Bow International is the world's only specialist target archery print magazine, and within each issue you'll find news and reviews, new gear, technique, advice and tips; plus exclusive interviews from the world's greatest archers.
With the wrapping of the World Cup Final in Yankton, one of the more intense international outdoor archery seasons in living memory draws to a close. The fact that it all went ahead is important; regardless of whether you take an interest in the international side of things, it is a key part of the engine that drives the sport on all levels, from inspiring juniors to manufacturer confidence. Without archery at the Olympics, which distributes working capital to governing bodies and national Olympic committees, and brings central government funding from all over the world, the sport we do would be hugely diminished. And just a few months ago, no one was quite sure if it was going to happen or not. In this issue of your soaraway Bow, we…
WA CONGRESS MEETS, ERDENER RE-ELECTED The 54th World Archery Congress met in Yankton, South Dakota, US, on 16-18 September 2021, ahead of the senior World Archery Championships. Congress is the governing body of the international federation, at which the sport’s rules are set or changed and officers are elected. For the first time, weighted votes were used, rather than each national federation receiving a single vote. The weighting is assessed on each country’s level of international archery activity. Under a logo nodding to that of the Studio 54 nightclub in New York in the 1970s and ’80s, the current president Dr Ugur Erdener was unanimously re-elected as president of World Archery for a fifth and final term, up to the next Olympic Games in Paris in 2025. “Thank you for…
In June 2021, the return of archery to the Commonwealth Games was quietly cancelled by the Indian sporting authorities, citing the uncertainty of Covid. The 2022 Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships, a medal-awarding sidecar event scheduled to take place in Chandigarh, India, in January will no longer be held. Archery is an optional sport in the Commonwealth Games and has appeared just twice on the programme in 21 editions – in Brisbane in 1982 and in Delhi in 2010 – though shooting has been included in all but one edition. (The 2010 compound competition was won by Bow’s own Duncan Busby.) In 2019, after archery and shooting failed to make it on to the sports programme for Birmingham 2022, a furious Indian Olympic Association started rattling sabres. The Birmingham organisers,…
UNDER £20 PARKER STEEL BALLPOINT PEN How are you going to write in your new archery training journal (right) without your new matching arrow pen? This Parker pen will make any writing feel high class; it has such a smooth feel to it, and we love that you can buy cartridges to refill the pen once the ink runs out. • £10.95 • Available from executivepensdirect.com JVD TARGET UMBRELLA The perfect present for the diehard archer who just can’t keep away from the field – even in our glorious British weather. These umbrellas are a popular sight on the range and for good reason: they are strong and durable, ready for rain, hail or sunshine. Give the archer in your life the gift of staying dry. • £10 • Available…
We all lose score through the various combinations of errors we make. Our objective as an archer or coach should be to find those errors and progressively eliminate or minimise them. This is not an easy task, especially as the archers get more skilled – the reasons the top archers lose score can be quite subtle and challenging to isolate, both for them and for the coach. I have watched elite archers shooting many times – they can look very good indeed, yet they still (usually) do not shoot perfect scores. Anything we can find to help in the analysis is useful. One thing I like to do, both as archer and as coach, is to watch the archer’s arrow groups on the target. I try to do this on…
Many experienced barebow archers can find it a little overwhelming when shopping for or tuning arrows. When we buy equipment, we want to buy the best available and to find that ‘perfect match’. Selecting arrows for recurve or compound is relatively straightforward and formulaic but for barebow it is much more down to the individual. This is not because barebows want to stand out, it is simply that there are many more variables involved in barebow shooting. Firstly, we do not have a clicker that controls our draw length or use a multitude of aiming combinations for different distances, which can affect the arrow’s trajectory and flight. What barebow shooting requires is a good understanding of your shooting form and the specifics of your equipment set-up. If you are unsure…
