F*ck you archery club president

[Crossbow]

Even though I shoot pretty much anything that throws a long pointy stick downrange, I'm really only familiar with FITA or re-enactment shooting. I'm don't know what the specifics of the methods mentioned.

However, I will say that I've always considered archery (and any such shooting sport) to be a combination of two things: Precision and Accuracy. In my mind, precision is the far more important of the two. Until you can consistently put your shot exactly where you want it, hitting the bullseye is more a matter of luck.

Fireheart, can you give a quick explanation of which of the methods is easier for teaching Precision to new archers?

EDIT: And I don't care what the new name is. I'm still going to call it FITA.

[fireheart]

Fireheart, can you give a quick explanation of which of the methods is easier for teaching Precision to new archers?

EDIT: And I don't care what the new name is. I'm still going to call it FITA.

Everyone calls it FITA anyway, but this might provide some more clarity.

And re the "precision" question, my coaches are big believers in getting the foundations right first. By this, your posture, your setup (getting the bow ready), drawing and releasing. Then you concentrate on the little things in each area ie making sure that you're balanced on your feet and not leaning back or forward too far, that your shoulders are down on your setup and that when you release, your hand goes back towards your ear instead of snapping "out"

And I'm pleased to report that we have a happy ending: the father of one of the kids my instructor teaches has given my coaches space in his family gym to run his classes. It's big enough to accommodate both shooting and non-shooting archers, so in other words, the club is no longer the place to be
It does look like my male coach (the guy who runs the school) may swap clubs in the long-term, but for now he's playing his moves nice and quietly. As for me, I'm going to swap clubs when the time comes for me to renew my membership. I already have a membership with the state and federal governing bodies, it's just a matter of swapping allegiances So now I'm in the process of looking at other clubs for when that time comes. There's 1 that's an easier commute on the weekends.

[Crossbow]

Good to hear! Sounds like your coaches are on the ball.

[fireheart]

Well, if I wasn't leaving this club before, I am leaving now.

My male coach (awesome as he is) posted the entire story on our group page. Long story short, the president of the club has decided to wield his influence over everyone else and his superiority to the KSL technique and opted to expel my male coach from the club. What. A. Dick. (Female coach is fine as she works with the business who use the other half of the range for beginner classes and other archery classes for the general public. Expelling her from the club would have further ramifications)
My coach doesn't want anyone to swap clubs due to his decision, but I am still going to do so out of sheer disgust at the way the president is wielding his power. I was told by my SO not to get too involved in this, so swapping clubs is my way of keeping my temptation to say something in check. I will be posting something to the club notice board though before I go.
Fortunately, there are two other clubs I can access and my coach has found classes elsewhere, where he's more welcomed.

[fireheart]

And even better: coach and female coach were both offered positions with a club on the other side of town. He also has an associate membership with another club, which only shoots on Saturdays. This is fine for all of us. Nearly every single person that is currently training with him has also opted to move clubs, whether it's to the club he's associated at or to the club he has a main membership with.

For me it's an hour either way, but it's a toss-up between a bus ride and a short walk vs. 2 trains and a short walk. I'll most likely sign up with the associate club over the other club due to the distance.

As for the archery club president (who will hereby be referred to as Turtle's Egg from here on out), he's had to change the date of his meeting because some "key witnesses" will not be present on the original date. . Since I plan on leaving the club, I fully plan on going there and basically calling him out on his BS.

[Kittish]

As for the archery club president (who will hereby be referred to as Turtle's Egg from here on out), he's had to change the date of his meeting because some "key witnesses" will not be present on the original date. .

Key witnesses? For an archery club meeting? What, is he planning on holding a trial? Deciding who to make into the next target dummy? doesn't even begin to cover that.

[fireheart]

Key witnesses? For an archery club meeting? What, is he planning on holding a trial? Deciding who to make into the next target dummy? doesn't even begin to cover that.

Yeah, I'm just quoting off the email. I already pointed out that this whole thing simply SCREAMED "kangaroo court."

I did email archery Australia about my concerns, but I haven't heard anything back. Hopefully they might rain some karma down on Turtle's Egg.

ETA: and it looks like they have! Kinda...

I got yet ANOTHER email in my inbox today. Long story short, pushing the superiority of the method yet again. -.- Luckily both coaches have said "fuck it" and are moving elsewhere. I (in so many words) proceeded to politely tell him where he could stick his email.

[wolfie]

Yeah, I'm just quoting off the email. I already pointed out that this whole thing simply SCREAMED "kangaroo court."

I did email archery Australia about my concerns,

I see what you did there.

[smileyeagle1021]

One of the reasons so far I haven't actually gone to any clubs and we shoot on private land. That plus a few get snooty over Traditional Longbow around here and hate it if you aren't using sights etc and want to use a "plain" bow.

I had a similar problem at a range I used to frequent... people were real snobs about how I must just be too poor to afford a modern bow... um, no, I prefer the traditional because the modern bows feel like they are cheating. I look at a lot of the new bows with their pulleys and their sights and their counter balances and all I can think is damnit if you are going to throw that much modern tech on it you might as well go all out and add some gunpowder, a barrel, and a bullet.
Fortunately, there is an abandoned lot next to my mom's house that the owners have given us permission to set up a range in in exchange for keeping the weeds down. We can use our recurves and long bows free of criticism there anytime we like

Oh, and speaking of traditional shooting methods, this guy proves that you can be crazy fast and accurate using even the most basic equipment, in fact the more basic the equipment the faster and more accurate you can be.

[fireheart]

I had a similar problem at a range I used to frequent... people were real snobs about how I must just be too poor to afford a modern bow... um, no, I prefer the traditional because the modern bows feel like they are cheating. I look at a lot of the new bows with their pulleys and their sights and their counter balances and all I can think is damnit if you are going to throw that much modern tech on it you might as well go all out and add some gunpowder, a barrel, and a bullet.
Fortunately, there is an abandoned lot next to my mom's house that the owners have given us permission to set up a range in in exchange for keeping the weeds down. We can use our recurves and long bows free of criticism there anytime we like

Most clubs over here tend to have a mix of recurve and compound. My partner shoots with a medieval group, but will come to shoots with me every so often. My great uncle used to shoot barebow (recurve without sights and stuff), I may give that a go eventually.

[fireheart]

And it gets even better!

Got home today to find this gem on Facebook. Long story short, I wasn't the only one who had queried about the use of the KSL method in question and whether it was recognised or not. What I DID find out though was quite interesting .

Basically, said coaching program is not endorsed or approved by Archery Australia and in fact, nobody bothered to seek approval for it. Any coach who went through said scheme was not in fact recognised as a coach by Archery Australia AT ALL unless they went through the original coaching program! So really...there are about 5 different coaches who may or may not be actual coaches after all! (the "Level 3" coach they have at the club is the ONLY one I'm aware of who is recognised as a legitimate coach by Archery Australia as he'd gone through the Archery Australia program prior to this whole mess)

[fireheart]

And yet another nail in the coffin of Turtle's Egg.

I found out today that normally when you sign up for a club, part of your fee goes to Archery Australia, part of your fee goes to the state association and the rest goes to your club for CLUB-RELATED things. When you sign up as well, the club president is responsible for putting your details through the system and sending them off to Archery Australia (you can opt-out if you wish, but nobody does since it gives you the OK to shoot ANYWHERE).

What Turtle's Egg had been doing was sending off the applications, but he'd been changing people's email addresses to his own personal email before sending the application off. Luckily, my membership with the club is still valid and Archery Australia confirmed it today when I emailed them to update my email (since I would be switching clubs soon enough). Turns out that Archery Australia has been fully aware of this, but hadn't done anything up until now.

I think this is the start of karma

The kangaroo court is next weekend. After that, I'm going to go back to shooting again.

[rose_metal_nz]

What Turtle's Egg had been doing was sending off the applications, but he'd been changing people's email addresses to his own personal email before sending the application off. .................
Turns out that Archery Australia has been fully aware of this, but hadn't done anything up until now.

Aww whut? That's incredibly sucky on both his & their parts.

[Hanzoku]

Well, they would have to be aware of it. 30-odd people won't all have the same e-mail of Turtle.Egg@Provider.com

But yeah, it would have been nice if they would have stepped in in some fashion to let people know this was going on.

[Gilhelmi]

What Turtle's Egg had been doing was sending off the applications, but he'd been changing people's email addresses to his own personal email before sending the application off. Luckily, my membership with the club is still valid and Archery Australia confirmed it today when I emailed them to update my email (since I would be switching clubs soon enough). Turns out that Archery Australia has been fully aware of this, but hadn't done anything up until now.

I think this is the start of karma

I am sorry, but I do not follow. Why would he want to do that to begin with?

On a side note, I believe altering or redirecting personal communications is a serious crime in many places. Those Emails were not suppose to go to him, he could possible be charge with some type of fraud. (though doubtful any prosecutor would be willing to prosecute, he could be charged. In theory anyway)