3 Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Olympic Archery

Question #1.

"What equipment do I need to practice Olympic-style archery?"

Question #2.

"Why do Olympic-style archers swing their bows forward?"

Question #3.

"Do I need to compete to do Olympic-style archery or can I just do it for fun?"

ANSWERS

Answer #1.

Generally speaking you will want all of the following:

• 1 Olympic-style riser.
• 1 or more sets of Olympic-style bow limbs.
• 1 or more bowstrings of the correct length for your bow.
• 1 arrow rest (typically it will be a wire arrow rest).
• 1 Olympic-style stabilizer.
• 1 set of Olympic arrows (I recommend starting with 12) with the correct spine for your bow's poundage and glued-in arrowheads (I recommend starting with heavier arrowheads when you are first starting).
  
• 1 shooting tab.
• 1 bowstringer.
• 1 nock bead installed on your bowstring.

Everything beyond the list above is basically optional. See the Archery Equipment Checklist and scroll to the bottom to see a list of optional things people sometimes purchase.

Answer #2.

They're not actually swinging it forward. They are letting gravity roll the bow forward, while maintaining their hand in a relaxed position.

The whole goal is to have their hand relaxed completely and to never grip the bow. Gripping the bow causes a loss of accuracy because the archer's body will sometimes shake or move unconsciously, so instead archers will maintain a very relaxed hand. When they shoot they let the arrow go and allow the bow to roll forward due to the weight of the stabilizer on the front.

Answer #3.

Of course you can do it just for fun. Every type of archery can be done for recreational - just for fun. There is no rule saying you have to be competitive in order to do a particular style.

Note - Saudi Arabia does require that people be Olympic archers before they are allowed to even purchase equipment in that country, which is ironically a Catch-22 because how are you supposed to become an Olympic-style archer unless you first purchase equipment and learn how to use it??? This is why beginner archers from Saudi Arabia often get archery lessons overseas and purchase their equipment overseas before returning.

 

Got More Olympic Archery Questions???

Maybe these will help.

Olympic Archery and becoming an Olympian

What does it take to become an Olympic Archer?

Olympic Archery Equipment - Does more expensive equipment matter?

Optional Archery Equipment, Need or Don't Need?

Archery Lessons in Toronto 2021

February 10th 2021

I am not sure when I will be able to resume teaching archery lessons in 2021, but my best guess at this time is that I may be able to start teaching again on May 1st 2021. This is a conservative estimate on my part based upon on the current decline in COVID rates and the increasing vaccinations of the general public.

If large scale mass vaccinations for COVID begin in April wherein everyone in Toronto can go get vaccinated then you can bet I will be one of the first people getting vaccinated. I may even get vaccinated sooner than that, as there is already at least 3 clinics so far in Toronto that are open to vaccinations to the general public. I also expect more mass vaccinations clinics to open as the country ramps up the release of the vaccines, making it even easier for people to get vaccinated and go back to normal life.

Thus depending upon how soon I can get vaccinated (both shots 1 and 2), and how soon Ontario reopens the economy from the current lockdowns, then I expect to be up and running with archery lessons by May 1st - or possibly sooner.

Note - I may update this post later if it turns out I can resume teaching sooner. For now May 1st is the best estimate I have. 

MARCH 10TH UPDATE - Yes, May 1st will be the official start of the archery season for me. People wishing to book archery lessons for May, June, July, etc may do so.

Rates

I am keeping my archery lesson rates the same as they were during the bulk of 2020.

Availability

The good news however is that my availability this year is going to be improving dramatically: I will be able to teach 5 days per week, similar to my old schedule from 2017 and earlier. I am currently looking at teaching on the following days:

• Tuesdays
• Wednesdays
• Fridays
• Saturdays
• Sundays
  

Returning / New Students

Returning students are advised to email me regarding finishing any remaining lessons that are leftover from last year or for scheduling new lessons.

New students wishing to secure time slots in May, June or July should email me at cardiotrek@gmail.com to discuss scheduling and availability.

 

3 Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Compound Bows

Question #1.

"I dryfired my compound bow and the peep sight ripped out of the bowstring. How do I fix this?"

Question #2.

"An older archer told me that my compound bow is 'cocking upwards' whenever I shoot. What does that mean and how do I fix it?"

Question #3.

"Where is a good place to practice shooting with my broadheads? I cannot shoot broadheads at the local archery range."

(Okay, so technically the 3rd question isn't about compound bows, it is about broadheads. However this is a common question for compound shooters because many of them want to get into hunting. While it is possible [and increasingly popular] to hunt with a recurve or longbow, most bowhunters prefer to hunt with a compound. Thus I lumped this question in with compound related questions.)

ANSWERS

Answer #1.

Take a field point arrowhead and insert it halfway between the bowstring strands of where the peep sight used to be. Once fully inserted do this a second time next to and then spread the two apart to create space to reinsert your peep sight in there. Once the peep sight is fully in remove the two field points.

Then you will need to check the peep sight's alignment. Pull back the bow (do not dryfire!!!) to check that the peep sight is now aligned with the front sight housing. If it is off to the side to the left or the right then you need to repeat the first step and adjust the angle of the peep sight so that it is facing the correct direction when at full draw.

You may need to repeat the process 3 or 4 times to get the perfect alignment, offsetting the angle a little bit each time.

Answer #2.

'Cocking upwards' means that your compound bow is rolling so that your stabilizer is going up instead of down when you shoot. (Sort of like the Pitch axis on an airplane.) For accuracy purposes you want it to be rolling downwards, not upwards. This happens when people use a stabilizer which is too light (or when they don't own a stabilizer or are not using a stabilizer). The solution is to either get a heavier stabilizer or to add some extra weight to your stabilizer.

Answer #3.

Multiple answers for this:

• Private Archery Ranges
• Private Land (eg. farmland or woodlands)
• Ghost Towns / Abandoned Land
  
• Campsites that allow archery

However I should also point out that practicing with a broadhead is really unnecessary if you have field points that weigh exactly the same amount. Practicing with broadheads often leads to damaging your broadheads. Or your arrows if the cluster is very tight.

Why is it so hard to book an archery lesson on a Saturday?

Q

 "Why is it so hard to book an archery lesson on a Saturday?"

A

Honestly, because it is the most popular day of the week for people wanting archery lessons, but there are other factors.

#1. People Order Multiple Lessons

When someone contacts me asking for archery lessons most people (roughly 80% of them) are asking for 3 or more lessons. Thus if a particular person requests "Saturday at noon" that means I just became fully booked for that time slot for a period of 3 weeks.

Or what happens when someone asks for 10 lessons and wants "Saturday at 2 PM"? Well, that means I am fully booked for that time slot for roughly 3 months.

#2. Certain Time Slots Are More Desirable

Saturday at noon is easily the most common, and it usually disappears quickly. It is the most popular time slot on the most popular day.

#3. Most People Work On Weekdays

I do teach archery on weekdays, and there is a reason why I give discounts to seniors and veterans because I know they are more likely to be available on weekdays. (They're also a joy to teach.) But because most people work on weekdays, Saturday and Sunday are consequently more popular and more likely to fill up faster.

#4. Popularity

My archery lessons are popular. Why this is so is open to debate. There are many contributing factors. I have been doing archery for 32 years and teaching for 12 years. I get good reviews and testimonials from my archery students and they tell their friends about me. I provide all of the equipment during archery lessons so that beginners don't need to purchase their own equipment. I only teach one-on-one lessons, no group lessons. I publish archery articles in magazines. I have been on radio and television multiple times promoting the sport. I am even on Netflix. (I was nearly on Apple TV too, but I turned it down because I was too busy.)

Honestly, if my archery lessons weren't popular then I probably would be doing something else for a career, wouldn't I?

SO HOW DO YOU FIX THIS PROBLEM?

Easy...

Book your archery lessons well in advance. Like during the winter, and you are then practically guaranteed to get the day and time slot that you want because you booked them months in advance.

I heard recently that a lot of campsites across Ontario are fully booked until August, and it is only February 2nd. That is how crazy the booking is for campsites right now because of COVID and people wanting to go on vacations / go camping.

Another thing people can do is book their archery lessons for March. Yes, it is a bit cold outside, but it isn't super cold like January or February. If you book your archery lessons for mid-March / early-April then you can beat the rush of people who start booking in April and May.

Another great solution is if you don't work on weekdays and/or your work hours are flexible. If you fall into this category then it is much easier for you to potentially book a lesson on a Wednesday instead of a Saturday.

And one more tip...

Don't procrastinate. Emailing me now is better than emailing me later. A particular time slot might be available right now, but if you wait 2 weeks to email me then it might be gone / fully booked for months.

Browse my rates for archery lessons in Toronto and email me today to discuss availability.

2020 was a Weird Year...

We all know that 2020 was a strange year. COVID and the resulting lockdowns threw many industries into a state of disarray and chaos. Now that it is 2021 we can look back on the chaos that unfolded and see how it affected personal trainers and gyms.

Toronto Gyms during 2020

Many Toronto gyms that shut down during COVID I suspect are no more. People cancelled their gym memberships, the gyms were unable to pay the rent, and many of those that had expensive rent / not enough people paying for gym memberships are long since gone.

Good riddance to some of them honestly, because many of the gyms out there are in the habit of ripping off their clients and trying to sell them on $100 per hour personal trainers (meanwhile the personal trainer working for such gyms are getting paid less than $20 per hour).

Ultimately that is bad for the client because they're paying way more for a personal trainer than they should be.

It is bad for the personal trainer because they're being paid barely more than minimum wage.

And it is bad for the reputations of personal trainers in general, thus hurting the industry.

Thus I for one applaud various gyms being forced out of business. Maybe then they will finally rethink their business model and make a business model that is based on charging a fair price and not gouging their clients with ridiculous rates.

Personal Trainers during 2020

For myself it was a huge damper on the number of archery lessons I was able to teach during 2020, but it ultimately led to me finally making a change I had been wanting to make for years.

In 2020 I switched to only teaching one-on-one archery lessons.

This change was important to me because I find teaching is far less stressful when only teaching one student at a time, but I also find that students learn more when they have one-on-one instruction.

Thus it is good for me and good for students.

One-on-one lessons also meant it was safer with respect to physical distancing.

Previously I was also teaching two or three people at a time (often couples, siblings, friends), and while I did enjoy teaching many of those students it was still more stressful for me to be teaching people in small groups like that. Many years ago I even tried teaching 4 people at once and quickly determined that people got distracted too easily when they were in a group of 4 or more, and that teaching such a large group is both very stressful and potentially dangerous.

Honestly, teaching large groups is a bit like herding cats. If I was to ever teach a large group like that I would rather hire extra instructors to help me teach the lesson. (Some of my former students I think would be good at teaching, given the opportunity.)

Anywho, back to the issue of COVID and 2020...

Some personal trainers switched to teaching online during COVID, using Zoom or similar websites/apps to teach. Eg. A colleague of mine switched to teaching her dance classes online via Zoom.

However while teaching dance classes might work well for some types of personal trainers or instructors, for other instructors it doesn't translate well to be teaching swimming or boxing or archery via Zoom. Yoga isn't so bad, perhaps because people are used to watching yoga videos, but it is still better in person.

Thus I suspect that many personal trainers during 2020 switched careers. Speaking for myself I know I did a lot more writing and focused on being an author during 2020. As of January 1st 2021 I have published 7 new books in the past 12 months, and I have 5 more books coming out later this year.

I suspect that many other personal trainers have switched careers during 2020, switched to teaching online, or possibly even retired from the business.

Going forward I suspect that this may be an opportunity for archery instructors like myself and people who teach sports / outdoor physical activities. People during 2021 are going to want more outdoor activities. They're going to be in high demand.

Thus personal trainers / sports instructors like myself may find themselves swamped with requests for lessons / activities. Especially as we near herd immunity when more people are vaccinated.

I expect a lot of people will be signing up for archery lessons in Toronto this year. Especially for the summer months of June, July and August. I am still offering lessons from May to November this year, but I expect June, July and August to be the busiest time of year for outdoor activities.

September and October are technically my favourite time of year to teach outdoors, weather wise. Not too hot, not too cold. Not too windy or wet. Just perfect.

Anyone wanting to sign up for archery lessons for Spring, Summer or Autumn should email me and ask about availability. Right now is the best time to ask. If you wait until June to ask I might be fully booked on certain days.