Feb 10 2015

Shoot Report – HaySmith – February 2015

HaySmith Shoot just before start.

So this is my first shot report of the new year and it sees us heading north to Leicestershire to try out a brand new club and ground. The “HaySmith and Spares” club was set up following the success of the course they laid at last year’s 3d championship course.
So on a cold frosty Sunday morning we headed up the motorway. I approached the shoot with some trepidation as it was to be the first time out for several years with my American flat bow (AFB). I’ve been trying to build up my strength to cope with shooting it for last couple of weeks but this would be the first real test.

Cold and frosty start to the day

The club’s grounds are quite a small deciduous woodland with a few streams running through, but generally a flat course and easy to navigate.

To say the shoot was popular is an understatement with it being fully booked within 24 hours of registration opening. The shoot itself was to be a twice round 20 targets with five archers to a peg and all pegs being filled.

Being a new club there were a few 3d targets with the majority being paper faces. Having said this they did have some new 2d foam targets: a wolf and rabbit which I hadn’t seen previously. Maybe in hindsight reducing the numbers on the shoot to 4 a peg with a couple of empty pegs might have made the day flow more quickly but you live and learn. Having said that it was great to catch up with so many people many of whom we hadn’t seen since last year. It was also good to meet up with Jim Grizzly Kent from Merlin Archery Adventures and have a chat.
One thing the organisers did right at the beginning before the shoot started, which I though was a great idea, was have every archer check the arrows of the archer next to them. After which they announced that anyone found with unmarked arrows would be escorted off the course.
I think it is fair to say the club members put a lot of effort in to making access around the wood easy with numerous bridges across the brooks and secure steps cut into the banks.
We started on target 7 and were joined by Alan and Neil from Pines Park and Josh from Centaura.

Target 7 – first target of day

One interesting thing they did was take some standard faces and change the scoring zone and to ensure all archers were aware of the new zones they provided copies at administration and catering. One of these was to be our first target which fortunately I managed to hit.
There were some lovely set shots including one of a 3D wolf across the small pond, thought the reflection looked great.

3D wolf shot – target 20

There were some lovely framed shots which unfortunately suffered due to the low sun and shadows making them not only hard to hit but also hard to see.

Hard to see target

They had the space to put on a particularly long shot to a 2d hessian tiger which was over 50 yards and probably closer to 65.

Long Tiger shot

In all there were good shots but I didn’t feel they knitted together as a course as well as they could.

Unfortunately not all things went well for them, which was a shame considering the effort they had put in. There were a couple of issues with targets where the overshoots were close to the next peg so when archers on one target missed the boss the arrows were heard to land near the group in front. This perception of danger often unsettles archers. A ricochet off the ground by one target landed near Administration, resulting in the shoot stopping until the organisers rectified the issue, which they did quickly.

Like many clubs HaySmith relied on outside catering and unfortunately they weren’t the fastest which resulted in delays as groups waited for food. In fairness the food was good and it was the first time the caterers had done such a large event.
Sadly these issues and delays resulted in a long and at times slow day and for this reason the organisers decided to reduce the number of targets that the archers were to shoot from 40 to 30.
It was a brave move by the organisers on the day and I think given the delays they were encountering it was probably a good idea. It meant people could get off the ground and set off home before it got dark.

They are running a second shoot this weekend due to the initial demand and speed at which their first was booked up.

I’m sure they will review and develop the course over time addressing any issues.
Sharon did well winning ladies Hunting Tackle and being only a few points behind the top gent archers. As for me I didn’t do well and need a lot of practise to get my head in the right place with the AFB. I did have one very lucky shot on a 3D standing bear that was a lot smaller than I expected.

Lucky shot of the day

I think the mark of a course and shoot is whether people would go back. Despite all the problems I know we will and I hope others do too. Yes there were problems on the day but they reacted to them and will know for the future. Not all clubs learn from their mistakes.

Thanks for reading.

PS I still say the club colours are pink and not salmon Chris.

Jan 30 2015

Coaching very young children – some thoughts

Balloons as a target can make it fun

Recently I was asked to give two young children both 6, (though if you ask them they will say 6 and 3/4 and 6 and a half) a session in archery. These are some thoughts and observations, I hope you find it useful.

Normally I coach adults or children slightly older as I believe they have a better grasp of the concepts. Also at this early age their muscles and coordination is still developing so you shouldn’t start any earlier in my opinion.
One thing is for sure. Coaching young children is very different to coaching adults. I think it is far more tiring for the coach, but can be very rewarding for both coach and them, as to the young kids even missing is good.
They have no expectations of success but just enjoy the moment.

Maybe that is something we can all learn from.

Equipment requirements

Though I have basic beginners take down bows I decided to use a simple fibre glass bow which is easier to use and more importantly lighter in the hand for young people. I picked it up from Merlin Archery but am sure other retailers would have something similar. Details are below.
http://www.merlinarchery.co.uk/sherwood-archery-bow-kit-44.html

Ground rules

As with adults you must set the ground rules long before they get near a bow.

No running at any point.
If I say stop we stop.
Remember to talk to them, not at them.
Its vital to make parents aware of their responsibilities of care and behaviour.

Find out from the parents if the kids have any health issues, maybe they are just getting over a cold which might make them tire quickly.

Smile

One tip I’ve found is to always smile when talking to children ensuring you make eye contact, as children love this form of engagement.
Even if they miss, smile and tell them what they have done well, it is very easy to hit their confidence and you want them to enjoy the occasion.
The thing I have discovered with teaching kids is to make it fun, so I have found showing the basics then breaking it into two sessions and having something like balloons on the target in the second half makes it fun and keeps their attention.

Small steps

As an adult or experienced archer you might shoot 4/6 or more arrows when practising.
Children have a shorter attention span so have them shoot only a couple at a time.
This keeps their attention and doesn’t tire them out. Speaking of tiring them make sure to give them plenty of breaks. If they get tired they make mistakes and can get grumpy (just like adults )
I took the kids in turn to shoot and had the other sat in a chair watching. This means they can be relaxing watching and you as a coach have a safe place where they are located.

Couple of other things to consider.
They don’t have a clear concept of aiming so tend to be instinctive in their approach.
Light is right – use the lightest bow possible and I don’t just mean draw weight but also light physical weight.
Children can get cold quickly as well as tired so keep an eye on this. I was running the session on a winter’s day so the cold was a potential problem but equally in the summer heat can be a problem with sunburn or heat exhaustion.
Childrens coats tend to be quite bulky so make sure arm bracers fit and hold the sleeve back.
Don’t locate the shooting line too close to the targets as arrows can bounce back due to not having enough energy to penetrate some target bosses.
Kneel at their side as this helps to keep eye contact, don’t tower over them as this can be intimidating.

Keep the fun.

One way of making it fun can be to put a few balloons on target boss and have them try and burst them. This is a good activity for them after a long break say after lunch.
Likewise having some comic target faces can make it fun.

Parents and guardians role

I feel it is vital to engage the parents too and get them shooting so they know what the kids are having to do.
Ideally get the kids to use their parents phones to either photograph or film them shooting. Kids love using modern tech and recording themselves or parents can give them a great buzz. (Please be careful here as filming or photographing kids can cause issues so always ensure its the parents or guardians who are using the cameras when the children are the subject.)
I have the parents or guardians present at all times too, as archery is not a creche and you as a coach should not be used as one. It also introduces archery as a family experience which they can share.
I hope you have found this useful and no doubt there are other tips you can pick up from other more experienced archers and coaches.

I’m sure there are other coaches out that that can offer some thoughts or add their advice.

Thanks for reading.

Nov 17 2014

What you see is what you hit?

First view from Red peg

In the NFAS archers are not allowed to use any spotting scopes or binoculars before or after they have shot. Some classes are allowed sights on their bows but no binoculars or spotting scopes.
In the upcoming AGM this is going to be discussed as there is a proposal for sighted classes to be allowed to use binos but lose the option of target cards (small book showing target faces which they allowed to review prior to shooting).
The topic is being hotly debated in club houses, forums and on the Facebook site by some so I thought it worth putting a few views across and invite readers thoughts.

Firstly some brief history

To my knowledge binoculars have never been allowed as an aid to the archer. Marshalls have used them when assisting on a course but not the archers.
A few years ago there had been a similar proposal put forward to the membership to allow binos for all classes. The membership voted against this following some very vocal and active negative campaigning run by some members who opposed the idea. I was one of the cosigners on this proposal as I believed the issue had been discussed and argued so many times I thought it fair for the membership to decide.
Now it has been proposed for only the sighted archers classes (crossbow compound limited, unlimited and freestyle) Only those that shoot these classes can vote on the proposal as it affects their style and it is therefore a style rule change and not a general rule change. So it’s not an open vote for all members this time.

Back to the main topic of this post. I’m going to try and give a positive and negative perspective for each argument so here goes. Jump in and have your say by all means.

Why do some not want binos?

Concerns about their use slowing down the day as there is a belief by some that archers will want to check each arrow and spend time analysing it before taking their next shot.
The counter argument to this could be that it might speed the day as archers wouldn’t have to shoot a second or third arrow if they could identify they were in with an earlier arrow.

Range finding

There have been comments on how binos can be used for range finding. In the NFAS archers shoot over unmarked distances with any use of range finding technology being against the rules.
An archer I know uses his thumb to judge distances to target hopefully they won’t want to chop his thumb off ☺(yes that is an attempt at humour)

Know your target

There is an argument that archers should learn the faces and 3ds, memorising the scoring zones of each.
Well there are a lot of faces on the market with more appearing constantly with some clubs drawing on or highlighting specific ones. This means what might be used in one shoot could be different on the next, especially a factor when it comes to repaired 3D targets.

This is the target face from the earlier picture.

JVD Boar

Animals in the wild don’t have scoring zones

Some say that animals don’t have scoring zones on when hunting so why should they be easily identified for archery targets ?
Archers would traditionally have to have learned where to aim and yes that might be true but wouldn’t these same newbie hunters be taught by experienced archers and told where to aim?

Just for fun

Some say they shoot for fun and don’t need to know where the 24s are, fair enough.
I’ve heard others say that because they shoot traditional or wooden arrows it doesn’t matter. Well I shoot traditional with wooden arrows and I still like to know what I’m shooting at and where to aim for on the target and know others who feel the same.

As it is this proposal is only for sighted classes so wouldn’t affect me.

So let’s hear what you think?
Thanks for reading.

My Archery Experiences

Field archery experiences, shoot reports, equipment & book reviews, tips and advice from a UK archer and coach.

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Shoot Report – HaySmith – February 2015