What We Offer in Beginner Archery Training
Beginner Archery Training is our most popular activity right now! For those of you that don’t know, today we will take a deeper dive into what we offer during these sessions.
Generally people take 4 to 6 sessions to grasp all the concepts we teach.
Class 1 and 2
As many people have not shot before, safety is our Number 1 priority here at Archer’s Arena. We go over how to load the arrow, have good form, and how to shoot properly and safely.
Our Number 2 priority is not to dry-fire! Dry-firing is when the bow string is pulled back without an arrow nocked and then released. The reason to not do this is because all the stored energy is being released back into the bow rather than a nocked arrow - and this causes microfractures in the bow, and at some point, the bow will break!
When loading the arrow - keep the bow horizontal and make sure that the arrow is nocked onto the string between the finger guards and resting on the bow’s arrow rest.
If you’re holding the bow with your left hand, turn the bow to the 2 o’clock position.
If you’re holding the bow with your right hand, turn the bow to the 11 o’clock position.
Then draw back by moving your hand to your cheek and keeping your elbow straight! This makes sure you’re getting the full power out of your body and not t-rexing!
During the session each player will be shooting around 150 - 200 arrows each! And it’s not just drills. We also play games like Around the World, Race the Coach and shooting at Digital Targets.
Class 3 and onwards
This is where we learn about the different branches of archery and their shooting styles:
Traditional Target Shooting
Mongolian Thumb Draw
Combat Archery Speed Shooting
Traditional Target Shooting is just like what it sounds like. The circular target has 5 different colored rings - white, black, blue, red, and yellow.
Mongolian Thumb Draw is a different grip style where instead of using your fingers to draw back the string, the thumb is used instead and the arrow is on the opposite side of the arrow rest. This allows the index finger to pin the arrow against the bow to stop the arrow from flipping off the bow!
Speed Shooting is practicing instinctive archery. The philosophy is as follows “same spot, same shot”. When the hand is always drawn back to the same place and the target is not hit, only a slight adjustment and not much thinking is required to hit the target.
Afterwards
Afterwards there's Advanced Target Training or Open Range sessions.
An Open Range session is when you can practice shooting yourself without a coach! If you’ve only done the Beginner Training, the Safety Tip Open Range is available for you - where you can bring your own bow (or rent $10 for the hour) and we provide the arrows!
The Advanced Target Training is when metal-tipped arrows are used, shooting at different distances with different bow strengths. After completing an Advanced Training session, the Metal Tip Open Range is now available for you to practice in your own time!
To get really good
Every month, we are running cohorts where the Beginner Archery Trainings are now more technical and the coach is more focused on you getting better.
Signing up to this means you come in twice a week - Tue or Thu evening and on the weekend morning, an Open Range session. It is $499 for the month-long course:
2 Beginner Sessions
2 Advanced Sessions
4 Open-range times
You also get a free arena bow and an arm guard. To book the course, call to sign up or tell your coach when the next time you come in!