InFocus Archery Coaching

19/10/2024

Full day of some bow and arrow set up and tuning with on her Rev 34 and 37 bows 👌 No fiddling needed for this hole but the process has only just begun! 💪
And now for a chill evening watching the cup finals 🔥

15/10/2024

Running the Assessment Day for the Youth Compound Squads last weekend
Some great young talent on show makes for an exciting future for GB 🇬🇧🔥
Next we start the squads for the winter season 💪🫶
📸

08/09/2024

An awesome Archery GB National Tour Finals complete and I was honoured to be asked to coach 4 of the women finalists this year. They all shot exceptionally well and I’m incredibly proud of them all, as I hope they are of themselves! 💪

From Jodes, with the win fresh back from her Paris success, P making her first podium at her second appearance in 3rd, to Hallie and Mia coming 4th and 5th respectfully, all with some great scores and great attitudes throughout 🔥

Well done to all the finalists, and congratulations to the amazing team that put these events on and keep making them better and better 🤩

📸 Malcolm Rees

14/07/2024

That completes the week here coaching the team in Ploieşti at the European Youth Championships.
The team did really well in super challenging conditions, with temperatures consistently hitting over 40 degrees, and wind varying all week up to twister level.
I’m especially proud of our compound team, bringing home 8 medals 🥇🥇🥈🥈🥈🥉🥉🥉 plus 3 more in the combined cup. We also saw a lot of successes away from the medals as well, with some great attitudes and commitment to quality performance behaviours.
I have to thank the hard work of the coaches that help me run this programme over the many preparatory squads as well as those staff in the trips themselves.
And obviously credit to the amazing effort from all of the archers!

04/05/2024

It’s and the theme this year is and there are so many coaches that have supported me in getting to this point that I couldn’t possibly name them all!
From my first coach as a kid, Mike Cross, that taught me what good coaching should be as he showed me the fundamentals of compound archery… to my colleagues today that teach me every day how to be better.
My coaching team on the compound youth squads for giving their everything to make GB’s compound program the best it can be, and the experienced coaches of the senior team that invite me to support them and teach me more at every opportunity too.
For every coach and person that teaches me, supports me, reminds me of my value and gives me their time, thank you!
And for every archer that trusts me to support them, that buys in to the opportunities our squads offer, and that gives the best of themselves, thank you!

26/04/2024

So we all experience pressure at some point when we shoot. Whether you label it pressure, nerves, or just being distracted, we can’t always have the best headspace for performance. At the club about to shoot a PB, or shooting one arrow that’ll be the difference between success and failure of months of hard work, it’s all pressure and we should be training for it!

Start by answering some questions:

- When I’m under pressure I feel:
(You might answer “uncomfortable”, “shaky”, “out of control”)
- When I’m under pressure I think:
(You might answer “about score”, “about the outcome”, “that it’s life and death”, “that I don’t have time”, “about all the things I can’t control”
- A time when I felt the most pressure was:
- A time when I handled pressure really well was:

Then you can use those thoughts to help frame your preparation. Try to find tasks you can do in training that will replicate some of those triggers and feelings you’ve experienced before. Practice focussing on your form, what you can control, despite the elements of the task you’re doing!

For example, if you feel pressure most when you feel you NEED a 10 then try sessions that focus on shooting 10s, like set yourself a target of number of tens and don’t finish until you’ve got that many.

You can get really creative, and you can’t really go wrong, other than not training for pressure at all!

24/04/2024

Draw length and poundage are important measurements we all consider. Draw length in particular is crucial and has a massive impact on performance. But it can be easy to forget your axle-to-axle (ATA) length.

Manufacturers test their bows for maximal efficiency, and set their bow specs, for a set ATA so it’s good to keep your ATA measurement at least close to where it’s supposed to be.

If you notice your draw length or poundage aren’t what the specifications suggest, it’s worth checking your ATA!

Check out the pictured table to see how these three measurements affect each other! It can be a tricky balancing act, but it’s much easier to keep these measurements working than it is to correct it when the ATA has gotten a long way from spec!

The smaller arrows mean it has less affect, the sideways arrows don’t necessarily mean the measurements won’t change at all, but the change should be very small.

Keeping a bow in spec ensures you’re shooting it how it was intended to be shot, if you do lots of adjustments on the cables make sure you keep an eye on that ATA and track your moves!

19/04/2024

It’s important your peep lines up at full draw to avoid a distorted image but how do you get your peep lined up?

If you twist your string, offset your D-loop or push knots up and down your string… stop it! ✋🛑

These methods may work for you but they are all a compromise!
- Twisting the string twists your d-loop and affects your draw length (a tiny amount, sure, but if it’s avoidable why mess with it?).
- Offsetting your D-Loop may only be temporary and adds rotational force to your string and therefore the nock.
- Moving knots on your string relies on the knots staying solidly in place but if they’re that tight to stay still then moving them around can damage the string.

🤔🤔🤔
So how should you be getting your peep lined up?
Flipping the strands! 🤩

Before starting, mark where you want the peep and get a measurement:
1. Press the bow
2. Flip strands in the opposite direction to the way you want the peep to rotate
3. Flip one strand at a time, from both sides, making sure you flip the first strand each time
4. When it’s straight, try trying the peep in as pictured, rather than with knots above and below the string split, so the peep rotation doesn’t change after all that hard work

Oh and a peep tuner in the string can be a great way to get the last couple of degrees! 🔥

17/04/2024

I’ve been out of touch with these pages for a while now but I’m bringing ‘em back! 🤩

In 2022 I joined Archery GB as a Performance Coach working with the Paralympic programme and found myself with very little time on my hands! 🤪

While I’m still busy and not currently taking on new archers for coaching, I am going to start sharing a little more info where I can:

- Tuning
- Set up
- Form
- Coaching Practice
- What I’m up to

Here’s hoping I can make this a valuable place for learning and discussion 🤞

08/06/2022

An exciting step in my career! I’m really looking enjoying the new role and looking forward to having a positive impact and learning more!

Archery GB's Performance team has confirmed the new coaching line up for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games with the line up including a five-time Olympian.