A group of coaches have completed the Archery GB Level 3 Programme Coach Award equipment weekend in Scotland.
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A total of eight coaches (seven from Scotland and one from the North of England) completed the course which was delivered by Lloyd Brown and Duncan Busby.
The pair have, between them, a wealth of knowledge and experience of tuning and maintaining equipment.
Bill Mackay was in attendance as an Archery GB Coach Developer observing the course.
He said: "Both weekends were well received by the coaches but also the archers that attended to assist the Programme Coaches hone the skills they had achieved over their coaching career. The format was very relaxed but also very flexible.
"The first weekend was very much focused around archers and coaches working together towards achieving a positive impact on how we learn and build on our progress as an archer and a coach.
"The equipment weekend was also very busy with other archers and bows to play with.
"There was also discussion of development of more workshops and other activities. So a great opportunity for our Programme coaches to share their experiences with archers. It was great to see coaches so passionate about this area of archery."
The weekend is part of the Level 3 Programme Coach Award which has been developed to help coaches take their coaching to new heights.
Designed based on the latest research into effective coaching methodologies, the Level 3 course offers a comprehensive curriculum that encourages self-reflection, mentorship and personal development among new coach candidates. The course structure includes a blend of theoretical and practical elements, covering technical coaching skills, equipment management and sports sciences.
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Andy Findlay, course participant and coach at East Kilbride Archery Club was part of the Recurve group.
He said: "It was great getting to work with other archers and coaches with experience in recurve, barebow, longbow, traditional and compound disciplines in the same room. As our club has archers shooting all these styles it is good to have an awareness of what is required to coach in all disciplines.
"I would say the other big learning from the weekend was that video can be a powerful tool. Being able to have instant feedback on what is actually happening as opposed to what you might think is happening, with the option to slow down/replay video clips, can be an eye opener. Seeing high speed video in action where it identified a longbow arrow clearance problem that would not be visible to the naked eye was brilliant.
"This led on to various chats on if it would be possible to get access to a similar camera for use in Scotland and we will certainly be doing a lot more work with video at our club going forward."
Caroline Buchanan, course participant and coach at Bannockburn Bowmen was part of the Compound group.
She said: "Lloyd continually reinforced the importance of drills and skills and using lightweight bows to establish good form. Something I think is forgotten with our club archers who are always looking to increase poundage.
"Using the mirrors, in this respect, picked up the importance of stance and posture and achieving correct balance.
"The archers I worked with were very pleased with the coaching and had a lot to work on. The instant improvement they saw from very small adjustments was remarkable. Some wanted to come back the next day."
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Sandie Graham, course participant and coach at Falkirk Company of Archers was part of the Barebow/Longbow/Traditional group.
He said: "We got to see slow motion videos of both good arrow clearance and some poor arrow clearance. We learned about some issues which can cause poor arrow clearance and how to remedy them.
Barebow set up was interesting. Once we were happy with our bow set-ups we did bareshaft tuning, and then filming with the slow motion camera for arrow clearance. It was interesting to see the effects of string walking on arrow flight, with the arrows bending up and down like a compound depending on how deep the crawl was."
The attendees will now start putting all the learning from the weekends into practice and continue on their Level 3 coaching journey.
Euan Murray, from Scottish Archery, said: "We would like to take this opportunity to thank Lloyd and Duncan who travelled up to Scotland to deliver, to Archery GB supporting with arranging the course, for The Ancient Society of Kilwinning Archers (ASKA) for hosting this weekend for the second time at Greenwood Academy in North Ayrshire with the use of bosses and support with setup too.
"Thanks also to the archers who attended to support the course participants."
We will be arranging more Level 3 courses in 2025 so follow us on social media and use our course finder to book your place:
