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Posted this on another sight - which is the reason for some of the verbiage but, I thought you guys might be interested.
Yes I paid attention in Rod's class
_____________________________________________________
I've taught all three of my kids to shoot and done an OK job of it. They have good solid repeatable form and hit what they are aiming at more often than not. Most importantly they enjoy the heck out of archery.
I started all three kids on very light bows, carbon arrows, a tab, and an arm guard.
1) Bow doesn't make much difference as long as it is light both in draw weight and physical weight - Leo is using a Samick longbow right now and it works well.
2) Carbon arrows while a little more expensive right off the bat will pay for them selves over time with durability. With three kids shooting I have done the math LOL - best bang for the buck is the Super Club arrow from LAS and you can get them in spines light enough for 5-10 lb bows. The lighter carbon arrows also give the kids a quicker cast to the arrow making it easier for them to hit what they are aiming at. I leave them full length to aid in gapping (yes my kids aim)
3)Tab it's important that it fits - a tab doesn't need to be any longer than the first joint of your fingers. If it's too long it makes it hard to anchor and will smack their face (that goes for you big guys as well)
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4)Arm guards - I've found that the ones with magnetic closures work better for the little guys to put on.
Archery isn't rocket science but, it is a technique intensive sport with many variations out there. All these variations share some basic core elements of form. When you are teaching a beginner any beginner you need to instill these core elements, with as few distractions as possible, before moving on to more esoteric sub-genres. Think of it this way if you are teaching a kid to drive do you take them out to the freeway and say "here you go" or do you take them to a deserted parking lot and teach them the basics in an uncluttered safe place - gradually building up too the more difficult stuff??
Beginners need a very simple repeatable way to shoot so that if and when they miss they have some way to self analyze and start hitting what they aim at again. Kids need to have some success or they will quit shooting.
The very basic elements of an archery shot consist of 5 simple things.
1) Stance
2) Gripping the bow
3) Hooking the string
4) Anchor
5) Alignment
There are going to be those among us that just love to argue they are going to say "what about the horse archers? They don't have a stance" "what about the guy who jumps around shooting crap out of the air? He doesn't have and anchor" To this I say who cares they are 1 in a million archers - lets try and be realistic about teaching beginners to hit a target. They are beginners start at THE BEGINNING.
1) Stance - stand the kid perpendicular to the target and fairly close. Have them lift their bow arm straight up and it should naturally be pointed at that they want to hit - they shouldn't need to rotate their torso to point - if they have to rotate shift their feet so they don't need to. No bending of the knees, no hunching over just a nice relaxed natural REPEATABLE stance. If they want to try something else down the road fine. But for now teach them the stance that puts them naturally inline with the target. Into stance I will throw bow position - I don't teach my kids to cant their bow. Down the road they can but for the beginning I want a vertical bow - remember CONSISTENT and REPEATABLE. A up right stance and a vertical bow has also proven to be the most accurate for the most archers.
![]()
2) Grip - all I really care is that the weight of the bow is on the base of the thumb not the middle of the hand. This should happen naturally if they start hitting their bow arm a bunch check and see if their grip is over rotated. I also watch for white knuckles as the grip should be fairly light. Not much to get hung up on here - just grab the bow.
![]()
3) Hooking the string - I teach all my kids to have a deep hook - it has proven to be the cleanest release for the most archers over the years so why fight the odds.
![]()
4) ANCHOR - beginners need to anchor and they need to have a consistent repeatable anchor. Think about this in terms of a rifle - the anchor is your back site if your anchor isn't consistent your trying to aim a rifle with different site settings every time (however you choose to aim) you are also not hitting the same draw length every time if you aren't anchoring which is like shooting the same rifle with different powered cartridges each time - I teach my kids a high cheek bone anchor which closes the gaps and makes it easier to aim with the arrow. It doesn't really matter where they anchor but it has to be repeatable. Hitting and holding anchor is critical and the main reason for starting archers with light bows. A solid anchor has proven to be the most accurate for the largest number of archers.
![]()
5) Alignment - I think this is the most critical thing we teach a beginner alignment holds true to all forms of archery - horse archery, moving targets, snap shooting everything - if you aren't aligned you aren't going to hit what you aim at in any of the different archery disciplines. All I check with my kids is whether their elbow is back and inline with their bow hand or not. A great tool to check this is a straight rod or arrow laid across their back. If they aren't aligned with the target the rod will point off to one side or the other - it also gives great visual feed back for the kid - as they bring their elbow around and come into alignment they can see the rod swing over and point at what they want to hit.
![]()
No bone on bone alignment doesn't exist and I don't talk about it with my kids but, you want to get as close as you can.
Notice I said nothing about back tension - do you really want to talk back tension with a 6 year old?? If they have their elbow back and aren't creeping they have back tension.
I also didn't talk about release - if they are aligned and using a deep hook they are going to get a fairly good release. Don't talk about it and it will just happen
When one of my kids miss I ask them three things 1)did you aim? 2)did you anchor? 3)was your elbow back almost always the answer to one of the 3 is no.
Personally I believe in a hard aiming system and set my kids up so they can aim with their arrow tip. I'll set the bow up for each kid to get a point on at the max distance they will be shooting at - they all know their point on and know if they are closer aim lower if they are further aim higher. Or in Leo's (who likes to shoot from the adult stakes - MUCH HIGHER
No there isn't any one way that you HAVE to shoot a bow but, yes there is one way to most effectively teach the basics of archery. This has been proven over 100s of years with millions of archers. When my kids said they wanted to learn to shoot a bow I took the different elements of the shot and taught them what works the most accurately for the majority of the archers. I know in this day and age we all like to think our kid is the 1 in a million but, fact is averages play out and you might as well teach them the basics based on what works best for the largest number of archers. If your kid wanted to be a baseball pitcher would you encourage them to pitch side arm??
Yes I paid attention in Rod's class
_____________________________________________________
I've taught all three of my kids to shoot and done an OK job of it. They have good solid repeatable form and hit what they are aiming at more often than not. Most importantly they enjoy the heck out of archery.
I started all three kids on very light bows, carbon arrows, a tab, and an arm guard.
1) Bow doesn't make much difference as long as it is light both in draw weight and physical weight - Leo is using a Samick longbow right now and it works well.
2) Carbon arrows while a little more expensive right off the bat will pay for them selves over time with durability. With three kids shooting I have done the math LOL - best bang for the buck is the Super Club arrow from LAS and you can get them in spines light enough for 5-10 lb bows. The lighter carbon arrows also give the kids a quicker cast to the arrow making it easier for them to hit what they are aiming at. I leave them full length to aid in gapping (yes my kids aim)
3)Tab it's important that it fits - a tab doesn't need to be any longer than the first joint of your fingers. If it's too long it makes it hard to anchor and will smack their face (that goes for you big guys as well)
4)Arm guards - I've found that the ones with magnetic closures work better for the little guys to put on.
Archery isn't rocket science but, it is a technique intensive sport with many variations out there. All these variations share some basic core elements of form. When you are teaching a beginner any beginner you need to instill these core elements, with as few distractions as possible, before moving on to more esoteric sub-genres. Think of it this way if you are teaching a kid to drive do you take them out to the freeway and say "here you go" or do you take them to a deserted parking lot and teach them the basics in an uncluttered safe place - gradually building up too the more difficult stuff??
Beginners need a very simple repeatable way to shoot so that if and when they miss they have some way to self analyze and start hitting what they aim at again. Kids need to have some success or they will quit shooting.
The very basic elements of an archery shot consist of 5 simple things.
1) Stance
2) Gripping the bow
3) Hooking the string
4) Anchor
5) Alignment
There are going to be those among us that just love to argue they are going to say "what about the horse archers? They don't have a stance" "what about the guy who jumps around shooting crap out of the air? He doesn't have and anchor" To this I say who cares they are 1 in a million archers - lets try and be realistic about teaching beginners to hit a target. They are beginners start at THE BEGINNING.
1) Stance - stand the kid perpendicular to the target and fairly close. Have them lift their bow arm straight up and it should naturally be pointed at that they want to hit - they shouldn't need to rotate their torso to point - if they have to rotate shift their feet so they don't need to. No bending of the knees, no hunching over just a nice relaxed natural REPEATABLE stance. If they want to try something else down the road fine. But for now teach them the stance that puts them naturally inline with the target. Into stance I will throw bow position - I don't teach my kids to cant their bow. Down the road they can but for the beginning I want a vertical bow - remember CONSISTENT and REPEATABLE. A up right stance and a vertical bow has also proven to be the most accurate for the most archers.
2) Grip - all I really care is that the weight of the bow is on the base of the thumb not the middle of the hand. This should happen naturally if they start hitting their bow arm a bunch check and see if their grip is over rotated. I also watch for white knuckles as the grip should be fairly light. Not much to get hung up on here - just grab the bow.
3) Hooking the string - I teach all my kids to have a deep hook - it has proven to be the cleanest release for the most archers over the years so why fight the odds.
4) ANCHOR - beginners need to anchor and they need to have a consistent repeatable anchor. Think about this in terms of a rifle - the anchor is your back site if your anchor isn't consistent your trying to aim a rifle with different site settings every time (however you choose to aim) you are also not hitting the same draw length every time if you aren't anchoring which is like shooting the same rifle with different powered cartridges each time - I teach my kids a high cheek bone anchor which closes the gaps and makes it easier to aim with the arrow. It doesn't really matter where they anchor but it has to be repeatable. Hitting and holding anchor is critical and the main reason for starting archers with light bows. A solid anchor has proven to be the most accurate for the largest number of archers.
5) Alignment - I think this is the most critical thing we teach a beginner alignment holds true to all forms of archery - horse archery, moving targets, snap shooting everything - if you aren't aligned you aren't going to hit what you aim at in any of the different archery disciplines. All I check with my kids is whether their elbow is back and inline with their bow hand or not. A great tool to check this is a straight rod or arrow laid across their back. If they aren't aligned with the target the rod will point off to one side or the other - it also gives great visual feed back for the kid - as they bring their elbow around and come into alignment they can see the rod swing over and point at what they want to hit.
No bone on bone alignment doesn't exist and I don't talk about it with my kids but, you want to get as close as you can.
Notice I said nothing about back tension - do you really want to talk back tension with a 6 year old?? If they have their elbow back and aren't creeping they have back tension.
I also didn't talk about release - if they are aligned and using a deep hook they are going to get a fairly good release. Don't talk about it and it will just happen
When one of my kids miss I ask them three things 1)did you aim? 2)did you anchor? 3)was your elbow back almost always the answer to one of the 3 is no.
Personally I believe in a hard aiming system and set my kids up so they can aim with their arrow tip. I'll set the bow up for each kid to get a point on at the max distance they will be shooting at - they all know their point on and know if they are closer aim lower if they are further aim higher. Or in Leo's (who likes to shoot from the adult stakes - MUCH HIGHER
No there isn't any one way that you HAVE to shoot a bow but, yes there is one way to most effectively teach the basics of archery. This has been proven over 100s of years with millions of archers. When my kids said they wanted to learn to shoot a bow I took the different elements of the shot and taught them what works the most accurately for the majority of the archers. I know in this day and age we all like to think our kid is the 1 in a million but, fact is averages play out and you might as well teach them the basics based on what works best for the largest number of archers. If your kid wanted to be a baseball pitcher would you encourage them to pitch side arm??
