I just love shooting... indoors, outdoors, target, field, 3D... you're doing exactly the same thing... trying to put that arrow where you want it to go!!

Originally Posted by Raven's_Eye

So out of interest how to people keep up their interest for target archery in winter?

I'll swap between recurve, compound and longbow. I sometimes shoot 4 or 5 sessions over a few weeks using recurve then decide to swap to longbow or compound for a few weeks.

Recurve and compound can be a bit boring when shooting Bray or a Portsmouth, longbow is more challenging for me.

Variety is the spice of life!!

I shoot outdoors the whole year round we are lucky with our own grounds so we can shoot any day of the year. I find winter days are some of the best for shooting. Last Sunday was amazing I was the only person on the field and with the snow deadening the sound it was so peaceful, very zen like. I just layer up take a hot drink and have fun. We do use an indoor venue during the winter in the evenings but work means that I can't make it so I have to shoot outdoors, the only thing that changes for me is ob really cold days the bicycle stays at home.

The winter is the time for planning - set your goals for the new season, plan your summer competition schedule and work out when you need to peak to achieve those goals. Set SMART goals that can be measured. Work on endurance so that you can survive 150 arrow rounds in the summer with a lighter weight bow so your technique is tip top, then work on strengthening so that every arrow you shoot is the same even at the end of the day. The winter will pass quickly and those summer comps are not far away.

PS My first outdoor shoot is on 4th March - Early Bird Western

I enjoy indoors. I started my archery shooting indoors and initially was a winter sport for me when I couldn't go sailing. Then the sailing tailed off when I moved away from the coast and archery took over.

Indoors...Outdoors, its all the same sport just without the weather.

Indoors is the perfect opportunity to tweak form and or equipment. Fewer variables! For me it's easier to read cause/effect focusing on one bit of the shot sequence and observing the results. The given is improving form for a more consistent shot.

Originally Posted by Raven's_Eye

I often find that shooting indoors gets very boring very quickly. So often spend the winter peppering the target for the hell of it and to keep my eye in, and longing for outside to start again. The fact that its shooting Bray 1 and Portsmouth over and over for a variety of leagues and club competions.

So out of interest how to people keep up their interest for target archery in winter?

In short... get to work.
It's time to work hard on form - it's only a part of outdoor shooting where wind, cloud-shade, rain on the limbs and so on all come into play but the chance to work on form and mind-games alone without the distraction of the rest of the sport is something to make the most of.

Originally Posted by geoffretired

As a wimp who can't manage the windy days, I find indoors is where I can shoot as I would like my shooting to be. Outdoors is always a messy affair, for me.

I think we've found your new year's resolution, Geoff.
Someone once asked me why I shot indoors for almost my whole 1st month at the club. My answer "I wanted to work without wind so I knew bad shots were all my fault." He said I was wrong... that I really shot indoors for a simple reason... "comfort zone". When all's said and done, it's an outdoor sport and you've got to learn to cope with the wind... so... outdoor goals for the year, Geoff?

Imagine ,if you will, a cardboard cut out of an archer at full draw. You know the sort of thing, they sometimes stand outside a cinema entrance to advertise a film with a Robin Hood theme, or similar.
Well, I'm not quite so strongly built as those!
Outdoor goals are; to find a sheltered field.

Originally Posted by geoffretired

Imagine ,if you will, a cardboard cut out of an archer at full draw. You know the sort of thing, they sometimes stand outside a cinema entrance to advertise a film with a Robin Hood theme, or similar.
Well, I'm not quite so strongly built as those!
Outdoor goals are; to find a sheltered field.

Not only have we found your new year's resolution... we've found the solution too.


Bournemouth Weight Lifting & Powersports Club look pretty local to you... and they won't be teaching you pointless waste-of-time routines either. They'll make you big and strong before you know what's happening.

Heehee, remember this; If I doubled my present weight I would still be severely under weight.Getting blown away with empty plastic bottles, is my greatest worry.

Originally Posted by geoffretired

Heehee, remember this; If I doubled my present weight I would still be severely under weight.Getting blown away with empty plastic bottles, is my greatest worry.

All the more reason...

I've had a look on the Bournemouth Barbell website and their fees are very reasonable. £14/month would be cheap for a daft health-club with personal trainers who don't have a clue what they are talking about... for a proper gym with proper coaches it's a steal. I just wish I had a place like that nearby. My nearest is good 30 to 45 minutes each way without allowing for traffic... and that makes me sad. I'm surrounded by "health-clubs" without a single squat cage between them. The one place with a cage has rubbish barbells and often doesn't open when it should or closes early - which sucks.

Thanks for the thoughts, BigShot. I really am beyond help on this. I am underweight and have been all my life.I eat far more than most folks of my age and size, but it makes no difference. When I go for X-rays, the hospital saves money by getting a torch and shining it through me and taking a normal photo, from the other side.It isn't so much lack of fitness or strength, it's that I blow away in a wind.Think, KITE, and you will see what I am up against.

I'm much the same - I can eat and eat and eat and see no change in weight.
The difference is in training. If you actually DO something with the food (and by that I mean getting under a barbell and making it move) you'll find yourself becoming heavier, more dense and less prone to blowing over if someone sneezes at the other end of the shooting line.

Our club has some different target faces for indoors, easter eggs, dartboards etc to spice things up a bit. I personally shoot compound indoors so half of winter is spent relearning how to use my hinge release properly again, keeps me out of mischief.