This afternoon, I found myself running an archery session for two lads that had signed up for one of the sessions offered by the Adventure Experts. This is a group of local outdoor activity providers that have come together to offer a range of sessions throughout August, in an attempt to encourage people to get out there and try something new.

It’s not very often that I get the chance to coach archery to such a small group, so it was an opportunity to go a bit deeper into things than normal. Archery is one of those sports where there are so many variables that all need to come together to produce a consistent shot. It takes much more than a three hour session to get these sorted out, but it was good to spend a bit more time than usual identifying, and working on, specific aspects of producing a consistent stance, draw and loose (release).

After an initial concentration on technique, we started to mix things up with a number of games and challenges. Being friends, there was certainly a competitive rivalry between them and a surprising amount of ‘unsporting conduct’, trying to break each other’s concentration!

The lads were great company, the weather held for us and the session went well. Not a bad afternoon.