Archery Gold is a world wide community and information site for all kinds of archers. The intention is to provide knowledge for both new and more experienced archers. In the archery forums you can talk about anything regarding archery. In the Blogs section you can create your own Archery Blog! It's a great place for newcomers to the sport to seek advice from more experienced archers. Skilled archers can come together and share their knowledge. At the end but especially Archery Gold is a place to socialize and have fun associated with our favourite sport! Archery History Archaeological findings show that the bow and arrow has been around for at least 20,000 years. Findings of stone arrow heads in Africa indicate that the bow was invented there possibly as early as 50,000 BC. The bow is considered to be the first machine constructed by humans that could store energy. The principle has always been the same, the archer transfers his muscle energy into the bow with help of the string and then the bowstring passes on the power to the arrow and gives it a tremendous speed. The impact of an arrow is lethal to any pray or enemy. The bow has been a popular weapon in warfare for thousands of years. The Egyptians used the bow against the Persians 5,000 BC. Skilled archers has been a valuable asset for many Kings through history, and as a hilarious example of that is James II, King of England who in 1457 AD stated that football and golf took to much time from archery practice and therefore should be banned! Archery has a long history as a sport, and the Scottish club Kilwinning Archers was formed in 1483 and thus one of the oldest sports clubs in the world. Archery was an event at the Olympic Games in 1900, 1904, 1908 and 1920. The International Archery Federation - FITA was founded in 1931 and the first World Championships took place the same year. During the 1940s international archery began to grow. Target Archery is since 1972 again a game in the Olympics. Archery can be practiced in many forms, but the most common styles beside Target Archery is Field Archery and 3-D Archery. Flight shooting is another branch of the sport and it exits on shooting an arrow as long as possible. Yesterday I participated in my first competition with the compound bow. It went quite well and my score was 278 ? 284 and a total of 562 F.I.T.A 18m. That was enough for a victory in the Gents Compound 40 class! So I guess the score was not too bad. From time to time I got that sensational feeling when everything just works and the arrows hit the inner 10. All I have to do now is to try to achieve that feeling every single shot! How hard could that be? At least that is what I'm striving for and I guess it's the same for all of us. I must say that I'm very pleased with my equipment, especially my release. I use a Carter Evolution and it suits me fine since I shot the recurve bow before. My philosophy on how to shoot the compound bow is to have a dynamic shot with back tension and a little pressure with the bow arm, just enough so the arm doesn't drop dead in the release moment. This way of shooting suits me and I can recommend it to everyone. I have seen so many archers trying to stand still and then punching the release, so that has really scared me off from a more static shooting style. There certainly are some really good archers around who are successful with a more static shooting style, but they are in a minority as I see it. Archery is easy. Just draw the string to the anchor and release when the sight is in the gold and your body is ready, i.e. in line and all that stuff. Yeah, what a great lie! The tricky thing is to repeat the movements involved equally every single shot. All of us who have been into archery for some time know that this take a lot of practice to achieve. But what a great reward it is when you got the right feeling and the arrows hit the gold! I would not change it for something else no matter what. You could say I got addicted to archery and I can just say it?s probably true. I have quit many times for different reasons but always returned to the sport after some time. I started before I was 10 and now I?m heading 40. So I guess it is a sport of a lifetime! I shot the Olympic Recurve for many years but I recently switched to compound. It?s great fun and I don?t have to struggle with a hold weight of 44 lbs any more! Tomorrow I?m going to participate in my firs tournament with the compound bow. Wish me good luck!