style and listen to the feedback from the coaches. There were two specific problems that were picked up with my technique. The first was that I tended to raise my head after turning it toward the target, rather than keeping it level. A few 'dry runs' away from the line helped me determine how it would feel when done correctly, even though I looked like RoboCop. The second problem was that sometimes the string would catch behind my armguard after release, caused primarily by me allowing my left shoulder to come up when raising the bow.  A correction from Martin really helped : imagine you are a policeman stopping the traffic!

After a good number of ends - including reminders about how to safely pull arrows - we had a short tea/coffee break and enjoyed some homemade flapjack brought by one of the students (yum!).  During the break A and B showed us their recurve bows before having a 3-round head-to-head.  Their bows are basically the same as the student bows we are using, but with some differences in materials used in the risers and limbs.  The sights have a more complex mechanism for adjustment, but they do the same job.  The obvious difference is that they both used stabilizing rods, which adjust the centre of gravity of the bow and at the same time reduce the amount of movement.  This works because the rods are weighted at the end, which increases the inertia and makes it harder to move the bow.

Despite trying to psyche-out her dad, A beat B by three ends to nil.  After the last end we all went to look at the target, which was about half the size of the targets we are using.  We also noticed just how deep the arrows went into the boss and how hard they are to pull - an arrow puller is definitely needed.   Finally A and B showed us the correct way to move a boss, either by itself or on the frame.  It is certainly a two-person job, especially with wet straw bosses.

After the break it was time for the "Bake a Cake" game, which was a really tough test of the skills we had gained so far.  The object of the game is to win the ingredients of a cake by shooting arrows into the correctly coloured rings: flour (4 x white); water (5 x blue); eggs (2 x gold).  Finally you need to bake the cake by putting it in the oven (6 x red).  We split into three teams and tried for one of the ingredients in each end, with varying results.  One nasty twist was that shooting a black would wipe out all of your ingredients for that end, which I managed to do :-(  At one point someone kicked a football (the spherical type - see above) onto the range, and one of the coaches shouted 'fast'.  Whilst everyone brought their bows down safely, it was noticed that non of the students had shouted - a reminder that range safety is everyone's responsibility.  The ultimate winner of the game was not clear, but it didn't really matter - the game took our minds off pure technique and allowed us to put into practice what we had learned so far.

Finally the junior learners led us in the warm-down stretches and we packed up the kit.  The coaches were straight off the the field for an afternoon 'Frostbite' competition and students were invited (sadly I couldn't make it).  This competition is actually an International match against the Falkland Islands Archery Association (http://www.fioga.co.fk/ArcheryNews/) where each club shoots at their own field and scores are exchanged by post (or email).  This is the latest of a number of matches with the Falklands and I look forward to taking part in one someday.

Dear Cupid

Dear Cupid,

You appear to have offered your modelling services to Lidl.  I hope that you will accept some comments on your equipment and technique that will certainly help your success rate.

Equipment


  • Arrow tip size : you may find it difficult to get the arrow to stick in the boss
  • Fletchings : you should use a different colour for your cock-feather to help with loading. The fletchings are glued in the wrong place - the cock-feather should be perpendicular to the bow string
  • Armguard : consider using this useful bit of equipment because bruises are very unsightly, and I think you may take some pride in your appearance.
  • Bow sling : if you use the correct grip (see below) then you mind find that your bow ends up half way down the range, perhaps striking other archers on the way
  • Tab : your hand position on the string is not bad, but you will soon develop sore fingers if you don't use a tab.

Technique

  • Stance : you are clearly not standing at right-angles to the target.
  • Arm position : your left arm is much to far forward; it should be in line with your front arm, in the classic T position.
  • Shoulders : both of your shoulders are too high
  • Head position : your head should be upright looking directly at the target (and not the camera!)
  • Bow grip : you are gripping hard, which will cause your arrow to go wayward.  The bow needs to be upright, and not at that jaunty angle.
  • Aiming : you will find that closing one eye will help your aim enormously.  If that is difficult for you, consider using an eyepatch.

Dress Code

  • White suits are not a good idea - they offer little resistance to rain and are prone to soiling when moving around targets.
  • If you are posing for a photograph, I would advise having a shave.  It looks like you have just got out of your cloud.
  • Nobody has hair that perfect, although I guess it is OK for the God of Love.
Good luck with the aiming of your Little Arrows.


EmbryonicArcher



With apologies to Lidl who own the rights to this image.  I hope they don't send round the lawyers!

Friday 8 February 2013

Lesson 3 Preview

I really admire the administration of this course.  A day or two before the course an email arrives outlining what to expect in the next session, as well as a reminder to bring along the bits of kit forgotten the previous week.

Attached to this week's email was a document outlining shooting etiquette, along with the promise of tests on the content.  The promised highlight will be a shoot-off between two of the coaches. A and B are father and daughter, so competition will be fierce!  We are also promised a "Bake the Cake" game - the mind boggles!


Lesson 2.5 - Consolidation


This was the catch-up lesson put on because two of us missed the scheduled lesson at the weekend.  Unfortunately  the other beginner had to miss this one, too, due to an injury, so it was just me and Martin this time.  He brought with him the important bits of kit - bows, arrows, mugs, milk....

I started the evening with a 14 pound (14#) bow, the same as I used in lesson one.  After a quick reminder from Martin, I managed to string it properly using the bow stringer.  We also found a set of arrows the right length.

Working with the elastic band, Martin showed me how to set my arms and shoulders so that the forces are aligned along the bones of the arms, and that keeping the shoulders down helps enormously. He was pleased  that I had mentioned the T-position in a previous blog post! He also covered one new technique that will become vital to my development, which is the use of the back muscles when drawing the bow.  By using the elastic band it is easy to feel how the back muscles can be brought into play, rather than relying on the drawing arm to pull back the string.  You should feel your shoulder blades coming together at the top of your back.

After doing some warm-up exercises we moved to the same shooting line that we had used in lesson one.  Martin explained that in this lesson we were going to concentrate on a specific area at a time ask me to provide feedback after each shot.  Even though there were only two of us, the correct signal system would be used.  Rather than do this in chronological order, I will comment on each part of the shooting sequence (corrected by Martin in a comment to a previous post!):
  • Stance
  • Nock Arrow
  • Set Hands
  • Prepare
  • Raise
  • Draw
  • Anchor and Aim
  • Release and Follow Through

One item that is not on this list is feedback, or asking yourself how you thought a shot went.  If it didn't go well, what could have been the problem?  What can I do different next time?  I will try to call-out what was going through my mind at each stage of the sequence. Remember that I am speaking as a right-handed archer, so you will need to switch left and right if you shoot left-handed.

Stance

Feet astride the shooting line, at right-angles to the target.  Weight slightly forward onto the toes, shoulders relaxed.  Try to focus on something directly ahead (I found some electrical trunking).

Nock Arrow

Rest the bottom of the bow on the front (left)  foot to keep it steady whilst you nock the arrow, making sure it is on the arrow rest and that it clicks onto the string.  Make sure the cock feather is towards you.

Set Hands

Your bow (left) hand should not grip the handle on the riser, but the handle should rest against the fleshy part of your palm, just below the left thumb.  Keep the hand at about 45° to the bow handle.  The drawing (left) hand should put a little pressure on the string to keep it there. 

Prepare

Relax into a settled position, then turn your head to face the target - don't move your body!

Raise

Extend the left arm to a horizontal position, being careful to not to let the left shoulder rise.  Do not be tempted to start pulling back on the string until the arm is horizontal. The right arm should be bent at the elbow with the forearm and upper arm at the same level, still forming the T-position.  Ensure that the left shoulder has not risen.

Draw

Use a smooth movement to pull the string back, making sure that the shoulders stay down.  This is where I started to try using my back muscles to bring the right arm round, with very variable results.  It is easy to forget all the other aspects when you are concentrating one a specific thing! 

Anchor and Aim

With the string at full draw, make sure the string touches the tip of your nose and that the side knuckle of the right index finger ends up tucked right under the jaw - I tended to let my thumb rise to meet my jaw, which resulted in my hand being a little low.  Alternatively, I forgot to touch my jaw at all (see doing everything at once, above...).  Martin suggested that an alternative tab (a platform tab) is likely to help me avoid the wayward thumb problem.  Once the bow is set, take aim by centering the sight tunnel (the round bit of the sight) on the gold.  You should also be able to see the string (out of focus!) to the right of the sight tunnel, and it should always be in the same relative position every time you aim.

Release and Follow Through

During my first lesson releasing was simply a matter of opening the fingers and letting go of the string, but Martin moved me on from this to a better technique. Once set with the hand in the correct position, use the back to put in a little extra pull, allowing the string to slide out of your grip, resulting in the hand moving slightly back (follow-through) from the set position (as I mentioned in a previous post).

Feedback

If everything has gone correctly, the following should have happened:
  • Arrow flies straight and does not 'snake'
  • Arrow hits the target at the centre of the gold (yeah, right..!)
  • The bow should be dangling from the bow sling, and may well have fallen back on your head (more proficient archers weight their bows with stabilizing rods, so you will see their bow fall forward, see this YouTube video of someone who is somewhat more proficient than me).
  • Right (drawing) hand has moved backward a little and the hand is open.
  • Every other part of your body is in the same position as it was before the release.

Inevitably, at least one of the above will not have been achieved, so you need to ask yourself ,"why"?  Here are a few things that we picked-up from this session:
  • Drawing hand not touching jaw (too far down) - arrow flies too high
  • Drawing hand not touching jaw (too far out) - arrow snakes
  • Head too far back (string not touching nose)
  • Gripping handle with left hand - skew arrow to left or right
  • Not seeing the string when aiming the sight


Half way through the session we had the obligatory coffee break and I had the opportunity to ask Martin about anything I wanted (archery-related!).  I was curious to know where the shooting lines are measured from, as the target faces are set at a slight angle.  The answer is that the centre of target face is placed directly above a reference line, and the distance is measured from there, to within an allowed tolerance.  The angle of the face is also prescribed.

After the break I tried on a heavier poundage bow, moving from 14# to 18#.  This takes a little more effort to draw, but not so much that it was difficult.  We also moved back to the 20yd shooting line (from 15yd) and Martin asked me how my sight should be adjusted. I went through this quite logically and decided that, as the arrows would fall low (or short) the sight should be moved down.  I shot a couple of arrows, which landed far too low, before Martin told me that I he had watched me move the sight the wrong way!  Another adjustment the right way helped enormously.

I continued shooting six arrows at a time, constantly assessing what happened and why, with the aim of getting all of the arrows grouped around the same point on the target.  Once you are grouping your arrows, a simple adjustment to the sight should move this grouping into the gold!  Martin used a tape measure to find the distance around all of the arrows - the smaller the measurement the tighter the group.

To finish off the evening we did a few warm-down exercises before taking down the bows.  Another  great session over, I am looking forward to lesson three this weekend.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Lesson 2 - Heathrow Airport

My flight back from Chicago was an hour late arriving, so I didn't arrive home until after lesson 2 had started.  I am not sure that it would have been wise to shoot arrows after an overnight flight so we have rearranged the lesson for later in the week.

One of my followers on Twitter suggested I follow another newbie (Kris, @rootbeerrocker), based in the US.  Whilst reading some of his posts sitting in my Chicago hotel room, it became clear that his weather reports matched very closely the weather I was seeing.  It turns out he lives just up the road from Chicago! Although Kris is new to archery, he has set his sights very high by aiming to be at the next Paralympic games.  I wish him well.

Lesson 1 - Stance and First Shots


Martin explained the correct sequence to go through in the mind to get in the right position for the shot:

1. Stand with feet shoulder width apart either side of the shooting line so that your let shoulder is facing the target.
2. Load the arrow making sure the cock feather faces out and the nock engages the string. Grip the string with the right hand using the knuckle closest to the finger ends.
3. Relax the shoulders, keep the back straight and turn the head to face the target.
4. Raise the bow with the left arm until the arm is horizontal.
5. Draw the string back until the string touches the nose and the thumb ends up under the jawbone, almost under the right ear.
6. Release the string and let the arrow fly. The right hand should travel backwards a little way.
7. Check to see where the arrow went.

After a few arrows it became apparent that there are a number of common faults that make an arrow fly off course. Some of them are:

- Right hand pulling back next to cheek - arrow will fly low.
- Right hand pulling too low (away from the jawbone) - arrow will fly high.
- string does not touch the nose - head is tilted back so arrow will fly high.

After shooting all your arrows, you must wait for the signal from the range captain to go and recover them (and score them).  On the way to the target check for and pick up any arrows that fell short.  At the target, pull arrows by placing the back of the hand against the target face  with the arrow shaft between your fingers, the pull straight back, ensuring nobody is going to get poked!  Work from the outside of the face inwards.  Finally recover any arrows from behind the target.

Incorrect posture can also cause problems. Martin pointed out a few with myself and my partner, including the right shoulder being too high, and the right elbow not being in line with the rest of the arm. In general, the arms should for a T shape, with the right arm folded at the elbow.

Towards the end of the lesson Martin took a photo of each of the students, which he used to highlight specific issues we could concentrate on in coming weeks. You can see the photo below; here are his comments:

"Your stance is nice and upright and you look relaxed and confident. As you will see, your front shoulder is a little high in relation to the line of the arrow and we will work on this in the next lesson. Your draw hand is nicely positioned under your jaw but we need to make sure it is the same part of your hand which makes contact each time. It might help to tuck the thumb a little closer to the forefinger to make a sort of platform. Otherwise there is a risk that although your thumb may make contact with your jaw, the rest of your hand might still be low, high or to the side. Your back arm alignment looks excellent with a nice straight line from your elbow, through your hand to the bow handle. From the rear this looked really good. Your bow hand looks nice and relaxed though we should try to rotate it slightly clockwise so that it is nearer a 45 degree angle with just the ball beneath the thumb making contact. For the next lesson we will help you to start using your back muscles a little more to execute the shot. We will also look again at the bow hand position. Generally you should be very pleased indeed with your first outing with a bow."

He is right. I was pleased.


Lesson 1 - Safety, Signals and Arrows


With the equipment sorted the coaches moved on to tell us about range safety, setup and signals. A range has targets at one end and archers shoot from shooting lines at set distances (metric or imperial) from them. If more than one distance is being shot at the same time, all archers shoot from the same shooting line and the targets are moved to the correct distance. This is quite simply to reduce the risk of someone being hit by an arrow shot from behind. The waiting line is a couple of metres behind the shooting line and archers must retreat behind this line unless they are actually shooting. In charge of safety on the range is the Range Captain, who is equipped with a whistle to give signals:

1 blast : Start shooting an end (a set of arrows, usually six for outdoor distances)
2 blasts : All archers finished shooting. Safe to approach targets to score and collect arrows
3 or more blasts : DANGER! Stop shooting immediately and unload arrows.

The danger signal can also be given by any archer shouting the word FAST, and may be used if someone enters the range unexpectedly, or if some other hazardous situation occurs. Where there are many archers on the shooting line, the Fast call is often repeated along the line.

Suitably briefed on equipment and safety it was time to approach the shooting line, where the coaches assessed us for the size length of arrows to use. An arrow used in recurve archery is actually constructed from a number if parts. The shaft is a long hollow tube of lightweight metal or carbon fibre, or both. Into one end is fitted a tip, usually kept in place with hot-melt glue; into the other end is a nock, which is a coloured plastic insert that clips lightly to the bow string. At the nock end, fletchings are attached to the arrow, a short distance from the end. Fletchings are plastics vanes that help the arrow fly straight and are glued parallel to the shaft at 120° intervals. They are usually chosen so that there are two of one colour and one of a different colour; the odd-coloured fletching is called the cock-feather and will be perpendicular to the bowstring when the arrow is correctly loaded. Differing colours of fletchings and mocks also allow archers to identify their arrows in a target. Suitable arrow length is determined by holding your right hand in front of your face with your thumb on your nose and fingers splayed (wave it around and you get a familiar expression beloved of small children!). The left hand is held up as if stopping traffic. An arrow should rest in the crook between left thumb and forefinger when the nock is against the palm of the right hand.

Lesson 1 - Handedness and Bows


The handedness check is important as the bows we start learning with are also handed, as is much of the other equipment. One of the smallest but most important bits of kit is the tab. This is a piece of thin leather with two holes, shaped to fit over the index, middle and third fingers of the hand. They come in a variety of sizes and Martin fitted me with a large size, which is sufficiently large to cover my fingertips. Middle and third fingers go through the holes and there is a cut that separates the third from the index and middle fingers. The purpose of he tab is to prevent abrasion injury to your fingers. As well as the tab I was also fitted with an arm guard to prevent injury should the bowstring catch the forearm after release. It is secured to the left forearm with Velcro-fastened elastic straps. The third piece of personal equipment is a sling, which is a length of cord with adjustable loops at each end. One loop is attached to the forefinger of the left hand above the largest knuckle, and the other is passed around the handle of the bow and slipped over the thumb. Clearly you need to remove one end (thumb end because it is easier) to put the bow down, but the other usually stays on the forefinger during an archery session. Finally we were given an rubber exercise band, which we can use at home in place of a bow to practice drawing technique in front of the mirror.

The bows we were using for the session were ready to use and resting on their bow stands, but B gave us a demonstration of how to string a bow using a bow stringer, which is a length of cord with a loop at each end. We are using recurve bows, which are constructed from a number of parts. The riser is the part that is held with the left hand while shooting, and is usually made of plastic, wood or cast metal. Into each end of the riser fit the limbs, which keep the string under tension and bend further when the string is drawn. On the string are one or two nocking points to help the archer load the arrow at the same place every time. When the bow is loaded the string should never be drawn an released unless shooting an arrow. If an arrow is not loaded all of the energy that would have gone into propelling it towards the target gets dissipated in the bow instead, possibly causing damage. The other main part of the recurve bow is the sight, which helps the archer with aiming.

Lesson 1 - Introduction and Coaches

Friday, 1 February 2013

It is almost a week since lesson 1 and I am writing this post at the departure gate at O'Hare airport, Chicago. I left the UK for a business trip the day after the first lesson and have it difficult to find the time and/or the inclination to start this post. Now that the work is over I have a few spare hours to make a start. I hope I can recall all of the information I was given.

The course runs for five Saturday mornings at the indoor venue used by the club during the winter months. There are eight students on the course, but only six at this Saturday session as two ladies had had to do a session the previous day due to prior commitments. We were welcomed by the three coaches and two of us allocated to each of them. B is a student and looked after the two boys; A was with father and daughter; myself and dad of one of the boys were with Martin. All three coaches are Archery GB Level 1 qualified, as well as being very good archers. They explained that aim of the course (pun intended) is not to produce the next batch of Olympian archers, but to send us away being safe and competent to a level approved by Archery GB. On completion of the course we will be awarded a certificate to be used as evidence of this competence at archery clubs throughout the UK.

The coaches outlined the plan for the morning, the most attractive part being the break for a hot drink (the building is unheated and the weather was very chilly). Although we had declared our handedness on the course application form, the coaches checked which is our dominant eye by getting us to look at them through our hands stretched at arms length and forming a small ring through which to look at the coach. We then brought our hands closer and the coach checked to see which eye we were using to look at them. People with dominant right eyes usually shoot right-handed, and left-eye dominant left-handed. It is not unusual for a right-handed student to be left eye dominant and they often find it easier to shoot left-handed. I found that I am right eye dominant as well as being right-handed, so I will shoot right-handed. This means I will hold the bow in my left hand and draw the string with my right. To make things easy (and to save typing) I will describe everything in this blog from the standpoint of a right-handed archer, so if you are left-handed you will need to make the appropriate adjustments.