Author Archives: 2020

Louise : Embedded reporting from Monday night Beginners Course Week 2!

3 Replies

I stood on the line, remembering my T position and my reference point.  I took a deep breath as I picked up my arrow and placed it on my bow. As I drew the string back I breathed in hard, then I let the string slip off my fingers and watched as the arrow sailed through the air, straight past the target on the boss and into the curtain at the end of the sports hall.

Oh…

And so the second session of the Fast-track course began!

https://www.2020archery.co.uk/lessons-courses/monday-beginners-archery-course

Those who arrived a little earlier helped to set up all the equipment and Heidi joined for a short while, giving us tips on how to place and pin the targets to the straw bosses. We started shooting fairly soon into the start of the session after a few refresher tips from Diccon, our course leader. It was fair to say that I didn’t start off well. In fact 2 out of the 3 arrows shot in the first two ends seemed to enjoy missing the boss completely. However it didn’t take long before I started to get back into the swing of things. I started to get used to tuning the sight more this time round, and from the third end, around 70% of my arrows were central on the target! Horizontally rather than vertically, but this was still good progress as far as I was concerned.

I think the most important thing I learned during this session was how to hold the bow, or rather, being reminded how to hold the bow by using my palm rather than trying to balance the bow in-between my thumb and forefinger, putting pressure on the area. I felt much more in control of the bow and my shaking reduced a fair amount too.

There was a lot of shooting practice this time, giving us the chance to work on our technique more and to get used to repeating certain manoeuvres over and over so we were more used to them. Diccon was on hand giving everyone advice and help, pointing out when a shoulder was too high or giving us new things to think about when shooting, such as where in our upper body the power would come from for a shot.

After an hour and a half, it was competition time. Each person would shoot two ends, three arrows in each, and the score would be recorded with a best out of sixty. I remember how during my Have-a-Go session I instantly became awful as soon as I felt any pressure, but I did better this time round. In the first end I scored 8-7-7 totalling 22, and then in the second I scored 9 and 6 scoring 15. The other arrow decided it was a pacifist and wanted no part in the competition. With a total of 37 I was third out of the group which I was very happy with, considering how badly I began the session!

I’m already looking forward to next week. It is quite relaxing and also a little stressful but with more shooting time and practice I think this could be something I really enjoy.

Until next time!

Louise : Embedded reporting from Monday night Beginners Course Week 2!

3 Replies

I stood on the line, remembering my T position and my reference point.  I took a deep breath as I picked up my arrow and placed it on my bow. As I drew the string back I breathed in hard, then I let the string slip off my fingers and watched as the arrow sailed through the air, straight past the target on the boss and into the curtain at the end of the sports hall.

Oh…

And so the second session of the Fast-track course began!

https://www.2020archery.co.uk/lessons-courses/monday-beginners-archery-course

Those who arrived a little earlier helped to set up all the equipment and Heidi joined for a short while, giving us tips on how to place and pin the targets to the straw bosses. We started shooting fairly soon into the start of the session after a few refresher tips from Diccon, our course leader. It was fair to say that I didn’t start off well. In fact 2 out of the 3 arrows shot in the first two ends seemed to enjoy missing the boss completely. However it didn’t take long before I started to get back into the swing of things. I started to get used to tuning the sight more this time round, and from the third end, around 70% of my arrows were central on the target! Horizontally rather than vertically, but this was still good progress as far as I was concerned.

I think the most important thing I learned during this session was how to hold the bow, or rather, being reminded how to hold the bow by using my palm rather than trying to balance the bow in-between my thumb and forefinger, putting pressure on the area. I felt much more in control of the bow and my shaking reduced a fair amount too.

There was a lot of shooting practice this time, giving us the chance to work on our technique more and to get used to repeating certain manoeuvres over and over so we were more used to them. Diccon was on hand giving everyone advice and help, pointing out when a shoulder was too high or giving us new things to think about when shooting, such as where in our upper body the power would come from for a shot.

After an hour and a half, it was competition time. Each person would shoot two ends, three arrows in each, and the score would be recorded with a best out of sixty. I remember how during my Have-a-Go session I instantly became awful as soon as I felt any pressure, but I did better this time round. In the first end I scored 8-7-7 totalling 22, and then in the second I scored 9 and 6 scoring 15. The other arrow decided it was a pacifist and wanted no part in the competition. With a total of 37 I was third out of the group which I was very happy with, considering how badly I began the session!

I’m already looking forward to next week. It is quite relaxing and also a little stressful but with more shooting time and practice I think this could be something I really enjoy.

Until next time!

Mark : From Novice to Competitor.

2 Replies

Alternate title – I am a contender!


Hello! I’m Mark and I’ve been shooting at 2020 Archery for the last two years. I first used a Recurve bow at a Have A Go stag event and enjoyed it so much that I went on to take a weekend course, joining the club shortly afterwards. After a few months of shooting I started to consider buying my own bow and set myself the goal of scoring 500 on a Portsmouth using a club bow, at which point I would shell out on the new kit. 

Exactly one year after my training weekend I was the proud owner of a Hoyt bow with XX75 arrows, which I bought from Asher at 2020 after testing out a few different bow setups. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I’d bought my first bow sooner; the fastest way to improve in the beginning is to use the same kit week in, week out, and the only real way to have that sort of control is to own your bow and get to know it intimately.

I decided early in my second year of shooting that I wanted to shoot competitively. A few weeks ago I shot at my first tournament and caught the bug; a week later I was shooting at my second tournament and the third, fourth and fifth have been booked. 

The process of preparing for and then shooting at a tournament certainly bring your practice into focus.  This is the area my blog posts will focus on. I put off entering competitive shoots for some time because I had so many questions about how it all worked, what it was going to be like and how good the other competitors were going to be. I’d like to share my experiences with you, because it’s not as scary as it might seem and it’s loads of fun. Honest!

Mark : From Novice to Competitor.

2 Replies

Alternate title – I am a contender!


Hello! I’m Mark and I’ve been shooting at 2020 Archery for the last two years. I first used a Recurve bow at a Have A Go stag event and enjoyed it so much that I went on to take a weekend course, joining the club shortly afterwards. After a few months of shooting I started to consider buying my own bow and set myself the goal of scoring 500 on a Portsmouth using a club bow, at which point I would shell out on the new kit. 

Exactly one year after my training weekend I was the proud owner of a Hoyt bow with XX75 arrows, which I bought from Asher at 2020 after testing out a few different bow setups. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I’d bought my first bow sooner; the fastest way to improve in the beginning is to use the same kit week in, week out, and the only real way to have that sort of control is to own your bow and get to know it intimately.

I decided early in my second year of shooting that I wanted to shoot competitively. A few weeks ago I shot at my first tournament and caught the bug; a week later I was shooting at my second tournament and the third, fourth and fifth have been booked. 

The process of preparing for and then shooting at a tournament certainly bring your practice into focus.  This is the area my blog posts will focus on. I put off entering competitive shoots for some time because I had so many questions about how it all worked, what it was going to be like and how good the other competitors were going to be. I’d like to share my experiences with you, because it’s not as scary as it might seem and it’s loads of fun. Honest!

Pranava : What made me string a bow… (started shooting post-Olympics 2012)

2 Replies
I always liked stories of beginnings. I am still writing mine in many ways but here is the very beginning.
Before I walked into 2020 archery for a weekend beginners’ course, I had never seen a bow.
I am not much of a sportsperson, actually not at all. I played as a child of course, but stupid games invented in the spur of a moment and I wasn’t very good at that either. If I see something hurling at me, my instinct is to flee, even if it is as tiny as a ping pong ball. Now, I would have thought that is natural but apparently not. So I grew up disliking sports, watching or playing or in whichever way.
Last year during the Olympics, everyone was excited and struggled to lay their hands on tickets to any sport they could think of as long as it was part of the Olympics. I went too, but there’s no story there. A few friends of mine went to watch archery hoping to catch my country win a medal. My country didn’t win a medal but the sport won a fan. One of my friends suddenly became very interested in archery. He took up a weekend course and then began shooting, once every week, then twice every week, and then practically any day he could take time off. Every time I met him the conversation would invariably turn to this mysterious sport I never even thought about. A month later, I signed up for a weekend course. The very same day he bought a bow, but just two days before he left London for good. Sadly, I never saw the bow. I had to wait for a few more weeks before I saw one at the course. But since the day I did, I couldn’t miss a weekend of shooting without making up for it with an extra session somehow.
The moral of the story is that archery is not just any sport. Even if you are bad at every other sport you might just be good at this one, as I would like to think I am. So I hope it makes you think about stringing a bow for the first time. Or if you already did, what’s your story?
And – oh – now I can actually watch others sports too! I guess that’s a step forward.

Pranava : What made me string a bow… (started shooting post-Olympics 2012)

2 Replies
I always liked stories of beginnings. I am still writing mine in many ways but here is the very beginning.
Before I walked into 2020 archery for a weekend beginners’ course, I had never seen a bow.
I am not much of a sportsperson, actually not at all. I played as a child of course, but stupid games invented in the spur of a moment and I wasn’t very good at that either. If I see something hurling at me, my instinct is to flee, even if it is as tiny as a ping pong ball. Now, I would have thought that is natural but apparently not. So I grew up disliking sports, watching or playing or in whichever way.
Last year during the Olympics, everyone was excited and struggled to lay their hands on tickets to any sport they could think of as long as it was part of the Olympics. I went too, but there’s no story there. A few friends of mine went to watch archery hoping to catch my country win a medal. My country didn’t win a medal but the sport won a fan. One of my friends suddenly became very interested in archery. He took up a weekend course and then began shooting, once every week, then twice every week, and then practically any day he could take time off. Every time I met him the conversation would invariably turn to this mysterious sport I never even thought about. A month later, I signed up for a weekend course. The very same day he bought a bow, but just two days before he left London for good. Sadly, I never saw the bow. I had to wait for a few more weeks before I saw one at the course. But since the day I did, I couldn’t miss a weekend of shooting without making up for it with an extra session somehow.
The moral of the story is that archery is not just any sport. Even if you are bad at every other sport you might just be good at this one, as I would like to think I am. So I hope it makes you think about stringing a bow for the first time. Or if you already did, what’s your story?
And – oh – now I can actually watch others sports too! I guess that’s a step forward.

Josie : Cupid’s Bow (A Valentine’s Day special!)

Leave a reply

Given the date, I thought I’d explore something relevant to the moment. Let’s have a quick look at one of the world’s most famous archers: Cupid.
There are many legends surrounding this purveyor of love, with his magic arrows and unnerving aim. Like most legends, Cupid very likely has roots in ancient history, though perhaps not so recognisable from what we see today. The name comes from the Latin “cupere” which means desire. Cupid is mirrored in Greek mythology as Eros (from where the word “arrow” is derived) and is the son of Venus in Roman mythology (Aphrodite in Greek mythology). Exploring why Cupid is an archer brings up some interesting ideas. Cupid has been said to carry arrows of both gold and lead or iron: gold to inspire love and lead/iron to cause distaste (unlove, if you like).

Cupid’s factual roots emerge from his parallel with Nimrod, believed to be one and the same being (from “Nimus” which means “son”). King Nimrod (possibly king of the Assyrians) appears in the Christian faith as the great-grandson of Noah (see Genesis 9) and the world’s first great conqueror. If you’ve been paying attention you’ll remember that the Assyrians were the first to shoot recurve bows.

Nimrod was a mighty hunter, known for his strength and bowmanship. He built the Tower of Babel sometime between 3600 and 2400BC (according to archaeological record) in an attempt to bring about a great union of men, which was then destroyed and men scattered across the Earth. Archaeology proves the existence of the Tower, though Nimrod’s role in its creation is as yet not defined.

There is also a dark side to Nimrod; a hunter of the souls of men who strove to lead them to idolatry and the worship of pagan gods. Nimrod appears in Dante’s Inferno as an ice giant (sent there for his part in building the Tower of Babel). Nimrod the giant also features in Hungarian folklore.

The comparatively recent image of Cupid as a chubby infant replaces the older depiction of Cupid as a beautiful male youth which comes from Greek mythology. What about the bow? Practically, a short bow seems more likely and follows through most artistic representations: something along the lines of a Scythian recurve bow. I’m not the right person to talk about traditional bows but there are several people here who may be able to oblige!

So there it is: an extremely brief window into the history of Cupid to tide you over the weekend!

IMAGE: Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss, 1786-93, Antonio Canova (Musée du Louvre)

Josie : Cupid’s Bow (A Valentine’s Day special!)

Leave a reply

Given the date, I thought I’d explore something relevant to the moment. Let’s have a quick look at one of the world’s most famous archers: Cupid.
There are many legends surrounding this purveyor of love, with his magic arrows and unnerving aim. Like most legends, Cupid very likely has roots in ancient history, though perhaps not so recognisable from what we see today. The name comes from the Latin “cupere” which means desire. Cupid is mirrored in Greek mythology as Eros (from where the word “arrow” is derived) and is the son of Venus in Roman mythology (Aphrodite in Greek mythology). Exploring why Cupid is an archer brings up some interesting ideas. Cupid has been said to carry arrows of both gold and lead or iron: gold to inspire love and lead/iron to cause distaste (unlove, if you like).

Cupid’s factual roots emerge from his parallel with Nimrod, believed to be one and the same being (from “Nimus” which means “son”). King Nimrod (possibly king of the Assyrians) appears in the Christian faith as the great-grandson of Noah (see Genesis 9) and the world’s first great conqueror. If you’ve been paying attention you’ll remember that the Assyrians were the first to shoot recurve bows.

Nimrod was a mighty hunter, known for his strength and bowmanship. He built the Tower of Babel sometime between 3600 and 2400BC (according to archaeological record) in an attempt to bring about a great union of men, which was then destroyed and men scattered across the Earth. Archaeology proves the existence of the Tower, though Nimrod’s role in its creation is as yet not defined.

There is also a dark side to Nimrod; a hunter of the souls of men who strove to lead them to idolatry and the worship of pagan gods. Nimrod appears in Dante’s Inferno as an ice giant (sent there for his part in building the Tower of Babel). Nimrod the giant also features in Hungarian folklore.

The comparatively recent image of Cupid as a chubby infant replaces the older depiction of Cupid as a beautiful male youth which comes from Greek mythology. What about the bow? Practically, a short bow seems more likely and follows through most artistic representations: something along the lines of a Scythian recurve bow. I’m not the right person to talk about traditional bows but there are several people here who may be able to oblige!

So there it is: an extremely brief window into the history of Cupid to tide you over the weekend!

IMAGE: Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss, 1786-93, Antonio Canova (Musée du Louvre)

Louise : Attending Beginners Course session one!

1 Reply


I arrived at the hall and was greeted by Roger who along with Diccon would be instructing the class.
There were 16 students in total with 8 in one group led by Roger, and 8 (including myself) with Diccon. The Sports Hall is a great venue, giving enough space to two sets of teaching as well as the shooting practice in the centre. I found myself on the right side of the court with the rest of my group. Everyone had different reasons for being there, some influenced by the Olympics and Paralympics, some who had always fancied having a go. 

The group was measured up for our bow and arrows. It turned out that I, along with another two members of the group, were right handed but with a left dominant eye. For the session we were to shoot with right handed bows but we may try out left handed bows next week to see if they felt better.

Our first session focused on shooting safety, such as when it is safe to shoot and when it safe to collect our arrows based on the number of whistle blows, how to collect your arrows from the boards, where to stand when other archers are shooting, and other general tips. We were also instructed on how to stand when shooting, paying attention to our ‘T’ shape, keeping our shoulders down but arms straight. I have to admit I have a bit of trouble keeping my shoulder down but hopefully my homework of ‘posing in the mirror’ will help me get used to the stance ready for next week’s lesson on the 18thFebruary.


The most important lesson which Diccon kept drumming into us was our reference point. The reference point along with the use of the sight on the recurve bows that we were using instructs the arrow where to hit the board, making sure the string when pulled back touches the end of our nose and the corner of our chin, keeping our fingers just under the jaw. It took a couple of rounds but soon I started to understand what he meant and how it would help with my shooting and aiming. Aside from a few random arrows that would shoot off in completely the wrong direction, many of my arrows all hit the same area of the board, so hopefully with a bit more work on my sight I should be able to move towards the centre of the board.

There were a number of other people too who were there for shooting time. I enjoyed the fact that there were a large number of 2020 Archery members who were there to practice, as you were able to watch other techniques and styles, and also see that even those who have completed the course need to practice and practice. As Diccon informed us, ‘Archery is the art of repetition’.

Bring on next week!