It was with no small sense of trepidation that I met Tarkwin at his archery club on Saturday for my first attempt at shooting my bow since the ill-fated attempt at resuming archery last year.
That attempt led to months of pain, physiotherapy, and the unhappy expectation that I’d never be able to do archery again (never mind the other aspects of my life it’s affected). It’s over a year since that night and my left shoulder, arm and hand are still not 100%. While there is no longer any pain involved, there is a definite weakness and reduction in motor control. My natural ambidexterity is quite high, but I still find that fine or unusual motion with my left hand (turning a lock or key, crushing a can, etc) requires more attention than before.
Tarkwin had lent me his compound bow — jovially known throughout the archery world as the dark side and its practitioners as darksiders — as, although it requires a stronger initial pull than a recurve, once you pull it to full draw, the total weight on your fingertips is often a quarter of the draw weight (e.g. a 60lb compound only requires 15lb force to hold it at full draw), dependent upon the cams used.
The “dark side” moniker is based upon a number of factors, some real and some perceived:
- Reduced full-draw weight.
- Tilt level bubble to make sure the bow is vertical.
- Magnification lens in the eyepiece.
- Trigger release, rather than finger tab.
- The sense that compound is easier than other styles.
- The weirdness of the bow and attitude of the darksider behind it.
- Compounds seem to be the main preserve of sports hunters in other countries and indeed their target archery, giving it a kind of stigma here in the UK.
It’s probably partly to do with it “being different” (we are just tribal monkeys in shoes, after all) and lack of understanding of the skill required to do it properly. I saw some of the Archery World Cup on TV last year and the compound finals competition was exceptional to watch, even though I was watching it for the recurve events.
Anyway, after 8-10 ends on Saturday I discovered a few things:
- I had no pain at all, anywhere.
- My left arm was incredibly weak, which is unsurprising after over 18 months of favouring it and doing no archery or strength exercises.
- I was able to use the compound quite well, considering it was my first ever attempt.
- Now, two full days later, there has been no aching or other DOMS symptoms.
It’s going to take some practice — a lot of practice — but it might be a viable way to get back into archery, assuming that I actually am unable to resume recurve.
I hope I can resume recurve. Not just because I have 2 recurve bows and an English longbow, but because I do enjoy it. Having said that, if recurve is out of the picture and I have compound as a viable alternative, then I’m not complaining. It just means I’ll have two bows to sell shortly!
