So now we have a group of coaches who are trying to teach competitive Olympic style recurve to a group of beginners, and at the same time, same days as my traditional style classes. But wait, this is not a fair comparison since my traditional class gets bumped once a month for a FITA event, and it is being used as a drop in when you like "help me" class, and as an overflow or other classes. Only before Christmas, unless that gets straightened out.
It is my contention that teaching traditional first, that is to start with muscle development through shooting using arrow aiming as a slow method of shooting with a long setup sequence is the ideal way to start. This allows unassisted shooting, simple bows, without the issues of competition. We do not want to lose a bunch of people who do not win that is typical after every competition; those who suddenly or just feel, well I am not good at this, I do not enjoy losing, and all those other emotional concepts that do not drive the student forward. We do not deal with the psychology of competition, or for that matter... psychology of life...philosophy of life... in these classes, or anywhere for that matter. That is a problem, not just for archery, but for life.
It seems that many of the youth that come to archery are just not interested in much, but they need something, and then there are those who want archery. These are two separate and identifiable groups with different interests and objectives. One group are low energy, the other just need space, equipment, and a little guidance. I will not deal with the self actualized, they just do archery anyway.
I feel that the easiest way is to get them going on arrow aiming traditional, and if they chose, they can make the choice to go on to competitive recurve, compound, or barebow or instinctive.
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