Author Archives: 2020

Give Archery A Go!

Whilst opportunities to join your local football or rugby club might be more obvious, team sports – or ball sports – are not for everyone. Luckily, there are many more pastimes available to you in your local area than you might think. Archery is just one of them – and we think it’s high time that you picked up a bow & a quiver full of arrows and gave target practice (or the fantastic Archery Tag in London) a little bit of a try if you haven’t done so already! There’s more to hitting the odd bullseye with a few arrows than you may think – and there are many reasons as to why you should be thinking about getting your aiming arms limbered up and ready to hit a few targets.

Archery, unlike other sports, is a pastime that can be enjoyed in all weathers – unlike football or golf which can be largely dependent on whether or not you’re going to have a wet or dry day – archery can also be done very successfully indoors which means that you can practice rain or shine – without needing wellies and waterproofs! Check out indoor archery clubs – like 2020 Archery which has a great location near to London Bridge – and you’ll be welcomed by experienced, friendly archers with open arms.

It’s also incredibly easy to get started in archery, too.

Practise at your local club

Local clubs welcome professional and recreational archers alike, regardless of skill level – and also offer coaching and mentoring to get your game up to scratch should you wish to excel. However, it should be noted that archery isn’t a sport that is necessarily easy to master right away – as with many sports and skills, you’d be considered little short of a miracle worker if you have instant form and bullseye-bashing talents from the off. If you have the patience, the will and the interest, it’s likely that you will find archery an extremely rewarding hobby long-term – even more so if you become good enough to perform in local or national competitions.

Archery is great for the whole family

Archery is a great sport for all ages – meaning that kids, parents and grandparents require little other than some safety training and a couple of initial lessons to get started. At 2020 Archery Juniors we have a thriving junior archery club which welcomes archers from the age of 8 upwards. As long as you book a place in advance we have a rolling start programme so no need to wait weeks or months for a beginners course to be scheduled. We provide all the equipment and tuition you need – plus parents can shoot alongside their budding Robin Hoods! All you need is enthusiasm and enough arm strength to wield a bow and arrows – with little more than a genuine interest in the sport required, you’ll soon be on target!

Make new friends!

Archery clubs are a great way to meet new people and make new friends – and it’s also a fantastic opportunity to sample the local competition, maybe building up a friendly rivalry or two while doing so. Here at 2020 Archery we’re also very sociable with a regular pub ‘debrief’ after Saturday shooting.. and a few more ad hoc trips here and there post session depending on the day.

Getting started with gear

At 2020 Archery we provide everything that you need to get started shooting.. and you can use our gear to practice for as long as you want. We do know that you’ll soon want to start building up gear of your own though. If you are looking for professional, high quality archery wear, accessories and equipment with a leaning towards traditional leather based gear, have a peek at Shire Archery’s online store. These guys have a great range of archery essentials and are experienced at supplying gear to individuals, clubs and various sports festivals. They pride themselves on their fantastic collection of hand tooled archery arm bracers, lovely leather gloves and tabs, and a whole range of other gear to help archers reach the top of their game (whilst looking pretty stylish) as soon as they can.

Traditional leather ‘Greenman’ archery arm guard available from Shire Archery

Meet the Instructors – Louise!

Leave a reply

Hey Louise! Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Hiya, I’m 26 from South London, I studied film and photography at university. When I’m not working at 2020 you probably find me in the gym, teaching pole fitness, taking part in some sort of outdoor adventurous activity or in my kitchen pretending to be on the Great British Bake Off.

How long have you been shooting for?

I originally started shooting during my Summers at university so about 6 years ago, however only started shooting more frequently over the last couple of years.

How did you get started with 2020 Archery?

I volunteer with the Scouts and qualified with them as an Archery GB Archery instructor in May 2014, I saw the role advertised over the Summer with 2020 and thought I’d apply as it was something I enjoyed!

What’s the best part of the job?

I really enjoy instructing the Have a Go sessions, its great to be part of the transition of someone, at the start of the session, who’s very nervous and saying ‘I’ll never hit the target’ to the end session when they’ve not only hit the target but have a strong grouping and have scored well in the competition. Proud instructor moment!

What’s the worst part of the job?

This is a tough one, not getting to eat any of the chocolate coins we give out at the end of the competition? Only joking, I’d say either that the sessions seem to fly by too fast, time flies when your having fun and all that. Or when you get caught in the line of fire during a heated Archery Tag session, it can give quite a sting depending where it hits!

What’s the one bit of advice you’d give to someone thinking of taking up archery?

Do it! We are all guilty of putting things off or saying one day, make that day today.

What’s your best archery story?

I had one lady one a Have a Go session a couple of weeks ago who turned up and told me ‘not to expect too much, last time she had done an archery session (with another organisation) she hadn’t even been able to hit the target.’ Instantly I thought to myself challenge excepted… safe to say she only missed the target a hand full of times, and was scoring a good number of 8’s and and a couple 9’s during the competition. I spoke to her at the end and she was very happy with the session and was pleasantly surprised with how far she had come, hopefully she carries on but if not its great to see such an achievement.

Louise demonstrating some of her other sporting expertise!

How to Play Archery Tag!

1 Reply

————————————-

The battlefield where you get to shoot your friends!

We all know about paintball, dodgeball and laser tag; but do you know about Archery Tag? Archery Tag is an awesome combat game where two or more teams fight each other using bows and arrows. But don’t be scared, there’s no blood involved and we don’t even leave bruises (not like paintball – ouch)!

The arrows used in Archery Tag games have great big marshmallow-style tips making it much less painful than paintball! You get to shoot your friends (or your boss!), there’s no pain involved and you feel like Robin Hood. I bet we caught your attention, so let’s get into the equipment and rules of this fantastic game!

Equipment

1. Bow – a basic lightweight recurve bow.

2. Arrows – patented ‘safe’ tips, carefully weighted and spined to match the bows.

3. Mask – even though ‘head shots’ are illegal in the game, a bit of extra protection never went amiss.

Rules

To play this game, we need teams. The minimum number of people needed to play is 8 in order that we can split the group into two teams of 4 people each. This is the absolute minimum needed to play – the standard number of people per team is 5. Once teams are sorted out, they need a team name. This is when Archery Tag gets creative (no, we’re not divulging our best team names for you… you have to come up with them yourselves although do feel free to give us your best effort in the comments!)

Can and can’t do’s

Can: – Shoot everyone who wears a mask. – Move around your side of the battlefield. – Stay behind the barricades or not. – Collect as many arrows as you can. – Deflect arrows using your bow (be careful the marshmallow tip doesn’t hit it).

Can’t: – Shoot someone who doesn’t wear a mask. – Cross to the enemy’s side of the battle field. – Move barricades. – Load or shoot in ‘No Man’s Land’ central zone. – Dry fire a bow (shooting without an arrow loaded). – Head shots.

Game play

Games last for 5 minutes or until one team completely knocks out (tags!) the other. At the beginning of the game, each person has 2 arrows to shoot. Sometimes, there will be extra arrows placed in ‘No Man’s Land’. These arrows can be picked up by any team (you can’t be hit whilst in No Man’s Land but you might need to arrange for covering fire to get safely in and our from behind your barricade).

Once the game starts, each team tries to tag as many enemies as they can. If an arrow hits you or your bow, you’re out. This means you have to move to the side (keep your helmet on!) and wait until your team mates save you.

How can my team mates save me I hear you ask? Well, there are two foam 5 spots targets – one for each team. If your team mate shoots out a spot you’re back on side. Once this happens, the first person to die is the first to go back into the game. Good.

But, what if you have dead team mates but you don’t have any dots left to shoot at? Well, our crack-team of only slightly-bribeable referees will be replacing them as fast as you can shoot them but, there’s also another way to save team mates!

You or your team mates just need to catch an arrow in mid air (piece of cake)! You need to take care not to be hit by the tip when you’re attempting this otherwise you’ll tag yourself. If an arrow bounces (hits a wall, the floor or a barricade) and then hits you, it doesn’t count as a hit and you carry on playing. However, if it hits a team mate and then it hits another, it’s a double kill! If an arrow bounces (hits a wall, the floor or a barricade) and then you catch it in mid air without touching the marshmallow tip, it is valid, so you’ve just saved a team mate! Well done!

Games move fast so we recommend loose clothing and staying on the ball as we rotate teams on and off the courts. Our maximum group size is 25 people and we have it all pre-organised tournament style to guarantee an even number of games in the style AvB, CvD, BvC etc. We play at a great indoor spot in Whitechapel with a bar and a Thai food concession. Yes, we could play in the rain.. but why would you want to when you can guarantee the weather and have a quick half-pint while the other teams are out there ‘killing’ each other?

Do you have a group of friends? Are you organising a stag party or having a birthday in the near future? Archery Tag is a fantastic option to have a great time while having fun and getting yourself moving – which is always good! And, there’s always the possibility of a Zombie Apocalypse to consider – getting in a bit of practice at a moving target beforehand won’t do you any harm at all.

What are you waiting for? Book a session today! Fully online booking system – get on that date checker now!

http://www.2020archery.co.uk/archery-tag

Learning the Basics of Archery Through Digital Aids

1 Reply

Getting to grips with the basics of virtually any sport has changed in the last decade. Luckily, technological advancements have meant that we now have a means to find information via a myriad of sources online that weren’t previously available to us.

While our blog section here at 2020 Archery will provide you with guides for anything from overcoming a Zombie Apocalypse to introducing some of our multi-talented instructors, there are also many other great options for beginners and advanced archers to source information.

Currently there are approximately 1,100 archery clubs in the UK which provide superb resources in terms of coaching and mentoring for all levels. Archery GB reported that there were over 150,000 active archers in 2013, a figure that has grown hugely recently, which is great for the sport. Seemingly trivial things like popular TV programmes (e.g. Game of Thrones – we LOVE GoT) and their constant inclusion of archery seems to keep the sport relevant in the eyes of Millennials, too, strange as it may seem. (Although, there have been a LOT of archery mistakes in the TV series that have annoyed the archery community.)

That kind of exposure to a global market has also seen newfangled suburban archery battles spring up over the world. As well as that online slot games like ‘Nordic Heroes’ and ‘Merry Money’ have jumped on the bandwagon offering archery-based and Game of Thrones-related bingo games to the UK market, which have become hugely popular.

Popularity aside, the best archery resources for beginners to download and read directly via their smartphones, are generally those supported by official apps. So, with that in mind, here is a definitive list of some of the best archery apps to keep abreast of the latest news, training tips and overall insights on archery.

Ubersense

This app is perfect for coaches and archers alike who want to import videos for [slow-motion video analysis]. For instance, if a beginner uploads a video of their technique, the advanced tech allows the coach to zoom into the archer and critique their form, while providing a voice-over for analysis purposes. According to the iTunes app page, uploading videos can be done via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and DropBox among other platforms.

APPtitune

Designed by world champion compound archer Jesse Broadwater, stabilization expert, Greg Poole and Olympic silver medalist, Jake Kaminski, APPtitune provides users with useful insights on how to setup and tune their archery equipment. What’s extra special is that it also features information on “limb and cam alignment, stabiliser and broadhead setup, group and torque tuning, bare-shaft tuning, walk-back tuning, paper tuning, yoke tuning, creep tuning, arrow setup, and third-axis levelling,” according to Archery 360.

Scoring Helper

Scoring Helper pretty much does what it says on the tin. It provides archers with a simple aid to track scoring. The digital tool is, “primarily meant for compound and recurve target archery.”

World Archery Live
World Archery Live gives users a single platform to keep up to date with all the latest results on the professional circuit including the World Archery Championships and the Archery World Cup. The app also catalogues more than 10,000 professional archers, features historical results, photo galleries of WA competitions, breaking news, live streaming of major events, and tutorials for beginners.

Contract between club and club members

1 Reply

I recently went and shot at another club. I paid for my shoot (not cheap) and then had the slowest session in the world while a group of beginners were coached. It wasn’t really the coaching that I minded (we’re all familiar with that and I can hear a lot of you thinking ‘oh my goodness, please say you’re providing member only sessions’) what bothered me was that the instructors weren’t giving the beginners any encouragement to speed up or get back over the shooting line. On their last end the beginners stood around on the range snapping photos of each other with the targets and their arrows which took at least 5+ minutes.

So, why am I writing a blog post about this? Well, it made me think that as we have a lot of beginners through the club we could do with laying out our position on how this ought to happen. A kind of contract between the club and the members if you like. So, here goes.

The usual / main indoor round shot is the Portsmouth (60 arrows at 20 yards on a 60cm target face). Club members should ALWAYS be able to shoot a Portsmouth with 6 sighters (72 arrows). We hugely encourage scoring and we keep a leader board of member shooting on the website here. We’d love to restart leagues or club competitions – if you’re interested in co-ordinating this please shout!
If possible a club member should be nominated to either score during a session or count their arrows (I have a knitting row counter that I use to count my practice arrows). It’s helpful to have an accurate idea of how many arrows are getting shot.. not just for an idea of what you get for your money for a shooting session but for your own practice records.
Club members should feedback to the office if less arrows are being shot than this – if numbers drop really low for whatever reason (saving act of God / Downside / Schools Plus!) we’ll refund the cost of the session.
Instructors should do as much as they possibly can on the safe side of the shooting line. We won’t tolerate instructors standing on the range pontificating at beginners while club members stand around.
The only really unavoidably slow bit will probably be teaching beginners how to pull arrows. Club members are always welcome to go and assist the instructor, help to supervise the arrow pulling and help beginners to collect their arrows.
If the instructor is encouraged to always think – how can I be faster and allow more shooting time? Then club members are encouraged to think – how could I help the instructor to make this faster?
If you are interested in learning about coaching please tell us! Pretty much every club except ours has volunteer coaches who assist beginner club members. I’m not sure why we don’t have this. We’d love for more of our members to go through Level 1 / 2 training and help other club members to develop their shooting. It wouldn’t be a paid position but learning how to coach can be enormously helpful for your own shooting. Everyone coaches each other when learning to coach so you’ll get a lot of free feedback (including from the senior coaches leading the course).
We all need to remember that we need beginners – they are the life blood of the club and the fact that we run lots of beginners courses is how many many of our club members got started in the first place. BUT, we need to be respectful to our club members and appreciate how much they are paying to shoot.

OK so that’s it. Please do remember to tell the office if things go awry at the club as we may not know. Multiple reporting is better than everyone thinking that someone else will do it.

We’ve got a whole load of wonderful members and our constant flow of beginners lands more on our doorstep every month. It’s up to us to lay out what we expect but I don’t think we tell you what we’ll deliver in return often enough. And really – do think about coaching! Here’s a link to the Archery GB Level 1 course page.

Zombie Apocalypse: Rise of the Archer

Leave a reply

(Or, five reasons why learning archery will help you survive the zombie apocalypse)

The zombies are coming! You’ve stocked up on supplies, you’ve brought the dogs inside and you’re frantically hammering sheets of Homebase MDF over the windows. (Zombie arm through glass = very possible and extremely unpleasant. Zombie arm through MDF = even worse… but hopefully less likely). So, when the dreaded moment arrives and hordes of undead are hammering on your door, what are you gonna do?

Got a gun in your bedside cabinet? Hopefully not, or ‘Her Majesty’s finest’ might want a word with you. You might have a few kitchen knives, but that means getting awfully close to those chomping teeth. What can you start practicing with right now and keep in your flat in South London (or y’know wherever you are. You don’t necessarily need to be in South London)? What’s gonna be the best damn option to get rid of the undead masses?

Oh yes, the humble – sorry, make that ‘reliable’ – bow and arrow

Used as a weapon for centuries, the bow and arrow is one ancient invention that has proven itself to countless civilisations. It may not have the gadgets and all the bells and whistles that comes with the latest firearms, but this reliable weapon has advantages of its own.

1) Less is more

So it doesn’t feature the latest technology, but simplicity is also its advantage – and yours when them zombie beasties come snapping at your heels. Easy to make (well, relatively…. try making a gun out of a tree), easy to maintain and easy to understand, the modern bow and arrow is one weapon where beginners luck or natural talent isn’t always required.

2) Silent but deadly

The bow and arrow is naturally quiet. No need for bulky –and often inaccurately named – silencers, the bow makes little noise as it projects the arrow through the air with barely a whisper. Perfect for silently disposing of hordes of zombies, or secretly hunting for food.

3) Ready, set, go

The bow may not be as light as some pistols, but it’s easy to throw on your back and great for a quick get-away. The bow and arrow is also perfect for quick loading – no need for rounds of bullets, just grab an arrow and shoot some zombies as fast as you can (see Lars Anderson). When the zombies are dead, just go and get your arrows back. You might want to clean them after this bit.

4) Waste not, want not

Not only are arrows reusable, but they’re also versatile. You can use arrows with multiple types of bow. OK ,so they may not be perfectly tuned – but they’ll still fly, whereas guns will only fire with specific bullets.. As well as this, the durability of bows, and the possibility of reusing arrows, means that your weapon may just see you through the whole apocalypse.

5) Making themselves useful

Guns are guns. But bow and arrows can do a lot more than just kill. Arrows can be set on fire to signal for help. If your bow is wooden you might want to take care during this step: a flaming bow and arrow makes a great beacon (and ready fired BBQ for the zombies to toast you on).

Bows and arrows can be used to pass messages across distances (don’t try this in the club, mind) and they can even be used for – ahem – short-range encounters with the living dead. The short-range encounter (i.e. beating to death) is also the favoured technique when being mugged whilst carrying a ‘taken-down’ take down bow – “just give me 10 minutes and I’ll be absolutely lethal”. With all that functionality at your disposal you can truly say that the bow and arrow is versatile. Just what you need when the dead rise…..

Have a go…

Still not sure the bow and arrow is your weapon of choice? Come down to 2020 Archery to try it for size (1.5 hr Have a Go’s are only £25). We promise to keep the building zombie free, although some of the hungover faces at the Saturday morning shoot may momentarily persuade you otherwise.

https://www.2020archery.co.uk/lessons-courses/have-a-go

Meet the Instructors : Diccon

Leave a reply

Tell us a little bit about yourself

Apart from the archery I am also a luthier (Guitar builder) which means that I build and repair custom guitars in a south London workshop. I play bass guitar and love old heavy rock and metal. I’ve been playing in bands since I was a teenager and am lucky enough to have played some great shows and travelled to some amazing places over the years. Touring is not as glamorous as it sounds. It’s all waiting around in airports and not getting any sleep in dodgy hotels. The next bit of waiting I have to do is outside the Japanese embassy to get my visa as we’re playing a show in Tokyo in a few weeks.

I also have a keen interest in ancient history and am nuts over classic cars. I have a 1956 Sunbeam that needs a small lottery win to get it back on the road.

How long have you been shooting for?

Since September 2011

How did you get started with 2020 Archery?

In 2011 I found myself without a band and therefore at a loose end on weekends. I’d always wanted to do archery, but erroneously thought that all the clubs would be outdoors and therefore outside London. On a whim I googled ‘archery in London’ and 2020 came up. I was amazed to find an indoor club in central London and when I looked at the address and saw that the street was called ‘Druid’ I thought ” Ah, it’s a sign ! ”

I did a beginners course and then joined as a member After a few months an opportunity came up to help out with some of the events that we do. I needed some extra work at the time and so took the plunge…

What’s the best part of the job?

When a beginner on a course starts to do well and really surprise themselves with their shooting. Their face is a real picture and you can see their enthusiasm and confidence increase ten-fold. There’s no substitute for that. Did I also mention going to the pub for a proper session after the Saturday shoot ?

What’s the worst part of the job?

Truly ? There is no ‘worst’ part about the job for me at all. I really mean that. It’s an unusual and quirky job to have which suits me well and it’s also help me to develop as a person ( for the better, I hope ! )

What’s the one bit of advice you’d give to someone thinking of taking up archery?

Just relax and enjoy yourself as you take part in an ancient skill that is part of our DNA. If you have interest and enjoyment then you’re halfway there…

What’s your best archery story?

One day I went in to have a shoot, but my antiquated old bow was shooting a bit weird and I had to re-set my site to a position that I never have it in and everything just felt a bit odd about it. Then, all of a sudden, I Robin-Hooded an arrow. Joy and amazement !

After posing for the obligatory pics I pulled the arrows out and walked back to the line to have my initial feeling of elation replaced by face-palming embarrassment as I discovered that I’d put my bow limbs on upside down. Go figure…

5 Tips for Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse

2 Replies

October 31^stis drawing near – and if the undead are, inconveniently, to rise, it’s a fair bet that it’ll be at Halloween (if nothing else for blending in purposes). You don’t have much time to prepare. And preparation, in the event of zombie attack, is key. Better read this fast. Here is 2020 Archery’s five-step-guide to surviving the imminent Zombie Apocalypse.

You’re going to need a source of food and water, weaponry, a place to hide, transportation, a bunch of kooky ‘how-did-I-end-up-with-this-bunch-of-feckin’-weirdos’ bunch of weirdos to surround yourself with (these are called ‘survivors’ and you want to be one of them) and, finally, weaponry.

So, how can you maximize your chances of survival?

First of all, you need to sober up and accept the situation. Then, you can start to consider:

1. Food and Water

Start stashing food and drink away now. Find a secure place – basements tend to be popular for Apocalypse hoards, but bear in mind they’ve only got one exit, and, if you’ve seen your movies, you’ll know that ain’t good. Still, needs must and all that. Don’t stock up on Druid Street Market fare unless you want hordes of hipster zombies kicking your door down in search of civilization’s last surviving vegetarian Scotch egg.

If you haven’t pre-prepared your stash of survival food, come Apocalypse Day you’ll probably want to head for the outskirts of cities (see point 3). The main supply depots for supermarkets are going to be a better bet in terms of minimizing encounters with the marauding undead than heading for Greenwich Waitrose. Mind you, negotiating Greenwich Waitrose on a Saturday morning is probably good preparation for dealing with zombies.

Tip: Don’t burn the straw bosses for a barbecue. They smoke like bastards.

Figure 1. Bonfire of the (knackered old) straw bosses.

2. Weapons

In order not to get eaten while stocking up on supplies (it doesn’t count as ‘looting’ once it’s survival.*) you’re going to need a weapon. You can probably guess which way we swing with this one. Silent, deadly, unlimited ammo – no, we aren’t talking about Saturday afternoon post-pub flatulence. Archery, dammit. Get your archery lessons started now, kids. You won’t regret it when the undead rabble starts snapping at your wing-mirrors. But which type of bow?

Don’t bother looting our bow stores – we will have already hidden the stash as part of our 2020 Archery instructor zombie apocalypse privilege system**. If you really can’t find an archery shop to loot you’ll need to read our later blog post on ‘How to make a longbow in the event of a zombie apocalypse’. In essence this blog post will advise you to make it quickly – somewhere out of sight. Or the more cack-handed amongst you can, instead, have a go at this simpler emergency zombie-killer, fashioned from little more than a PCV pipe. Either way, we recommend starting archery now so you already have a bow that you’re familiar with. Remember Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Practice. Or something.

Book a lesson here at http://www.2020archery.co.uk/lessons-courses

3. Transport

Depending on what type of undead horde you’re working with, it’s usually a good plan to get out of town. If it’s the “Hell is full – now they walk the Earth” kind of zombie, you’ll definitely want to avoid old civil war battle sites and, say, Indian burial grounds (not that the Home Counties are overflowing with these, but you know what we mean – probably stay away from Hadrian’s wall). There are probably still going to be less bodies out in the sticks.

If it’s your standard Hollywood, “Oh, blast. The damned infected monkey’s escaped from the lab,” type of outbreak – well, that’s going to infect the living, and you definitely want to be out of the city.

So, once you’ve shot your way out of London (you’ll need a nice clean headshot for each zombie – seriously, get some practice in) you’re going to need to grab the wheel of a truck in order to get outta town. Choose well – you want space for your beer – I mean, water – tanks, and enough room to seat your group of quirky cannon-fodder (sorry survivors). Allow some space for bows and arrows – a couple of take down recurves, maybe a compound, and a horsebow if you want to go trad.

4. Hiding Out

Find someplace safe to hide out the apocalypse – ideally, somewhere with a good vantage point from which to shoot, should you need to defend the old palace. And – naturally – find a place with a bit of space to practice your archery. The more practice you can get, the better your chances with the undead – this is also true for archery competitions, though that’s probably not top of your priority list right now. Take your archery books along – the evenings will be long. If, by some unlikely miracle, you can still get WiFi, you can get some more archery inspiration from online folks like Infinite Curve, Grizzly Jim, and our old mates Ageing Archer and Twitchy Archer.

Don’t let training slip – we’ve all experienced the drop in form after even a two-week holiday. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. Honestly. There’s a reason why regular archery practice used to be legally enforced. (See – How to improve my archery – earlier blog post).

Implement classic battle tactics – look for high ground with a good view. If there is an undead sortie, make sure you aim for the head. Nice clean headshots should stop them in their tracks. Arse shots will just annoy them.*** Moving targets are tricky – aim slightly lower than your natural inclination, stay calm and try and judge the pace at which they’re moving. It will, obviously, be helpful if the zombies’ heads can be picked out against a backdrop of red, blue, black and white concentric circles to help you focus. Try and judge it fairly quickly, though. And – as ever – make sure you have a good release. Think smooth draw, give yourself a bit of time to aim, and get that back tension going. A few lessons pre-apocalypse can do wonders here.

Figure 2. A zombie target. Very convenient.

Once you have a pile of undead don’t forget to collect your arrows. You might want to clean them at this point.

Hone your combat archery skills (yes, we really said COMBAT ARCHERY) at one of our Archery Tag sessions: http://www.2020archery.co.uk/archery-tag

5. Repopulating the planet

Hopefully, the worst hasn’t happened and you’ve managed to siphon enough gas along the way to find yourself a fabulous mountain hide-out. You’re managing to refill your fresh water supplies, you’ve got some seeds planted, and a bit of fresh meat and fish available for bow-hunting. You’re keeping your head down in the hills (and keeping up your target practice). All this is looking pretty good and, eventually, you’re going to start seeing fewer zombies. Now is the time to start repopulating planet Earth. Choose your quirky band of cannon-fodder wisely. That’s all we’re saying on this one.

Left it to the last minute? Join one of our intensive two-day weekend archery courses: https://www.2020archery.co.uk/lessons-courses/saturday-beginners-course

*Well ok maybe it does but there’s probably some prohibition in London against encouraging looting that we don’t want to fall foul of. Croydon. That’s all we’re saying.

** you’d be surprised by how many of our instructors took up archery in case of zombie apocalypse. Honestly.

*** and you do not want an annoyed zombie on your case.

Archery for the Average by Corrinne

2 Replies

“So, how long have you been shooting?” asks the course member, eyeing my distinctly un-grouped triumvirate of arrows. “Well, about three months …” I begin, to which she responds with an understanding nod of the head. “And, uh, a year.”

The course member blinks. Tumbleweed rolls, accusingly, along the shooting line.

It’s fair to say I’ll never be the best in t’club –my scores are currently drifting lazily about in the lower quarter of the Traditional scoreboard, like leaves in a late September breeze. That doesn’t bother me – I’m only out to compete against myself. What does bother me is that Myself sometimes plays dirty. Like a lot of people, I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to shooting. But of late, I’ve developed a better awareness of when my own mind is getting in the way of a good shot. How so? Oh, let me count the ways:

Fighting with the bow

Yeah, I initially did that classic newbie thing of overbowing myself. Partly ‘cause I got cocky and told myself that being a 5-foot-1 woman was no barrier to shooting what the big boys shoot. Pfffft. Your bow should feel like an extension of your body, not a demon determined to take you down. If your arms hurt, your draw is jerky, and you feel like the bloody thing is shooting you, not the other way round – go down a few pounds. 30 lb is my limit.

Lack of concentra … ooh, helicopter!

It’s really easy for me to drift off somewhere in between nocking and releasing (as the nurse said to the vicar … honestly, who came up with these terms?). Gotta keep focus on that target all the way through. Harder than it sounds for someone like me, but it makes a big difference. Tune out the chatter – other peoples and your own bloody head’s.

Rushing, rushing

There’ll be time for everyone to shoot their ends (and there’s that vicar again). I always have to guard against rushing, doing that overly-self-conscious thing of wanting to get myself out of the way so my target partner – a better archer, in my head, regardless of who they are – can shoot. Don’t rush. Give yourself permission to be there.

Going instinctive too soon

No, I am not Byron Ferguson, nor was meant to be. I stopped consciously counting out my sequence, and damn, I sucked for a while. Going back to that stance-nock-set-hands-etc. malarkey has made a big difference.

Grumbling

Yeah, you missed. So what? During a round, try not to have an emotional response to any shot, good or bad. Getting annoyed at a bad shot will have a knock-on effect on your next. Conversely, getting too cocky at a good couple of shots will only lead to Third Arrow Syndrome, and we all know how annoying that is. Do your celebrating in the brewery afterwards. Quietly, preferably.

Now where’s that third arrow?

Now, where could that third arrow be?

That’s it for now. Just a few more things, afore I go:

It’s meant to be fun. Try to find that balance between performing at your best, and not letting your hobby become another source of stress.

Get a mate to film you. It does help. No, you don’t look like a twat. This video someone took of me helped me see I was yanking that string like an old-fashioned bog chain: https://vine.co/v/OFY1AvdD3hM

I didn’t get better without ongoing support from the coaches. If you can’t figure out where you’re going wrong, do ask them for advice.

Time for my evening beverage. Happy shooting, one and all.

Important Information on Shooting at Downside Fisher – we must not assemble bows outside of area booked for archery!‏

Leave a reply

Dear Club Members

This is just to let everyone know that Downside have specifically requested that no-one puts together bows outside of the area we’ve booked for archery and that we do not enter the room booked for archery until the session start time.

Our booked entry time on a Saturday is 12 o’clock and on a Sunday it’s 2pm. We also need to be out promptly for the session end time – if everyone can arrive on time to get set-up together & then stay to help pack-away we can maximise the shooting time in the middle!

Downside have had a safety evaluation done for all activities and the assembling of bows outside of the area booked for archery has been flagged as something that CANNOT be continued.

Please help us to stay at Downside! It’s a great location for us and the facilities are very well suited to our club. The more of our club members that are pleasant and respectful to Downside staff and their building safety policies the better our chances of continuing to grow and thrive as a club at this super convenient spot.

We really do appreciate the support of our club members as we all navigate our way forward.

Best wishes, The 2020 Archery Team

P.S. However annoying these new rules may be please don’t be angry toward the staff at Downside! We want to be the friendliest, nicest people that use the centre and we’re very appreciative that we’ve built up many special arrangements for using the centre over the years.