Thoughts of an archery coach

#43 Clicking with a clicker...

#42 Take a peep...

#41 Custom bow grip? No problem...

#40 Beat the outbreak (WA Lockdown League Week 8)...

#39 Key tool (part-1, the bracing height gauge)...

#38 Take it steady people (an introduction to stabilisation)...

What about bow balance?

Part of the role of stabilisation is to modify both the static balance (in the hand) and dynamic balance (during the shot). This is achieved by choosing differing rod lengths and adding differing amount of weight to the system but the result should be the same with the bow balancing in two planes as shown in the following pictures.

Where to start

The number and types of stabilisers on the market can make the task of choosing seem complex and confusing but good place to start is with a simple long rod, damper and weight system. This simple set up will get you on the right road without laying out too much money. When you want to expand on this system one of the club coaches will be delighted to talk through the options and benefits.

Where next

For those of you who are interested in further reading, I can recommend Dr. Steve Ellison's website www.tenzone.org.uk and in particular his article on bow stabilisation (which is required reading for all archery coaches in my opinion!)

#37 Watch out! Spring has sprung...

#36 Plunger, pressure, cushion, Berger. They're all the same to me Bub...

All arrows flex as they fly to the target. This is normal behavior and enables the arrow to move around the bow cleanly while it is being shot. This flexing, or vibration, is a function of the spine of the arrow and is influenced by the skill of the archer.

An arrow typically vibrates with a frequency of 50Hz and takes roughly 20 thousandths of a second to leave the bow. In selecting arrows and tuning the bow, arrow, archer system we want to ensure that the arrow takes one complete flexing cycle from reference/release to the point where it leaves the bow. Anything less than this and the arrow may contact the bow as it passes, causing erratic flight.

When recurve shooters release an arrow with their fingers (as opposed to a release aid), the arrow flexes horizontally because the bowstring goes around the fingers. It’s physically impossible to open your fingers fast enough to let the bowstring travel in a straight line. This horizontal flex, called the “archer’s paradox,” turns the arrow into a self-contained vibrating system once it leaves the bowstring. The plunger ensures the arrow leaves the bow in a straight line despite all of its bending, which helps it fly straighter and more accurately.

As the arrow travels forward on release it moves toward the centre line of the bow (we call it centreshot). Without this, the arrow will not be aligned with the power stroke of the bow and will not travel in in a straight line to the target resulting in arrows landing left or right at different distances depending on the initial offset.

So the plunger button enables us to accurately set the centreshot offset. As a starting point, we make this somewhere between a half and one complete arrow width outside of centreshot. A more experienced archer will require less offset than a novice who’s release causes the arrow to flex more and hence more movement towards the bow requiring a larger offset.

Turning the spring tension adjustment screw compresses or expands the spring, causing the button to become stiffer or weaker respectively. Too stiff a spring may result in the arrow not quite coming into centreshot causing it to leave the bow travelling left (for a right handed archer). Setting the spring tension too weak may result in the arrow moving past centreshot and hence will leave the bow travelling right (again for a right handed archer). In either case, extreme spring tension settings may result in clearance problems as the arrow moves past the bow.

Nearly every competitive recurve archer will need a plunger after completing their beginners course and getting settled with their first bow. The right plunger increases consistency and can last years, maybe even decades. It helps make your bow more forgiving, but don’t ask it to fix every shooting problem. You still must consistently execute good form while honing your technique.

#35 Attack of the Clones...

#34 Beat the outbreak (WA Lockdown League Week 6)...

#33 Equipment Review (Fairweather Tab)...

Fairweather tab - a review

Last summer, I was tempted to try a new tab for the first time in years: namely, the Fairweather Modulus tab, designed by Simon Fairweather, a former World and Olympic Champion. The design intrigued me, being very similar to a custom tab one of my best archery friends built for herself several years ago, so I thought it would be worth a try.

After shooting with it a few times I found that liked it, but I thought I could probably make some small changes to my existing tab to make it feel similar. So I did that, and then the Fairweather gathered dust for several months.

Then the lockdown rolled around, and while I can shoot at home safely, it can be boring just putting arrows into a short range target all the time. I needed to bring a bit of variety to my practice sessions, so I dug out the Fairweather again to give it a proper go. And I'm very glad I did.

The tab is a very simple design: three layers of kangaroo leather held together between two plastic plates, which are secured with a single screw. Very little to go wrong or come loose there! Also held in place by the same screw is a rubber finger spacer that incorporates a ring. Your middle finger slides into the ring, which takes the place of a strap. There is a small shelf built into one of the plastic plates, but if you don't shoot with a shelf, you can swap it for a plate without one (supplied).

I shot a few ends with my old Fivics Saker 1 tab, and then switched to the Fairweather, and then back again. The first thing I noticed was that I felt much more able to relax my string hand with the Fairweather, which improved my release. The thicker spacer did take a little to get used to, and made me think a little more about where I placed my fingers on the string, while also encouraging me not to twist my hand outwards too much.

After a few days of practice, I was sold. However, ever since a competition many years ago when my tab fell out of my pocket, leaving me (until it was found) with a battered tab I used for barebow to shoot with, I've never felt comfortable without a shot-in spare tab to hand.

So I ordered another, and thought I would document the shooting in process. This is where the Fairweather tab with its kangaroo leather comes into its own. Most tabs take a quite a lot work to break in, but Fairweather claims you can shoot in a new tab within only a few ends, especially if you dampen the leather first with a little water.

In conclusion, my old Saker 1s are now in retirement. They've done me well, but the Fairweather tab is just that bit better for me, and I'm really enjoying shooting it.

The downsides: well, the price. £65 for a tab isn't cheap, but then it's not the most expensive on the market. Also, you have to take a bit of a leap of faith when selecting the ring size for the finger spacer. I will say that the guide on the Fairweather website seems to work well, and while both my spacer rings felt a little tight to begin with, they're now very comfortable, and easy to put on and take off.

I have the 21 size spacer ring, and extra large leather set. If that's near to the size you need, you're welcome to try one of my tabs... next time we can all get together in a field :)

P.S. And if you're a barebow archer, Simon has come out with a barebow version of his tab that seems to have some very nifty design features. Worth checking out!

#32 Spring clean (part-1)...

#31 Reverse what?...

Astra Shot-TrainerSo what's involved? Well in its simplest form, reversals is just the process of drawing the bow and holding at full draw for a predetermined time, letting down and then repeating. Indeed all the versions of reversals that various books and websites discuss are just variations on this core exercise. But to be effective (and more importantly, safe) here are my top-tips:-

1. Ideally either put and arrow on your bow AND stand in front of a target, OR use a piece of equipment like a Formaster or Astra Shot-Trainer just in case you accidentally loose the bow so you don't dry-fire it.
2. To begin, choose a hold time which you can comfortably cope with. Don't be all 'macho' and hold for longer than you can manage, it's much better to work up to a longer hold time as you grow stronger (and if you use reversals regularly, you'll be surprised just how quickly your strength improves).
3. If you don't have a bow, or your bow is too 'heavy' for you at the moment to do use for reversals, then a clini-band is a great alternative.
4. In the same vein, if your bow is too light, then slip a clini-band over the bow to increase the poundage without having to buy heavier limbs right away.

So what would a sensible reversals programme?

• Start with a 2sec hold and 28sec rest (30sec cycle time)
• Repeat for 30 repetitions (i.e. 15min total time)
• Once you can easily complete this, increase the hold time by 2sec and decrease the rest time by 2sec but keep the cycle time the same.
• Once you reach a 10sec hold (20sec rest), consider increasing your poundage.
• Can't stress enough the importance of using good form throughout.
• ONLY perform reversals where it's safe to do so.

#30 The whole thing, warts and all...

#29 Beat the outbreak (WA Lockdown League Week 5)...

#28 Process, process, process...

#27 This key skill is guaranteed to improve your shooting...

"The location where the string is placed on the three fingers is very important. Many beginning archers do not go through the preparation exercise for hooking when they attend their early archery lessons but it is very important for the archer to hook the string in the correct position on their fingers." Kim, Hyung Tak

Can't agree more.

As archers we really only have two points of contact with the bow, the bow hand and the string hand. If we don't pay close attention to these, we're storing up problems and inconsistencies in our shooting because fixing issues at full draw is almost impossible.

We'll deal with the bow hand in a future post but for today I'd like to concentrate on the string hand and particularly the correct way to hook the string.

For correct hooking, the first joint of index, middle and ring finger should be used, irrespective of the length of your fingers (and a wide range of finger lengths exist), you'll find that once under tension, the string will tend to settle in the joint despite being set behind the joint for those people with long middle fingers. As coaches we'll often refer to a 'deep hook' and sadly this has occasionally been mis-interpreted by archers to mean a hook in the second joint. This is not correct and doing so will cause problems with the speed of the release as the string must travel a long way to be released. Associated with this, archers will sometimes believe that a shallow hook on the pad of the finger must improve the release because the string has very little distance to travel to move off the fingers, however this is also not correct as during the release the string must move sideways around the fingers and the resultant arrow flight is often erratic.

As important as the position of the hook, the position of the back of the hand, wrist and forearm must also be correct otherwise excessive tension will be felt in these and the archer will tend to pluck the string on release again causing erratic arrow flight.

Again coach Kim has a useful drill which puts the fingers of the drawing hand in the correct position and with the correct tension.

Hook a bungee cord or Thera-band as if it's a bow string, then place the loop of the band under the foot. Stand up straight and relax the arm, wrist and back of the hand while maintaining a good hook (the finger nails of the hooking hand should be facing the archers leg in this drill). Lift the shoulder to put additional tension on the cord while maintaining a relaxed forearm, wrist and back of the hand. Relax and repeat.

Practice loosing by SLOWLY relaxing the hook until the string pushes the fingers out of the way. Notice how the fingers curl up afterward because of the natural residual tension in the string fingers. All you have done is relax your fingers (DO NOT OPEN THEM!!), the bow has done the rest.

#26 Beat the outbreak (WA Lockdown League Week 4)...

#25 Book review (The Art of Stringwalking, Martin Godio)

For a change of pace, today we're handing over the reins to club member John Kearney.

John has a extensive and interesting shooting CV, that includes several trips to the World and European Masters games (and medals to prove it!). Long time Border Bows fan, you'll often spot him shooting one of his fabulous Border Tempest risers. An accomplished barebow archer himself, here John give us his take on a new book on the subject.

#24 Who needs an instruction book!?...

#23 The one thing guaranteed to improve your shot...

As coaches we use a shot routine as a framework for teaching. Indeed we used a shot routine as the basis for the beginners course most of you took with us (remember those skills-and-drills we gave you for homework?!)

Often overlooked, the value of a shot routine lies as much in providing a framework for the archers mental programme as their physical actions (if not more!). But importantly, it needs to be the archers OWN routine, not one that their coach dreamt up for them, or they copied from another archer. The first step of course is convincing archers that using ANY routine has benefit, then encouraging them to make a template routine (example given below) into their own custom one, then practice it, use it always and most important... rely on it when the stress levels rise.

Arguments like “Brady Ellison has one” or “Naomi Falkhard has one” or golfers have  shot routines, as do tennis players, and rifle shooters, all lend weight, but in the end there needs to be a personal belief that having and using a shot routine is important.

That there is a concrete benefit from such a routine  can be demonstrated with a shoelace. Once you begin to tie your shoes, the process continues automatically. In fact, it takes an effort to stop midway. Why is this? Well, it is a simple matter of “one thing leads to another,” but it doesn’t unless a chain of things is created such that D follows C, follows B, follows A.

So, an archer’s shot routine essentially walks the archer from the beginning of the shot to its end. They don’t have to go “OK, I have finished the draw, what should I be doing next?” Nor do they have to worry about skipping steps or doing them out of order. (These things do happen when we get under pressure and such things indicate flaws in our routines.) This is why golfers who are playing for big bucks prize money always talk about focusing on their routines as the pressure mounts. (Would that archers had such problems :-D).

#22 Spin Doctor...

#21 Beat the outbreak (WA Lockdown League)...

#20 Get SMART!

No... Not the hapless secret Agent 86 but the acronym SMART!

As archers we're great a talking about improving our shooting but we're often quite wishy-washy about the specifics of what we're going to do about getting improving. Indeed when coaches ask archers about what they'd like most, the response is a very non-specific 'shoot better' :-).

So how can we get a better grip on what it is that we'd like to get better at and how we're going to go about doing it? Well that's where SMART goals come in.

How SMART Goals Work

Each letter in the SMART goal acronym highlights a different aspect of your desired outcome (the 'shoot better'). Writing them down helps you achieve them. Using a system like SMART when writing goals ensures you don’t miss any critical goal-setting details.

Here’s how each letter in a SMART goal acronym helps you focus your efforts to achieve desired results.

S = Specific

The “S” in a SMART goal stands for “Specificity.”

We all know that it helps us to remember to write down what you want to do, using action words. For example, instead of saying, “I want to shoot better,” you might say, “I’m going to be Master Bowman before the end of the outdoor season 2020.” Being specific and using action verbs focuses on what exactly you want.

M = Measurable

The “M” in a SMART goal helps you clarify and quantify your efforts so you can “Measure” them.

In the example above, we can add the additional note that your goal is to become Master Bowman. Although establishing a target may seem obvious, its an important one and shouldn't be overlooked. After all, it's how you are going to determine if you've achieved your goal or not!

A = Achievable

The “A” in SMART goals represents the goal’s “Achievability” factor.

This step reminds us to check to make sure the goal is within reach; is it practical? Let’s assume, for example, Master Bowman is an achievable goal, but if you're currently 3rd Class then the timeline suggested may not be. Ensure that you are both ambitious as well as practical.

R = Relevant

The “R” in SMART goals addresses the “Relevance” of the goal.

Is your goal archery related? Does it support one of your other goals? If not, then you better file it elsewhere.

T = Time-bound

The “T” in SMART goals references the “Time” aspect of your goal.

Setting a time frame around your goals is essential, not just to identify the end or conclusion of the duration of your goal, but it motivates the identified endeavor. Working to achieve Master Bowman is fine, but if you don’t set a time frame, it could diminish the objective overall, as it could take much longer to MB than desired.

Next time we'll take a look at Process, Performance and Outcome goals. Their relative importance and some goal setting worksheets so you can hit the ground running when we get back to the shooting line!

#19 Typical Beiter... You didn't know you needed it until you used it!

#18 Pesky Easton arrow tables...

Extract of Easton Arrow tables

(c) 2020 Easton Archery

#17 D-lightful, D-licious, D-loops...

#16 Book Review (Mastering Archery, James Park)

#15 Be like the Karate Kid...

#14 Game on (Part-1)...

Backyard shooting (where/when it's safe to do so), is a great way to keep your form and strength up, but endless blank boss (while good for training form) gets dull awfully quickly. Games are a great way to break up your shooting routine and can be as challenging as you decided to make them.

We've put together a small selection from our huge back catalogue of games to help you get started and add some fun to your training sessions.

#13 Nock on...

Back in episode 4. I talked about how to tie soft nocks and I promised then that I'd show you how to do this another slightly more complex, but neater way in a future video. Well here we are ;-)

So tying soft nocks by serving them onto the string is really no more difficult than repairing a centre serving (something we did in episode 7.). However, we do need to make sure that we keep everything tight and start the serving in the right place so our nocking points are in the right place.

A little bit of practice with some spare serving thread will help no end and you'll find yourself tying nocks this way in no time at all. Having said that, my preference is still for the 'half-hitch' method ;-)

Enjoy!..

#12 A Shakespearian post...

Hamlet, Act III, Scene I

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

Hamlet knew it... Not only is good sleep essential for good health, it's essential for optimal performance in sports too. We know that an average adult needs approximately 8-hours of sleep for normal day-to-day life. But sports people (especially elite sportsmen and women) need even more to enable proper recovery from training sessions. This can be as much as 12hrs a day!

So what can we do to improve both the quantity and quality of sleep we get each night? Here are 8 tips for better sleep.

#11 Up skill yourself and learn to fletch...

Wether its plastic vanes, mylar spin-wings or natural feather, fletchings are there to do the same job, stabilise your arrow in flight and (if you set things up correctly), induce a little extra spin too.

• Plastic vanes. Cheap, robust and available in a multitude of colours, shapes and sizes, it's no wonder they are popular and seen everywhere on the shooting line.
• Spin-Wings. A little more expensive, spin-wings and their counterparts (kurlyvanes etc.) are lighter than plastic vanes and favoured by recurve archers because of their innate ability to induce spin into the arrows flight (hence the name). They are a little more fiddly to use and a lot less robust which is why they're not recommended for novices.
• Feathers. The only option for English Longbow archers but also popular with compound, barebow and recurve archers during the indoor season where their weight penalty and inconsistency is less of an issue, but their ability to stabilise an arrow quickly comes to the fore.

This time in another video of our popular HOW TO series we take a look fletching with plastic vanes. Requiring only simple tools and easy to do, taking care of your own fletching is both rewarding and economical. Next time you need to upgrade your arrows or replace damaged ones, why not just buy the parts and do it yourself!

#10 Mobility is the key...

Humans were never 'designed' to be as sedentary as we have become. Indeed our 21st century lifestyle is nudging us ever closer to on which resembles those folks in the hover-chairs in Wall-E!

But being stuck indoors doesn't mean you can excuse yourself a training session. Indeed there's stacks you can do to improve your CV (Cardio-Vascular), strength and the one most often overlooked your flexibility and range of motion.

In fact all good posture stems from good movement patterns and the best archers have fabulous movement patterns.

So if you struggle with that Anterior Pelvic Tilt your coach has been talking about, or you just want your body to move better then can I suggest the following...

Our friends at the light blue clinic (Hi Gosia!) have put together a fabulous set of (simple) exercises you can do at home (in fact demonstrated here at home!) with minimal equipment (got a sofa? then you have no excuses!)

Word of warning... Go easy, if you have any pre-existing conditions that might preclude you doing these exercises then please consult a medical/sports fitness professional (OK health warning over ;-)).

Enjoy!

#9 First service...

When you think about it, archers only have two points of contact with the bow. The handle/grip and the string. The string in particular takes a pounding. It needs to be flexible, yet tough, non-stretchy yet slightly springy to take up the shock of shooting and not transmit that shock to the limbs/riser in a way that could be catastrophic!

Given all that, and the fact most of us hardly give them a second thought, its amazing that strings stand up to this pounding with hardly a problem from month to month.

But those high traffic areas (especially the centre serving) will eventually show their age, but that doesn't mean you need to ditch your favourite string.

Instead of getting a new one, why not re-serve it?

#8 Practice makes perfect, but what makes perfect practice?

We know that repetitive practice alone doesn't make perfect.

So if that's the case, that leaves us with a phrase often used in place of the classic aphorism “Practice makes perfect” – namely, “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” (often credited to the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi).

Thing is, that phrase “perfect practice” gives people the wrong impression.

Perfect practice

It’s easy to interpret the word “perfect” in this context to mean that we should avoid errors and mistakes while practicing. After all, it stands to reason that if we have a habit of making mistakes there, we'll also make mistakes in competition too.

Ok, well avoiding mistakes in  practice would necessitate practicing very carefully and methodically (which isn’t all bad).

It might also mean practicing things slowly, and working up to speed gradually (again, not always such a bad thing).

When perfect practice is bad

This no-mistakes-allowed definition of perfect practice makes us afraid to stretch ourselves  – something that might help us take our performance to a new level. Reluctant to explore the edges of our current technical ability.

We mustn’t neglect and avoid our weaknesses to protect our ego. Limiting our growth in order to protect our ego doesn’t do much to advance our skills or ourselves as person.

What “perfect” practice really means

I’d argue that “perfect” practice is just another name for deliberate practice. Mistakes aren’t the problem. The problem is not taking the time to articulate the specifics of the mistake, the cause of the mistake, and the potential solutions, so you can avoid making that same mistake over and over.

#7 What do you mean you don't have a spare string!?...

So you're 'in the zone' shooting the best round of your life when you notice that the centre serving on your string has come loose and begun to unravel. You spotted it a little while ago but were too busy to deal with it then and now (shocked face :-o), its about to ruin the best day's shooting you've had in ages.

Of course you have a spare, shot-in, string ready to go ;-)

But if you don't, then all is not lost. There's a simple (if a little fiddly) fix that will get you going again in no time.

#6 The myth of talent

It's easy to believe that elite performers in any walk of life, be it sport, music or business, are born with some sort of innate ability which mere mortals like ourselves couldn't hope to emulate. But is this true? Scientists and philosophers down the ages have pondered the question of nature vs. nurture and even Hollywood have got in on the act with movies like Trading Places.

So are we any closer to answering this question of the ages??  BBC ideas have turned their attention to it and come up with some interesting conclusions.

#5 Book Review (Why you suck at archery)

There's precious few books out there on archery, so when one comes along it better be good. Thankfully, as it's from the pen of Steve Ruis, you know it'll be a mine of information and more than that, he's managed to write a book that's both funny (occasionally laugh out loud funny) and jammed full of useful information.

OK, so if you're Brady Ellison, this book is probably not for you (unless you have it as part of your 'bathroom reading' stash). But for the rest of us there's pearls of wisdom in almost every page.

Example... "Chapter 6—You Suck at Archery because . . . you don’t practice properly. You go to the range, shoot arrows until you string together a longish string of “good shots” and call it a “good practice.” You aren’t quite hopeless, but close." Steve then goes on to expand on both the problem (you shoot without a plan) and the solution (form a plan for each practice session and do lots and lots of blank boss!)

Steve has written extensively on archery and archery coaching (he's the editor of Archery Focus Magazine, the US equivalent of Bow International but in my view much better!), but in this book he's used humour to make some often difficult and/or unpalatable archery issues more accessible.

Hats off to Steve for a fresh look at common archery faults. Even if you only ever read it in the loo, it'll be worthwhile I guarantee it!

Why You Suck at Archery
Available at Amazon  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0984886036/ref=cm_sw_e... and other good booksellers.

#4 Soft ones are best...

Most Peacock Archers club members will know that within days of them finishing their beginners course and buying their shiny new equipment, one of the club coaches will come along and ruthlessly remove the nasty brass nocking points which were put on their string by the shop and replace them with nice tied nocks.

Why do we do this? Well here's just a few of the reasons...

1. Brass nocks cause havoc with your finger tab, gouging lines in the leather and making it wear out prematurely.
2. Accidentally hit your arm with brass nocks and you'll know about it! And yes... it does occasionally happen even if you're wearing an arm guard/bracer.
3. They slow your string down. Adding mass in just the wrong part of the string significantly impacts the performance of the bow.

So what's the alternative? Tied nocks are essentially the same as crimped on brass ones, but are (as the name suggests) bits of thread tied onto the string in the right place.

Here's short video we put together to show how to go about it.

#3 The secret weapon of successful archers...

Compound guru Larry Wise said "Archery is about one-third physical, one-third equipment and one-third mental". If you take care of the first two, then in competition what's left is 90% mental, but if you have an equipment or physical flaw in form, strength or execution no mental game will make up for it.

Sage words, but while we'll spend hours practicing the new skill our coach has introduced us to and hundreds (perhaps thousands) of pounds on equipment. We'll rarely (if ever) spend time on preparing our brains, the 'muscle' which lives between our ears!

I say muscle, because like muscle it needs to be exercised if we are to get the best from it and in archery terms that means having it support our shooting not derail it!

The mental game is something I'll be returning to in future episodes in more detail but for now and as a way of introducing the whole topic of mental skills in archery, I'd like to talk about meditation or in more modern terms, mindfulness.

People will often tell me that they're too busy for this sort of thing, or don't know where to start. The good news is that there are lots of good online resources to help you practice mindfulness/meditation and one of the ones I like the most is the resources offered by UCLA (California). Their free guided meditations are available online from https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/mindful-meditation... or as an app for Android and iOS (search UCLA Mindfulness on GooglePlay or Apple AppStore).

Why not try this one for starters?

#2 Get your archery fix...

No archery range to shoot at? Or no time to visit the range? That shouldn't mean you have to give up your archery 'fix'. There are lots of ways you can still shoot or train in your own home (subject to a few basic precautions).

First and foremost, lets get the insurance thing out of the way. There's no reason why you can't shoot at home BUT (and it's one worth taking note of), you need to ensure that arrows can't leave the confines of your property. This would mean shooting inside your garage (if you have one), or in a well secured garden. And talking about secured, make sure that all the access points are locked (bolts, latches or other means).

Insurance-wise, Archery GB's insurance won't cover you to shoot at home, so worthwhile checking your home insurance or investigate specialist insurance.

Our friends over at Lancaster Archery in the US have put together a fab video to show how you can practice without that range access :-D

#1 Stop talking about it... and get archery fit!

Archery isn’t usually regarded as a sport requiring high levels of fitness. However, archers at all levels benefit from a degree of fitness across many areas and for those aspiring to performance levels, physical readiness is as important as technical ability.

Cardiovascular

Good general fitness starts with good cardiovascular fitness. The cardiovascular system comprises the heart, lungs and blood vessels and is responsible for transporting blood around the body. This is the fuel supply for the body; it delivers oxygenated blood to the muscles along with the glucose that is ‘burnt’ there. It then transports the waste products (lactic acid and carbon dioxide) away.

Archery is predominantly an aerobic activity so cardiovascular exercise should be an important part of any training programme. Effective cardiovascular training is anything that raises the heart rate to between 60-70% of its safe maximum level for at least 20 minutes, three times a week. This could be swimming, jogging or initially even brisk walking.

Strength

In an archery context, strength means ensuring sufficient muscular capacity to resist the forces generated by the bow during each phase of the shot and to do so throughout a competition. Specifically, the muscles of the shoulder girdle should be able to meet the requirements of shooting. The following exercises are a useful starting point and require little in the way of specialist equipment.

1. Side push-up
2. Shoulder pull-down
3. Thera-Band – Diagonal lift
4. Thera-Band – Shoulder shrug
5. Thera-Band – lat pulldown/raise
6. Thera-Band – shoulder horizontal abduction
7. Thera-Band – lateral raise

Further information on each of the exercises, including detailed descriptions and illustrations, can be found in the World Archery Intermediate Level Coaching Manual (Archery Anatomy, Warm-up and Physical Conditioning Module).

Core stability

The importance of 'core stability' is now recognised as pivotal for efficient biomechanical function in a wide range of sports including archery. The ability to maintain good posture while shooting is clearly beneficial so exercises that target these muscles including the abdominals, oblique’s and lower back are all valuable. Follow this link for exercises that comprise a good general core stability routine.

For a limited time, the "School of Calisthenics" are offering their bodyweight basics programme (normally £40) for free! I don't necessarily endorse this, but the material does look good. https://schoolofcalisthenics.com

Exercises courtesy ArcheryGB

#36 Plunger, pressure, cushion, Berger. They're all the same to me Bub...

#37 Watch out! Spring has sprung...

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