Science of archery

Yesterday, I went to an archery field in Taipei City. It was a very interesting experience. Actually, that was not my first time to try the archery. I tried it once when I was a child. However, I couldn't do it properly and missed the target a lot because I was not strong enough to be stable when I drew the bow. I always find archery quite fascinating, so I decided to try it again. I spent an hour and a half in the field shooting the target that was 10 meters away, and I realize that even shooting at a target that is 10 meters close, hitting the bullseye is not easy. To make a perfect shot, there are many details have to be taken care of. Any inaccurate movement will make the arrow get off the target. In that an hour and a half, I understood how difficult it is to master the archery.

Archery, an ancient technique, has been around for centuries. It was often used in combat and hunting in ancient time, but after guns were invented, it has been taken more as a sport. Although the more powerful and accurate shooting tools like guns had been invented, bows have not stopped evolving. People are still researching on bows and arrows, using modern technologies to make them stronger and more accurate. Even with the aid of modern technologies, it still takes a lot of skills and practices to master the archery.

For those who haven't had a chance to experience and appreciate the archery, you can still learn something about archery by understanding some science behind it. The mechanic that makes arrows fly is the transfer of the energy. When the bow is drawn, elastic energy is stored in the string, when the string is released, elastic energy is transferred to the arrow, giving the arrow kinetic energy, and the kinetic energy gives arrow energy to penetrate objects. Bows come in different shapes, sizes, and designs. Bows with different designs have different maximum power. Therefore, different bows shoot arrows in different speed. One of the factors that influence the speed of the arrows is the strength of the bow. (More precisely, the strength required to hold the bow at full draw.) Since we know what are the factors that influence the speed of the arrows, let's try to understand the factors that influence the accuracy of the arrows. Same as the speed of the arrows, the accuracy of the arrows is also affected by the design of the bow. However, the accuracy of the arrows largely depends on the form of shooting. With a good and consistent shooting form, shooters are able to hit the target accurately. Bad shooting forms will disturb arrows when they are fired. When the arrows are disturbed when they are fired, they may shift from the target by a great distance. Like I mentioned previously, archery requires very subtle skills. Arrows may land a few inches away from the target just because of a small angle of shifting of the aim. When shooting a target 30m away, an arrow may land 21 inches away if the aim is shifted by 1-degree. Not only the shift of the aims can influence the accuracy, the torque of the bow also affects the accuracy, a 2-degree torque of the bow will give arrow 5 inches of horizontal shift. Horizontal shift of arrows is not the only thing that affects the accuracy in archery. Vertical shift of arrows also plays an important role, especially in long range shooting. When an arrow flies in the air, it is pulled by the gravity. Therefore, an arrow drops some distance from the release point before it hits the target. The longer the arrow travels, the more it drops. Since we are not computers, we can't calculate how much will an arrow drop immediately by knowing how much distance will the arrow travel. Without any aid, it takes lots of practice to be able to judge how high one should aim when shooting at a certain distance by intuition. Therefore, mastering archery is certainly not an easy task. Nowadays, bows have changed a lot due to the advanced technologies. Bows in present times are often equipped aim aids that help archers to aim their target. By adjusting the aim aids, archers can now adopt different ranges of shooting more easily and do not have to depend heavily on experience and intuition. Nevertheless, archery is still an art that requires hours of practice to master. Although modern technologies make archery easier, the technique of archers is still a dominant factor in archery.

Archery is a technique that requires lots of concentration. To master archery, you must know how to control your body and mind. Archery is all about consistency, to be stable and accurate in shooting, one must release arrows in exactly same form and position every time. Any small shift can cause horizontal and vertical shifts of arrows. In long-range shooting, small errors will be amplified in a great deal. By summing up all the factors I talked about, we can know that archery is very difficult. So, let's salute to those who master archery.