ARCHERYFIX

Hear you will find the articles that I write for the US and International Archer and other magazines

Published May/June

The next generation in Coaching

I have been asked to describe the operation of my new service to archers; this is provided through my online coaching website Archeryfix.com. The concept arose out of necessity as a major concern to a coach traveling internationally is the logistics of follow-up lessons to keep the archer on track after the initial workshop or one on one lesson.

As we all know it is difficult to remember everything we are told during a coaching session as the shear quantity of information can be overwhelming for many.  In the case of archery it is difficult for an athlete to describe how their form is developing and still photographs only show one stage in the shot cycle.

These problems led me to investigating emailed videos, and this still presented many problems as both the archer and coach have to be proficient with computers and let’s face it we should not have to be a computer expert to shoot arrows.

After conducting trials on video motion analysis programs I found Astar Learning Systems software, the ease of use for both coach and archer is what I was looking for as I am a much better archer than computer operator.  The next stage was to develop my coaching web site www.archeryfix.com as a base for my students to access my new services.

As with many new ideas things don’t always go in the direction you initially intended and so it was with Archeryfix.com. I started getting enquiries from people I had not previously trained and found that the system worked just as well for them as it does for those who have attended workshops. Through Archeryfix and Astar I am now training archers from North and South America, Asia, Europe and Australia thanks to the World Wide Web the world is truly getting smaller.

My website Archeryfix.com works as a starting point for online coaching and as a free reference point for information to be used by all archers. To participate in a one on one online coaching clinic the archer clicks the link on the home page of archeryfix.com and signs up for a lesson, the fees are kept to a low US$29.95 per lesson. The archer then downloads the Astar My-Trainer software; this is a duel purpose program as it is used to send the video clip to me and as a training aid to be used at home by the archer. This program is free to any archer purchasing an online lesson from me.

 To send a video clip the archer simply runs the video of their shot with the Astar My-Trainer software and clicks the mouse at the point of release, the software will automatically capture and save 15 seconds before the release and 2 seconds after as a file. The software can also be setup to capture the shot automatically while live shooting using the sound of the shot to activate the capture and save function.

 Immediately after capture the program will play back your shot so you can see your shot sequence at normal speed or slow motion. When the archer is ready to send the video clips to me all they have to do is select the video clips, click on the send button and it is done.

At my end the software allows me to measure form angles, shot tempo and synchronize up to four clips using split screens for comparative analysis among the many features of this program. The finished product is uploaded to a server and an email is sent to the archer with instructions on how to access the server to download the files. The archer receives the video clips with onscreen graphics to indicate areas for attention along with demonstration video clips showing what is required as well as voice over instructions by me as I would do in a face to face lesson.

Feedback from clients has been very positive and archeryfix.com is enjoying a very high number of archers returning for more lessons.  So it seems that what started out as just another tool for me to use in coaching has turned into a new and exciting venture.

The next development for Archeryfix.com is even more exciting with the addition of Astar’s My-Pro server based learning systems. A new environment for archery learning that is dramatically more effective, more entertaining and more convenient. It provides a complete web based interactive system designed to provide the archer with all they will need to access coaching anywhere there is an internet connection.

Videos can be sent directly from a cell phone to the website or uploaded from the Astar My-Trainer software and automatically deposited into the users password protected area for later viewing or analysis. This exciting innovation in coaching will also allow archers to download instructional video clips of just what they need without having to buy the entire coaching DVD. By being able to download direct from the internet without having to wait for mail deliveries the archer gets what they want when they want it.

As with everything in coaching the development of Archeryfix.com is constantly under review as I intend to offer my clients the best possible service I can provide.

In following issues of The US and International Archer you will be able to follow the progress of some of the diverse range of archers I train around the world in personally presented workshops and seminars. I will also be reporting on the competitions, people and places I visit throughout the world.

To give you an idea of the subject matter my last trip was to Las Vegas for the World Archery Festival then to San Francisco, Frankfurt Germany and on to conduct workshops in Singapore. My Singapore workshop comprised three Gurkha solders from Nepal who work as part of the ministerial protection force in Singapore. Three Malaysian Archers, four members of the Singapore National FITA compound team; two vision impaired archers and the remainder from clubs around Singapore. And for all the differences in ethnicity, religion and vocation they all share the passion we all feel for this wonderful sport archery.

Shoot well and enjoy,

Peter Bourke

Archeryfix Principal Coach

USA Archery & NFAA accredited Instructor

www.archeryfix.com

to be published July/August

From Championships to future champions

From the sweltering heat of tropical Australia to the snow covered peaks of Germanys Black forest was 40 hours travel and worth every minute of it for my Wife Heather and I. We arrived at Erika and Bill Kulls home in Doornstatin as old friends after sharing a Camp at the 2006 IFAA World Field Championships in Australia for a couple of weeks. Bills club the B.I.G. Glatt club allowed us to use their indoor range for training over the four days leading to the IFAA World Indoor Archery Championships at Mannheim. And four days is only just enough time to work the jetlag out of your system and start to hit the target.

As we travel to have fun as well as the more serious business of competing and coaching we spent a lot of time visiting castles, eating out, drinking very large beers and seeing the sights of the Black Forest in winter.

The World Championships commenced with a full opening ceremony that included a concert orchestra, choral group and gymnasts with the flags of the competing countries bourn in by children accompanied by the orchestra playing the national anthem of each country in turn. The organizers had truly outdone themselves with a spectacular befitting the world championships. Through the night wine tasting and massive steins of German beer kept us true athletes lubricated and cheering each act as the evening rolled on. During the festivities we were able to catch-up with many old friends from around the world and get news of other international tournaments and friends in the archery fraternity. What a wonderful sport this is when the fiercest of competitors can remain such close friends.

One of the outstanding features of an IFAA event is that it is open to all archers not just the cream of the crop athletes, yes the elite archers of the world were there but so were those who had just started in our sport.

Day two signaled the start of the competition with a totally different atmosphere in the hall with the stage gone and targets in place we made ready for four days of concentration and steady shooting. The shoot was much like other major tournaments with a mixture of elation, tears and building new friendships. The host club managed the event very well and the venue worked fine allowing plenty of time to take in the highlights of Mannheim and generally enjoying much of what Germany has to offer.

Children from Local schools were brought in every day to watch the tournament and to give them a taste of international competition. This was an excellent idea as today’s youth are the archers of tomorrow and what better venue to use as an introduction than a World Championships. The tournament was marked by some memorable events like Erika Aya LaBrie shooting a new one day record of 292(20X) in Adult Female Freestyle Recurve on her way to winning Gold and giving the USA another World Champion. Germany as the host nation not only gave us all a tournament to remember but finished with 27 new World Champions and a plethora of silver and bronze.

My personal battles were fought in the Professional Freestyle Unlimited division with Istv’an Sule from Hungary beating me for gold by 2 points and Steve Kendrick from England taking Bronze. From an Australian point of view it was an excellent shoot with all three members of the Aussie team taking home medals, my wife Heather winning Bronze in Freestyle Limited, Mike Cowie winning Silver in Veteran Freestyle Unlimited and my Silver in PFU.

As all good things must end so it was with the 2007 World Indoor, like all else concerning this championships our German hosts gave us a finale befitting an International tournament. Dozens of dishes where laid out for the banquette, from the obligatory schnitzels to massive joints of roast meats and more steins of local beer. The medal ceremony concluded with an invitation to all archers to meet again in 2009 for the next IFAA World Indoor Championships to be hosted by Argentina.

Keeping to our policy of having as much fun as possible, Heather and I toured Germany and Austria for a week visiting more castles and Spanish dancing horses in Vienna before returning to work. In my case work may not be a correct description of what I do, probably having fun and meeting people would be a better description of my profession. In any case going to work involved flying from Frankfurt to Singapore where I was asked to give advice on coaching matters for the Singapore national FITA compound team. This team has a lot of potential and may just make their mark in international tournaments in the near future. The Singapore archery Association has just moved to new grounds with excellent target ranges and access to a state of the art gymnasium close by. The new grounds are right next door to a MRT Station (Mass Rapid Transport) allowing easy access to the grounds for the team members, this is a bonus in a country where owning a car is a rarity. For an Island 24 Kilometers long with a population around 4.5 million people it is quite an achievement for the Archery association and George Loh its President to have secured these grounds as any vacant land is scarce in Singapore. This is also a reflection of the Singapore government’s policy of encouraging sporting activities for its citizens and gaining a toehold in the International sporting arena.

My main reason for this visit to Singapore was to work with a group of archers who have to overcome many more obstacles than most of us to achieve their goals in archery; they are archers with a disability. I am fortunate to be able to call some of these archers my friends as well as being students I train, the main groups they fall into are severely Vision impaired archers, blind archers and wheelchair archers. For those of us living in countries with a good social security programs like Europe, Australia, England and North America taking up a sport like archery is relatively easy. If you are blind and live in many Asian countries just surviving is hard work, let alone taking up a sport. In the case of the blind archers I work with employment is limited to giving massage and similar forms of work if they can get any at all. We are endeavoring to setup a league in Southern Asia for archers with a disability so they can compete on a level playing field through their region and internationally. The aim is to base it on the divisions used by the British Blind Archery Association and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

For the vision impaired archers their sight ranges from being able to see a FITA 40cm indoor face at 18mt as a blurred image to the more severely affected who can barely see 10cm white spot on a contrasting background. The shots are aimed using a variety of aids from lenses to single pin sights with large balls on the pin.  The totally blind archers use tactile sighting arrangements set up on tripods so their bow hand touches a pointer at full

Draw and their feet are positioned with wooden chocks. The accuracy achieved by these archers is astounding given the hurdles they overcome to shoot; just retrieving their arrows is fraught with danger as they must approach the target with care so as not to run into a shaft. The simple action of making it to the Tuesday training session is a major obstacle for some who have recently lost their sight, to assist them Jim Bec who is close to totally blind himself assists them from their door with the use of his white cane. The trip is undertaken with Jim leading and his fellow archers following behind with a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them.

Sighted archers can learn a lot from the blind archers about consistency in our shot cycle as they shoot as well as they do because of consistency of feel for the shot. As archery is a sport that is practiced by feel more than any other of our senses I have always stressed the importance of feel for the shot and learning to feel your shot through blind bail shooting among other training drills. This lesson was driven home to me while watching these vision impaired archers who achieve marvelous results through consistency of shot achieved through feel. Each of these archers has developed their own form style and built it through the sense of feeling and through this sensitivity to the feel of the shot they have learnt to shoot extremely well when you consider that aiming plays such a small part in their entire shot cycle.

The sighted archers with a disability and wheelchair archers have no less of a battle to compete in this wonderful sport however they do have a goal for some in that the International Paralympic Committee allow them to compete in the Paralympic Games if they qualify. This is a closed door to visually impaired and blind archers to this end we need to do something in the future to widen the criteria for selection to the games as it is far two narrow at the moment.

I was first introduced to these dedicated archers by Mr Tang Chang Poh who is the Manager of the Potong Pasir Community Club and former President of the Singapore Archery Association. Mr. Tang works with many disadvantaged groups as well as managing the community center and training young archers across Singapore he also organizes small competitions to give his students some direction for their training.

Through Mr. Tang it was bought home to me that those I work with make up a very small percentage of people with a disability who would like to take up this sport but are unable to do so due to monetary constraints for the most part.

I would like to make a call for sponsorship from individuals, small and large businesses to assist these athletes with a disability to achieve their goals. For these archers to compete outside of their local club it is a major exercise in logistics involving costs that are beyond their capabilities. I assist these archers with free coaching while in their countries and work with them over the internet to some extent but I am afraid this is all I can do without help. What we need in assistance is archery equipment and assistance with transport for coaching and competition, so if an airline boss is out there reading this dig deep and see if you can help these people to achieve their goals in life. If you are in a position to help please contact me through my website www.archeryfix.com

Last and far from least I would like to thank my sponsors who help me to assist others in this wonderful sport, Vortex Optics, Ontarget2 Software for archers, Shibuya sights, Tailor Maid Strings, Tru Ball releases, Trophy Taker rests, ASTAR Learning Systems and the US archer magazine for publishing my ramblings.

Peter Bourke

Principal Coach for www.archeryfix.com