clickers

[babylon5]

Originally Posted by ASW1973

rhys has a document i wrote on how to run structured novice training and what is looked for in a university setting, i have taught clicker use to groups of 8 students in a short session regularly and they have all left the session using the clicker.

ASW, I note that this (and previous posts on the subject by SP220) seem to be based around teaching archery to novices/beginners at university. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that means that your youngest beginner is going to be around 17/18 years of age, yes?

I think where some of the others are coming from is that "beginners" could be as young as 8-10 years old. Have you (and I open this to SP220 as well) applied the "clicker from day one" methods to similar sized groups of that age bracket?

[ASW1973]

8 0r 80 it makes no difference, why should it? and yes I have taught juniours in groups to use clickers.

[BowSurfer]

Originally Posted by sp220

There is no difficulty at all in a beginner learning to use the clicker, they pull the arrow untill it goes click - even for them it is a simple process.

But surely that is not the correct way to use a clicker! Pull till it goes click, then loose - when do you get around to aiming? The archer should decide when to loose, not the clicker.

And do you really believe that as an archers technique and musculature improve with shooting that their draw length isn't going to change? is there really no basis for what beginners have always been told about not buying themselves a set of arrows straight away because after 6 months they will probably need a different length?

[John (OSF)]

I'm still bothered about this, as most of the people I teach are recreational archers and are just looking for a hobby that has nice kit.
To create the kind of atmosphere that would be necessary to teach clicker across the kind of age ranges and abilities that usually present themselves at our courses (and in a sensible time scale) would have them asking for their money back.
On the other hand, once the course is done and the people that wish to improve beyond just blasting away (and are willing to do what is necessary) have identified themselves, it's then that we start down that 'emotional rollercoaster' .

People come along to our courses for lots of different reasons (some just to spend time with their kids) and I think a large part of my job as a coach (at my level anyway) is to be sensitive to what the beginner/novice acually wants out of archery, and tailor their sessions to suit

I'm willing to come along and watch a session or two to see how it's done, just in case it's my lack of abilty/experience that's holding people back from getting into the clicker from day 1

[not dead yet]

well i opened up a can of worms with this thread......still believe you DO NOT put a clicker on till the archer has settled in.....

everyone to their own i suppose..

mind you i would like a couple of really keen archers around my area for starters,,that would help

[not dead yet]

sp220, me old chuffer.

i did state either in this thread or another clicker thread, regarding settling in on draw length.

had numerous ex rifle shooters, when they start archery they are all hunched as if shooting though a rifle scope. when they stand up straight and get in line ,i have known one of these shooters gain 2" on draw length.

how many clubs have enough euipment to put clickers on beginners bows.
or a multitude of arrows for that matter.

for the average beginner its thinking about ...shoulder down ,elbow back,sight , follow through ..and you lot want to add a clicker.....

ideal world......

after last weeks postings sp220 you were talking sense. now you've gone back to the village.


the 2 main advocates of putting a clicker on straight away ,one coaches for a living and has time to spend with the archers,and your not telling me said person doesn't show proof that euaac inst the best team in the country, so you'll do it my way.
the other one owns a shop, probably has an outdoor range at the shop. and yet again will have time to spend with said beginners

i rest my case.

this is nothing to do with coaching either its purely different peoples usage of the clicker, time scale of when to use

pete

[WhitehartFB]

It is also interesting that those with a more competitive nature and move in that environment are in no doubt that a clicker is good from the start.

But those that deal with the realities of the club beginners course in the UK - 1 hour a week teaching with 167 hours for the student to forget are more wary, probably not because they disagree with clicker use but the actual practicalities of making it work. Afterall this is voluntary by the coaches or club members after a hard days work.

The other consideration is that not everyone who goes on a beginners course ends up with asperations to shoot Olympic recurve many gravitate to longbow, traditional or even directly to compound.

In the UK and at most clubs the beginners course is really no more than an introduction to the sport and range safety, this is also representative of the trainees some are very keen others not so. The real coaching/training starts when they join the club and some commitment is shown to want to know more about the discipline they want to shoot.

[not dead yet]

It is also interesting that those with a more competitive nature and move in that environment are in no doubt that a clicker is good from the start.(quote from whitehart)

hmmmm.
does most national tournies and welsh team for 9 yrs not count as competitive nature then,

pete

[ASW1973]

i have talked pureley from a technical point of view and as has been pointed out the culture i work in and manipulate. I have thanked whiteheart because he has put it very sensibly. although i agree with what sam and pete have said.
I am lucky that i work in the way I choose to.......
however the basic concept of how a clicker fits in does in my opinion need to be looked at here in uk

[chemistry]

Isn't part of the problem the fact that beginners courses begin almost immediately with giving people bows and arrows? Most of the students don't even know which way round the limbs on a recurve go, let alone what a clicker is/does...

Perhaps the first session ought to be a demonstration by experienced archers of their equipment & how they shoot it, so people can see what the end goal is and have at least a basic understanding of what key components of a bow, such as a clicker, are for. It might help stimulate enthusiasm too, as the wooden riser training bows we start people on don't have the 'wow factor' of a decent recurve with all the bells and whistles. Even better, send students a simple intorductory pack to read before they start, so they know the basic theory before they pick up a bow...

Thinking back to when I started a couple of years ago, a clicker seemed to be something that the 'best' archers used (i.e. not for mere beginners like me), so it was ages before I plucked up the courage to fit one...of course as soon as I did my scores jumped up! Personally therefore I am in favour of fitting clickers early, to remove the mystique associated with them.

I realise this is a recurve only perspective - longbow & compounder's no flaming please!