If you want to learn archery with us, you’re in the right place. We offer a unique way to learn archery and the principles of field archery at the same time. Our beginner’s course is also great fun.
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Taking up archery as a pastime
If you are completely new to the sport and looking to learn archery and in particular field archery, then you will need to complete a beginner’s course.
We run courses throughout the year, so if you are interested in learning archery, then get in touch.
If there isn’t a date listed on this page, but you want to attend an archery beginner’s course, please fill in the contact form on this page and give us a few details about you. Such as age, gender, physical condition, and any archery experience you may have had. We will contact you when the next course dates are released.
Or if you have a question not answered on this page, email us.
Please note that we take payment in advance for our beginner’s courses. We offer a refund if we cancel the course for any reason. You can cancel your place and get a refund up to 14 days before the course start date.
Beginner's course
Our beginner’s course is a great way to learn archery
We offer a two-day coaching session at our Field Archery Range with a qualified coach. We start at 10am and finish around 3pm. The idea is to get you to a standard for people who are serious about taking up archery as a hobby.
Am I too old?
There is no upper age limit, but some level of physical fitness is required, as you will be on your feet most of the day and will be walking through woods.
What about children?
We have found children of high school age are better suited to the courses we run as it’s a full day. Because of this, we only accept children of 11 or over. A parent or guardian must be present all day during the course.
What are the costs?
Adults (18 or over) – £60 per person
Junior (11 – 17) – £30 per person
Family of 4 (At least two Juniors) – £150 per group
All paid in advance
What happens on your beginner’s course?
All the equipment needed will be provided; you need to bring your own food and weather-appropriate clothing/footwear. We start with practice targets, where you will learn archery basics and the techniques needed to shoot safely and competently. We will then head out onto the course for some more ‘on the go’ coaching, which will give you a real feel for what field archery is all about.
On the second day, we spend more time working on technique and honing your skills. We also talk about equipment and how to progress.
Our max group size is normally 12 archers. We can accommodate bigger groups, but please get in touch with us first with specifics.
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The Archery Beginners Course Details
The course covers basic archery instruction using recurve bows. We can also offer the opportunity to use some other bow types during the course, once we feel the individual archer has a good enough grasp of the basics.
Our aims for each archer are:
- To familiarise you with the equipment
- To ensure you understand and can shoot within the safety rules
- To get you shooting safely at reasonably short distances of up to 10 yards initially
- Move into the woods for shooting at longer distances
- To begin to develop a consistent shooting form and style that you can build on
- Understand the fundamentals of field archery
- Get a grasp of the scoring systems
- Most of all, to enjoy yourself
The course aims to help each person learn archery to a standard that allows them to become a full member of Blaidd Field Archers. We cannot guarantee each archer will reach that standard, but at least 90% do.
We supply all the archery equipment you will need for the beginners’ course – our advice is, no matter how enthusiastic you become (and many do), try to resist the urge to buy your own equipment before you take the beginners’ course. It’s very easy to buy the wrong kit, and this can be an expensive mistake.
We find the best way to learn archery is during our two-day course. Although it can be quite intensive and tiring, you can’t beat learning archery in this way. In total, you will receive around 10 hours of coaching.
Types of shooting
There are many different forms of archery, but for our courses, we will be teaching people to shoot ‘bare bow’ style. This means shooting without sights on the bow. This is the purest form of archery and is a great way to learn archery if you want to shoot field archery.
Please note: Junior Archers (under 16) must be accompanied at all times by a parent/guardian or a responsible adult nominated by the parent/ guardian. This is to satisfy both insurance and Child Protection requirements. We can accommodate juniors of any age as members, but we limit the age for our beginner courses to juniors aged 11 and older. We find this age is best suited to this intensive form of coaching.
What happens after the Archery Beginners Course?
If you decide to take up the sport of field archery with us, then you can join our club and shoot as a member. To shoot as a member of Blaidd Field Archers, you would also need your own equipment – you can discuss this with the coaches during your course.
The costs of archery are relatively inexpensive compared to many sports. Basic costs to be budgeted for would include:
- Your equipment. You can spend as much or as little as you want, but we suggest starting with a basic setup that costs less than £200. We will recommend the type of equipment to buy and where to buy it. See this page for a rough guide to archery equipment.
- Membership fees to the governing body. We are affiliated with NFAS, the National Field Archery Association. There is an annual fee to become an NFAS member.
- Membership fees to Blaidd Field Archers. The final fee is for our club; it covers our costs to run the club, pay for our shooting ground, and cover maintenance and new equipment. We always aim to keep this fee as low as possible. Here is a link to the membership fees
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Eye Dominance Test
If you plan to complete the inquiry form at the end of this page, please include your eye dominance. Everyone has a dominant eye, and it normally corresponds to their dominant hand, but some people are cross-ocular.
Step 1
Make a triangle with your hands as shown above. Then pick a distant object, such as a clock on the wall, and look at it through the triangle with both eyes open. Put the object in the centre of the triangle.
Step 2
Now close your left eye. If the object stays in the centre of the triangle, you’re right eye dominant, if it moves out of the centre, you’re left eye dominant. Everyone has a dominant eye.
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Book a place on our next course
Use the form below to book a place or multiple places.
VERY IMPORTANT: Once you have booked, you will receive a confirmation email. This may go into your spam/junk folder. Please check for this email as soon as you have booked, as it contains important information about the booking. The email will come from [email protected]. Any future emails will also come from this address, so we suggest you add it to your address book.
If you don’t find it, please email us.
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Get in touch with us
Please read all of this page before you fill in the form, as it answers many of the questions that we get asked after someone has filled in the form. It’s not a long page but it’s really important that you read it before filling in this form. Thanks
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