Indoor Archery - Fun or Flop?

Indoor Archery - Fun or Flop?

I like indoor archery. OK, so it's rather disappointing having to wait until the Friday evening or the designated Sunday afternoon - and I do suffer from withdrawal symptoms not doing much shooting throughout January - but I do enjoy it when I do.

Indoors we don't have to worry about the wind factor, or rain. No mud or flooded fields either. Just you and your bow, arrows and a target face. So shooting indoors you have a real chance to perfect your technique.

An indoor 'Robin Hood'

My Newhaven Archery club shoots in a school hall from October through to the end of March. Twenty yards is the maximum distance which means we usually do a Portsmouth round. We can do Brays and Worcesters too, and the odd FITA 18 or a Vegas. Any bowstyle - no different from outdoors.

Most sessions are for practice and every month we do a postal round in competition with other clubs. We also have our winter championships and a club Vegas competition. Just before Christmas we have a Fun Shoot. And it really is fun. Funny target faces, bingo - all sorts of very small spots to try and hit. And we have little prizes too. The fun is in taking part and, let's be honest, no-one goes away empty handed.

I think most of our newer members are a bit nervous about shooting indoors, and there will also be some who prefer to have a break during the winter months.

OK, so it's a bit cramped setting up in the corridor and then shooting in the hall when there are a lot of us, so we often have to run two details on the line. But if the first round of the evening goes smoothly, a few of us will stay on to shoot a second (double Portsmouth is a recognised shoot). Not many people do this, but the one time I was able to I managed to beat the 8 year old county club record by all of one point!

We do have trouble encouraging people to come along though. Is it perhaps because they get home from work and don't feel like going out again? Or perhaps folk feel nervous shooting at such close proximity to one another - but that is extremely good practice in what may be considered a more 'formal' setting - good preparation for the discipline of outdoor competitions which can be quite crowded.

If I have one main criticism of how we run the evening, it's because it's very, almost too, quiet. The only real banter is when we go to collect our arrows, with the usual quiet whispering while we are waiting. I think there's a lot to be said for having the fun we saw at the 2012 Olympics archery - lots of loud stuff! Sometimes it can be too quiet.

The other thing which may make people reluctant to come along is perhaps the feeling that everyone is watching them. Well, to some extent we do, but not in any way to criticise and it is only going to be the people closest to you - and we do that at the field anyway.

Every one of us is genuinely interested in how people are getting on, yet while we know we must not offer to help and advise unless asked to by the archer, we are all ready to help.

Archery indoor champs 2012

I'd love for our club to have a more permanent location during the winter. I find the enforced break during January to be very frustrating. I do wonder if we can find a warehouse to rent for those five months, or perhaps a well-appointed barn somewhere,  but I know it may be expensive (but hiring the school hall is expensive too).

So, what can we as a club do to encourage you to come along?

We are the same people and we all enjoy our archery to the bones. Come on - be brave and join us more often. We miss you!

Lyn
Any questions? Use the contact form top right to email me.
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The Indoor Archery Season Begins - Scary?

Indoor Archery Season

I started archery with the 2010 intake. I was excited at the thought of doing it, and for the whole week before the evening class, I had that lovely jumpy feeling of excitement in my tummy. My fellow learner shooting buddy, Marcus, was the same. We'd be standing around waiting for the session to start like a couple of school kids on an outing!

I still have that feeling now.

After every session, I'm already excited about the next one. I watch the weather to see if the next planned shoot will be wet or dry, windy or sunny. If there's going to be a match, I hope it won't be cancelled by bad weather - we stalwarts will shoot in anything - even storms.

So, what happens when we go indoors?

To be honest, I'm still excited. OK, so it will only be at most twice a week - Friday evenings and every other Sunday afternoon - but it's still shooting and still good fun even if we can't stay for 3 or 4 hours and have to bring our own tea/coffee.

What happens that's the same and what's different?

We shoot at Tideway school in Newhaven, in a sports hall. All of the equipment that we need is moved over by some club members and stored in a shed behind the hall. We use slightly different stands as they cannot be pegged down into the ground, they have a T-bar arrangement; the bosses are the same. Every item needs to be carried or rolled from the shed to the hall, which is only a short distance, and when everyone does their part, it really doesn't take very long to set up/take down the targets. (Which is why members need to arrive early and only leave once everything has been put away.) Once a round has been shot, if anyone wants to leave they must take down their target as some folk will stay on a bit longer.

The hall itself is about 22 yards long (I'll try and measure it next time I'm there), so there's not a lot of room at each end. A row of about 8 targets is set up and our special netting is hung behind them about a foot away from the wall. At the other end, there's just about room for us all to place our bows and have a chair if required.

Most times we shoot a Portsmouth round (60 cm face - 2 per boss) and if there's time, some of us will shoot a second round making a 'double Portsmouth' which can be submitted to our Records Officer (RO); or perhaps a Bray for a change. There are a few more indoor rounds we can shoot Vegas, Worcester or FITA 18. In fact anyone can shoot whatever round they would like to as long as it's 20 yards or less. (BTW, indoor rounds can be shot outside too.)

As a club we take part in the Portsmouth postal competition every month when the best 4 archers from each bow style are put forward into a team. I can't quite recall if these are chosen by best score over any bowstyle, so will correct this once I've found out.

The most obvious difference to new people is shooting in close proximity to one another. We all get used to having lots of space at the field, but side-loading your arrows is not possible indoors! We must all be mindful of each other when we are so close.

Then there's the 2 target faces per boss. Side-by-side. Your can choose which side you would like to shoot and that's where you stay for the evening. There's a target chart where you put your name and at the end of the evening write in your score. That goes off to the RO for logging. Over time you will build up your classification and eventually be presented with a badge for your best achievement.

Depending how many people turn up for a session, we may need to have 2 'details'. For example, if there are 8 bosses with 2 targets, that's 16 people. If 24 people turn up, then after the first 16 have shot their arrows, the second detail is called in to shoot theirs. One more thing I need to check is whether the first detail clears their arrows first. (The last time I remember 2 details was about 3 years ago - a distant blur.)

I will add more here soon (and correct any typos) - but for now, suffice it to say that indoor shooting is you, your bow, and your arrows. No wind to affect them, no sun in your eyes, no moving targets forward halfway through. It's a great opportunity to try and perfect your style and there are lots of indoor competitions run all over the place for you to join in. I know I'm going to do more of them this coming indoor season. 

I love indoors as much as I do outdoors. It's different. And I will explain a bit more next time.

Lyn

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