Cup of tea thoughts.

[Old Bloke]

There is a rumour going round that FITA are looking to get compound archery into the Olympics. If this became the case, I was wondering what effect it would have on recurve archery? As it is now, at many shoots within G.B., half the entrants are now compounders and despite the Olympic inclusion, I can forsee the growth trend to continue, for, it wasn't that long ago when a compond bow, at a target shoot, was a rare sight. I was mulling over this aspect of archery whilst having a brew and got to thinking if and how the world of recurve archery would change, and given time, would the recurve bow become destined to the backwaters of useage in competitions like that of the Longbow, in other words, a minority activity?
What do the forum members think?

[wymkof]

Olympics for the darkside. Bring it on about time.

[sofnolime]

It's just the development of archery. The recurve has come a long way since it was a stick and a string. Look at the modern recurve with all the tuning variables, does it really have any comparison to a longbow?
I have moved back to recurve from compound and I am loving the challenge. I think it will be a long time before recurve archers will be a minority, shooting with the longbow and barebow shooters.

John

[bimble]

Where a modern recurve has come a long way from a stick and string, has it actually changed a lot in itself?? If you watch old movie clips of archery from the 80's the only visible change in recurves is the inclusing of the v-bar and holes in the riser. I have an old GM riser (I couldn't tell you how old, but they were produced for 25 years!!) which is perfectly acceptable and can easilly outscore me.

With compounds you can almost state the year of the photo by what bow the archer is using. Things are always changing and being a more forgiving bow style* it allows more weekend archers to take part, especially at the longer distances, without having to worry about tuning, shoddy release and all the other things that separate the masses from the elite.

Do I think that recurve archery is on the decline?? No. The majority of beginers are started off with a recuve and I think this will always be the case. And I would be surprised if compound archery even makes it as a demonstration sport by the 2020 games.


* - well, if you're only interested in hitting the target an "easier" bow style to use... though I wouldn't say easier to compete in

[Del the Cat]

I think the Oymic Archery would be much more entertaining if they had a field course, they could 'sex it up' with moving targets. Have two styles 'anything goes' and a primitive (Including longbow).
Who is it for? Do you want bums on seats? target archery... stiffles a yawn...
Maybe they could combine field archery and maoutain biking or Synchronised Swimming
Del

[TJ Mason]

One of the great things about a compound bow is that you can stay competitive with it even if you don't have many opportunities to shoot, whereas a recurve archer requires much more regular shooting to be competitive. That's a major reason why so many people have switched from recurve to compound in recent years.

And as we all seem to be getting shorter of time, I can see that trend continuing, helped by the inclusion of compound in the Olympics.

I'll be sticking to my recurve for now, though. Once a week. If I'm lucky.

[rod]

come on now OB, do you ever think there will be wood stabilizers on compound. you are 50 years ahead of your time.

there are archers who dont get the time to practise but would still like to be compeditive they go down the compound route, so really compound is good for the sport by keeping those involved who would otherwise give up.

[Nightimer]

Originally Posted by Del the Cat

I think the Oymic Archery would be much more entertaining if they had a field course, they could 'sex it up' with moving targets. Have two styles 'anything goes' and a primitive (Including longbow).
Who is it for? Do you want bums on seats? target archery... stiffles a yawn...
Maybe they could combine field archery and maoutain biking or Synchronised Swimming
Del

Agreed!!
What could be more boring (apart from watching paint dry) than "normal" target archery for spectators to watch.
Have you wondered why there are only 6500 seats at Lords.
If compounds were given the green light I think that number would have to increase greatly.
Although GNAS say they have 30,000 archers I wonder what the compound /recurve split is (now that would be interesting reading).
A field or 3D course would be a bit more exciting (but more difficult for spectators to see).
Checking the Olympic web page it looks like many other sports have more seating spaces than archery,that should tell you something.

[bimble]

Because there's a limit to how many seats you can fit on a course only 70m long when you're not allowed to make the stands too heavy that they'll damage the grass underneath?? Especially as the left hand stand will be the Pavilion which is probably the least seat heavy stand at the ground. though the most picturesque.

Originally Posted by Nightimer

Have you wondered why there are only 6500 seats at Lords.

[Nightimer]

Originally Posted by bimble

Because there's a limit to how many seats you can fit on a course only 70m long when you're not allowed to make the stands too heavy that they'll damage the grass underneath?? Especially as the left hand stand will be the Pavilion which is probably the least seat heavy stand at the ground. though the most picturesque.

I've just had a look at the Beijing archery field and although it was purpose built it "only "seats 5000.
So I guess that we are not doing so bad after all.
Still boring though!!!

[inkystu]

I'm worried about the future of recurve as a serious, competitive class of archery. Yes compound does keep archers in the sport who would otherwise leave, but it also takes good recurve archers away to the dark side to become another 1300 compound archer.

Dont get me wrong, I think to become a good compound archer takes as much, if not, (to a degree) more work than a recurve. I have seen this week a lady compounder shooting exceptionally well but not achieving her potential, ony to find her bow had lost some of its settings and required a full rebuild. Five hours later and the bow was back together but it will take a couple of weeks for her to regain total confidence in her shot again.

I think part of the reason a lot of people go compound is the sense of achieving more accuracy, not missng the gold so much, getting higher scores but in the great big mixing pot of this sport, are archers actually losing skills and doing the sport less because 'compound is easier to shoot'?

Our county has a severe lack of lady recurve at the moment. Its making county selection very difficult. Some ladies are 1st class but have achieved this shooting 60 yard rounds and cannot reach 80 yds/ 70 meters. This may be a 'coaching' issue or it may be the general problem of the time required for ladies to step up to their maximum distance in the same way a lot of gents struggle with 90/100.

I know at some point in time I will have to go compound due to an old injury. It wont be an easy decision for me when it comes to it but when I do, I will put as much time and effort into that as I do recurve. After all, our sport is ARCHERY, whatever shape your bow is.

[Riceburner]

Originally Posted by Del the Cat

I think the Oymic Archery would be much more entertaining if they had a field course, they could 'sex it up' with moving targets. Have two styles 'anything goes' and a primitive (Including longbow).
Who is it for? Do you want bums on seats? target archery... stiffles a yawn...
Maybe they could combine field archery and maoutain biking or Synchronised Swimming
Del

Eventing and Field Archery would go together well.....

[petehulme]

Originally Posted by Riceburner

Eventing and Field Archery would go together well.....

That would be great, even I can hit something the size of a horse!

[gtek]

Originally Posted by Old Bloke

There is a rumour going round that FITA are looking to get compound archery into the Olympics.

What rock have YOU been hiding under for the past five years? A "rumour" huh? LOL.

[bkupris]

I would like to think (hope) that if recurve bow technology continues to move forward and they continue to appear to be modern and cutting edge there will be a place for recurves for a long time to come in the olympics. Plenty of room for compounds and recurves in the olympics IMHO - saying that who's going to listen to me