Please note that there is a minimum age limit for our Beginner Courses as described below.
This minimum age limit is 10 years old.
Please don't ask if there can be an exception for someone younger than 10 years old, because the answer will always be a 'No'.
There is no upper age limit, assuming you are able to safely pull and control the bow.
Before anyone can join an archery club in the UK, they must first complete a Beginner's Archery Course which will introduce the new archer to various aspects of archery, and bring them up to a standard of archery considered "safe" for shooting up to 20 yds. At this time, the archer is then ready to join other club archers on the shooting line, and you will receive a certificate of safe shooting. This certificate can be taken to any archery club in the UK to show them you have received proper instruction to shoot safely, been instructed in various aspects of archery, its rules and etiquettes, and you can ask to join their club, if they have the capacity to accept you.
As mentioned, the main subjects we will teach you in order for you to obtain your certificate include:
Not a specific part of the certificate requirements, but we may take any opportunity that arises to show you how to repair equipment (like parts of the arrows, etc.) and also let you know when you might be ready to purchase your own equipment and how to prepare for your first kit. Please DO NOT buy any equipment now. What is right for you at the start of the course will not be right for you just a few weeks or a couple of months after you have started shooting. We provide equipment for the course and after it finishes, if you decide to go on and join our club. We will upgrade it as your technique improves and your equipment requirements change. When you have settled into your correct technique and built up to the position where you are ready, usually around 6 months, we will then be happy to help and advise you in purchasing your own equipment, if you would like.
Due to running extra Beginners' Courses in 2022, we have reached the the membership capacity of our archery club. We will continue to run Beginners' Courses in the future, but this means that we may not be able to offer a place in our club to everyone who completes a course with us.
The certificate you receive when you have competed the course is valid at other archery clubs, if they have the capacity for you to join.
We run our Beginners' Courses throughout the year. Courses usually (but not always) consist of 4 sessions which normally run on Saturday afternoons from 1pm to 4pm. This includes one or two intervals in the middle of each session for light refreshments and some archery education that is required to complete the course. We occasionally run on other days of the week or even run a compressed course over three sessions, each usually running from 1:00pm to 5:00pm to make up the 12 hours needed for a course. We have found that the longer 4-hour sessions for a compressed courses don't tend to be suitable for juniors, though we won't reject a junior if you are sure they will cope with the longer session times.
Dates for a four-session, indoor course March to April 2024
This course is now fully booked
We plan to arrange more courses later in the year, so keep checking back for details of future courses.
Attendance on all the sessions of the course is compulsorily in order to complete the course and obtain your certificate, so please only apply if you are able to commit to all sessions.
If you are interested in taking a course you first need to add you name onto the Beginners' Course Waiting List by completing the on-line Enrolment Form. Then every time we announce a new Beginners' Course we will automatically email everyone on the Waiting List with all the course details. If you are able to attend all the dates of that course, the email contains instructions on what you have to do next in order to get yourself onto the course itself.
We try to make the sessions fun and enjoyable for all, whilst still providing fully qualified, structured training. We hope you will also enjoy taking your course with Targeting Archery.
[ 1 ] Note: Under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult at all times during all of the course sessions.
Our courses are normally run over four lessons, though we do run courses over a different number from time to time.. Lesson one will start with enrolment and be followed by a brief description of the equipment you will be using throughout your course, including the recurve bow, arrows and various other archery accessories. You will also receive important safety instructions which must be followed at all times. Soon we will get down to business, starting with a demonstration of shooting in the "Barebow" style of archery. Then it is your turn and you will get plenty of time to practice shooting under our qualified guidance.
Every archery lesson will have a short interval in the middle to give you a break and chance to take refreshments. During this interval some information about various aspects archery will be provided, that you need to know about to complete the course. The second half will mostly be dedicated to your practice. In the early stages, hitting the centre of the target is not important. What we will be looking for is how your arrows are grouping on the target face.
In subsequent lessons you will be shown how to set-up and take-down your own bow and have sights added to the bow when you will then be shown how to shoot in the more common "Freestyle" method. Now with sights attached, these can be adjusted to match your shooting style and you will find your group of arrows moving towards the centre!
Places are kept low on each course to give you the best 1-on-1 coaching as well as giving you the most opportunity to shoot, because you are not in a large group of people doing the same course. So enter your details into the Enrolment Form early to avoid disappointment and we will get you shooting as soon as possible.
Please refer to the FAQ page for more information.