Corax67
Well-known member
I know everyone on this forum has been through a beginners course but I really wanted to share my own experiences and see how they match up with other people's.
At the end of last October I enjoyed a half-day archery taster session hosted by Sutton Bowmen in conjunction with our church men's group. I was so bowled over by this that I found a club, Ferryfield Bowmen, 5 minutes away from my house and put my name down (with my brother-in-law) for the next seniors course.
Four months later and an email duly arrived inviting me to their beginners course commencing 21st February. I turned up on a bitterly cold Saturday morning together with five other eager would-be toxophilists with a wide spread of ages - a father & daughter, me & my brother-in-law, a lad & a lass - ages from 19 to 47. The course lasts 6 weeks and is listed as running from 10:00 to 12:00 but in reality we tend to turn up around 9:30 to help set up & shoot through until 12:30-1:00pm.
Week 1 - introductions & comprehensive safety briefing, measured up for bow & arrows, first ends at 10 yards. We all moved through 10yds, 15yds and on to 20yds smoothly and gained a sight by the end of the session.
Week 2 - archery in the rain! A safety briefing and 20yd targets, when we were all comfortable at that distance we had a change of bow (up to around 20/22lb draw) before moving up to 30yds trying out platform tabs.
Week 3 - review on understanding of shooting safety, lesson on bow stringing, 30yd shooting. With an extra coach this week we were getting a lot more 1:1 training and at this point the group now split as 3 of us moved up to 40yd targets whilst 3 choose to remain shooting at 30yds. Towards the end of the session another bow upgrade for us 40yd lads saw me with 32lb draw limbs on an alloy riser with a better sight & magnetic arrow rest and my two fellow archers similarly kitted out.
Week 4 - last Saturday, a much needed warm up (4 degrees and a biting breeze) at 40yds and we were introduced to the scoring system for GNAS rounds. Our friendly banter had obviously been masking the full extent of our competitive spirit as we analysed every arrow we were now shooting. The introduction of a finger sling opened our grouping up for a while until we mastered the "not gripping grip" and the addition of a long rod shortly after proved no major obstacle with our coaches constantly on hand providing advice.
The three of us were shooting consistently at 50yds by the end of the day - when I say consistently I mean all 6 arrows were actually somewhere in the target face Next week the plan is to begin to score our rounds on paper rather than in our heads
This course continues to be a joy for all 6 of us, the members are very pleasant, welcoming, knowledgeable and show a genuine desire to see all of us enjoy learning this great sport with the hope we will continue.
With a high number of coaches & a low student number on this course we have all progressed at a pace which is pleasantly testing but where no one feels the need to move on until they are happy with their own performance, a reassuring feeling. You can tell people are settled as shiny bits of personal equipment are now beginning to appear - quivers, tabs, arm guards & floppy hats!
I am happy to say I will certainly be continuing with the club after this course has finished as my only regret is that I waited so long before actually taking the plunge and having a go at archery, a sport I really love.
At the end of last October I enjoyed a half-day archery taster session hosted by Sutton Bowmen in conjunction with our church men's group. I was so bowled over by this that I found a club, Ferryfield Bowmen, 5 minutes away from my house and put my name down (with my brother-in-law) for the next seniors course.
Four months later and an email duly arrived inviting me to their beginners course commencing 21st February. I turned up on a bitterly cold Saturday morning together with five other eager would-be toxophilists with a wide spread of ages - a father & daughter, me & my brother-in-law, a lad & a lass - ages from 19 to 47. The course lasts 6 weeks and is listed as running from 10:00 to 12:00 but in reality we tend to turn up around 9:30 to help set up & shoot through until 12:30-1:00pm.
Week 1 - introductions & comprehensive safety briefing, measured up for bow & arrows, first ends at 10 yards. We all moved through 10yds, 15yds and on to 20yds smoothly and gained a sight by the end of the session.
Week 2 - archery in the rain! A safety briefing and 20yd targets, when we were all comfortable at that distance we had a change of bow (up to around 20/22lb draw) before moving up to 30yds trying out platform tabs.
Week 3 - review on understanding of shooting safety, lesson on bow stringing, 30yd shooting. With an extra coach this week we were getting a lot more 1:1 training and at this point the group now split as 3 of us moved up to 40yd targets whilst 3 choose to remain shooting at 30yds. Towards the end of the session another bow upgrade for us 40yd lads saw me with 32lb draw limbs on an alloy riser with a better sight & magnetic arrow rest and my two fellow archers similarly kitted out.
Week 4 - last Saturday, a much needed warm up (4 degrees and a biting breeze) at 40yds and we were introduced to the scoring system for GNAS rounds. Our friendly banter had obviously been masking the full extent of our competitive spirit as we analysed every arrow we were now shooting. The introduction of a finger sling opened our grouping up for a while until we mastered the "not gripping grip" and the addition of a long rod shortly after proved no major obstacle with our coaches constantly on hand providing advice.
The three of us were shooting consistently at 50yds by the end of the day - when I say consistently I mean all 6 arrows were actually somewhere in the target face Next week the plan is to begin to score our rounds on paper rather than in our heads
This course continues to be a joy for all 6 of us, the members are very pleasant, welcoming, knowledgeable and show a genuine desire to see all of us enjoy learning this great sport with the hope we will continue.
With a high number of coaches & a low student number on this course we have all progressed at a pace which is pleasantly testing but where no one feels the need to move on until they are happy with their own performance, a reassuring feeling. You can tell people are settled as shiny bits of personal equipment are now beginning to appear - quivers, tabs, arm guards & floppy hats!
I am happy to say I will certainly be continuing with the club after this course has finished as my only regret is that I waited so long before actually taking the plunge and having a go at archery, a sport I really love.