Archery Day

What the day is

Archery Day is observed on January 19. Archery is among the oldest human technologies still practiced as a sport, and the physics of it is stranger than it looks.

Origin and background

Start with a problem that should make traditional archery impossible. On a simple bow the arrow rests against the side of the handle, which means it is not pointing where the string will push it. The string drives forward along the centerline, the arrow sits off to one side, and by rights every shot should veer.

It does not, because the arrow bends. The sudden force buckles the shaft into an S-shape, and it oscillates around the handle as it leaves, flexing past the obstruction rather than striking it, then straightening in flight. This is called the archer's paradox, and it means the stiffness of the shaft has to be matched to the power of the bow. Too stiff or too limber and the arrow leaves at an angle. Archers talk about spine for this reason, and a well-matched arrow from a traditional bow is a piece of tuning, not luck.

The historical record holds a remarkable physical trace of the craft. When the Tudor warship Mary Rose was raised, the longbows aboard were recovered along with the remains of men who shot them, and the skeletons show adaptation: thickened bones and altered shoulder and wrist joints consistent with a lifetime of drawing bows of enormous weight. Military archery was not a skill picked up quickly; it reshaped the body of the person practicing it.

Modern equipment has largely engineered the paradox away, with cut-out risers and mechanical releases, which is why the traditional version remains the more interesting problem.

How to take part

• Book a beginner session at a club. Almost all supply equipment and expect newcomers.
• Ask about arrow spine, which is the thing beginners are never told.
• Watch a slow-motion recording of an arrow leaving a traditional bow.
• Try both a recurve and a compound to feel how different they are.
• Read about the Mary Rose archers, whose bones recorded their occupation.