This is just a quick update to tell you that we've now migrated our blog onto our main website over at : http://www.2020archery.co.uk/blog/
This means that you can now read about and buy course places, book events (online booking for events will be live in 2014), Have a Go's and vouchers for London Bridge indoor archery all in the one place.
We are updating the new blog but as we wanted to get everything consolidated in the one place we aren't duplicating things on this blogspot address anymore. We're going to leave this up for a little bit as we know that a few people still check it. If you are subscribed - you will need to resubscribe to the new blog in the new location. Again, just click through via this link : http://www.2020archery.co.uk/blog/
There have been some great books and online recourses written recently on learning archery. These can be a great tool to remind and reinforce the lessons you’ve already been taught during our beginners couse and you'll learn a whole host new skills to help you become a great archer.
The following books are recommended for someone who has just started in archery hopefully after doing a progressive beginners course (see our courses page for current availability of our great weekend, 3 week ‘Fast Track’ or regular 5 week beginers courses in London Bridge). The best books at this level help you to develop a solid, consistent form without going into deeply technical variations on the standard elements of the shot sequence. All three of the following books provide a clear guide to building a good shot sequence and will help a novice archer achieve good consistent form.
Archery (Steps to Success): Kathleen Haywood (Author), Catherine Lewis (Author)
This is a very good book for people looking for a structured way to become a solid archer.
Thorough - it's a very thorough book and doesn’t miss out anything that a novice archer needs to know.
Easy to follow - provides an easy to follow program of exercises and provides space to record how well you have done on each exercise. A fun and interesting way to learn.
Clear illustrations - good clear photos and drawings of each step to help you to conceptualise your body position.
Bow tuning - a great section on basic bow tuning so you can get your bow up to speed at the same time as you improve your form.
Other good beginner books to try are:
Archery Fundamentals: A Better Way to Learn the Basics by Douglas Engh (Author)
Less rigidly structured than Steps to success, so is good if you prefer to structure your own training/learning your way.
The Archery For Beginners Guidebook by Archery GB (only available through archery stores, e.g. Clickers, Aim 4 Sport, Merlin etc)
Has a very good guide on archery etiquette and protocols in competitions and in clubs.
A very popular UK archery forum, this can be a useful recourse for answering specific questions. Although do bear in mind that as it’s a forum there is often lots of arguing that can be distracting and confusing. The loudest voice is also not necessarily the most accurate!
These are the ones that I particularly favour but there are many more useful resources out there. Do let us know if you have any other recommendations that you've found useful on your archery journey!
Korea’s rein over archery has been apparent for many years. In 1984, Seo Hyang-Soon became the first Korean archer to win an Olympic gold in the ever-growing sport. Since then, Korea’s hold over the archery world has grown larger, with the country currently boasting 16 medals in half as many Olympic games. But how did Korea become such a formidable opponent in this ancient sport, that over here we tend to think of as historically British?
The history of Korean archery
Archery has been established in Korean since prehistoric times. Used in battle for centuries, the bow and arrow were a vital part of the Korean defence strategy throughout the 1800’s. Unable to keep up with modern firearms, Korea’s use of archery as a defence dropped in the 1900’s. However, with the reinstatement of archery to the Olympic games in 1972 (after its removal in 1920) Korea began training archers in Olympic-style archery and has now been dominating the competition since 1984.
Korea’s focus on archery
Korean children are introduced to archery at a young age and enjoy coaching in the sport throughout primary school. Throughout middle school, high school and university, the lower level archers fade away (but often continue recreational pursuit of the sport in the many ranges across the country) until the best young adults are hired for company teams run by large organisations and businesses.
Archery is so important in Korea that only 30 % of the sports funding is from the Korean Archery Association (KAA) with the rest coming from the countries 33 company teams who provide a wage, pension and career to the archers they hire to compete on behalf of their company. This level of investment ensures that Korea currently has 147 elite archers compared to the extremely small numbers found elsewhere.
To illustrate the level of devotion to the task at hand Korea is famous (at least in archery circles) for having built an exact replica of the Beijing 2008 Olympic archery venue, providing their archers with the opportunity to practice in “the venue” over a year in advance. Huge enthusiastic crowds voluntarily turned up for practice sessions to mimic the busy, pressured environment on the day. This dedication to the sport has clearly paid off, with Korea still proving to be the country to beat in international competitions.
Korea at the Olympics
Korea has held a number of Olympic archery titles for consecutive games. Since the introduction of the team archery event in 1988, the Korean women’s team has retained their team gold for all seven Olympic games. Meanwhile, the men’s team follows closely behind having held theirs for four out of the seven games.
Korea also has a tight hold of the gold in the women’s singles event; in all but the Beijing 2008 Olympic games, Korea has held the women’s gold since 1980, when the Soviet Union’s Keto Losaberidze won in Moscow. In fact, at the London 2012 Olympics, Korea medalled in every event and only missed out on gold in the men’s team competition when they won bronze.
Maybe we should think about forming company teams to try a novel method of giving British archery a bit of a boost? A great starting point (we think!) would probably be to book a 2020 archery corporate event and see how your company team gets on….
There are lots of benefits to joining Archery GB – membership is required in order to shoot with most other clubs (although not all) and is also needed to join leagues and enter competitions. If you provide your address you’ll receive the quarterly Archery GB magazine called Archery UK and you can also take part in the highly recommended 'Personal Performance Courses' at Lilleshall (details of prices etc are available on the Archery GB website). There are probably lots of other good things as well – have a click around on the Archery GB website for more.
So, there are 2 different ways of joining Archery GB – one is through your club (in our case 2020 Archery) in which case you MUST also affiliate to Region and County. In our case this is Southern County Archery Society (SCAS) and the County of London Archery Association (CLAA) - don’t worry about this step we’ll do this automatically for you if you affiliate through us. You can also join Archery GB as a direct member. The main advantages and disadvantages are that you’ll be responsible for renewing each year if you’re a direct member whereas if you join through the club we’ll just contact you and ask if you want to continue as a member through the club with a payment request. The other difference is that there is a price difference. Clubs are able to offer a pro rata payment system for joining at different times of the year but if you join directly there is one fixed price all year round. The fixed price for direct membership is £46 no matter when you join.
The Archery GB membership year runs from October to October. This makes the total cost for joining through our club
Oct-Dec = £47.50
Jan-March = £38
April-June = £28.50
July – Sept = £19
The fees breakdown of the Archery GB portion is available here http://www.archerygb.org/support/services/join/fees.php - on top of the Archery GB fee we need to charge CLAA fees of £3 to join (at any time of the year), SCAS costs £1.50 to join (at any time of the year) and we charge a £5 admin fee to cover the costs of banking and admin.
If you’d like to join directly please go to the Archery GB website (link below) where there is a link to download the direct membership form.
If you’d like to join through 2020 please send an email into the office (enquiries@2020archery.co.uk) with your full address. We will assume you're ok with us storing this data along with your email address so that we can contact you at renewal time (usually July / August). Once we’ve received your payment we’ll send it off to Archery GB pretty much immediately. Once it arrives with them they’ll process it and your card should arrive - directly from Archery GB - within 2-3 weeks.
If you are planning to shoot at another club or you’ve registered for a competition we provide a standard Archery GB receipt which we’ll email to you. This should work as evidence that you’ve paid club subs until your card arrives although we recommend that you alert people that you will be bringing a receipt of payment not an actual Archery GB card if you're pushed for time.
Finally, we’re happy to answer questions about the administering of how this all works but if you require more detailed information on Archery GB itself (why join, what to expect etc) please go to their website at www.archerygb.org
I finally bought a bow! My very own and very first so I thought I’d share the experience.
I first started shooting in October 2012. I contemplated buying a bow in December but just before I planned to go shopping I went on vacation. When I got back I felt a bit like I was starting all over again. After a couple more useful months of practice (in February 2013), I realised that I was still shooting the 18lb club traIning bow. As I’d been practicing for around 5 months at this point I felt that I could probably manage something a little heavier. So each week I pushed myself a little and in three sessions I moved from 18 to 26lb (still using 2020 Archery bows)!
At the same time as I was increasing the poundage of the bow I started to gather information about equipment to try and make myself look like a knowledgeable buyer and mask (at least some of) my ignorance. So, on a sunny Saturday in March I set off to my nearest archery shop.A number of people had suggested that I should try out different risers so this was my plan. However, once I got to the store I discovered that there were only two risers within my budget (having a budget makes life far simpler).
The first riser that I tried was pretty awesome, and felt much heavier than the wooden club bow. By the time I tried the second one I was super tired from practicing with the first so it seemed heavier - despite the sales girl insisting that it was in fact lighter than the previous one. Even with the extra weight I thought that the second bow was pretty awesome as well! I basically couldn’t tell the difference at all. Except that the more expensive one was prettier to look at. I thought for a bit… and then thought a bit more… and then decided to buy the pretty one!
So I ended up with a beautiful red Hoyt Horizon riser and 26lb SF Premium limbs to go with it. I did buy an entire kit, mostly going for the cheaper options where possible. In total I came out with the bow plus 8 Jazz arrows with red/white fletchings, a basic sight, bow-stand, quiver, arm guard, finger tab, arrow puller and bow-stringer. I also bought a backpack as I can't possibly carry it all without one. Most people told me that the whole thing would take about 3 hours, but I reckon that I did it in only about 30mins!
I was really eager to try it the next day, but as always seems to happen when I get very excited about something, bad luck followed and I woke up with flu. I had to wait an entire week before I could use my new kit. I turned up to the practice session at my usual time and found that It took me a good quarter of an hour just to fix everything together! I also made a good many mistakes as I did so and required a bit of help! Eventually I managed to get started and it then took me the next half of the session to nail down the sight marks. At this point I realised that shooting a club bow was a lot easier!
My second attempt was much better. I set up my kit in roughly 10 minutes - and managed to do it completely on my own without help. I also learnt that there is an upper limb and a lower limb and that they are not interchangeable! Ahem.
I’m now gradually getting to the point where I feel like the bow is right for me and its starting to feel like mine. Just as important as this is learning how to take care of it properly and - easier this one - learning to love it!
The tale of Robin Hood has been told in verse, story and film across the centuries. The legend is basically a collection of stories concerning a group of outlaws who risk life and limb to steal from the rich and give to the poor. Robin, a lovable rogue with a longbow and a quiver of arrows on his back, is always at the centre of the action with his band of Merry Men as the supporting cast. Love interest is provided by the beautiful Maid Marian often depicted as having a double life – a rebellious warrior chick in the forest choosing Robin and the outlaws whenever she can get away from the embroidery and dancing that, as a lady, she is supposed to be enjoying. The story centres around archery (Marian is often shown, especially in screen versions, as being a pretty accomplished archer herself) and epitomises for many of us how awesome skills with a longbow can get you out of trouble (and make you a hit with the ladies / is a good alternative to embroidery).
The story begins with Robin, a Saxon nobleman, living near the castle in the city of Nottingham. The city is ruled by Prince John, who has taken over while his brother, King Richard, is off fighting the Crusades. No-one seems to know whether Richard is alive or dead, his return is always hoped for but in his absence evil Prince John takes advantage of his new authority by teaming up with the equally nasty Sheriff of Nottingham. Between them they attempt to transfer as much money as possible from the people of Nottingham into their own coffers. As taxes keep rising and punitive laws are enacted to dissuade anyone from challenging them, the people of Nottingham are left with barely enough to feed themselves or keep a roof over their heads. As the story takes place following the Norman conquest of Britain the story also makes much of the evil (French) conquerors against the plucky British (Saxon) underdogs.
Robin, hungry and struggling to survive (in some versions Robin himself is newly returned from the Crusades to find the family home burnt down and his family dead), is caught hunting royal deer with his longbow and is outlawed from the city. With no home, money or possessions, he’s left to fend for himself in Sherwood Forest which lies just outside the city. Robin’s skill at hunting, and his personal charisma, helps him to befriend other outlaws. They eventually form a full camp with various roles and skills in the group. The stories of how Little John, later to be Robin’s right hand man, and Will Scarlet come to join him are amongst the most famous of the tales.
After months of futile fighting, with Robin and his men successfully stealing back taxes and storing food for the poor villagers, evil Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham are determined to arrest him. Knowing of Robin’s skill with the longbow and aware of his desire to fight for the rights of the Saxons, they stage an archery contest to trick him into coming back – illegally – into the city of Nottingham. Disguised as a peasant, Robin enters the city and enrols for the contest, determined to win the Silver Arrow prize. He easily makes it through to the final shoot-out, but his impressive skill alerts the Sheriff and his men who are on the look-out for Robin. With his Merry Men disguised amongst the crowd of Saxon peasants watching the contest, Robin’s first shot of the final hits gold. Little John, seeing that the Norman knights are moving in on Robin, tells the crowd that Robin is a fellow Saxon, and the best archer in the land. The crowd begins to cheer for him, distracting the knights and disrupting their movements. As Robin looses his final arrow, splitting the shaft of his previous ‘perfect 10’ and thereby winning the contest, Prince John signals to his knights to take him. Reacting quickly Little John shouts to the crowd to lift up the winner. A hooded Robin, is held aloft by the crowd. In the melee the outlaws manage to carry him straight through the Norman knights. As Robin is returned to the ground his bow is hidden once again and, with the help of his friends, he slips out of the city unnoticed. Robin and his men return to their camp deep in Sherwood Forest to celebrate their victory, as evil Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham are thwarted once again.
Modern day Robin Hood
The incredible visual appeal of archery has probably contributed to the ongoing ‘Rise of Robin’ with versions of him or the stories featuring in movies, games and on television (although we’re currently enjoying the tales of Merlin and Prince Arthur – another traditional English failsafe that also, happily, tends to feature archery practice). There have been countless depictions of the courageous Robin in the past 70 years, with the feature film, Robin Hood (2010) featuring Russell Crowe (“you’ve got dead ears mate. Bollocks.”) being the most recent. But not the best.
The story’s revival has done particularly well in the last ten years thanks to the most recent BBC series,which followed Robin and his Merry Men for 3 years. Your age probably determines which version of Robin you find the most recognisable – the glossy mulleted Michael Praed is sadly the one for me. Kevin Costner (also with a mullet, albeit shorter, and, err, more bleached) runs a close second.
One of the most loved depictions of the story is Disney’s animated feature, which used a cast of animals to tell the popular tale.
The music of Robin Hood
Even seeing this picture makes you start humming no?
And, if all that Robin Hood goodness has really got you in the mood here’s the Karaoke version :
I got my first traditional bow last year and I was happily hooked soon thereafter. Even if I am wielding something that is more usually found in the gloomier regions of the Amazon Rainforest in an indoor hall near London Bridge it’s still rather a lot of fun! I soon decided to look into buying something better. What followed were many weeks trawling through the internet looking at random bits of tree and talking to some spectacular beards, and as such I thought it might be worth passing on some useful little tips which I picked up.
Modern traditional bows are an oxymoron as they are normally made up of 2 or 3 layers of wood called laminates. This is because different parts of the bow require different technical properties, specifically the ability to withstand compression or tension, and it’s impossible for one type of wood to do both equally well. Laminate bows therefore utilise woods with different types of properties in different parts of the bow which makes them better but more expensive than single piece self-bows.
Your bowyer will be able to give you detailed expert advice on the best types of wood to use and different bowyers prefer different types of wood. The following however is a good starter for 10, regardless of whether you go for an off-the-shelf bow or a more tailored one.
Bellywood. The belly of the bow is the part of the bow which is closest to the archer, and requires a wood which is capable of withstanding compression. The most common bellywood is Lemonwood which is cheap to use and found in most traditional bows. It won’t last more than a couple of years though before it starts to have a bend in it called string-follow, but it is excellent for a first traditional bow. [NB according to many bowyers, string-follow actually improves the performance of a bow, so like wine your bow will improve with age!]
Other bellywoods include Ipe, Yew, Osage Orange and Putu Jumau. Each of these is excellent under compression making them ideal for the belly of a bow, if in doubt, go for the one whose colour you like best – a traditional bow can, and indeed should, be something beautiful.
Corewood. The core or middle of the bow is the foundation of the bow and is typically made of a very hard wood, indeed the harder the better. The most common are Purpleheart or Greenheart which are excellent corewoods and, because of their availability, they are cheap.
Other corewoods include Balau [“harder than the knockers of hell” as one chap colourfully described it], Ipe, Yew, Padauk, Bubinga, Snakewood and a whole host of other woods I have never heard of - as with bellywood if in doubt go with the one whose colour you like best.
You will note that Yew and Ipe, and indeed several others, can be used as both core and belly woods, in such a case you would end up with a bi- as opposed to a tri-laminate bow.
Backwood. The back of the bow is the part of the bow furthest from the archer and requires a wood which is capable of withstanding tension. By far the best backwood is Bamboo, which unfortunately is also the most expensive. If you are buying a tailored bow, it is worth sacrificing cost elsewhere in the bow to be able to have a Bamboo back. Hickory or Maple are also perfectly good choices for heavy (60lb’s or more) and lighter bows respectively.
Traditional bows come in a whole host of different types, shapes and sizes from delicate flat bows to 140lb warbows, each of which however will incorporate the ideas discussed above. Go on give it a go, you won’t regret it!
Archery is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK. Open to all, archery can be enjoyed by young and old, people with disabilities and whole families (2020 has a great junior club with Mums and Dads shooting alongside young people each weekend – www.juniorarchery.co.uk).
As a sport that can be practiced inside or outside throughout the year, socially or competitively, archery can really be said to cater for everyone. Over here at 2020 Archery we currently have 1 completely blind club member and 1 with significant visual impairment. We’ve also had a number of wheelchair users and people with mobility issues as members in the past.
Forms of archery
Target archery: this is the most popular form of archery in the UK and the style that is currently featured in the Olympic games (although the Olympic version is somewhat different than regular competitions). Target archery takes place on flat ground - indoor or outdoor - and involves shooting a specific number of arrows at particular sizes of target faces at
distances of up to 100 yards. This type of archery can also take place inside over shorter distances. Indoor archery – like we do at 2020 - typically sees us shooting 5x dozen arrows at 60cm target faces for a score out of 600 at 20 yards. You can see our club members scores on the club website here (http://www.2020archery.co.uk/club-6/)
Field archery: this form of archery takes place on a series of targets set out in outside locations, often in woodland. The shooting distances are usually unmarked so archers rely on their judgement and instinct, especially if they choose to use a traditional bow such as a longbow or flatbow. Saying that, I also know a number of compound archers who also enjoy this type of more ‘natural’ shooting.
Clout archery: this form of archery is similar to target archery but the archer must drop the arrows at a long range into a number of circular scoring zones on the ground. Arrows are shot at an angle of around 45 degrees up into the air. This type of archery probably emulates the kind of military training that used to take place when an enemy might be a known distance away (e.g. approx 150 yards) and accuracy at the specified distance could mean victory or defeat.
Flight archery: requiring a lot of space, flight archery is a sport in which the archer must shoot the arrow as far as possible. This is generally done in very specific categories for weights and types of arrows shot from specific bows. James Farrar of Fairbow holds a number of flight records using very heavy traditional bows known as warbows – he also sells great traditional archery gear which we like a lot over at 2020 (http://www.fairbowuk.com/).
Getting involved
There are a number of ways that you can get involved in archery but the best place to start is your local club. Most clubs are very welcoming to beginners (as long as you’ve made an appointment or booked a session) and many offer Have-a-Go sessions. This gives newcomers the opportunity to try out the sport before enrolling in a beginners course and - hopefully - becoming a member and starting to practice with the club.
Although clubs often welcome beginners, it is important to have a basic understanding of the sport before you try to join a club or start practicing. Most clubs will offer structured beginners courses to set up would-be archers with the basic skills and techniques required. The course can take place across a number of weeks or over a weekend and gives new archers the opportunity to join an archery club for further training and the chance to compete in tournaments if they want to.
2020 Archery Website
Junior Archery Website
