Who knew the largest Archery club in Ireland is based in Tallaght!?
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| Rule 1: Picture proof is essential. Look at that technique! |
Being from Tallaght and having been "educated" in the school next to the complex that the Greenhills Archers club train in, this was a great starting point for my Olympic Challenge. The fact that I enjoyed the sport makes it all the better.
Greenhills Archers are genuinely the largest Archery club in Ireland. Last year they boasted over 75 members - a mix of 10 to 60 year olds, male and female and all skill levels from absolute beginners (me on this occasion!) to Olympic hopefuls.
Archery looks a fairly simple sport, and when it’s done right, it is! But doing it right is not such an easy task. Before getting into the specifics of how you position your body (and there are many specifics), how you draw the bowstring, etc here’s a bit if background....
 | There are two main forms of Archery, the obvious difference between them is in the bow used. The first is Recurve - this is your classic curved bow, and the only one currently used in Olympic competition. The second is Compound - a compound bow is a modern bow which requires less force in the drawback of the string and takes advantage of mechanical aids such as cams and a magnifying sight, it is less physically demanding. Compound Archery is due to be added to the Olympics in 2016. |
| The Recurve Bow - side on profile. |
Straight away I knew I was a Recurve man. The compound bow is impressive but those childhood images of Robin Hood and William Tell didn’t include bows with cable and pulley systems. Recurve is the one for me!
I got speaking to the number one Recurve Archer in the club, Jason Yourell. Jason is a full time Archer, he’s dreaming of making the London 2012 Olympics, unfortunately that is looking out of his reach right now but in this sport he will get plenty more opportunities.
There is currently no national range for Archers in Ireland, funding from the sports council is minimal and there is a lack of suitable indoor training facilities. But the biggest problem is the one outside of everyone’s control – the Irish weather.
Wind and rain are not the friend of an archer in practice or competition. So against this backdrop guys like Jason who make it to Ireland’s elite training squad have serious obstacles to overcome before it even comes to firing 300 or 400 arrows in a day’s practice sessions.
In a sport requiring serious levels of discipline, it’s probably not all that surprising to hear that the Korean’s are the world’s best. They are untouchable in the sport and stories suggest they shoot 1000 arrows a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
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| Dont mess with the Koreans! |
1. Stance - feet shoulder width apart, standing square on, parallel to the target. Adopt a firm stance but not too rigid.
2. Load – Load the arrow to the string and get your fingers set – one above and two below the arrow.
3. Pre-draw – Rotate your head to the target, close your left eye to focus with your right eye. Take some tension in the bowstring, then begin to lift your bow arm and draw arm together
4. Aim and Draw – Set your eye on the target as you raise your bow and draw the string back until it touches your nose and your drawing hand rests under your chin.
5. Anchoring– A very brief hold in position to set your aim at the target – you want the movement to be as fluid as possible.
6. Release – Release your fingers on the draw hand and let the force of the string fire the arrow.
7. Relax - Hopefully you’ve hit the centre of target and have a suitably large grin on your face. Otherwise it’s the walk of shame to collect your arrow off the floor.
The picture below shows my early efforts, what you are looking for is “Grouping” – at the beginner stage it is better to have three arrows grouped together even if they are at the edge of the target rather than have one in the centre, one on the left and one on the right. Repetition is key!
I must admit, my target was about 10 meters away, at Olympic level the archer is 70 meters from the target.
2. Load – Load the arrow to the string and get your fingers set – one above and two below the arrow.
3. Pre-draw – Rotate your head to the target, close your left eye to focus with your right eye. Take some tension in the bowstring, then begin to lift your bow arm and draw arm together
4. Aim and Draw – Set your eye on the target as you raise your bow and draw the string back until it touches your nose and your drawing hand rests under your chin.
5. Anchoring– A very brief hold in position to set your aim at the target – you want the movement to be as fluid as possible.
6. Release – Release your fingers on the draw hand and let the force of the string fire the arrow.
7. Relax - Hopefully you’ve hit the centre of target and have a suitably large grin on your face. Otherwise it’s the walk of shame to collect your arrow off the floor.
The picture below shows my early efforts, what you are looking for is “Grouping” – at the beginner stage it is better to have three arrows grouped together even if they are at the edge of the target rather than have one in the centre, one on the left and one on the right. Repetition is key!
I must admit, my target was about 10 meters away, at Olympic level the archer is 70 meters from the target.
The beauty about this sport in my eyes is that right from the get-go I was able to pick up a bow and hit the target. There’s a huge amount to learn if you want to get to a high level in the sport but to pick up a bow and fire an arrow at a target, regardless of the perfect technique - it feels natural, and very satisfying.
This is a sport with few barriers - age, physique, sex - these are not defining factors in who can be good at this sport. One would assume the cost of the equipment would be high but for a beginner archer joining a local club this isn’t a problem, everything is provided for a very small joining fee and only when you get to the high levels of competition are you considering spending 2,000 Euro on a top class bow engineered from carbon composites.
The best and most expensive bow will only eliminate error from the bow itself, not from the archer – so this isn’t a sport all about who can afford the best equipment.
Having attended two sessions with the club I can honestly say I have a greater appreciation for the sport. Anybody looking for a sport with an easy entry level, a massive scope for learning and improvement, and a good social element could do far worse then give Archery a go. It’s very enjoyable and gets a big thumbs up from me!
Greenhills Archers train every Wednesday night from 8.30 to 10.30pm in Tallaght Sports Complex, Dublin 24. The club are currently enrolling for a new beginners course, for more information see: www.greenhillsarchery.com/
http://archery.ie/site/ is the site of the national governing body of archery in Ireland.
This is a sport with few barriers - age, physique, sex - these are not defining factors in who can be good at this sport. One would assume the cost of the equipment would be high but for a beginner archer joining a local club this isn’t a problem, everything is provided for a very small joining fee and only when you get to the high levels of competition are you considering spending 2,000 Euro on a top class bow engineered from carbon composites.
The best and most expensive bow will only eliminate error from the bow itself, not from the archer – so this isn’t a sport all about who can afford the best equipment.
Having attended two sessions with the club I can honestly say I have a greater appreciation for the sport. Anybody looking for a sport with an easy entry level, a massive scope for learning and improvement, and a good social element could do far worse then give Archery a go. It’s very enjoyable and gets a big thumbs up from me!
Greenhills Archers train every Wednesday night from 8.30 to 10.30pm in Tallaght Sports Complex, Dublin 24. The club are currently enrolling for a new beginners course, for more information see: www.greenhillsarchery.com/
http://archery.ie/site/ is the site of the national governing body of archery in Ireland.
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