Archers
handbook

For me Archery is a fantastique sport, which has given me a great deal of joy and happiness! I have been with the hobby for twenty years and don't regret a minute of it! I never expected that it would take me so totally.

To do it properly you have to really devote yourself for it, practice a lot, learn to know yourself also from the inside, and be fearless to face new challenges. Archery suits everybody, young and old, males and females. To hit the ten with your arrow, you need to of course know the proper shooting technique, but no muscles. To do it right time after time you need to be mentally firm and very determined. 

Since I shoot with the recurve bow myself it is only natural that his manual is dealing mainly with it.

As we are shooting only target recurve bow in my own archery club, it is therefore I have prepared this manual mainly for the recurve archers. There are people who shoot compound bows, bare bows, long bows, cross bows and kyudo bows on track and field too. Since I have tried all of these bows I can assure you that there are a lot of common features in all of these disciplines and especially the link describing the shooting techniques is worth reading if you are not a recurver yourself.

During the few recent years the medieval long bow shooting has grown in popularity and I hope that this manual helps them too, since many of the basics are the same with the recurwe archery.

You need proper equipment for your new archery hobby.

Eventually you need a bow with sight, a set of arrows, chest and guards, finger tab, quiver and some small accessories but don't immediately rush to a tackle dealer to pay them. Why not? Firstly there are bow dealers who know there business and then there are dealers who don't! I suggest that you calm down and find out first what you are actually after. To pick up the needed gear is not a cheap and especially no simple procedure, so in order to get them right from the very beginning I suggest that you read the link titled baying the bow first. When you are finally ready for the big purchase, it is advisable to do at a archery specialist and not in a ordinary sport gear shop. From the archery specialist you get the best suitable gear and valuable advice with it too.

A good list of archery equipment dealers you'll find for example at www.archerylinks.com


Take the first steps of archery rather in a archery club than alone by your self!

The starting phase of archery is that mush complicated and difficult that I suggest that you seek for professional help at your nearest archery club. It is the best thing to do and if you don't know where to find it, search the names and places up through internet or contact your local sport office. The list of FITA (Federation International Tire l'Arc) member countries globally you'll find at
www.archery.org and through there you will  find the national archery federations too.


Read this digital handbook from cover to cover.

I have put down on this digital handbook my ideas on different areas of the sport in the same order than I teach them to my students. In the first link I describe the archery equipment briefly and give instructions what kind of tackle to get. In the following link I tell you about a good, in the next two links I tune the bow and trim your arrows. On the fourth link I give some advice for your physical and mental training and lastly I try to encourage you to take part in the archery competition.

To learn to shoot the bow takes time!

To become a real good archer takes perhaps longer than you imagined. To learn the sport thoroughly give yourself enough time for practicing your technical and mental skills! Don't expect too much in too little time. And don't  fool yourself by thinking that the good hits are executed with only the very best and most expensive equipment.  Everybody learns the skills but some learn faster than the other. It is said that if you don't learn to shoot with a bow in ten years, it is perhaps time to see other sports too.


What in earth made me write this manual?

I have been instructing the new incoming people for years in my own archery club. After having gone through the elementary courses many of the students ask for more information. "Are there any good books about archery which I could read now?"
There is very little written material about the sport especially for those who just started. Why so? There is no one and only way to shoot the bow, so the people who could write the elementary level instructions are afraid of getting unconstructive critics. There are some good books for the more advanced archers written by the champions, but not for the starters. I have been doing archery for twenty years now and gone through myself all the ups and downs of it. During my years I have learned to understand the importance of the shooting technique, the equipment as well as the mental aspects. I have tried many bows, I have shot the recurve bow, the compound bow, the long bow and the Japanese kyudo bow so my knowledge in archery grown so wide that I dear to publish this handbook for the beginners now.

Believe you me you learn best in clubs and competitions

Many people at least here in Finland want to shoot the bow just for fun during the summer season on their cottages. The fact is that their interest lasts very seldom for long. Why so? When shooting alone you most probably also learn mistakes. To get rid of the mistakes you need someone to help you. Archery is a funny mixture of solitude and social mingling, so I suggest that you should join an archery club at the very beginning! Since archery is a precision sport, where your skills are measured by the hits right in the middle of the target face. You have to also live with the idea that true archery is an everlasting competition from the very first release of your arrow. Is that so? Yes, because you don't want to score less with your next arrow! As you advance your start eventually compare your doings with the others on the field too. It is only natural, since archery is a competitive sport by the nature. The competition aspects give you continuity to the hobby and believe you me archery is at its best on the tournaments.

Welcome to join the international archery family.

I find it really great that you got interested in archery. I find it one of the best things ever happened to me. Archery has given me good feelings, true excitement and fantastic equipment. It has given me many good friends around the world and a fantastic way to learn to control myself also mentally. I've got a lot from my archery hobby and I am convinced that you find it interesting and challenging too!

Pirkka Elovirta