Archery Lesson Plan for Olympic Archery Students

Q

"I’ve read that you like to teach traditional recurves bows before the Olympic recurve bow, does this mean that we won’t get a chance to learn the Olympic bows in this session, and that this will be taught in another session?"

- Cassandra T.

A

Hello Cassandra!

Yes, over the years I have determined it is easier for the beginner archery student to learn to shoot traditional recurves first and then switch to Olympic later on, which is stylistically different despite being very similar. Preferably after the 2nd lesson, so if that is something you want to learn it would be best to do it during the 3rd lesson and following that.

The stylistic challenges of shooting Olympic style is such a student shooting that style for the first time is more likely to be missing completely and losing arrows, because they have to learn everything a Traditional Recurve archer has to learn, plus they need to learn the following topics:

1. How to use and tune a sight - a practice which is hampered if the student has not already learned good form. It is better to learn the form aspects first, then learn how to use a sight later.
2. How to use a stabilizer, and how to determine if a stabilizer is too light or too heavy.
3. How to do a Live Release with South Anchor (as opposed to a Dead Release with North Anchor), which is harder to learn to do properly.
4. How to keep your bow hand relaxed during the Follow Through.
5. How to control your breathing (into the belly, not the chest) in order to get more accuracy.
6. How to handle mental stress, fatigue, and issues like "Gold Shy" + "Target Anxiety".
7. How to use a Clicker to tell you when to release.
8. And more.

And frankly it is a lot to learn in a single lesson. It makes more sense to learn good form during lessons 1 and 2, and then learn the additional things an Olympic archer is expected to learn in the lessons that follow.

Lesson Plan for Olympic Recurve

For my regular lesson plan, see Archery Lesson Plan.

Lesson One - Safety Lecture, Eye Test, Aiming Lecture, Form Lecture, Field Archery with Traditional Recurve.

Note - Field Archery involves shooting at a target at random (often unknown) distances and is especially handy for teaching students how to aim at different distances and how to adjust their aim, which is an import skill for beginner archers to learn.

Lesson Two - Target Archery with Traditional Recurve, with a break in the middle for a Lecture on Arrrowheads

Note - Target Archery is your standard stationary target at the same distance, which is better for learning how to fine tune your aim at that one specific distance.

Lesson Three - Olympic Style Form Lecture + Target Archery, with a break in the middle for a Lecture on Arrow Spine. The lesson would focus on gradually teaching the student how to use a Olympic sight and stabilizer, and how to perform a "live release".

Note - Not all Olympic archers prefer live releases. Some prefer to use a dead release, although most do prefer a live release. I leave it up to the student to decide which they prefer.

South Korean archer Chang Hye-Jin

Lesson Four - Fine Tuning with the Olympic Recurve + possibly going to a further distance if the student is ready. Demo on how to wax a bowstring. The lesson may focus on aspects like keeping the bow hand relaxed during the Follow Through, how to control breathing, etc.

Olympic Archery Clicker

Lesson Five and Beyond

I find this really depends on the student's needs, as each student will have different problems they need to address. Topics would include:

• How to shoot at longer distances.
• How to compensate for wind conditions.
• How to handle Mental Stress/Fatigue.
• How to cure Gold Shy and Target Anxiety.
• How to use a Clicker.
• How to shoot in the rain (as competitions are sometimes rain or shine).
• Other factors that are usually unique to Olympic archers. eg. Competition Anxiety.

Things Not Being Taught

There are certain topics that I don't teach Olympic students, because they are essentially useless to someone who only wants to shoot Olympic style competitively at 70 meters. For example:

• How to shoot at a moving target.
• How to shoot downhill or uphill.
• How to shoot while in motion.
• Stylistic differences between traditional recurve and longbows / flatbows / horsebows.
• How to adjust your aim based on changing distances.
• Advanced Field Archery.
• Clout Archery.
• Archery Games/Activities such as Popinjay or Roving.
• Skywalking (style of aiming for extreme long distance shooting).
• How to Overdraw on purpose.
• How to Stringwalk on purpose.
• How to Facewalk on purpose.
• How to shoot around obstacles.
• How to shoot while kneeling or sitting.
• How to shoot faster.
• How to shoot instinctively (which sadly many people misunderstand what counts as instinctive).
• How to adjust and micro-adjust sights on a compound bow*.
• Tricks for getting extra accuracy on a compound bow*.
• How to synchronize the cams on a compound bow*.
• How to change the poundage on a compound bow*.
• Etc.

* I decided to include a few examples that are specifically just for compound shooters. Maybe someday I will post a lesson plan for compound archers.


Equipping the Olympic Archer

Around lesson five the student should be ready to buy their own archery equipment, if they have not done so already. I figured since I am writing about the lesson plan, I should also warn students about the financial costs of getting into Olympic Archery.

Expect to be spending about $700 + the cost of the arrows, which might cost an additional $180 or more depending on the quality of the arrows (the professionals use arrows that cost $600 for a dozen). Plus taxes. I didn't bother to even include 13% HST.

It is possible to get a cheaper Olympic bow (used maybe???) or a cheap counterfeit (no warranty!!!), or a poor / mediocre Olympic bow that does not even live up to the word "decent". To get a decent bow, expect to be spending $500 or more on the bow alone. Anything less than that and I question the quality and authenticity of the manufacturer.

And that is just for a decent Olympic bow. For a high end one you could be spending $750 USD (approx. $975 CDN) on just the riser, and another $750 USD on the limbs. No bowstring included, everything sold separately. (Plus the cost of shipping from the USA or South Korea, where the best Olympic bows are made.)

They will want to find the following.

• A decent Olympic-style recurve bow, with bow limbs in a suitable poundage for their experience and strength.
• Olympic stabilizer, preferably one that is not too heavy or light.
• Shooting Tab
• Clicker
• Nock Bead
• Sight
• Arrow Rest
• Bowstring Wax
• Spare Bowstring (in case the first one breaks)
• A dozen Olympic-style arrows, which are typically more expensive than regular arrows. The arrows need to be cut to the archer's precise draw length for their clicker.

Optional Items

• Bracer / Arm Guard
• Quiver
• Archery Gear Backpack for transporting gear.
• Chest Guard

Archery Chest Guards

Job offer to teach archery in Japan

Last week I received a job offer to teach archery in Japan at a resort. They are looking for an experienced instructor who can teach a variety of different kinds of archery to complete beginners. Woot? Or maybe not woot... keep reading!

They were offering an annual salary of 2 million yen (roughly $23,000 CDN) plus free room and board at the resort.

Sounds like a sweet offer, yes?

Think again.

#1. I am married and my wife just graduated law school, which means she is currently articling as a lawyer. Articling is sort of like an apprenticeship. So we are not going anywhere until she finishes articling.

#2. My wife and I have a son now. I spend most of my weekdays looking after him and I usually only teach archery on weekends (although I can sometimes teach on Thursdays and Fridays). When in doubt, ask.

#3. I happen to like my current routine of looking after my son and teaching archery when available.

The resort wanted me to be available to teach 7 days per week, from 9 AM to 7 PM. With breaks whenever there was a lack of students. And I would be expected to work on holidays. So that is 10 hour days, 70 hour weeks. Practically sweatshop hours.

Now I can do math.

70 hour weeks... x 52 weeks. 3,640 hours per year. At $23,000 per year...

Is $6.32 per hour.

Which is less than Japan's minimum wage, but since I get free room and board, and breaks whenever there is *supposedly* a lack of students... apparently it circumvents Japan's minimum wage laws. Seems awfully fishy.

Somehow I doubt there would be a lack of students and many breaks.

So I would probably be working sweatshop hours and rarely get to see my son.

#4. I used to teach English in South Korea many years ago. That whole experience made me distrustful of the corrupt "hagwon" system in Korea. Is the resorts in Japan similar to Korean hagwons? Maybe. I don't see any point in finding out.

#5. I checked... the starting rate for teaching English in Japan is about 3 million yen per year. So it would actually make more sense for me to teach English instead of archery. Better pay.

True, I love teaching archery - but teaching it 70 hours per week would take some of the fun out of it. My current system of less hours, better pay suits me just fine.

#6. No pay for the first 3 months. Afterwards they would pay me 222,222 yen per month. This is to deter people who aren't serious about sticking around, so they claim. Makes me wonder what the turnover rate of new employees is.

#7. This offer started to sound more and more like a scam. Trick foreigners into working in horrible conditions, pay them peanuts... most of them quit before 3 months.

#8. Cost of living in Japan is very high. Korea and China are cheap in comparison.

Would my wife and son be expected or welcome to just hang out at the resort all the time? Most likely they would get bored of it. Which means they are going out, taking taxis, eating out, etc. Such things add up and Japan is notoriously expensive to live in.

#9. Free plane ticket for me, but what about my wife's and son's tickets? Who pays for that? Plus how big is this room? Is it big enough for a small family?

#10. Why would I leave a successful business here in Canada, close to friends and family, for a job offer that is dubious?

So yes. The offer sounds like a scam. Which is why I am recommending other archery instructors to be wary of such an offer. This is also why I am not mentioning the name of the resort, where it was located, etc. I don't want other archery instructors to get sucked in to this scam. If anything, I am now doing a public service by trying to warn other people.

So even if I didn't have a wife and son, I still wouldn't be interested in this scam. There is too many IFs and irregularities in the offer.

Would teaching archery in Japan be fun and interesting? Sure, but I would rather not have such a risky sounding offer.

And I would rather do it on my own terms.

8 hour days, 5 days per week, holidays off, 4 weeks of vacation time, 3,500 yen per hour (roughly $40 CDN per hour)... 10 paid sick days, health/dental insurance benefits for myself and my family.

So that is 40 hours per week for 48 weeks, 3,500 yen per hour is... 6.72 million yen annually. ($76,800 CDN annually.) That is enough for a family of 3 to live on.

But even then I still wouldn't take it, because my wife's earning potential as a lawyer is greater than mine.

I would much rather stay here. Buy a house in Toronto, practice my woodworking skills, look after my son, teach archery because I enjoy it. Maybe eventually get that horse farm and teach equestrian archery.

Japanese Yabusame (equestrian archery) would be interesting to see... but there are other ways to see that kind of archery don't involve so many risks, what ifs and poor pay.

The 2018 Seton Archery Tournament at the Toronto Archery Range

I will be judging / adjudicating an archery competition on June 23rd, namely the "E. T. Seton Archery Tournament" mentioned in the image further below. As an adjudicator I will basically be called upon for my math skills and to settle any disputes about whether an arrow is touching a line (in competitions if the arrow is touching the line, it counts as the higher amount of points).

The location is at the Toronto Archery Range within E. T. Seton Park. If you have never been there before I recommend using a map.

The tournament is free to join and there will be prizes, and a Potluck BBQ Lunch.

People who want to take part in the tournament should be EARLY or ON TIME. If you are the type of person who is always running late, then you should really aim to be early. People need to be there on time in order to do their Ranking Rounds and then later enter the elimination rounds.

Three Tips for Archery Competitions

1. Eat, drink and be merry! Food, drink and laughter reduce stress. Hunger, dehydration and melancholy are a mental distraction.
2. Relax during your shots and focus on the quality of your form and aim. Forget everything else.
3. Ignore your rivals, instead focus on defeating the part of yourself that is holding you back.

And Bonus! Pay attention to the wind conditions, but don't let the wind mess you up mentally either. Two years ago I took 2nd place in a compound competition because the wind started gusting during the final rounds and it was blowing me sideways while I was shooting. The frustration made me anxious and I messed up the final round, costing me 1st place. So my primary problem wasn't my rivals, it was myself getting frustrated by the wind conditions and allowing my anxiety to win. So I failed to follow my own tip in that scenario. Part of me was also tired and just wanted the competition to be over.

Happy shooting!

Archery Equipment Checklist 2018

One of my former students from 2017 is ready to be buying her own archery equipment and wanted to know what equipment she should be looking for. At present she plans to buy a Samick Sage, but she wasn't sure what else she should be buying.

Below is an edited version of my email reply to her questions.

A few of my personal collection of bows.

Bow

A common bow for many beginners is the Samick Sage, which I like to describe as the "Ford F-150" of bows. Usually Samick Sage comes in poundages between 25 to 60 lbs, but it is possible to get 20 lb limbs that are compatible.

However just because the Samick Sage is so popular doesn't mean you have to buy it. There are many other bow manufacturers to choose from.

See Recurve Bow Brand Manufacturers and Models.

You also don't have to get a recurve bow. You could get a longbow, a horsebow, a compound bow, a flatbow, or various kinds of exotic bows such as a Korean horsebow or a Scythian horsebow or a Japanese yumi bow.

Arrows

What poundage is your Samick Sage? If it is between 20 to 30 lbs, then 600 spine arrows would be best. Aim to get 28 inch arrows (longer is okay too) with feather fletching, 600 spine. Ten or a dozen is usually a good idea as people often break or lose 1 or 2.

Arrowheads

Don't forget these wee things. Arrows don't always come with them as they are frequently sold separately. I recommend beginners get 125 grain arrowheads.

Arrow Rest

A traditional Bear fur rest (not real fur!) is pretty common. There are also more expensive/fancy arrow rests that also work.

Nock Bead

Goes on the bowstring, prevents the nock of the arrow from sliding up and down, aka "stringwalking".

Archery Glove

I recommend the Neet brand, same one you used last year. Comes in various sizes. But there are plenty of other brands (and colours) to choose from.

Bowstringer

For stringing your bow without damaging the limbs. Various kinds available.

Bow String Wax

For waxing your bow string periodically. Lengthens the life span of the bow string, and oddly enough improves accuracy and arrow speed.

Optional Equipment

• Quiver
• Bracer or Armguard
• Archery Backpack
• Stabilizer
• Sight
• Dampeners

See also my:

Archery Equipment Checklist

and

List of Optional Archery Equipment

If you have additional questions just let me know. :)

Thursday Archery Lessons in Toronto

Regarding Archery Lessons...

I have been thinking of making some time slots available on Thursdays - 10 AM, 12 PM and 2 PM for teaching archery lessons.

UPDATE, I may also be available on Fridays too.

At present I only teach on weekends and watch my infant son on weekdays, but in the near future I may be able to start teaching on Thursdays again, pending availability*.

* I might not be available on all Thursdays. We shall see.

Sorry, no evening lessons. Not available.

Anyone interested in Thursday archery lessons should email cardiotrek@gmail.com and let me know what time slots you are thinking of and how many lessons you are interested in.

To learn more please read my Archery Lessons page which provides all the necessary info regarding my rates, equipment, etc.

And now, because I find them interesting and amusing, here are some photos of birds perched on arrows. Tada!

Owl perched on a cluster of Arrows

Peach Faced or Rosy Faced Lovebird Parakeet perched on an Arrow