Côté Coach · Archery

Coaching archery, from first arrows to seniors

Choose your age group, find a drill or prepare a session. The guides explain the sources and age-specific guidance.

Sources and overview

A free knowledge base built on the World Archery rules, the FFTA and SwissArchery documents and the NTS (USA Archery) and Archery GB systems cited as such. Archery is a non-contact precision sport: the safety constraint is not an age but the shooting line, the whistle and command protocol, and a bow at the right draw weight, never over-bowed. The bow class (recurve, barebow, compound) defines the discipline and how it is scored.

Côté Coach · Archery

What the federations actually publish about youth archery

World Archery, FFTA, Swiss Archery and the NTS / Archery GB systems side by side. Bow classes, shooting-line safety, the shot cycle, aiming, prevention: sourced, dated, comparable.

30 published drills

8 guides

5 authorities cited

Pick an age group

Priorities change from one band to the next, and for the youngest the constraint is not contact but a light bow, a close target and the discipline of the shooting line.

Do

Everything starts with a bow at the right draw weight: a light bow the child can raise, draw, anchor and hold without shaking. An over-bowed archer wrecks posture and safety before the first arrow, draw weight follows control, never the other way round.
Play before fine technique: a large face at short range, colour games (the coach calls a colour, the child aims for that ring), blank-bale shooting on a bare boss. Groove posture and enjoyment, not the score.
The shooting line first: the whistle and command protocol is learned from the first session, two blasts to come to the line, one to shoot, three to collect arrows, a series to stop everything. Never step in front of the line before the signal.

Avoid

Over-bowing the child: too much draw weight raises the shoulder, arches the back and pulls with the arm, everything you are trying to avoid. It is the first coaching error with young archers.
Chasing score and distance too early: at this age you shoot close on a large face, no clicker, no release aid, no string-walking. Distance comes once the group holds.
Letting the shooting-line discipline slip: the whistle is not optional, it is the safety rule that makes group shooting possible. An arrow nocked out of turn, someone in front of the line: never.

Do

The shot sequence as the through-line: set-up, a back-led draw, a consistent anchor, transfer, aim, expansion, release, follow-through. Rehearse it on a bare boss before carrying it onto a face.
A gradual distance build-up: step back one notch only when the group holds at the current distance. The large face stays the norm, shrink it later.
On the recurve, the clicker arrives: it standardises draw length and makes the click a reaction, not an order to snatch. Expansion comes from the back continuing, not the fingers opening early.

Avoid

Leading the draw with the arm rather than the back: the hand only follows, the bow shoulder stays down. An arm draw plateaus fast and hurts.
Skipping distance or face steps: going too far too soon breaks the group and breeds target panic. The progression protects the feel.
Treating « u13 » as a federation category: this Paak band spans the FFTA Benjamin and Minime, a Paak grouping, not an official category.

Do

The full game at the band's distance: scoring ends, hold and expansion under pressure, reading the group (the group centre, not the single arrow). Train shooting in matchplay, not only in free ends.
Scoring by bow class: recurve and barebow play the set system head-to-head (2 points for a set won, 1 each when tied, six set points wins); compound plays cumulative (the highest total wins). Qualification, though, is cumulative for all.
Class-specific aiming: through-the-clicker and back tension on recurve, peep-and-scope alignment and a hinge release on compound, calibrated string-walking on barebow.

Avoid

Stabbing the release or punching the trigger: on recurve as on compound, the loose is a reaction to continued tension, never a conscious finger action. A snatched release is the classic points-loser.
Confusing the scoring modes: presenting the compound cumulative as the recurve rule, or the reverse, skews the whole match preparation. Each class has its own count.
Neglecting the scorecard: logging every arrow (M, 1 to 10, X) is a match skill, reading your group and adjusting the aim depends on it.

Do

The full curriculum: complete competition routines, 18 m indoor and outdoor distances, scoring ends, managing time and wind. Rehearse the exact format of the target competition.
Keep blank-bale in the week: the bare boss stays the core tool, ten arrows with no face clean up the release and the follow-through, at any level. It is the sport's specificity.
Specific conditioning: shoulder and scapular strength, hold endurance (SPT), mobility, the drawing back is the most-loaded tissue, and maintaining it prevents overuse injury.

Avoid

Presenting a numeric volume cap as a federation rule: archery has no published, validated prevention programme, loads are good practice, not federation numbers.
Letting the routine slip under fatigue or stress: it is exactly when it wavers that the scorecard drops. A steady routine holds the score at the end of an end.
Treating barebow as a recurve without a sight: string-walking has its own calibration logic and its matchplay scoring follows the set system, not the compound cumulative. Each class has its own preparation.

Session generator

Age band, duration, theme, and a minuted outline. The 30 drills trace to archery's published training canon (World Archery, FFTA, USA Archery NTS and Archery GB cited as foreign curricula).

The drills

Filter by theme. The right draw weight, the whistle and command protocol and the per-bow-class scoring are written into each drill's coaching points.

The guides

Bow classes and safety Recurve, barebow, compound, age groups, the right draw weight and the shooting-line safety protocol: the youth frame of archery. Building a session Warm-up, two mains, a scoring end, cool-down: building the session, with distance and face as the planning unit. The shot sequence Set, set-up, anchor, transfer, aim, expand, release, follow-through: the shot sequence broken down, then linked into one motion. Aiming, control and release Through-the-clicker on recurve, peep-and-scope on compound, string-walking on barebow: aiming, holding and releasing by class. Grouping and routines Blank-bale work, reading the group, the pre-shot routine: real progress alone on a bare boss, the signature of foundation work. Rules and formats World Archery, scoring by class (set system or cumulative), the arrow-by-arrow scorecard (M, 1 to 10, X), 18 m indoor and outdoor. Tactics and match analysis Set-system matchplay, managing time and wind, reading the group centre and adjusting the aim: what a coach watches in competition. Physical preparation and injury prevention Shoulder and scapular conditioning, hold endurance, mobility: maintaining the most-loaded tissue and preventing overuse injury.

These drills are in Paak

The generator above also lives inside the app, on the session itself: pick the age band, the duration and the theme, and Paak builds a five-block minuted outline from this same library of 30 drills: warm-up, two mains, a scoring end and a cool-down. Edit it, save it to the session, that is free. Printing the session sheet and club-authored drills beyond 5 are in Paak One.

Create a club account See Paak for an archery club

In Paak

These drills are in Paak

The generator is right on the session: plan by the players’ age band and the duration, pick a theme. Paak builds a minuted five-block outline — warm-up, two work blocks, a game and a cool-down — from this same library of 30 drills.

Planning, editing and saving the session is free.

What can Paak do for my club?