Donna Said:

Does anyone know anything about ARCHERY!?

We Answered:

Well I teach archery and compete on a regular basis.

First I'll answer your question. You vary the distance by varying the angle you hold the bow. You will never hit anything if you vary the draw length. In order to hit anything consistently, the arrow must be drawn to exactly the same place on your head. This is called the archer's anchor. Most Olympic shooters anchor with the string firmly lodged somewhere near the archer's chin and the bone of his index finger all the way to the base of his thumb firmly tucked under his jawbone. Other archery discipline will have different anchor position. But one thing is constant, the anchor do not move from shot to shot.

A very long paper can be written on the physics of arrow flight. Unlike bullets, arrows are not point like projectile. So a lot more forces are acting on it compared to a bullet. The arrow, for example, must be spined properly to the bow and the archer to shoot well. You see, when shot the arrow will bend, this is more critical with recurve and longbows than with compounds. Compound bows will compress the arrow in the vertical plane, while recurves or longbows compresses the arrow in the horizontal plane. This is due to the finger release vs mechanical release of the compound. This fact alone is the reason why it's very important for recurves/longbows to have a properly spined arrow.

The spine of the arrow is determined by the person's draw length, and the draw weight of the bow at that draw length. Arrows that are too light, bends too much and will have an erratic flight, resulting in a very broad grouping. Too stiff and the arrow will be too heavy. It's better to have arrows that are too stiff than too weak, but if you're way too stiff then the arrow won't group well either. For more detailed physics of arrow flight, check out the works of Joe Tapley. He's an engineer who happens to love shooting. I think his original site was taken down a few months ago. But you can find a copy of it here http://www.goarchers.org.uk/mechanics/

My regular lesson plan about archery goes something like this.

First we talk about equipment, different parts of the bow and the safety equipments you need to shoot(arm guard, finger tab and quiver). For more info on the bow here's a very concise document http://www.texasarchery.org/Documents/Ar…

Then on to the shooting technique. This is the one most used in the US, called the nine steps to the ten ring.

1. Stance, stradle the line with feet shoulder width apart.
2. Grip, hold the bow lightly
3. Nock, put an arrow on the string
4. Pre Draw, raise the bow. Look at the target and lock the head in place.
5. Draw, bring the string back to the...
6. Anchor, bring the string to the chin and hand under the jaw
7. Aim
8. Release, relax the drawing fingers
9. Follow Through, keep the bow on the target and let the drawing hand swipe back to the back of your neck.

Then last but not least, we talk about safety. The few points that always need to be covered is

1. How to walk to the target safely, believe it or not I've seen more injuries on the range while people walk to the target than anything else.
2. How to pull the arrow from the target. Always have the students be aware of the surrounding.
3. Make sure everyone is paying attention, and never pull an arrow out of the quiver until everyone is safely behind the shooting line.

Hope that helps. You can email me if you have any more questions.

Roberto Said:

Question for fellow homeschoolers.?

We Answered:

From personal experience and from talking with other homeschool moms, you seem to be right on with the amount of time. As your child gets older, there will be more time needed to complete lessons, but more can be done independently (ie you assign the work and he/she completes it on his/her own.).

Remember that in public schools, not only are they trying to teach more than one child at a time, but they are dealing with a LOT of other issues. Classroom management (dealing with behaviors) takes about half of a teacher's day. I know, I taught for 13 years before staying home with my daughter. Plus, they do recess, lunch, etc. This often takes over an hour of each day.

I'm glad that you can balance home schooling and full-time work. What a challenge!