The Benefits of the Sport of Archery

Arrows shot into a target, ready for scoring. Photo Credits: Ticket Tailor

       
        What is commonly viewed when the topic of “archery” comes up, is the idea that it is an easy sport where an athlete simply stands on a line, pulls back a string on a long wooden bow, and flings an arrow down range at a large target. Although, this is the bare bones of what archery actually is, this is not nearly what constitutes as the sport of archery. Archery is a sport that can push an athlete above and beyond what they even believe they can achieve, through physical exercise; mental training; improving essential skills such as balance, confidence, and patience; it is a safe sport; it teaches life lessons; the world is full of supportive and helpful archers; and archery opens up new doors that may not have been possible otherwise. There are many benefits to archery that should be taken into consideration. 

Physical Exercise

Jake Kaminski competing in the Rio Olympics. Photo Credits: Christopher Hanewinckel

The first and maybe not the most obvious benefit of archery is physical exercise. Of course, going back to the assumption that archers just stand and pull back a bow, leads no inkling to the idea that archery can get physical in any sense. The most basic form of archery exercise is the poundage of the bow that an athlete is pulling back. This is basically how hard it is to pull back the string and keep it at full draw. Generally, the more poundage an archer pulls, the more aggressive and accurate their shot will be. There are also two different styles of archery that vary how much weight an archer will pull. Compound archery has a pully system on its limbs which allow the archer to pull heavier pondages, but once they are at full draw, they will only feel a small percentage of that poundage. For instance, if an archer pulls about 60lbs., drawing back the bow, they will only end up holding back around 12 lbs. at full draw. Then there is recurve archery. Recurve archery does not have the pully system like the compound archers, so they pull and hold exactly the same amount of weight throughout the shot. This makes it harder for these archers to keep the bow pulled back for long periods of time, but it keeps the bow aggressive and accurate as well. Generally, a recurve archer will pull and hold around 40 to 45lbs. 

Most archery competitions are long competitions. Each competition is normally split into “ends” where archers have to shoot anywhere from three to six arrows per “end.” These ends then make up the “round” score. Generally, a competition will be comprised of two rounds which will then make up the total score. In this way, the sport can get very tiring on the body, therefore athletes need to increase their endurance through exercise. One professional archer who is very mindful about physical exercise is Jake Kaminski. He earned a place on Team USA for the London Olympics and the Rio Olympics. 

He mentioned in an article by The Daytona Beach News-Journal that “I lift weights, usually two to three times per week not for more than an hour. I wouldn’t say it’s always general fitness, but archery is not a sport in which you need complicated exercises for strength and conditioning. It’s just important that everything we do is full range of motion, high volume reps.” All of these are reasons why archery is a great source of physical exercise.

Mental Training

Brady Ellison staying confident through his shot process. Photo Credits: Doug Williams

There is a saying in the sport of archery that archery is 10% physical and 90% mental. I have already outlined the importance of physical training in archery, which should then show exactly how much more important mental training is in the sport. The mental aspect of archery is extremely important, because while an archer is at full draw and aiming during a shot, there is a lot of time in between for the archer to doubt themselves and think about things other than archery. It is important for the archer to stay positive and confident towards their shot and they have to stay focused on the task at hand. 

If they do not stay positive or confident, a mental phenomenon called “target panic” occurs, where an archer panics while shooting, because they either fear failing or fear not being perfect. Levi Morgan is a well-known professional archer in the archery world he holds multiple 3D National titles. Morgan wrote an article called, “The Underrated Role of Mental Toughness in Archery” on Petersen's Bowhunting. In this article, he states, “See, no matter how physically prepared you are or how prepped your spots are or how patterned that big buck is, if you’re not mentally capable of holding yourself together in the moment of truth, all that hard work is for nothing.” This means that archers learn how to visualize their shot before they shoot them, they learn how to be confident and positive towards their shot, determined, and focused on exactly what they have to do. Brady Ellison also is one of the world’s best archer’s who also was with Jake Kaminski at the London and Rio Olympics. He works alongside of Lanny Bassham’s Mental Management Systemwhere Ellison said, “Mental Management made me more than just the number one archer in the world. It made me a better stronger person off the field in my day to day life.” 

Archery Improves Essential Skills

An archer practicing balance while shooting an arrow. Photo Credits: Online Archery Academy

As previously mentioned, there are many skills that archers can improve on such as focus, balance, and patience. Mental preparation is a very important part of archery and along with mental training comes both focus and patience. Focus is incredibly important in archery, because without focus, everything is worthless. An archer has to be ever present in what they are doing and why they are doing the things they are doing to be an accurate archer. Consistency is key, so being focused on the same things each time is essential. Most of the top archers will focus on a song or will say a couple key phrases each shot, so they stay consistent in what they are physically doing and what they are mentally doing. 

Patience also comes a long way as far as archery. Nothing in archery comes fast, but if an archer sticks to their discipline, then they will be incredibly successful in the long run. For an example, back tension. This is a skill that does not develop fast, but in the end will prove the best results in archery. Recurve archers have a similar system called a clicker button.

Finally, another essential skill is balance. The shooting stance is one of the most important aspects of an archer’s form, because a person’s feet are their foundations to everything that they do. Positioning feet need to be the same every single shot and approximately shoulder’s width apart each time. Crystal Gauvin, who was fourth in the world as a professional compound and now is a professional recurve archer, wrote an article on Archery 360 called “Take a Stance, Improve Your Shots.” She mentions in her article, “Everyone just wants to get their hands on the bow and shoot arrows, but a proper stance makes the process easier. In fact, because your stance sets the foundation, it’s a vital part of your shot and can’t be overlooked.” One part of keeping a good stance while shooting the bow is proper balance. Archers do not want to be swaying while they are up on the line to shoot. One exercise that is used by archers is to stand on two inflatable cushion pads (one for each foot) and maintain their balance without a bow. Once they have accomplished that, then they are given a bow and they will have to shoot while keeping their balance.

Archery is a Safe Sport

Bryan Brady, an archery coach, stands at the waiting line for his archers to finish shooting. Photo Credits: Archery360

           When interviewing Emily Cardis, an Olympic recurve archer who shoots on the University of the Cumberlands Archery Team, about what makes archery a beneficial sport she responded by saying, “Archery is one of the world’s safest sports!” Even though, technically archers are using “weapons” and arrows to compete in their sport, there are incredibly rigid rules that govern how archers should act and compete while on a range and at competitions, making it a very safe sport. Archery 360 also just came out with another article titled, “Archery: One of the World’s Safest Sports,” where they mentioned that, “The Archery Trade Association’s Archery Safety Brochure lists archery’s 2017 injury rate as 0.57 injuries per 1,000 participants. The only sports with slightly safer rates are bowling, badminton, and table tennis.” They went further on to say that, “The insurance industry assigns archery participants a 4.4% average chance of injury.” This goes to show that archery is incredibly safe aside from what people may think when they picture people with bows and arrows. 

            Some of the safety procedures used to make archery such a safe sport is that most ranges have common whistle commands. Two whistle blasts mean that it is safe for archers to go to the shooting line, one whistle blast means it is safe for the archers to shoot, and three whistle blasts mean that it is safe to go to the target to retrieve arrows. More than three whistle blasts mean that there is a problem on the range and archers will have to draw down their bows immediately. Further, archers are only allowed to draw their bows downrange to prevent arrows from being shot and hurting anyone and archers can only draw their bows even to the targets. This makes sure that arrows aren’t being shot into the ceiling, the floor, or walls creating potential safety hazards. 

Archery Teaches Life Lessons

Archers from the University of the Cumberlands working successfully together during team rounds. Photo Credits: USA Archery

Many of the points and lessons that archers learn while shooting, mentioned above, are also helpful in everyday life as well. Physical exercise is always a good life lesson, because it teaches how to stay fit and healthy which then leads to a happier life as well. Mental training in archery is a huge life lesson, because it can be applied to just about everything. Miranda Lauria, also an Olympic recurve archer from the University of the Cumberlands Archery Team said, “Archery can help with dealing with pressure in competition scenarios. Then those lessons can be applied to everyday life like the stresses in work.” Patience, balance, and focus are also important lessons in everyday life. Being able to focus on any task at hand and being able to know that not very many things in life come quickly but come with hard work are two lessons that can help someone be very successful. Learning confidence is also an essential skill that can be applied to everyday life as well. Caleb Kirby, alumnus of the Univeristy of the Cumberlands Archery Team and now its assistant coach, mentioned that, “If a shooter lacks that confidence they will never go far with the sport because they don’t believe in their skill. Life is very similar, if a person doesn’t believe in their abilities then they won’t be very successful in jobs that they are hired on for.” 

            Another lesson that archery teaches that is essential for life and more importantly a good job, is how to work successfully as an individual, but then also as a team. Archery is a very interesting sport in how it is laid out. Generally, archery is an individual sport, however, there are times in collegiate archery, Olympic team rounds, and USA Archery team rounds where archers have to work together as a team. This is an important lesson, because in a job, generally individuals are given individual tasks that their performance will be based upon, but then other times they will be given group projects to work on as a team. A good employee will know how to do both effectively.

The Supportive Wold of Archery

Professional archer, John Dudley, giving a seminar about proper archery form. Photo Credit: World Archery Excellence Centre

       
           In many sports, when a top athlete knows something, they are not very inclined to share the extent of their knowledge, especially if that person is their competitor, because then that could lead the person they are teaching to one day beat them. In today’s world, it seems as if this is slowly going away, but in archery it is almost nonexistent. Archery professionals understand that for the sport to continue and grow more in the future, the generations after them have to be just as good as them and maybe even a little better. These professionals will have “How To” YouTube videos, they will write books, they will have posts on Facebook about their training regiments, and even if an archer were to message them on social media, they are normally quick to respond to whatever that archer needed help with. This even goes for competitions. Many times, at competitions, if athletes go up to the professionals and ask for help, they will be willing to answer questions. There are even some professionals who end up going to shoot at their respective archery ranges and will end up helping or coaching the people around them. 

            This is one of the very best things about archery. It is also very easy to meet different archers and become close and even if months pass, they will still end up being close and supportive no matter how much time passes between competitions. Casey Kaufhold, who is a young and very successful Olympic archer who is very close to being on her way to the Olympics mentioned in an article called, “Meet Casey Kaufhold: A Teenage Archery Inspiration,” by Archery 360, that “[Archery] is just so easy to fall in love with. You get to meet people, make friends, and learn a lot of new things.”

Archery Opens New Doors

Archers from Michigan State, JMU, and Texas A&M prepare for USA Collegiate Outdoor Nationals. Photo Credits: USA Archery

       
            Finally, the sport opens up new doors to its athletes as they become more and more competitive. Miranda Lauria also mentioned that, “I have traveled a lot more and seen places in the nation that I would have never seen if I wasn’t shooting archery. I wouldn’t have ended up in Kentucky if I weren’t shooting archery.” If an athlete becomes competitive in archery, they can end up traveling all over the nation. If they decide to shoot the USA Archery circuit, they may end up in Dublin, Ohio; Chula Vista, California at the Olympic Training Center; or maybe even the Easton Training Center in Newville, Florida. If they decide to shoot the ASA 3D circuit, they could end up in London, Kentucky; Metropolis, Illinois; or maybe even Paris, Texas. What is probably the equivalent to the “Superbowl” in archery is the Vegas Shoot held at the South Point Casino. Then if the archer wants to compete internationally, they may end up in Nimes, France or if they are preparing for the upcoming Olympics, Tokyo, Japan. 

            Archery does not just open doors as far as traveling to competitions, but it can also open doors to education as well. Drew, a high school Olympic recurve archer, who has been in the process of looking at colleges to attend in the future said, “Archery can help pay for college.” A couple years ago, there weren’t many well-known colleges that had archery programs and if there were any programs, those programs did not offer scholarships. Now, as archery has grown and as collegiate archery has grown, there are many more colleges with different options that offer archery as a sport and offer scholarships. Some of these colleges include: the Univeristy of the Cumberlands, Union College, Michigan State, and Texas A&M. Then after graduating college, archery does not just open the doors to becoming a full-time professional archer, but it even opens the doors to great jobs with highly respected professionals. Just about every job in the book can be used in the archery industry. 

            

As it can be seen, archery is way more than pulling back a wooden bow and it involves many benefits. As Caleb Kirby said, “Archery teaches many important life skills like hard work, patience, confidence, and mental strength. Each of these skills translates to a person’s overall life becoming easier and to make people both successful on the range and in their careers.” One of the things that archery has that no very many other sports can claim is that this is a sport for everyone. Children, young adults, adults, and senior citizens alike can enjoy the sport of archery and anyone can start at any stage of their life.

Sources: 

Archery 360:

https://www.archery360.com/2018/03/16/meet-casey-kaufhold-teenage-archery-inspiration/

https://www.archery360.com/2018/08/09/proper-archery-posture-yields-consistent-shooting/

https://www.archery360.com/2019/10/01/archery-one-of-the-worlds-safest-sports/

Mental Management for Shooting Sports:

http://www.mentaltrainingshooting.com/archery/

Petersen’s Bowhunting

https://www.bowhuntingmag.com/editorial/the-underrated-role-of-mental-toughness-in-archery/309141

The Daytona Beach News-Journal 

https://www.news-journalonline.com/sports/20160704/olympic-archer-jake-kaminski-ready-for-rio-2016