BLAIDD FIELD ARCHERS NEW MEMBERS INFORMATION 2019 WELCOME TO BLAIDD FIELD ARCHERS Blaidd Field Archers are dedicated to the enjoyment and development of archery and would like to welcome all new members. This small document is designed to help you integrate into the club and also help you progress if you are new to the sport. It will give you some useful information and should help you understand this new sport you have taken up. If you are already an archer, lots on info in here will be known to you, so sorry if it’s obvious, but this document is mainly for new archers. It is by no means a definitive guide and the best way to get the most from this sport and to become a part of the club is to get to know the members. We pride ourselves on being a friendly club and I hope that this has come across during your beginners course. We want to continue that friendly approach into the future with all members, both new and current. We are sure you will enjoy being a member of Blaidd and we look forward to many years on the shooting line in your company. CLUB OFFICIALS Chairman Marc Lovell Secretary Ken Davies Treasurer Lee Price Coaching Officer Ken Davies blaidd.info Equipment Officer Marc Lovell @blaiddfieldarchers Web Master Ken Davies @blaiddfieldarchers BLAIDD FIELD ARCHERS NEW MEMBERS INFORMATION 2019 I’M A NEW MEMBER, WHAT NOW? Shooting with Blaidd Field archers as a member. Full Blaidd Member - Provisional NFAS Member There is a very important difference between an NFAS provisional member and a full member and how it relates to shooting with us and at other clubs. Your initial NFAS membership will be a provisional membership. This means you can shoot as often as you like at the club, as long as you are accompanied by a full NFAS member. This being the case you would need to ensure that every time you are on the course, there is a full member present and shooting with you. This rule would apply to the majority of members who have just joined from one of our beginners courses. Becoming a full NFAS member To become a full and plus member, which allows you to shoot under your own volition, you would need to be signed off by our coach Ken Davies. This is different from the standard you reach at the end of a beginners course, although some archers may reach this standard at the end of a course. The sign off process is not just so you can shoot under your own volition, but also that the club is saying you are at a standard where you could attend an open shoot on your own. Please contact one of the club officials should you think you are at the standard required to achieve NFAS sign off and Ken will arrange to assess you. Note: Under 16’s must always be accompanied by an adult, even when signed off. Full Blaidd Member - Full NFAS Member As a full member of both NFAS and Blaidd You can shoot as often as you like at the club with no restrictions, other than that placed on deep insurance requirements. Please Refer to the shooting guidelines you will have received when you joined as a member. Membership terms Your blithe membership runs for 12 months from the date you joined but please be aware that to continue to shoot with us you also require an up-to-date and NFAS membership. NFAS membership runs for 12 months from 31st March each year. Both your NFAS and Blaidd membership cards must be carried with you at all times. Phil Coley MEMBER NAME Alexander Lindley October 5th 2019 MEMBER NAME David CarmenMEMBERSHIP EXPIRES Ken Davies MEMBER NAME October 5th 2019 MEMBER NAME Full Senior September 30th 2019 MEMBERSHIP EXPIRES MEMBERSHIP TYPE October 16th 2019 MEMBERSHIP EXPIRES MEMBERSHIP EXPIRES Please carry this with youFull at all Junior times U16 when using the course. Full Senior MEMBERSHIP TYPEFull Senior MEMBERSHIP TYPE MEMBERSHIP TYPE Please carry this with you at all times when using thePlease course. carry this with you at all times when using the course. Please carrywhen this using with the you course. at all times BLAIDD FIELD ARCHERS NEW MEMBERS INFORMATION 2019 YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT Despite the temptation to run out and buy equipment the week you finish the beginners course, please talk to the coaches and read this document first to make sure you don’t make a mistake. Equipment falls into two general areas. Your shooting equipment, such as bow and arrows and your personal equipment such as tab/glove and quiver. Shooting equipment It can seem very daunting buying your first bow. You have to decide what style of bow you want to shoot, recurve, compound, longbow or one of the many different styles of wooden bows. And then what NFAS shooting style you want to adopt. Below are abbreviated version of the shooting styles. A complete list of the attributes and restrictions are in your NFAS rule book. Shooting style In fact your choice of equipment may in fact come down to the NFAS style you want to shoot. We teach both split finger and three under on our courses and use recurve bows without sights, so you will naturally fall into Barebow, Traditional Bowhunter or Hunting Tackle. However its also easy to transition into Longbow, American Flatbow or Primative using essentially the same basic techniques. Transitioning into Freestyle requires a bit more training, just to get used to using a sight, but is relatively simple. However the other styles require a compound bow or crossbow and lots of additional training. Style Code Bow type and arrow type Release/loose Sight One piece wooden bow, with no cutout. Wooden arrows Any type of hand No and no string or Primitive PV with feather fletchings. loose is allowed face walking One piece wooden bow, with no cutout. Wooden arrows ‘Mediterranean’ No and no string or Longbow LB with feather fletchings. Split finger only face walking One piece wooden bow, with cutout less than centre. ‘Mediterranean’ No and no string or American Flatbow AFB Wooden arrows with feather fletchings. Split finger only face walking One piece or take down bow of any construction, arrow ‘Mediterranean’ No and no string or Hunting Tackle HT rests allowed. Wooden arrows with feather fletchings. Split finger only face walking ‘Mediterranean’ Bowhunter BH Compound bow. Arrows and fletchings of any material No Split finger only One piece or take down bow of any construction, arrow Split finger or three No and no string or Barebow BB rests and pressure button allowed. Any arrow. under face walking One piece or take down bow of any construction. Arrows Split finger or three No and no string or Traditional Bowhunter TBH must be synthetic with feather fletchings. under face walking One piece or take down bow of any construction. Rests, Yes and string Split finger or three Freestyle FS buttons and stabilizers are allowed. Arrows and fletchings and face walking under of any material. allowed Compound bow. Rests, buttons and stabilizers are ‘Mediterranean’ Compound Limited CL Yes. Pin sight only allowed. Arrows and fletchings of any material. Split finger only Yes of any type Compound bow. Rests, buttons and stabilizers are Mechanical release Compound Unlimited CU except telescopic allowed. Arrows and fletchings of any material. aid allowed or laser sight Crossbow, not compound crossbow. Bolts and fletchings Yes including Crossbow CB Trigger of any material. telescopic BLAIDD FIELD ARCHERS NEW MEMBERS INFORMATION 2019 EQUIPMENT OPTIONS There are many, many different types and makes of bows, arrows and accessories available and again the choice of equipment you choose may be determined by the style you want to shoot. Getting the right equipment is key to good shooting, and the correct development of your skills and ultimately the enjoyment of the sport. Bow This is obviously the single most important piece of equipment and will normally be the most expensive piece of your equipment, so it’s important you get it right. We can’t possibly cover every bow option and make here, so we have broken it down into small chunks and tried to give you the basic info you need. As you will have been taught using a recurve bow, we suggest that this should be the bow to get as your first bow, but of course the choice is yours. Recurve bow There are two basic styles of recurve bow, one piece and take down and two basic types, Traditional (made of wood) and Olympic (made of a combination of man-made and natural materials). Both are used widely in NFAS, but you will see more Traditional recurves than Olympic style on shoots. Advantages and disadvantages Man-made bows can tend to have a more consistent performance than wooden bows as they are not effected by temperature and humidity as much as a bow made entirely of natural material. Pretty much all Olympic recurve bows will be a three piece take down bow using a metal or carbon fiber riser (handle) and laminated carbon and/or wooden limbs. Most people using this type of bow will be shooting in the Barebow class or in Freestyle if using sights, and will be using arrow rests and other shooting aids like a pressure button. American Flatbow and longbow These bows are similar in some ways and in some cases you will see flatbows listed as longbows or as American longbows. The main difference in general is that flatbows will have an arrow shelf and longbows don’t.