Summer Season 2026

Looking outside at some of the weather we're currently suffering, its hard to believe we're just TWO WEEKS away from going outside for the "Summer" season. As of April, the outdoors of Whitecraigs beckons but we must be strong ... or at least cry where no one will see us. <Deep breaths, calm thoughts> With the move to outdoors, archery becomes a very different pastime when compared to the rather bland, sterile shootie of indoors. So, how are we going to put in our time and what can we get up to? Well, lets take a look...

The 252 Award: Archery GB's 252 award has been running successfully for many years and is quite literally designed to make you a better archer. Starting at 20yrds/18m, you shoot 36 arrows at a 122cm face using imperial scoring (by colour using 9,7,5,3,1). Shooting a score of 252 (average per arrow = seven) twice proves you have mastered this distance meaning you can advance to the next distance. This is the start of a path to constant improvement - all the way, step by step, to 90m. It also gives you a good running start to gaining the awards. The closer distances are a skoosh after indoor sized targets. And yes, achieving a distance entitles you to a badge!!!! GA has its own custom made badges which we've been told are rather gorgeous (see right). However, as distance is increased, it obviously gets harder. To get the next award, you have to shoot better than for the award just achieved requiring you improve your consistency. And so the rookie archer is eased into a life of improvement and award chasing - just like all of us obsessive compulsive types beside you on the line! This is the place to start your badge push which could lead to entering competitions, national awards like the Thistles and Roses as well as medals. A much more detailed article on 252 awards can be found on the page Getting Better.

Summer Competitions: This summer, Glasgow Archers are returning to hosting competitions for the wider community in Scotland. Second of August we'll be running a WA 900 (122cm face - 30 arrows at 60m, 50m and 40m). Absolutely the best introduction to competitive archery is shooting on your home field surrounded by your club mates. But while fighting it out with archers from other clubs might not be your thing, we will also be doing our American shoot (5th July) again this year. It's a fun, relaxed, mostly internal to GA competition with Americana, flags, costumes and food courtesy of the man with the sausage fixation. Last years competition went very well with the compound division being decided by an exciting one arrow shootoff.

Head to Head Ladder: Now the winter head to head ladder competition is concluding, we move right on into the summer version. Here you can challenge the person above you on the ladder, agree face size, distance and even number of arrows to be shot then have at it. This gives the competition a more "tailored to you" feel. If you want to take the entire morning shooting 36 arrows where the highest score wins - go for it. If you prefer the immediacy of one or even best of three head to heads - its all yours. Stress in archery is a thing and what better way to address it than some gentle competition with your line partners. We'll probably be shooting the ranking rounds come early May so keep an eye out for this.

He swears its part of the repair process!

Drilling and Tuning and Maintaining Oh My!: With Sunday and Wednesday sessions being a bit longer than the typical indoor session (indoors two hours, outdoors is closer to four) there's lots more time and room to get on with looking at form and kit. Archery isn't just plinking arrows into a boss. Sunday mornings are a good time to get help with all those things you should be doing but never have time. You can tune and fiddle with your bow testing out new setups. Shoot blank boss isolating specific parts of your shot cycle. Try new drills to improve specific weaknesses. Work on refining your shot or shooting volume for strength. Or simply find out about stuff from other archers - This is how you improve your archery and learn the dark and eldritch mysteries of Toxophilia.

Miscellaneous messing about:  There are always things to do at the club even if you are currently "on the shelf" or need to take a break from shootie. You could help the club by cleaning out the container, tidy the boxes, get experience of field captaining or even learn how to do things like re-band bosses or properly set up a field. If you're feeling brave and have an hour to spare, ask Geo a technical question or you can just chill and gossip while watching with antici...................pation as John negotiates the clicker.

Its going to be a busy summer so organise a sun hat, find a deck chair, come to the field in shorts & sun cream (with your toes properly covered of course) and get to it. Outdoors there's lots more to archery than just shooting. Scottish weather permitting obviously!