Tag Archives: cardiovascular fitness in archery

Alicia Weber holds Bullseye Scavenger Hunt and Ultimate 3-D Archery Competition

By Alicia Weber

Kincaid and Indaya are the male and female winners in the Inaugural Bullseye Scavenger Hunt Competition held on July 26, 2015.
Kincaid and Indaya are the male and female winners in the Inaugural Bullseye Scavenger Hunt Competition held on July 26, 2015.
Dedicated archers and well-rounded athletes, Indaya Byer and Kincaid Kobel, were longing for the Inaugural Bullseye Scavenger Hunt competition. They both won with overall most points in Clermont’s first event of its kind on July 26, 2015. It began with a 10 yard archery contest at the Sundance Archery Range. Then, participants and their families drove to Historic Downtown Clermont to meet and conclude the competition with a scavenger hunt during Downtown Clermont Farmer’s Market.

The archers were not allowed to use bows with sighting devices and the highest possible score was 100 points. Byer, 12, was the winning female with her score of 86 points. Kobel, 6, was the winning male with his score of 63 points. They have been training for several months and this was their first archery competition.

“It’s exciting,” said the uber competitive Kobel who has competed in soccer, football, and karate.

“Archery helps Kincaid focus. It is a good sport for him,” said Beth, Kobel’s mom.

“It feels amazing to compete in archery for the first time,” said Byer who has competed in swimming.

“Alicia has been a great teacher. Indaya keeps improving. She has become more focused in school due to the archery and I enjoy that,” said Ingrid, Byer’s mom.

The photographic scavenger hunt was a great opportunity to bring new people to the farmer’s market since all participants have never been there before. The eager participants searched for 11 items along Montrose Street and took pictures of their finds. Byer and Kobel finished at the same time to win.

“The scavenger hunt was athletic because you are in a rush to take pictures and look for the items,” said Byer who averaged finding an item every minute and 47 seconds.

The winners received prizes from Sweets for You and Let’s Tie 1 On. The items in the scavenger hunt peaked interest in the participants to continue shopping at the farmer’s market after the competition ended.

Sweets For You is an outdoor vendor located on the intersection of Montrose and 8th Street. They have lemonade, iced tea, cinnamon roasted nuts, boiled peanuts, and other goodies. Let’s Tie 1 On has a variety of bracelets, necklaces, pendants, straps, and wraps.

“It’s a lot of different choices especially the fresh fruit and vegetables. All the vendors are so nice and some have free tastings. It’s a wonderful summer morning outing to get to know Clermont,” said Ingrid Byer who experienced the farmer’s market for the first time and looks forward to returning.

I was very happy to introduce new people to farmer’s market and see them enjoy the vendors. I want to thank Ron Smart the Executive Director of Downtown Clermont Partnerships, members of CDP, Let’s Tie 1 On, Sweets For You, and all the other vendors for their participation in this creative event.

My next Bullseye Scavenger Hunt will take place Sunday, August 23. Space is limited, but some space is still available. Children and adults are scheduled to compete. I will be offering a special prize to all participants. In addition, vendors will be giving prizes to the top male and female winners. Contact Alicia for info or to sign up for the August 23 Bullseye Scavenger Hunt at Awinningway@gmail.com.

Back on May 20, 2015, my team of archers trained five months to set the world’s first ever 7-archer Ultimate 3-D Relay for fastest time. The 7 athletes completed 6 stations of strict form exercises followed by barebow 3-D archery shooting at a 3-D deer target 10-30 yds away. Their combined archery score took time off their relay race to give a final score of completion in 4:38 for a new Recordsetter World Record.

Watch 7-Archer Ultimate 3-D Relay World Record

Join Alicia Weber’s Archery-Fitness Program or sign up for an upcoming event by contacting Awinningway@gmail.com

Health Benefits of Archery and Central Florida Archery

By: Weber Way to Wellness Reporter

WINTER GARDEN, FL—- Ten year old Hannah picked up a bow and arrow for the first time and began archery under the tutelage of Alicia Weber. Like many youth, it’s the thrill of feeling like Robin Hood and the excitement of hitting the bullseye that draws them to archery. All ability and fitness levels can take a shot and find success even people with serious disabilities find great success.

Most sports are driven by adrenaline, high energy, sweat, and peak performance. Archery is a more settled sport where calmness, focus, controlled-energy, and stillness are keys to success as the goal is repeatedly hitting the bullseye. It offers a new refreshing spin to sport.

After Hannah’s first session, she exclaimed, “This is really exciting.”

She attentively listened to ways to improve and followed through. The result was achieving a high score for a 10 and under archer in just 3 sessions.

Hannah Competes at 10m and 15m for highest score. She achieves 131 pts out of a possible 300.

Like all sports, archery builds self-confidence, social skills, teamwork, and physical development. However, people unfamiliar with archery underestimate the health benefits.

Archery can develop upper-body strength, flexibility, balance/posture, core strength, hand-eye coordination, cardiovascular fitness, and mental focus.

Upper-Body
The upper-body strength is increased depending on the draw strength of the bow and the amount of time spent shooting. Serious archery competitors may have 40lbs resistance bows or more. Recreational archers may only use 10-20lbs resistance. Most upper-body muscles are involved in the shot process including the shoulder, chest, and the back. The arm must activate muscle stabilizers to hold the bow up and out till the arrow hits the target.

Flexibility
Flexibility is increased in the fingers, hands, and the arm to hold the bow and pull the string over and over again.

Balance/Posture
Learning the proper stance in archery and repeating it to perfection is an art. The archery stance varies if one is using a compound or recurve bow, but it is necessary for accuracy and precision. Archery can certainly help one’s posture and finding one’s center of balance. The slightest moves or wrong weight shifts will throw an arrow off the target.

Core Strength
The core muscles help balance the body shot after shot. The obliques and tight torso are key to a successful shot process.

Hand-Eye Coordination
Hand-Eye coordination is an essential skill for mastery in archery. This skill is developed through a lot of regular practice.

Cardiovascular Fitness
A recreational archer practicing at 7-10 yds may not notice these benefits as much as a competitive archer who may shoot anywhere from 40yds to 70 meters. The walking distance after shooting arrows and then collecting them adds up. In competitive archery, an archer may walk 5 miles in a competition. The competitions may last 3-4 hours or longer. Archery is a unique type of endurance especially adding in the factor that you are out in the heat for hours and trying to stay focused on top shots.

Mental Focus
Mental focus is imperative to success. This is the one element that makes archery really stand out from other sports. Archery is a mind exercise where distractions need to be eliminated to be successful. A keen eye, clear concentration, and mental stability are keys to top shots, shot after shot. Of course, calculating in your mind and keeping tabs on scores requires clear thinking as well.

Archery is a great sport to make a top student-athlete. The mental training from archery can be carried over into the classroom.

Are you in Central Florida and interested in archery? Are you looking for private lessons or would you like to join a club? If so, you came to the right place. You can get private training, attend camps, and join a club. Contact Alicia at Awinningway@gmail.com for more info.

END OF REPORT