Archery is a “doing” sport. You only get better by doing it and its impossible to get better simply by watching youtube or reading about it. That said personal coaching can be expensive and getting a framework in which to structure your practice and motivation can be difficult if you have no experience in a non-team sport. That’s where books come in. A good archery book can give structure to your practice, tips, mental guidance, physical conditioning exercises and even ‘tricks’ to fool you into shooting better. More books will be added as we buy them and free guides (see below) as I find them. It would be nice to know if you find them useful. Drop us a message on Facebook or Contact us here.

Note: You can pick up archery books for a lot cheaper than new prices listed below. Our Vice Chair recently discovered World of Books (WOB), a new/second hand online bookstore who carry archery books. We believe he’s currently looting the place! He said the “Very Good” quality was perfect. Perhaps worth a look.

But without faffing around any more … Let’s take a look at a few tomes of wisdom:

Beginner

Archery (steps to success)              Heywood and Lewis                    approx £11
Archery Fundamentals                     Douglas Engh                                  2nd hand

Intermediate

Archery                                                      USA Archery                                   approx £13
Archery – The Art of Repetition    Simon Needham                         approx £14
Why You Suck at Archery                Steve Ruis                                         approx £9
The Archery Drill Book                     Ruis and Gerard                            approx £15

Advanced

The Competitive Archer                   Simon Needham                             approx £20
Total Archery                                           Ki Sik Lee                                            approx £35-£50

Traditional

Beginners Guide to Trad Archery               Brian Sorrells                     2nd hand
Shooting The English Longbow                   Pip Bickerstaffe                  varies wildly

Prices may vary from that noted above depending on offers, being second hand or even remaindered stock being cleared.

Free Guides, PDFs and Assorted Musings of Archers

a collection of pdf’s, webpage based tools and even an excel spreadsheet that you might find interesting or useful. All free and all very useful in building knowledge of archery where almost nothing seems logical at times.

Reference Guide for Recurve Archers … Fantastic (if slightly dated) reference for recurvers.
The Nuts and Bolts of Archery … Reference guide for tuning a compound
Compound Bow Setup … Comprehensive aussie guide for setting up wheeliebows

Specific Physical Training … Ki Sik Lee’s recommended archery torture .. err .. exercises
Exercises for Archery …  By personal trainer and archer Tim Goodwin
Archery Warm Up … Warming up for archery by Tim Goodwin

Easton Arrow Shaft Selector 2020 … link to Easton’s arrow shaft selector for your bow oddly enough.
Easton Arrow Tuning and Maintenance Guide … Title says it all
Front of Centre … Spreadsheet that does the maths thing for you
How to Tie a Floss Nocking Point … Clue is in the title
How to Tie a Thread Nocking Point … Video guide to another form of nocking point
Tuning and Tying a Nocking Point … Another video guide to nock points with Olympian Steve Wijler

Archery GB Rules of Shooting … Every UK archer needs a copy somewhere
World Archery Rule Book … In case your insomnia survived the Rules of Shooting
WA Field Archery Guidelines … How to shoot a field course with legal cheats ;o)

World Archery Level 1 Coaching Manual … Entry level coaching manual – even a chapter on archery games
World Archery Level 2 Coaching Manual … A FANTASTIC in depth resource with chapters for EVERYONE!
World Archery Judges Guide Book … Inside the mind of the enemy. Why judges are the way they are!
World Archery Judges Aids … Why you wont get that linecutter ….. EVER!

Your First Tournament … Outstanding guide to your first competition (Assheton Bowmen)

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Image by Prettysleepy from Pixabay