Walkback Archery Game (now w/ variant)

1
A friend and fellow archer turned me on to this game.

You wear your quiver--I've not played this game with the compound, only the recurve. You start two arrow lengths from the bag and shoot one arrow. Then you step back one step and shoot an arrow. You keep doing that until you run out either of range or arrows. It's great to play to learn to judge distance and what not.

I find if I keep shooting from the same spot to the same spot all the time, I don't adapt to new conditions as easily, such as at a tournament.

Here's today's walkback with the recurve. Ten arrows.

Image


Play it once or twice and say how it felt.

First time I played it I almost freaked out I was so used to doing the same thing every time. You get used to it, so it takes at least four or five different times to get the hang of it.

Safe, clean, too cheap to meter. :-)

CDFingers
Last edited by CDFingers on Fri May 09, 2014 8:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
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Re: Walkback Archery Game

3
Dandyone, I hear you about a lack of places to play archery.

My work with the walkback game has shown me some things.

First, "conditioning" is the thing in archers that takes the most time and energy. If your muscles are not conditioned, you can only shoot a few arrows at a time.

Second, many times I'll shoot in unconventional ways, such as kneeling, squatting, from behind my one tree in the middle of my yard and so on.

Third, kneeling is hard, but check this: even in an apartment living room an archer can get two arrow lengths away from the bag and work out that way. When kneeling, the top limb of my bow does not hit the ceiling, and the bottom limb does not hit the floor. However, were I to do my practice indoors, I would need to put up a piece of 3/4" CDX plywood against the wall that held my bag. If I painted it white, my wife might allow me to leave it there, but either way, it's only 7 1/2 feet tall and two and a half feed wide, so I could stash it if need be.

For me, I have to shoot. When it rains, I just stand inside my kitchen back door to shoot. But if I lived in an apartment or in a house where I could not shoot outside, I'd work on my conditioning kneeling indoors, then, when I could get out to the range, I'd have the ability to shoot a few dozen arrows.

Best of luck.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Walkback Archery Game

4
I thought I'd say this to my fellow archers: the walkback game is good when you have limited time. My range is usable only a couple times a week for a short time as of late. I try to make the most of the ten arrows from each side by shooting this game. This gives me ten actually different shots from each side. When I shoot from the same spot, sure, each shot technically is different. But walking back one step for each shot actually changes the shot.

I try to make infinite use of finite means.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Walkback Archery Game

5
Thanks for the reminder. The range/club that I am a member of has a long, two-loop walk through course that is very, very challenging. The targets are, on average 40 yards. So for me, doing the walk through is an exercisebin arrow recovery.

A friend, who happens to have been a nearly Olympic caliber archer before he wrecked his elbow, keeps trying to convince me to add things like a sight to my recurve, bit I'm not biting.

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The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired...

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Re: Walkback Archery Game (now w/ variant)

6
I hear you about arrow recovery being something to consider. We'd like to shoot more than walk, to be sure.

I developed a variant of this game.

Every other shot, I shoot from one knee. The first shot from very close is done standing. Then you step back on step and kneel down for the shot. Then you stand up and step back one step and shoot another. Then you step back and kneel down. Repeat until you run out of arrows or come to the end of your range.

Shooting from one knee seems very strange at first, but it's a real world situation we can think about. My torso is arranged somehow differently, so how I hold the bow and so on changes slightly. It really makes me aware that each shot is different, kneeling then standing.

Infinite use of finite means. If I lived in an apartment, I'd shoot kneeling in my living room, short distance. I'm lucky to live in a house with a back yard. But because I'm a target-directed motor skills junkie, no matter where I lived I'd find a way to fling things frequently.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Walkback Archery Game (now w/ variant)

7
From time to time I find myself drawn again to the Walkback Game. So it was today.

I see some themes from many of the threads I've made, and that is to learn how not to wear my body out before I stop having fun playing archery.

Recently I've been shooting twice a week from 27 yards, a dozen arrows. My accuracy hasn't suffered--or else because every of the small number of shots is precious, I pay close attention to my mind set. Ah, the mind: frenemy.

Today the Walkback mixed it up. Still fun.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

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