Archery is more than just a sport, it has been used in history in wars, and now it is mostly used for hunting. Also, many people just enjoy it for fun and as a hobby. But being a sport that requires physical activity has a lot of benefits, even for people who want to enjoy it as a hobby and don’t take it on a professional level.
While counting the benefits, we can start with physical benefits. The physical benefits of archery are that it improves our hand-eye coordination, increases body strength by increasing muscle strength, and also improves overall health.
Also, being an archer has no age. Even the students who love archery can learn this skill easily and get a lot of benefits from it. Besides physical benefits, there are several other benefits like mental and social benefits. We will discuss each and every benefit in this article one by one.
Top 3 Physical Benefits of Archery
Just like you would have heard a lot about the physical benefits of working out and sports, the same benefits can be attributed to archery as it requires physical activity. And being active physically ensures you improved hand-eye coordination and an increase in muscle strength and upper body flexibility.
1- Helps to Improve Hand-Eye Coordination
An archer needs to be focused to aim at his target and shoot the arrow correctly. It requires you to look at your target with your eyes and move your hands at the same time. Therefore, it helps to improve the hand-eye coordination of an archer.
If an archer is not practiced coordinating his eyes and hands, he misses his target. So, this physical benefit is in reality the natural or learned skill of an archer that can come in handy in many other aspects of his life. He gets better at multitasking in both his physical and mental activities. The more you get focused on something, the more you get better at it.
2- Helps to Increase Body and Muscular Strength
It’s well known that doing any kind of sport increases bodily and muscular strength. Archery improves the muscular strength of your arms, hands, shoulders, and torso as well. As the muscles of these parts of the body are mostly engaged in archery, they develop gradually with time.
As your muscle strength gets improved with practice, you also get to aim and shoot the arrow with more power. Therefore, it ultimately improves your archery skills and you get skilled at doing any task to your full potential.
3- Helps to Improve Upper Body Flexibility
As you will have to take an aim and shoot the arrow immediately sometimes, archery will also play a part in increasing your upper body flexibility. Moreover, standing and maintaining a posture will help you to correct your posture at times whenever you have to.
Even though archery is a physical activity, it does not require too much stamina or work to aim and shoot. So it can also be performed by people with minor physical issues and also by people of all ages. You can always start with basic level archery and get practiced easily.
Top 3 Mental Benefits of Archery
Besides physical benefits, there are several mental and psychological positive impacts of archery. Having a lot of physical benefits archery also offers you mental benefits as only a healthy body has a healthy mind. These mental benefits include confidence, better focus, and more patience, which in turn, reduces the stress and anxiety level.
1- Better focus
To begin with, as archery improves your multitasking skill, it helps you to focus and work in a better way. Doing your task or work with a better focus can help you achieve your goals more easily and more efficiently.
2- Patience and Less anxiety
When you will achieve your goals more efficiently, this will in turn help you to relax your mind and be patient in every matter of your life thus eliminating anxiety from your head like many other sports. Also, archery will teach you to be patient even if you don’t achieve your goal at some point. As archers and hunters might miss their target in the first attempt. It will increase their morale to try again and harder than ever.
3- More Confidence
Wondering how you’re gonna gain confidence in archery? In various ways. As you will learn a new skill by practicing archery, you will feel good about yourself. Also, when you will see that you can succeed in learning to shoot at your target with continuous practice, you will be confident about yourself in learning new skills and knowledge that you are capable of doing a lot.
Social Benefits of Archery
Archery helps to socialize and connect with other people. When you join a team for an archery competition, you learn to work as a team and coordinate with other people. Besides practicing and learning new tips and tricks from others, you make new friends and share your opinions with them.
Even if you don’t go to a lot of social gatherings, you get to know a lot of people and become a part of a big social circle. These people help you learn a lot of social skills and boost your confidence by supporting and motivating you.
Benefits of Archery for Students
As you can opt for this sport at any age, students can also learn and master archery. They will get the same benefits from it that a professional will. As it’s not always necessary to be a professional archer, you can choose it as a hobby or compete with your friends for fun.
Specifically for students, archery offers some great benefits. Students who are engaged in archery gets to learn discipline and learn to follow rules and regulations which makes them a better student. They find it easier to follow the instructions of a teacher. They remain physically fit and healthy. Also, they gain self-confidence and become efficient in their school activities.
As you can see archery has a lot of benefits. But archers are not only interested in these benefits of archery, they love this sport for what it is. Archery is an interesting sport that has many forms.
Interesting Facts About Archery
- As some remains of arrowheads were found in some areas of South Africa, considered to be 60,000 to 70,000 years old remains. These areas are known to be the places where archery originated. Archery comes from the Latin word “arcus” meaning bow.
- Since the time archery appeared in the Olympics in 1900, South Korea has won the most gold medals in it.
- The national sport of Bhutan is archery.
Types of Archery
- Target Archery
- Field Archery
- 3D Archery
- Traditional
- Bowhunting
Rules of Archery
As a sport, archery has several rules to be played in competitions which include that:
- If any archer drops or misfires arrows, he can only reshoot it if he is able to get it without passing the shooting line.
- In the competition, the final shot is called an upshot.
- When an archer’s arrow falls after hitting the target, the archer uses a flag to tell the judges.
- Scores are given on the basis of the mark of the arrowhead that can be seen on the target, so even if the arrow hits the target but doesn’t leave a mark, the archer doesn’t get a score.
- Two scores are given to the archers if he hits on the line between two scoring circles.
FAQs
1- What is the draw weight of a bow?
Draw weight is the minimum force required to draw a bow. Different types of bows have different draw weights. It is measured in pounds.
2- Is archery physically demanding?
If you want to be a professional or competitor in archery. You will have to put a lot of physical strength into it. Otherwise, for hobbyists, it’s not that much of a physically demanding sport.
3- What muscles does archery strengthen?
Archery helps to strengthen your arms, shoulders, forearms, back, and chest muscles as it requires more upper body strength.
4- What is the physical fitness of archery?
Archery demands skill, hand-eye coordination, the flexibility of the body, and muscular strength. However, it doesn’t require as much physical activity required for intense sports.
Conclusion
Since the day it emerged, archery has been very beneficial in warfare and as a sport. Even being an old sport, it hasn’t lost its popularity and is a competitive sport in the Olympics. Also, besides being a great weapon for war bows and arrows are a great choice for hunters even today.
Additional Common Questions
What are the physical benefits to be obtained from archery?
Engaging in archery provides quite a few physical advantages. First, drawing a bow engages not only your arm muscles but also your back, meaning that continuously using a bow can effectively enhance those muscles. Also, this activity requires a certain level of fitness, ensuring that you burn a significant number of calories during each session. Moreover, the repeat walking from the shooting line to the target to retrieve arrows gives you an added cardio workout. This might not seem like much at first, but after a long training session, you’d be surprised how much you’ve actually done for your body.
What are the physical benefits of archery quizlet?
The physical benefits of archery are manifold. Firstly, there is the obvious enhancement of arm and shoulder strength from pulling the bow. Then there’s the improvement of hand-eye coordination and focus, both critical aspects of being a successful archer. As a suggestion for beginners, before diving into practical sessions, they should first acquaint themselves with the basics and the necessary safety protocols.
What are 5 benefits of archery?
Beyond the physical benefits, archery also provides several mental and emotional advantages. Firstly, it’s a great stress-reliever as it requires concentration and therefore helps distract the mind from day-to-day troubles. Secondly, it can boost confidence as skills improve and targets are successfully hit. Thirdly, archery encourages discipline and patience, as these traits are essential to improve one’s skill. Fourth, it also promotes social interactions as archery ranges and clubs often foster a friendly, supportive community. Lastly, mastering archery gives a sense of accomplishment that can contribute significantly to overall happiness and life satisfaction.
Is archery a good sport for seniors?
Yes, absolutely. Archery is a sport that caters to all age groups, including seniors. The activity affords seniors numerous advantages. Besides being a fun and leisurely activity, it aids in maintaining focus and improving posture. It also provides a gentle workout for the memory, which is a superb way to keep the mind sharp. Furthermore, archery offers the opportunity to improve hand-eye coordination, an important skill that tends to decline with age. The best thing about archery is its adaptability, meaning anyone can participate and enjoy it, regardless of their fitness level or age.
