Life outside the terminal

Olympic Recurve
Archery

Shooting recurve at a competitive level under one of the finest coaches in the UK. A battle of precision, breath, and mental management - the most frustrating and rewarding thing I have ever done.

Discipline

Olympic Recurve

Draw weight

26 lbs

building toward 32+

Current distance

45 m

targeting 70m

Club

Archery Fit London

The equipment

Current setup

My recurve rig as it stands today. Everything gets tuned as draw weight and form improve.

Olympic Recurve Bow

Competitive recurve setup for indoor and outdoor shooting

Style Olympic Recurve
Draw weight 26 lbs
Draw length 28"
Riser Win & Win Wiawis ATF-EX Recurve Riser - 25
Limbs Mybo Luna Foam Core Recurve Limbs
Arrow rest Bicaster Archery MAS-10 Recurve Rest
Sight Axcel Achieve XP Carbon Recurve Sight
Plunger button Beiter Button
Clicker Axcel Achieve XP Carbon Recurve Clicker
Stabilisers Long rod: Win & Win Wiawis ACS-LX Stabiliser
Arrow type Aluminum Carbon Hybrid
Arrow spine 850
Release Win & Win Wiawis Tab Round

Draw weight progression

Started
16lb
Current
26lb
Next target
30lb
Goal
32lb

Distances

Range progression

Working through the indoor and outdoor WA distances toward the Olympic standard of 70m.

18m
Indoor WA
30m
Shooting
45m
Current
50m
Next
70m
Olympic

Target face: WA 20cm (indoor 18m) and WA 122cm (outdoor 30-70m).

The work

Training

What a typical week looks like.

Coached sessions

Weekly one-to-one sessions focused on form, clicker work, and shot process. Video analysis on technique.

Practice sessions

Two to three independent sessions per week 2-4hrs of shooting per session. Focused on consistency, blank bale work (reduces target panic), and mental routine.

Mental game

Recurve is equally a mental game along with physical skill. Working on shot routine discipline, pre-shot focus, and recovering from bad ends without spiralling.

Goals

Competing locally, building toward national level. Hitting the Olympic recurve distance of 70m is the technical milestone.

On the range

Gallery

Photos from sessions and competitions. More to come as the journey continues.

At full draw on the indoor range, aiming down the sight at the target line

At full draw on the indoor range, aiming down the sight at the target line

Group photo with the Archery Fit London club

Group photo with the Archery Fit London club

Checking the arrow grouping after an end on the indoor range

Checking the arrow grouping after an end on the indoor range

Full draw, indoor range

Full draw, indoor range

Aiming down the sight at full draw

Aiming down the sight at full draw

At anchor, indoor range

At anchor, indoor range

Adjusting the bow setup between ends

Adjusting the bow setup between ends

Full draw, side profile, indoor range

Full draw, side profile, indoor range

On the line at an Archery Fit London session

On the line at an Archery Fit London session

On the line at an Archery Fit London session

On the line at an Archery Fit London session

Outdoor practice at longer distance

Outdoor practice at longer distance

Field archery through the woods

Field archery through the woods

The lineage

Coaching

Who I learn from matters.

🏹

Michael Wong

Certified UK Archery Coach

One of the finest coaches in the UK. After an assessment session, he agreed to take me on as a student, something I don't take lightly. His own coach was an Olympian, which makes the lineage of knowledge behind every technique correction quite something.

Olympian My coach Me

“Archery is one of the most complicated, stressful, frustrating, and rewarding things I have ever done. Recurve archery at a competitive level is largely a battle of mental management. I hated it when I first started, which is exactly why I stuck with it. That is where growth happens.”

— Sanj