new archers in our club.A sign of the times ??

[oldy]

I have been teaching archery for 35 years now and I am wondering what we am doing wrong as our club have knocked our selves out over the past few years teaching 52 weeks of the year. We have Longbow Compound and Recurve at our club but it is smaller now than 5years ago.We have introduced incentive schemes to get people up and running ,we let people borrow club equipment for a reasonable while so that they know what equipment they want to buy.We are a friendly club but it is like filling a bucket with a hole in it . We keep taking people in and after a year or two they are off having lost interest. We try to encourage archers to shoot league scores ,we have club shoots and go to tournaments but I feel like we are losing the battle. Are we alone in this problem or is it symptomatic of the times we now live in .

[Old Bloke]

Wea re being told by the Governing Bodies, that membership is on the rise so I guess somebody is doing something right.

Many moons ago,(back in the 80's) I remember a survey going out to clubs (I never actually saw it) asking about membership and basicaly the question asked was:
Of people introduced into archery through courses/fetes etc how many are now left in the sport/club? The results were scarey, because when assembled it read something like this: Of 3,000 people introduced to archery, after 3 years only 3 were still in the sport and not necessarily shooting. I only got to see this report as I was British Champ (Indoor and Field) at the time and a power that be asked of my opinion as to why such a high drop out rate. Needless to say with a shocking loss rate, the complete survey and results never got into the public domain.
The numbers stuck in my memory and I still use it today when coaching someone who is struggling because the majority of folk do in fact struggle the most within the 3 years and leave our sport.
Those that get through the 3 year itch, probably stay with the sport for many many years. Unfortunately, these are very very few when you look at the whole picture.
You are not alone in the frustration you have, for I saw it in my own little club despite all my best efforts to keep them in.

[MarkH]

Hi Oldy,
Thats very interesting. I'm returning to shooting after a 12 year "diversion". I can only speak for the Kent recurve records but most still stand from the late 80's or early nineties. I suspect this is because, as you mentioned above, many more peolpe are not staying in the sport long enough to get to the levels required to challenge these records, even with modern equipment.

In the 80's/90's we still had a high throughput of new archers that woulod leave after a year (or less). We found people would leave because they were "encouraged to shoot" club tournaments, leagues etc, whereas they just wanted a casual shoot and a chat and no pressure, developing in their own steady time, if at all.

I think peolpe have less free time now, and archery does take a significant amount of time if you wish to keep improving, probably more than people realise, especially to get through 1st class and into B, MB and GMB. There is also alot of other activities all pulling on people's time, which has steadily increased over the years.

It would be interesting to know what the GNAS membership trends are for continous membership?

[Hidden Hippo]

A similar thing has happend in our club. We run 4 courses over the summer (and occasionally some in the winter) with around 10 on each course. This season we had 2 come along regularly for about 6 weeks after their course, although we've not seen them for a while. Out of around 40 people, we've had 2 buy equipment and seem like they are going to continue shooting.

[grimsby archer]

Originally Posted by Hidden Hippo

A similar thing has happend in our club. We run 4 courses over the summer (and occasionally some in the winter) with around 10 on each course. This season we had 2 come along regularly for about 6 weeks after their course, although we've not seen them for a while. Out of around 40 people, we've had 2 buy equipment and seem like they are going to continue shooting.

5 years ago our membership numbered 15. A rash of beginners courses over 2 years saw membership climb to nearly 70. Since then we have lost about 25% of the membership every year, but gained an equal number of new members keeping our membership steady at about 70.
Of our 69 current members, 27 have been with us more than 3 years.
It is really disapointing to put so much hard work and time into teaching new beginners for them to not want to join the club at the end, or to join and then never be seen again (at all in some cases) or not see the year out.
After conducting several surveys at the end of courses, it seems we just live in a today society. People come on the course to have an extended go at archery, then move on to something else. They see it as something to do, rather than as a personal challenge. one day I'l work out how to spot the difference between the stickers looking for that challenge and the "once I've shot a few arrows, judo looks good" crew. Then I'll know where to put my efforts and who to just hand a bow to and let them get on with it.
I guess I'm lucky in that after 5 years of running beginners courses, I now have a team of level1s who are taking over leaving me to more "worthwhile" tasks

[Thunk]

I think you'll find a high beginner drop-out rate in whatever sport you look at.

That said, can I climb onto my favourite hobby horse? I'm seriously gobsmacked at the lack of formal coaching ( or 'instruction' if you prefer) in this sport. We make people do a beginners course, and thereafter make the required smiley faces and welcoming noises when they turn up at the club, but that's not enough. People learn quite a lot on a beginners course, and one of the biggest things they learn is how much they don't know. It's OK for them to do the course and then shoot with club equipment for a while after, but they can see the standard of experienced archers, racking up good scores at 90 and 100 metres. What they don't see is any structured way to get from where they are to where they want to be. Is it any surprise that they become despondent and give up?

We need GNAS-sanctioned 'improvers' courses, and people should finish their beginners course knowing that in the ordinary course of events they will have a place on a course to take them up a level in about three months time. We need four or five levels like this, so that the courses are seen as 'stepping stones' to the ultimate goal.

There will of course be those who don't want to be competitive and are happy just plugging away at short-distance targets. That's fine, but the onus should be on them to decline a place on a course rather than for their competitive-minded brethren to go looking for one.

Or am I asking for the moon?

[ben_e71]

Originally Posted by grimsby archer

After conducting several surveys at the end of courses, it seems we just live in a today society. People come on the course to have an extended go at archery, then move on to something else. They see it as something to do, rather than as a personal challenge. one day I'l work out how to spot the difference between the stickers looking for that challenge and the "once I've shot a few arrows, judo looks good" crew. Then I'll know where to put my efforts and who to just hand a bow to and let them get on with it.
I guess I'm lucky in that after 5 years of running beginners courses, I now have a team of level1s who are taking over leaving me to more "worthwhile" tasks

I am a little concerned by this - I'm sure you don't mean it to be but it does come over a little superior and it isn't the first time I've heard this on this forum. As a beginner myself I think I can talk from a point of view. MY friend and I have both just finished our beginners course. At the start I went 'cause I had tried archery a few times and wanted to try some more to see if I wanted to invest considerable amounts of my hard earned to join a club (about £75) and another £200-300 to buy some kit. My mate came along cause I persuaded him to - he had never shot before and was intrigued. As it happens we both loved it and are looking to join a club (not necessarily the one we did our course at either - they happenned to be the only ones running a course at the time). But he wavered for a bit as did I. At the end of the day the club that did our course got £50 quid out of us for 6 hours work so surely everyone is a winner. Of course it is frustrating when people don't convert after a course but there again isn't a course just that a chance to try without commitment.

IN addition, the course is a chance to try out the ambiance of the club and its approach to training and this every club won't fit everyone.

[Harlequin-LA]

I did my beginners course some three years ago, and now I'm the only one from that course still with my club. However since that time the committee have taken the step of adding an extra to the course. After the six week course, anyone interested in joining the club is offered a three week further course, which in effect allows them to shoot three rounds, under a degree of supervision, and therefore gain their handicap. This obviously then gets the more competetive interested in Round of the Month - and keeps the interest up.

Seems to work for us!

[Old Bloke]

I wonder if the GNAS have ever written to members who do not rejoin to find out why? The answers might help in some way of retaining their clients.
As a footnote, in all the years I have been a member of the GNAS, I have never received a *Thank you* for joining that Society, when in fact there are two others within G.B. that could have had my money.
A small information pack about archery in general would also make the new client feel that they *belong*. I know some clubs do it, but it would make the GNAS, I'm sure, feel less distant.

[MATTeL]

Originally Posted by Thunk

What they don't see is any structured way to get from where they are to where they want to be. Is it any surprise that they become despondent and give up?

We need GNAS-sanctioned 'improvers' courses, and people should finish their beginners course knowing that in the ordinary course of events they will have a place on a course to take them up a level in about three months time. We need four or five levels like this, so that the courses are seen as 'stepping stones' to the ultimate goal.

I agree completely with these points.

I started shooting recurve 2.5 months ago and find that once I had finished the beginners course I was pretty much left to my own devices.

Members of the lub have offered some advice, often though it conflicts. So know I am phaving to put is all through an internal filter to find out what works for me.

Recently it was noticed that at full draw my arrow tip is resting against or near my button. When theis was raised with one of the senior members they said "sounds like you're pushing your shot".

Great thanks, that means what exactly and also why do I need my sight adjusted all the way right?

So I have kept pushing my shot, working on my release and shooting at blank butts trying to improve my groupings with my sight adjusted all the way to the right.

If I wasn't so pig-headed I might well have walked before now.