https://www.ohioarchers.com/blog archery club en-us Thu, 25 Apr 2024 11:55:00 -0800 Mon, 9 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0800 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss info@ohioarchers.com info@ohioarchers.com info@ohioarchers.com no https://www.ohioarchers.com/blog/listing.asp?2019/12/target-compound-at-a-crossroads <p>the compound bow has been a game changer ever since its introduction in the late 1960’s. it relatively quickly gained acceptance for bowhunting and for american recreational archery.</p> <p>however, it took more than 20 years for compound to be accepted at the global levels of the sport of target archery.  target compound, in the context of world archery, took 20 years to be established, and now has a 29-year history.  it has now been accepted at every level of competition worldwide, with one prominent exception-  it still isn’t in the olympic games.</p> <p>resistance to the compound for world level competition was finally overcome in the early 90’s, after an effort from then fita president jim easton to include the discipline at world level events, beginning with the first <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_world_indoor_archery_championships'>world indoor in oulu, finland</a>, in 1991.  outdoor adoption took a bit longer, with the first world outdoor event to feature compound taking place in jakarta, indonesia, in 1995.</p> <p>notably, american archers dominated both of those early events, as well as several subsequent championships, because of the substantial head-start through decades of use and understanding of the bows in usa domestic events.  outside the usa, compound understanding was relatively weak, due to the fact that it was not accepted for world competition.</p> <p>since that time, the compound (and recurve) competition format has been changed several times.  starting with the world championship in 1995, the compound discipline simply duplicated the 4-distance fita round used by recurves at the time, with competition at 90, 70, 50 and 30 meters for men, and 70, 60, 50 and 30 meters for women.</p> <p>later, in alignment with the changes to recurve competition, compound was contested at 70 meters only.</p> <p>over a decade ago, as world archery sought to explore introducing an olympic games compound competition, a decision was made to create a competition round that would further differentiate the compound discipline from recurve.  this need for differentiation was driven by the fact that the international olympic committee would only consider bringing compound into the games if the round were truly different from the recurve round.</p> <p>world archery instituted a differentiation commission, consisting of top competitors, officials and other experts, to work on creating a round that would be different enough from recurve to satisfy the ioc, and yet provide a showcase for the accuracy and mental discipline required for top level compound competition.</p> <p>driven mainly by the top-level competitors on the committee, the commission arrived at what they thought would be a good solution- a hit-or-miss format, on a reduced size target, with a 10-centimeter yellow “hit zone”, at 50 meters distance.  the first events featuring this round took place in 2010.</p> <p><img alt='' src='https://eastonarchery.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/image-300x200.png' /></p> <p><em>hit or miss at world cup, 2010</em></p> <p>one though behind this round was that the shorter distance would make it easier to find venues for events, and it was thought that the hit or miss aspect would be fast moving and easy to understand for spectators and media.</p> <p>unfortunately, <a href='https://worldarchery.org/news/100027/29-july-2010-hit-or-miss-analysing-first-results-new-world-archery-compound-round'>it didn’t work out that way</a>– for one thing, a hit dead center, and a hit barely catching the line had exactly the same value, blurring the reward for accurate shooting- and it turned out audiences didn’t like the spectacle very much.  audiences really appreciate high scores and close contests- the hit or miss round tended toward blowouts- inducing outright target panic in otherwise high performing shooters- and the “hit or miss” score itself wasn’t very compelling.</p> <p>to its credit, world archery was relatively quick to respond to the issues, and after a couple of seasons, the “hit or miss” round was dropped and changed to the round we have today- still 50 meters, but on a 6-ring, 80 centimeter target, with an x-ring, with 72-arrow qualifications and 15-arrow rounds in head to head eliminations.  this rewards accuracy, provides for audience-thrilling high score potential, and keeps the convenience aspect of the shorter distance in terms of finding venues for events.</p> <p>this, too, however, was criticized by some shooters- “too close”, “not challenging enough”, “too easy to shoot a perfect score” were (and still are) some of the criticisms commonly expressed in top circles. </p> <p>yet, after nearly a decade of shooting the round, no one has yet shot a perfect 15 arrow score (150-15x) and in windy weather, the round is notoriously unforgiving, particularly for less accomplished shooters.  the 15 arrow round world record, set by reo wilde (usa) in 2015 (using easton <a href='https://eastonarchery.com/arrows_/x10/'>x10 shafts</a>) stands at 150/12x.   braden gellenthein (usa) has the 72-arrow round record of 718/720.  in the women’s category, linda ochoa-anderson (formerly mex, now usa) has the women’s 15 arrow record of 150/11x, and sara lopez (col) has the 72-arrow record of 713/720.  (all these records were set with x10 and <a href='https://eastonarchery.com/arrows_/x10-protour/'>x10 protour</a> arrow shafts.)</p> <p>now, there is renewed momentum in world archery toward creating a new compound round that would be accepted at the olympic level by satisfying the international olympic committee’s requirements:  for differentiation, wide spectator appeal, low added cost, and perhaps also address some of the complaints of top competitors about the current round.</p> <p>this new momentum is because of the possibility that compound archery could be accepted as an additional event for the 2028 olympic games in los angeles.   </p> <p><img alt='' src='https://eastonarchery.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/image-1-169x300.png' /></p> <p><em>2028 l.a. olympic games will be the first chance for a compound round in the modern olympics</em></p> <p> </p> <p>the door to this possibility opened with the adoption of compound in the various continental level games- such as the pan american games, european games, and asian games.  also, the world games now emphasize compound competition.  </p> <p>this has led to high growth in compound competition, especially in places like asia, where there was very little adoption of the discipline before asian games inclusion, because continental and olympic events are the only ones that generally receive government or corporate support (the usa is one of only a very few countries with no direct government support for olympic and world sports).  </p> <p>once the compound was added to all the continental level events, development as well as government and corporate support followed, so that now we see countries like korea, chinese taipei and india fielding top-class compound competitors.</p> <p><img alt='' src='https://eastonarchery.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/image-2-300x200.png' /></p> <p><em>asian games champion so chaewon- world #5 ranked compound woman</em></p> <p> </p> <p>but there are a number of challenges that will still have to be addressed in order to make this possibility of olympic compound become a fact.</p> <p>first, and perhaps most importantly as far as the international olympic committee is concerned, the number of women participating in compound has been identified as an area that needs improvement.  the growth of compound has included women, to be sure, but the ioc has <a href='https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/document%20library/olympicorg/news/2018/03/ioc-gender-equality-report-march-2018.pdf'>gender parity</a> in terms of numbers as an important goal, and there is still a lot of progress to be made in that area. </p> <p>recurve archery has pretty good gender participation equity, but compound, not so much.  world archery shares the ioc priority of making compound more inclusive for women’s participation.  </p> <p>asia is currently taking the lead in terms of developing more high level women’s competitors, according to world archery’s tom dielen.</p> <p>another worry is the impact that compound may have on olympic recurve.  some people- mostly recurve shooters- are concerned that adding compound would come at the expense of recurve at the olympic games.  </p> <p>that’s not so, according to world archery secretary general tom dielen, who told us “it’s absolutely an issue of adding medals, not replacing medals.  we see it in the spirit of what has happened with volleyball, where you have indoor volleyball, and beach volleyball, two complimentary products to the olympic games, and we also want to have complementary products for the olympic games.  and will that be in the current format, (or) another format, only time will tell”.</p> <p>but what form would a new compound round take in order to be accepted for the games?  tom dielen says there are several options on the table.  “one is the current format, but at a longer distance of 60 rather than 50 meters.  another is an indoor olympic games round.  and a third option is a field course of some kind”.</p> <p>it’s noteworthy that the final decision on any potential olympic compound round won’t actually be up to world archery.  it’s up to the ioc.</p> <p>as tom explains: “it’s not going to be our call, i want to make it very clear it’s going to be the call of the international olympic committee, together with the (olympic games) organizing committee.  what fits best in the strategy of the olympic games, because if it doesn’t fit that strategy, there is no chance of adding it.  it has to fit in the strategy.  that means re-using a venue the best way possible during the games”.</p> <p>it also means staying in a tight budget for the event, in the “new normal” of tightly controlled costs for the olympic games.</p> <p>there will be a lot of work to do over the next two years to formulate new proposed rounds and changes to the sport to open the door to olympic compound, increase generally equality in the sport, and there’s also the possibly there could be some future changes to current competition rounds in recurve as well.</p> <p>first on the agenda, is a general review of target faces and precision potential for different rounds, being conducted by the coaches committee and statisticians who are experts on the subject.  in fact, this analysis is also looking at possible adjustments for recurve targets as well.  the goal for the effort is to have recommendations by the 2021 world archery congress.  so the possibility of a new compound target to go with a possible 60 meter round exists- as does some kind of new recurve format.  </p> <p>one concern tom expressed involves how any new round could affect club level and mid level shooters- wa is very concerned with making sure any changes don’t adversely impact up and coming shooters as well, which is why very careful consideration and research is being carried out, and there will be extensive discussions at every level of world archery.</p> <p>one thing is for sure- change is coming.  and if a compound round is accepted for the 2028 games, it will clearly be the most significant new development in what will, at that time, have been the 56 year history of modern olympic archery.</p> <p><a href='https://eastonarchery.com/2019/12/target-compound-at-a-crossroads-new-plans-for-the-future-from-world-archery/?fbclid=iwar3apfrketllaou2kmjzkjsox5smfjyt3ydoctp0k-pgxd8j2arfkoiegua' target='_blank'>original article on easton archery.</a></p> US Archery News Mon, 9 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ohioarchers.com/blog/listing.asp?2019/12/target-compound-at-a-crossroads https://www.ohioarchers.com/blog/listing.asp?2019/12/crystal-gauvin-from-archery-rookie-to-compound-champion <p>what started as a day of cleaning junk from a basement turned into a friendly bet for crystal gauvin and her husband. they found an old compound bow, and outside were some targets. so her husband, rich, bet his wife he could hit the middle of the target more times than her.</p> <p>as a former competitive swimmer growing up, crystal accepted the challenge. she beat her husband in a match despite having never shot a bow in her life.</p> <p>“he’s super competitive, too, so he said let’s do the best out of three,” she said.</p> <p>she won, and then won the best of five. at that point, they decided to take her “beginner’s luck” to a local archery range. she joined a league and eventually entered a local tournament, where she won by a hundred points. </p> <p>since that day seven years ago crystal gauvin rose to the no. 2 spot in the world for women’s compound, winning a silver medal at the 2015 world championships and nearly a dozen world cup medals, and then she shifted to recurve, the olympic discipline of archery. now she takes aim at the olympic games tokyo 2020. gauvin took a step closer to tokyo at the second stage of the u.s. olympic team trials for archery earlier this fall in college station, texas.</p> <p>gauvin finished in the top five on the final day at college station as usa archery whittled its field of 2020 olympic hopefuls from around 200 to 16 women and 16 men, and goes into the third stage in april in 10th place.</p> <p>in addition to having her own success on the field, gauvin hopes to help lift u.s. women into loftiness on the international archery scene.</p> <p>“my primary goal is to make the olympics, sure,” gauvin said at the trials. “but i want to help push all of our women to be better.”</p> <p>gauvin took the challenge from her husband to shoot her first arrow when she was 28. she had no previous training in the sport — not at summer camps, not at a physical education class or even through friends.</p> <p>now at 35, she hopes to become an olympian. she recalls sitting at home three years ago and emotionally watched the opening ceremony of the olympic games rio 2016 and then saw american ginny thrasher win a gold medal in shooting. when it came to archery, she had to look away.</p> <p>“seeing all the people there and having to sit at home and watch it was just too emotional for me,” gauvin said. “i saw a little bit of archery, but actually had to turn it off.”</p> <p>now she’s hoping to turn it on when it comes to revving up her game in the next two stages of olympic trials.</p> <p>gauvin trains at her home in connecticut, where she has a spacious backyard and little wind variance. she lives within an hour from thomas stanwood, who also shot his way into the final 16 of trials. stanwood often makes the trip from boston to train with gauvin.</p> <p>“it’s a nice setup, and there’s hardly any wind there,” stanwood said.</p> <p>gauvin actually beat stanwood in a friendly dual match, which gives her confidence moving toward her goal of tokyo next year.</p> <p>“i figured that if i can hang with tom, i can beat any female shooter in the world,” gauvin said.</p> <p>the good side of having a range in her backyard is unlimited practice with no outside noise or interruptions. but a downside is also having no outside distraction. not having close access to a facility like the chula vista elite athlete training center in california, where many archers train, means working alone. there are no coaches, nor any immediate competitors to her left or right when she’s shooting.</p> <p>“if there’s something i really need to work on, it’s shooting with other people beside me,” gauvin said. “in recurve, you see what everybody’s shooting, and you can hear so much going on around you. i don’t get that when i train at home.”</p> <p>when gauvin is not busy on the archery range, she is tied down with her work as an economist in the forest product industry. gauvin said she analyzes data on everything to do with trees, from the time they go from a forest to the mills, and to their final destination, whether it be a cabinet in a kitchen, shelves in a library or building a house. she studies market trends and potential impacts through trade.</p> <p><em>originally on teamusa.org. written by scott mcdonald is a writer from houston who has covered sports for various outlets since 1998. he is a freelance contributor to <a href='http://www.teamusa.org/'>teamusa.org</a> on behalf of <a href='http://www.reditorial.com/'>red line editorial, inc.</a></em></p> US Archery News Sun, 1 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ohioarchers.com/blog/listing.asp?2019/12/crystal-gauvin-from-archery-rookie-to-compound-champion https://www.ohioarchers.com/blog/listing.asp?2018/1/lausanne-to-host-world-archery-masters-championship <p>the first world archery masters championships will be an open entry tournament for archers aged 40+.</p> <p>the first world archery masters championships, an open entry tournament for archers aged 40 years and over, will be hosted by the world archery excellence centre in lausanne, switzerland on 14-18 august 2018.</p> <p>a multi-discipline schedule featuring indoor, outdoor and field competitions will be spread over three different venues in the olympic capital.</p> <p>the compound outdoor event will be held at the field in vidy park; the indoor and recurve outdoor events will be hosted at the <a href='https://worldarcherycentre.org/' target='_blank'>world archery excellence centre</a>; and field archery will take place at the <a href='http://www.archers.ch/plan_field/parcours.html' target='_blank'>field archery range montheron</a>. </p> <p>world archery masters championship titles will only be awarded for the 50+ division in the indoor and outdoor, recurve and compound competitions.</p> <p>however non-championship events for three additional age groups – 40+, 60+ and 70+ – and those athletes wishing to shoot barebow, instinctive and longbow styles will also be offered. (a minimum of eight participants in each division will be required, otherwise age groups will be combined.)</p> <p>participants may enter the tournament directly and do not need to be a member of a national team, although they must be a member of a world archery national federation.</p> <p>home of world archery and the international olympic committee, lausanne previously hosted the hyundai archery world cup finals in 2008 and 2014, and the world archery championships back in 1989.</p> <p><img alt='' src='https://worldarchery.org/sites/default/files/styles/manual_crop_3_2/public/news/images/body/wcf_dt7_2085.jpg?itok=znehkaxq' style='width:80%' /></p> <p>world archery secretary general tom dielen said: “the success of archery at the world masters games and the high participation rates after the age group’s inclusion at the indoor archery world cup stage in nimes, france earlier this month show there is clear demand for tournament archery within masters athletes.”</p> <p>“the olympic capital has proven a world-class location for international archery events – and with the world archery excellence centre in lausanne acting as a development hub for archery, this sends a clear message that world archery is committed to growing the sport at all levels.”</p> US Archery News Wed, 31 Jan 2018 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ohioarchers.com/blog/listing.asp?2018/1/lausanne-to-host-world-archery-masters-championship