Beginners Course temporally suspended until June/July due to other commitments.  Please contact us if requiring further information.

BEGINNERS CLASS – INFORMATION SHEET
Welcome to Lough Cuan Bowmen’s course for beginners. The Club was formed in 1987 to promote archery (except hunting) as a sport and recreation. Your course will last for 6 weeks during which time we will instruct you on Health & Safety, some etiquette associated with archery, perhaps a little bit of history, different types of archery and…of yes… how to shoot a bow to a basic standard.

Chairman: James Sterling. Secretary; Arthur Halligey,  Coach: Andy Haggan, John Kenny, Arthur Halligey, Hilary Robinson .  Child Protection Officers: Anne Orr, Neil Gordon

BEFORE YOU START
Health & Safety: Wear suitable footwear, no loose clothing, open jackets, pockets, badges, jewelry or facial ornaments that may foul bow strings. Tie back long hair.
Medical: Any physical, learning or medical condition that may affect the candidate ability in archery sessions should be declared so that the coach can make necessary adjustments to his programme. Any information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

EXCERCISES.
As with any sport you will benefit from some simple exercises to get your blood flowing and warm your muscles up. When you have finished your session stretching exercises will prevent your muscles getting stiff next day
Stand upright. Hold arms across chest, hands meeting in the middle, elbows pointing to the side. Make circles with the elbows to work the back muscles and stretch the chest. Do not ‘bounce’ the elbows. Repeat around 10 times. A simple and effective starter exercise.

HEALTH & SAFETY. Accidents in archery are rare. Let’s keep it that way! Follow the basic rules 
       Always wear your bracer and tab. 
       Always listen to and obey your Target Captain 
       Only handle equipment when instructed 
       Never point a bow at any person or other living thing 
       Only draw a bow when standing on the shooting line 
       Only draw a bow with an arrow nocked if you are pointing at a target 
       When retrieving arrows always approach the target to the side 
       Carry arrows in a quiver or hold them as instructed 
       ‘FAST’ is the command to stop – DO NOT SHOOT. Someone has seen something that is unsafe. When all are satisfied that it is safe to shoot, the command ‘LOOSE’ is called 

YOUR COURSE
 A brief outline of your 6 weeks 

   WEEK 1 Introductions. Aims & Objectives Health & Safety. Zones –Waiting, Equipment, Shooting, Range. Equipment: Parts of Bow and Arrow, Bracer, Tab. Chest Guard, Quiver. Observe experienced archer followed by individual instruction. Shoot at 5m using a blank boss. Check for right/left handedness and eye dominance. 

   WEEK 2 Shoot from 10m demonstrating observed styles. The sequence of shooting is 
       STANDING. A good shot is built from the ground up 
       NOCKING. The action of nocking an arrow in a bow. The set-up 
       DRAWING. Pulling the bow string smoothly to a predetermined point 
       HOLDING. Using the correct back muscles and aiming 
       LOOSING. Relaxing the fingers to shoot the arrow and the follow through
Posture. Aiming with the body. Draw Force Line (DFL). Muscle Groups. Introduce 40cm 10-zone target.

Record of Bow used ..…Draw Weight @28”…… Right/Left hand………...Length………… Record of Arrow length ………………………………. 

WEEK 3 Shoot at 10m demonstrating Posture, DFL, Loose. Methods of Aiming. Focus on target/arrow/bow window. Point of Aim. Gap Shooting. String Walking. Face Walking. Unit Aim. Sights. Point Blank.

WEEK 4 Shoot at 15m demonstrating Aiming Methods. Organizational structures - NIAS, GNAS, FITA, IFAF, IFAA, BL-BS, TASI, NFAS. Types of Archery. Target, Field, Marks, Roving, Clout, Flight, Popinjay. Different Bow Types/Styles. Longbow, AFB, Recurve, Compound, Trad, Barebow, Bowhunter, Limited, Unlimited. Scoring Zones.

WEEK 5 Shoot at 18/20m. Club Secretary. Structure & benefits of club membership. NIAS President. Rounds, Competitions, Whistle Commands. Basic equipment maintenance.

WEEK 6 ‘Competition’

QUESTIONS AND FEEDBACK
You are encouraged to ask questions at any time if you are unclear about any aspect of archery. Your instructors would appreciate hearing any comments you may have about the course and their own performance as these may help to improve the quality of instruction.
 Please rate on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being poor, 10 being excellent 
      How did you rate the course overall? [    ] 
      How did you rate the venue? [    ] 
      How did you rate the quality of instruction?   [    ] 
      How did you rate your Instructor?   [    ] 
    If, at the end of your course, you are not interested in taking up archery please tell us why.
Any further comments you may wish to make may be written below

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I wish to apply for 6 one-hour lessons on Archery with the Club.
I agree to abide by all Club rules and regulations.
If the applicant is under 18 Parents/Legal Guardians must remain with their child/ward throughout the session. In the event of insufficient supervisory personnel the session for that child will be cancelled.
I/We acknowledge and understand that minor physical contact may be necessary as part of coaching.
The information that you have freely given to Lough Cuan Bowmen will be treated in the strictest confidence and under the Data Protections Act (1984) will only be used for the purpose for which it has been given.
The Club reserve the right to refuse an application for lessons and to terminate lessons with out notice when a partial refund will be given. To be retained by Lough Cuan Bowmen Name of Applicant……………………………………………….Date…/…/….
 Date of Birth (if under 18)…/…/…
I have read and understood the details of the agreement between Lough Cuan Bowmen and myself (or my child/ward where the applicant is under 18 and I, the Parent/Legal Guardian of………………………………………, agree to the above conditions in which I leave my child for the duration of the archery sessions).
 
Signed……………………………………….Applicant (or Parent/legal Guardian if applicant is under 18) Print……………………………………………………
Address ……………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………. …………………….........................................Contact telephone number.......................................................