Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 159 i Bow International

There’s been a few columns here in the past couple of years involving glum predictions about the present or the future. I wish there hadn’t been, but that’s the way the world apparently works now. It’s looking like 2022 might match 2020 or 2021 for unsettling, stressful times that never seem to completely resolve themselves – but there we are. Anyway, this is an archery magazine, so I certainly did my best not to pack the past couple of years with Covid-related content, because I thought you all probably had far too much of that for comfort already, and you didn’t need more of it dropping through your door. The pandemic did a good enough job wrapping itself around everything in various unpleasant ways anyway. In this issue, we have…

Sara López, the Colombian archer who is the reigning compound women’s world champion, has been recognised as ‘Officially Amazing’ by Guinness World Records, with the organisation highlighting her as not only the most successful female archer but also the most successful archer in the history of the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, after she collected a record sixth title in 2021. In addition to the two Guinness World Records, López currently also holds three World Archery-ratified compound women’s world records, for the 50-metre qualification round, the 1440 round and the record at 50 metres in a 1440 round. In November, she set a new record in the World Cup era of spending the longest total number of days as world number one, with 1196, with this streak continuing as of…

R Core, the well-known manufacturer of aftermarket grip for archery bows, has launched a lower-cost version of its ‘Master’ grip for a list of best-selling risers. The Core Series are solid plastic, virtually unbreakable and can be sanded or filed. They come as standard with a rough surface texture to avoid slip, and are packaged with laser-cut 3M skate tape and an antislip sticker. The grips come in a short list of bright primary colours, and are all available for next-day shipping. More at rcore.co…

There are many archery podcasts on the scene right now, some new, some old. Podcasts are on the rise in popularity. They are great to listen to at the range, at home, driving or commuting (if that’s even a thing anymore!) Pretty much every podcast can be listened to around the world, making them incredibly accessible. So, let’s take a look at what is out there, who they are aimed at and why you should listen in! BOWJUNKY ARCHERY PODCAST Running since: 2016 Total episodes: 214 Hosts: Greg Poole About: “All archery all the time” is the slogan for Bowjunky Media Available on: Apple, Podbean, Podnews, Listennews, Podchaser. Along with Bowjunky Media { http://bowjunkymedia.libsyn.com } Bowjunky Archery Podcasts started out with Dan McCarthy and Greg Poole together, talking archery and…

In Dubai, at the 2022 World Archery Para Championships, the USA’s Matt Stutzman finally took an individual world title – the highlight of a high profile career. The ‘Armless Archer’ had taken a world championship gold before, in the team event in 2015, and grabbed a individual bronze last time out, in 2019, when his teammate Ben Thompson took the compound open title. Exactly a decade on from his breakout Paralympic silver in 2012, he fulfilled a career-long dream, beating Aleksandr Gombozhapov, 142-137, in the final. Stutzman led throughout, and was confident enough to shout “you’re witnessing history, guys!” to the assembled crowd of supporters after just two ends. But his run was almost derailed in qualification, when an equipment failure saw him qualify in a lowly 54th place. However,…

Archers really are a generous lot, happy to throw away points during a round or head-to-head match by not realising they have an issue and failing to make an adjustment or a correction quick enough to stop haemorrhaging points. Given the lengths some go to to have their equipment perfectly set up, this is quite contradictory to what you would expect. James Park has written several articles in this publication demonstrating that even the best archers could benefit by adjusting their sight earlier. But it is not just about moving the sight. Changes in our form from shot to shot will move our groups around the target face or create a rogue arrow landing where it was not supposed to. The decline of multi-distance rounds and the growing prominence of…

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Ella Gibson, the world number 13, took gold in the compound women’s event at the European Indoor Championships, defeating the top seed, Elizaveta Knyazeva, in the final, 143-141. It was the culmination of an extraordinary run at elite level that saw Gibson take a silver medal at the European Outdoor Championships in Antalya in 2021, and a third-place finish at the Lancaster Archery Classic in January. However, the European Indoor is her first major title. “Honestly, it’s amazing. It feels like a really long time coming for me to be on the top of that podium,” said Gibson after her win. “It felt incredible, it made me quite emotional, which is pretty unusual for me. I’ve seen our flag in the other two positions so many times, it was a…

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of a conflict that began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea. Nothing on a scale like this has been seen in Europe for many decades and it has caused a vast refugee crisis, among much else. The situation is ongoing and no-one, as of this writing, knows how it will end, except that the consequences do not look good for anybody. It hasn’t stopped many other media outlets, but we hope it’s not necessary to reiterate that, here at Bow, we do not support wars of aggression. Here at Bow, we deal with archery as an international sport – but that landscape has already changed immeasurably, too. Barely a month ago, the last gold medal awarded at the Beijing…

Anyone watching the 2022 Winter Olympics may have caught some of a great biathlon meet, the longestablished winter sport that is a combination of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. There is a lesser-known variant called ski-archery, often referred to as the archery biathlon. A minority discipline governed by World Archery, it is a combination of crosscountry skiing and target archery, with many of the rules and principles adapted from the Olympic biathlon. Italy initiated the process of transforming ski-archery into a discipline in the first half of the twentieth century, and it was continued by the French during the 1970s, refining the game and the equipment. More recent, competitive developments emanated from the countries of the Alpine region, the Scandinavian peninsula, and the Eastern bloc countries. Ski-archery has its own…

Whether you shoot target, 3D or field, one of the most intimidating things for new archers can be shooting in windy conditions. I still remember my first real windy tournament, where I missed the entire target boss about eight times out of 144 arrows. I could have let that experience define my career, but instead I took it as a challenge. I wanted to learn how to shoot in the wind – so I never experienced anything like that again! Since then, I have grown to love shooting in the wind. I’ll show you how I went from being terrified to being confident I would win shooting in any windy conditions. TRUST YOUR SHOT My number one piece of advice for shooting in the wind is confidence. One of the…

As a parent, you clearly have the potential to have a significant impact on your child’s development and their life as an athlete, whether they have big ambitions or not. You probably have a strong urge to control your athlete to make sure they are doing everything right, in your mind, to give them every bit of help and every chance to succeed. I’m sure you get frustrated when your athlete repeats obvious mistakes, giving you cause to take control or nag. When sport requires you to invest much of your time and money, it becomes all too easy for you as a parent to get too involved and forget what sport is all about. When this happens, your behaviour and language can increase your child’s stress and can lead…

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Dubai 2022 went ahead and triumphed despite a war breaking out halfway through. The name of the venue, the Dubai Club For People Of Determination, said a lot. One thing all para-athletes need is enormous reserves of will and determination, and these qualities were most definitely on display. More than 200 archers from 40 nations made it to the UAE for the competition. One of the biggest shocks occurred immediately before the championships, when it was announced that the Chinese team had pulled out, citing COVID-19 issues. Given how China dominated at the Paralympics in Tokyo – topping the medal table and making seven of the nine podiums – this was a seismic shock. It’s like the Korean…

World Archery’s executive board has approved a set of sanctions on Russia and Belarus, which comply with the latest recommendations from the International Olympic Committee, in response to the crisis in Ukraine, and the violation of the Olympic Truce, a non-binding UN resolution that establishes a peace accord during Games time, which includes the Paralympics. As of 2 March 2022, no athlete, team official or technical official from Russia or Belarus will be permitted to participate in any international archery event until further notice. The archery federations themselves are not suspended, as they were not directly involved in the breaking of the Olympic Truce. World Archery’s executive board earlier voted to remove the Russian and Belarusian national flags and anthems from all international tournaments. Also, no future events will be…

The Korea Archery Association (KAA) is perhaps the only transdisciplinary organisation dedicated to the sport of archery on the elite level. Its organisational structure and principles are not novel. Some of its key strategic policies derive from the former Eastern Bloc, some are borrowed from the modern West. Many elite sports today share many structural similarities and are seen as relatively homogenous in their operations; what makes them work in their respective fields is more than just what is ‘on paper’. In the case of the KAA, the success is often attributed to multiple factors: close connections to and financial support from the Korean business elite – the Hyundai Group in particular; provisions for the development and nurture of full-time athletes, including talent identification programmes; and systematic elite-level competition opportunities,…

In Bow 156, I noted that while I use X10s, size 600, with my recurve bow for target archery – because I want the least wind drift – I also wanted a lower mass arrow for field archery. After some careful modelling, I selected ACEs, size 670, as I was confident that I would be able to use them with the same draw force, changing just the pressure button at most. In Bow 157, I provided an overview of how I model arrows. I consider them as inextensible, flexible beams consisting of many short sections joined together. Each of those sections has its diameter, mass and stiffness. I showed how I determine those parameters for each arrow type and size. In this article I will provide an overview of how…

You may, by now, be slightly sick of my talking about gym exercises again. Don’t worry, I get it – but it’s all for the greater good, I promise. Squats are my go to exercise that you didn’t know you needed in your life, and should start doing now. What is a squat? I usually say to all of my new clients that start with me in the gym: “Have you ever used the toilet?” and then enjoy the perplexed look I get while they say “yes”. Of course, I reply “oh good… that’s a squat” – then I receive a look of understanding. So that; bottom back, bending the knee, chest up movement we do to use the toilet, a movement pattern we all use, is a squat in…

Nobody achieves success on their own. In my competitive career, so many people helped me achieve – from family, friends and coaches, to fellow competitors who dragged my bow case across muddy fields and collected my arrows. There were tournament officials who brought me hot drinks when it was pouring down with rain and archers who offered words of advice and support. I may have stood on the top of the podium and collected medals, but behind me was an army of people who made it possible. Even though archery is an individual sport, anybody wanting to take it to the next level must surround themselves with the right people. On the shooting line, it’s just you and your bow, but building a strong support team around you will help…