Archery Fundamentals-Human Kinetics-Douglas Engh

Archery Fundamentals

Human Kinetics, by Douglas Engh

Head to the range with the skills to hit the bull’s-eye.

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144pp
Paperback

About the Book

MHead to the range with the skills to hit the bull’s-eye. Archery Fundamentals will have you shooting on target in no time.

Instruction in all the essentials--from stringing the bow through the anchor to learning aim, grip, and release--will put your technique right on the mark. Sequential instructions and accompanying photographs will guide your execution through every phase of the shot.

In addition, you’ll find inside tips for choosing and maintaining equipment as well as using accessories to improve your accuracy with both recurve and compound bows. You’ll also discover how to use arrow patterns to correct errors. And, if you want to compete, you’ll appreciate the recommendations for entering and participating in archery tournaments.

Archery Fundamentals is a better, faster way to learn the basics. With this book, you’ll have as much fun learning the art of shooting as you’ll have hitting your mark consistently.

About the Authors Kathleen Haywood and Catherine Lewis

Doug Engh is a level 3 archery coach for the National Archery Association and is president and CEO of the National Alliance for the Development of Archery (NADA). NADA is the official publisher of level 1 basic and level 2 intermediate archery instructor training materials for both the National Archery Association and the National Field Archery Association. The organization provides materials and logistical support in the training of more than 3,500 new instructors each year.

Engh has conducted instructor training courses nationwide and assists in the creation of new archery programs for schools, camps, recreation departments, outdoor conservation organizations, and government agencies. Through NADA, he also assists other certified archery instructors and coaches in developing local archery programs.

Engh is a member of the National Archery Association, National Field Archery Association, National Recreation and Parks Association, National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association, National Archery in the Schools Program, American Camping Association, National 4-H Shooting Sports Committee, and Arrowsport Foundation. He is a Boy Scouts of America committee member at large. He also writes a column titled “Coaching Archery” in Archery Focus magazine.

Engh and his wife, Kristan, live in Newberry, Florida.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Bows
Chapter 2. Arrows
Chapter 3. Shooting Recurve
Chapter 4. Shooting Compound
Chapter 5. Grips, Anchors, and Releases
Chapter 6. Taking Aim
Chapter 7. Tight Groups
Chapter 8. Scoring Performance
Chapter 9. Accessories
Chapter 10. Tuning and Repair
Chapter 11. Competition

About Archery

Modern international competitive form

To shoot an arrow, an archer first assumes the correct stance. The body should be perpendicular to the target and the shooting line, with the feet placed shoulder-width apart. As an archer progresses from beginner to a more advanced level an 'open stance' is used/developed. Each archer will have a particular preference but mostly this term indicates that the leg furthest from the shooting line will be a half to a whole foot-length in front of the other, on the ground.

To load, the bow is pointed toward the ground and the shaft of the arrow is placed on an arrow rest which is attached in the bow window. The back of the arrow is attached to the bowstring with the 'nock' (a small plastic component which is typified by a 'v' groove for this purpose). This is called nocking the arrow. As said above, typical arrows with three vanes should be oriented such that a single vane is pointing away from the bow.

The bowstring and arrow are held with three fingers. When using a sight, the index finger is placed above the arrow and the next two fingers below. The string is usually placed in either the first or second joint of the fingers.

The bow is then raised and drawn. This is often one fluid motion which tends to vary from archer to archer. The string hand is drawn towards the face, where it should rest lightly at an anchor point. This point is consistent from shot to shot and is usually at the corner of the mouth or on the chin. The bow arm is held outwards toward the target. The elbow of this arm should be rotated so that the inner elbow is parallel to the ground though Archers with hyper extendable elbows tend to angle the inner elbow toward the ground as exemplified by the Korean archer Jang Yong Ho.

The arrow is typically released by relaxing the fingers of the drawing hand (see Bow draw). Usually this type of release aims to keep the drawing arm rigid and move it back using the back muscles, as opposed to using arm motion. An archer should also pay attention to the recoil or follow through of his or her body, as it may indicate problems with form (technique).

In proper form, the archer stands erect, forming a 'T'. The archer's lower trapezius muscles are used to pull the arrow to the anchor point. Some bows will be equipped with a mechanical device, called a clicker, which produces a clicking sound when the archer reaches the correct draw length.

Aiming methods

There are two main forms of aiming in archery: using the sight picture or not.

The sight picture includes the target and the bow, as seen at the same time by the archer. With a fixed "anchor point" (where the string is brought to, or close to, the face), and a fully extended bow arm, successive shots taken with the sight picture in the same position will fall on the same point. This allows the archer to adjust aim with successive shots in order to achieve a good standard of accuracy. It cannot be used with short bows, which by definition do not allow a full draw. Modern archery equipment usually includes sights which mark the predicted impact point. Sight picture aiming is universally used with modern equipment and also by many archers who use traditional bows. It allows good accuracy to be achieved after a moderate amount of practice.

When using shortbows, or shooting from horseback, it is difficult to use the sight picture. The archer may look at the target but without including the weapon in the field of accurate view. Aiming involves the same sort of coordination between vision and motion that is used when throwing. With sufficient practice, such archers can normally achieve good practical accuracy for hunting or for war.

Instinctive shooting is a term often used, but there is no agreed definition. Some use it to mean shooting with a sight picture but without giving it conscious attention. Others use it to mean shooting without a sight picture.

Physics

Bows function by converting elastic potential energy stored in the limbs into kinetic energy of the arrow. In this process, some energy is dissipated through elastic hysteresis, reducing the overall amount released when the bow is shot. Of the energy remaining, some is damped both by the limbs of bow and the bowstring. Depending on the elasticity of the arrows, some of the energy is also absorbed by compressing the arrow, causing it to "bow out" to one side. This results in an in-flight oscillation of the arrow in which its center protrudes out to one side and then the other repeatedly.

The straight flight of an arrow is dependent on its fletching. The arrow's manufacturer can arrange fletching to cause the arrow to rotate along its axis if desired. This improves accuracy by evening pressure buildups that would otherwise cause the arrow to slowly tilt in a random direction after shooting. If the fletching is not arranged to induce rotation, it will still improve accuracy by causing a restoring torque any time the arrow tilts away from its vector of travel.

Arrows themselves may be designed to spread or concentrate force, depending on their applications. Practice arrows, for instance, use a blunt tip that spreads the force over a wider area to reduce the risk of injury. Arrows designed to pierce armor in the Middle Ages would use a very narrow and sharp tip to concentrate the force. Arrows used for hunting would use a narrow tip that broadens further down the shaft to facilitate both penetration and a large wound.
Further information: archer's paradox

The speed of the arrow depends on the shape of its shaft and tip. The tip must be somewhat pointed and the shaft straight

Archery is the art, practice or skill of shooting with bow and arrow. Archery has historically been used in hunting and combat and has become a precision sport. A person practicing archery is called an archer or bowman, and one who is fond of or an expert at archery is sometimes called a toxophilite.Roving marks is the oldest form of competitive archery, as practiced by Henry VIII. The archers will shoot to a "mark" then shoot from that mark to another mark. A mark is a post or flag to be aimed at. As with clout a rope or ribbon is used to score the arrows. In the Finsbury Mark the scoring system is 20 for hitting the mark, 12 for within ~3ft, 7 points for within the next ~6ft and 3 points for within the next ~9ft. "Hoyles" are marks that are chosen at the time from the variety of debris, conspicuous weeds, and so on found in most outdoor areas. As the distances have to be estimated this is good practice for bowhunting, and it requires little equipment.

Wand shoot

A Traditional English archery contest. Archers take turns shooting at a vertical strip of wood, the wand, usually about six feet high and three to six inches (152 mm) wide. Points are awarded for hitting the strip. As the target is a long vertical strip this competition allows for more errors in elevation, however since no points are awarded for near misses the archers windage accuracy becomes more important. The wand shoot is, in some respects, similar to the traditional Cherokee game of cornstalk shooting.

Other competitions

Archers often enjoy adding variety to their sport by shooting under unusual conditions or by imposing other special restrictions or rules on the event. These competitions are often less formalized and are more or less considered as games. Some forms include the broadhead round, bionic and running bucks, darts, archery golf, night shooting, and turkey tester.

Archery is popularly used in historical reenactment events. This sort of event usually combines education of the audience of aspects of archery (such as the bow, arrows, and practice drill), combined with a demonstration or competition of archery in the style most favored by the period on display, generally in period costume.

Archery education

A relatively new program has developed in U.S. schools called the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP). In this students use Genesis bows (a compound-style bow without a let-off). This is similar to a physical education programmes, and students who want to can also go to state and national shoots to compete against other schools. Though started in the United States, it has begun to spread to other countries.

Many sportsman's clubs and similar establishments throughout the Australia and other countries offer archery education programs for those under 18. These programs are commonly referred to as Junior Olympic Archery Development Programs, or simply JOAD. There are over 250 JOAD Clubs recognized by the National Archery Association.

Archery Fundamentals

Human Kinetics, by Douglas Engh