Now, archery is meant to be fun and all, but whenever I see
someone do this, I cringe. For many people, their first and only archery
experience is that one time they've been on camp. I've been critical about
these archery sessions before, and in a nutshell, they'll give you a bow and a
few arrows so you can spend an hour shooting somewhere down at the targets, and
they make a buck from it. Understandably, most camps and fun parks aren't
dedicated archery clubs. Meaning they have minimal or no archery training.
Instead, they treat archery like mini golf. Requiring no skill and missing is
half the fun. The difference, however, is that most people know that mini golf
is mindless fun. But archery can become a painful and frustrating experience.
So for those of you who want a head start on a casual
archery activity or you're trying the sport out for the first time at a club
this video will give out a few quick basic tips that will make you look like
you've done it before. Firstly, let's look at stance. Position yourself so that
you are in line with the target with your feet at a comfortable shoulder width.
Some people like shooting with a slightly open stance but either way works.
Keep your weight evenly distributed and your legs straight throughout the
entire shot. Pro tip Keep your feet still when loading and shooting. Don't
shuffle around or else you'll forget your stance. Seriously, I've seen people take
diagonal steps backwards every time they drew the bow. Next, gently grip the
bow.
Keep the hand relaxed so that it sits comfortably. Avoid
choking the life out of the bow. Nock the arrow by clipping it onto the string.
It should stay on the string by itself and should look roughly like this.
Warning: many sites don't maintain their bows. The string might not have the
thick serving material to clip the nock onto or the nocks might be split. If
the arrow doesn't stay on the string and you need to use your fingers to keep
it on the rest it's not particularly safe to shoot and you definitely won't hit
anything. Some places will insist that it's okay and to be fair, it's not
exactly a life-threatening risk.
However, it's a definite way to kill the fun factor and it
makes the activity rather pointless. Now for your other hand. Hopefully you're
provided with a finger tab or a plastic guard. It's likely that you won't get
any finger protection at all. If that's the case, that's okay. These place
usually have very low poundage bows which means you won't hurt yourself.
However, if you shoot for a prolonged amount of time, your fingers may get a
bit sore. Use three fingers to hook onto the string. The standard method is one
above, two below. But some places will tell you to use three under. Which makes
it slightly easier for a novice to aim.
Don't pinch the nock. Keep the string just past the first
joint and keep the back of the hand flat. Don't curl your hand or show
knuckles. The next bit is quite important. Rotate your bow elbow outwards.
Among other things, it'll prevent the string from slapping your arm. Doing so
isn't bad, but it'll sting, and you probably won't be given an arm guard if
you're at a fun park. Now for the draw. Raise the bow before you pull the string
back. Don't pull from the ground up and do not point the bow skyward. Keep your
drawing elbow up and use your back muscles. Most importantly, do not be scared
of the bow. Keep your front shoulder down and don't let it pop up. You should
have this T shape with your body.
Keep your head
straight. Resist the urge to tilt to aim. Pull the string all the way to your
face. Again, don't be scared. If you don't get a full draw, the arrow is going
to flop a few feet in front of you. Set your anchor. This is usually against
your jaw but the cheek is okay, as long as you use the same place each time.
Now, how do you aim? You don't. Archery is an instinctive action. You need to
feel where the shot will go.
So don't try too hard to get a bead on the target. If you are
using the point of the arrow as a reference, a rule of thumb is to aim lower
than you think you would. This is because the arrow is naturally angled upwards
from your perspective. There is a gap between your arrow and your line of
sight. It's common for first-timers to send their arrow way over the top
because of this. When you're ready, release the string by relaxing your
fingers. Avoid plucking it. And if you do miss, that's okay. That's half the
fun. Warning: a lot of people who first pick up a bow will pull it back and do
a mock shot. DO NOT DO THIS. This is called dry firing. If you shoot a bow
without an arrow, you will damage the bow. These points are usually the first
things that an archer will learn when they begin training. Your first-time experience
may vary depending on the training of the staff. If they are fully trained and
competent, they will usually tell you the same things I told you. If they
aren't trained, it's still a fun casual activity and nothing bad will happen.
Of course, these tips will not make you an expert archer. But hopefully you'll
be more confident in not embarrassing yourself on your first day. Safe
shooting, and enjoy your archery.
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