Why do you think archery is no more popular than it is?
goofy asked:
Where we live nearly every man here thinks he’s Robin Hood as well as some of the women and kids.Nowhere else I have ever ben has a archery range and a line standing waiting their turn to shoot at the targets?
Where we live nearly every man here thinks he’s Robin Hood as well as some of the women and kids.Nowhere else I have ever ben has a archery range and a line standing waiting their turn to shoot at the targets?
mitch? posted: 23 Oct at 6:57 am
true.
the last time i was robin hood was like back at a school camp, i reckon it was fun and wouldn’t mind doing it again but wouldnt know where to go!
targetbutt posted: 23 Oct at 10:10 pm
I seem to recall you asking this very same question a while back. Here in the US, while it’s not as popular as it once was back in the 50’s, I would say that the popularity is slowly growing again. When I joined this sport I recall the range is usually empty. 5-6 regulars would show up on the weekends. These days, on a regular weekend we have 30 people shooting.
Archery is a niche sport, as is anything to do with weapons. In today’s society where kids are over protected, can’t climb trees anymore, can’t run around without adult supervision anymore, in this society playing with weapons seems out of the question. Funny enough, archery is actually a lot safer than football or baseball even.
Adam D posted: 23 Oct at 11:59 pm
I like archery because of the challenge it brings. Any Joe could set up in a field and wait until a deer comes through one hundred yards away. There isn’t much of a challenge. But with archery look out. There are so many things to take into account in order to be successful.
archerdude posted: 25 Oct at 4:19 pm
I think the reason archery isn’t as “big” as it could be, at least in the U.S., is that us Americans are far too focused on “glitz and glamor”. Football, baseball, hockey, racing, etc — they have more “glitz and glamor” than archery does because they are sports that happen to move fast…and far too many Americans think that if a sport doesn’t move fast, it must not be worth the time. Then again, it’s probably because there’s not much real chance anyone will ever get hurt — or killed — during a day’s competition of Target Archery.
Think about it. Why watch people drive cars around a circular track — is it to see how skillfully the drivers can handle their machines…or is it for the very real chance of actually getting to see someone get seriously hurt — or even killed? Yeah, that’s probably why they keep showing footage of crashes (and on-the-field football/baseball/hockey/etc injuries) over and over and over and over…..
**edit** There is a huge difference between “popular” and “it’s a growing sport”. In the U.S., at least, “popular” means wide exposure on national television and in national newspapers. How much coverage does any archery competition get, compared to any of the “contact sports”? Here’s a clue: “NFL Sports Sunday” and “Monday Night Football” — I’ve never seen any such adverts for archery competitions in the U.S.
Brook E posted: 27 Oct at 2:25 am
Actually, archery is one of the fastest growing outdoor sports in the United States.
Most people coming into it do so as bowhunters, though, rather than target shooters. So that may be way there’s an appearance of unpopularity.
However, 3-D shooting has been growing as a sport in its own right for a number of years. Many shooting sports facilities have put in 3-D courses. And there are many of them that have no other shooting facilities.
There’s also a smaller, but growing, number of archers using traditional equipment. It’s a big enough group to support two magazines devoted to the sport, and a body of custom boyers who charge big bucks for their products.
So, I would have to disagree with the basic premise.