Improving performance and some internal club events.
IMPROVING YOUR ABILITY:
No one can know exactly how seriously you will take archery as a leisure activity. You will find that the club develops a range of abilities as some members become very enthusiastic and achieve very high standards whereas other wish only to have a 'hobby' and have no desire to compete at any level.
Club coaches and experienced archers are always willing to give as much help and advice as you would need but will often avoid commenting in case this is taken as a criticism. If you begin to feel that you would benefit from help and none has been suggested feel free to talk to any club member who will either be able to help directly OR will suggest who you should consult.
The club attempts to include all members by providing incentives to shoot that are achievable. The more often you shoot, however, the easier it is for the club to provide incentives that can be gained and the more proficient you become. Without practice, unfortunately, no-one becomes more proficient, so I can only advise that the more enthusiatic you are the more likely your progress will be seen. The following paragraphs will give details of many of the club managed incentives for shooting. Please also read the 'Prize Night' web site entry that is on a page of it's own.
THE CLUB PAIRS.
The 'club pairs' is shot outdoors on the club evening closest to midsummer. From those present two archers in the club will be paired together, based upon handicap.
The accepted round will be 2 dozen arrows at 20 yards, followed by 2 dozen arrows at 30 yards then 2 dozen arrows at 40 yards. The Field Captain can use discretion to shoot only 2 of the distances, or to reduce the number of required ends per distance, due to failing light or conditions. The round to be held on the nearest Tuesday to 21st June.
The resultant 'Pairs' winners, based on handicap scores, receive both trophy and certificates at the bi-annual Club Presentation Evening held in the Autumn.
INDOOR POSTAL & FROSTBITE LEAGUE.
From November to March, over the winter season the club takes part in two league systems. The 'Portsmouth' league matches the club with similar level members of other clubs to form a mini league of up to six clubs. The winners of the league are provided with badges from the organisers. The results are exchanged by post between the participating clubs and the organisers
The 'frostbite' league is similar but the round is 36 scoring arrows shot at 30 metres outdoors. This league also runs over the five winter months.
We also take part in a 'county' based league system. All matches are shot at our normal venue and the results 'posted' to the league manager who returns the league tables to the club. We compete in 'recurve', 'compound' and 'longbow' league matches. The selected dates for these 'postal' matches are normally displayed in the 'diary' entries on the home page of our site.
The Archery Handicap System and 'rounds'
In Archery a system of classification is used based around handicapping tables. To achieve an initial handicap rating you need to shoot only three rounds from the 'handicap' list of rounds. The handicap tables allow the club records officer to calculate, from the results of the three rounds, an initial handicap rating. As many of our incentives are based upon 'handicap' levels we encourage members to shoot 'rounds' to allow handicaps to be calculated.
Once this rating is calculated a prediction can be made to the score you should be able to achieve while shooting any other round. Improvements in score slowly effect your handicap rating downward towards ‘1’. Indoors and outdoors carry different handicap ratings so you can carry two ratings in the club records at the same time. A rating calculated at the end of one season holds in place for the duration of the next season, unless it is improved, so the requirement is not there to ‘requalify’.
Shooting Archery ‘Rounds’.
Many club members shoot ‘rounds’. These are sequences of arrows shot (with the purpose of scoring), at pre-determined distances, pre-determined numbers of arrows, until the ‘round’ has been completed. If a ‘round’ is being shot by another club member or members, it is preferred if you have a target set out for yourself and others, if you are not taking part in the ‘round’ itself. Do not be tempted to ‘move’ from target to target without checking that you will not be interrupting a recognised target ‘round’. National awards are available to those who shoot six into the 'gold' at the longer distances for their age providing that these are part of a recognised 'round'.
In the 'jargon' area we have examples of some of the ‘shorter’ rounds (i.e. numbers of arrows shot) and how they contribute to your development of a ‘handicap’, PLUS information on scoring. Also viewing the 'handicap' page, also in the 'jargon' section, will give you examples of how we calculate your handicap.