Shooting arrows at a target is just as fun as playing football or volleyball, and if anyone wants to try it out, then visit Archery Country

It has been in Austin for over 30 years. It not only has many different bows but also supplies such as different bowstrings, sights, quivers, arrowheads, arrows at various lengths and offers great service to shooters such as bow tuning, maintainence, upgrading on all types and lessons by their coach, Roland Rocha.

“I’ve been shooting archery for about 20 years,” Rocha said. “And I’ve been coaching at Archery Country for three years.”

At Archery Country, people can shoot from recurve bows, compound bows, or crossbows.

“It all depends on what you try to do,” Rocha said. “The recurve is a good traditional shooting bow that a lot of people just like to shoot because it’s traditional for people that want to get into archery but don’t necessarily want something complex like a compound bow.”

While recurve bows are plain and simple, and not to mention the only kind a shooter can use in the Olympics, compound bows are different in a special was in terms of modern technology.

“Compound bows are mainly geared to people who want to hunt,” Rocha said. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t hunt with a crossbow or with a recurve, but it’s just more fun to hunt with a compound because of the speed and accuracy.”

The crossbow is the most different of the three kinds of bows, because it’s the only kind that shoots like firearms with a trigger.

“The crossbow is just a matter of personal preference,” Rocha said. “Some people don’t feel like they’re accurate enough with a bow. The crossbow is just like shooting a rifle but an arrow on it.”

If someone were a beginner, they would start off with a recurve.

“Recurves are easier to pull back.” Rocha said. “What I’ll do is that I’ll allow students to get their form correctly because form between recurves and compounds is pretty much the same, but ninety percent of what I teach under applies to the compound shooting.”

Starting off with a recurve is a good way to go because one could start off with a real light weight and get they can get their form down and not hurt themselves and get strong in the process and they could finally switch over to a compound bow. Crossbows, however, are a very different story.

“It’s hard to find a crossbow that’s going to be light enough for kids to draw back,” Rocha said.

It’s not just finding the type of bow one would shoot with that matters, but what really matters is finding the right size.

“Compounds are specifically made for the shooter,” Rochasaid. “With recurves, we tend to find a bow that’s the right size for the shooter.”

Archery Country also has tournaments that shooters can enter.

“You want to be really good and you’re serious and you gotta practice five times a week,” said Rocha. “Indoor tournaments are usually done during the rainy seasons, field archery is done in the summer and 3D archery goes all the way from fall to spring.”

Archery Country is located at 8121 Research Blvd in Austin, Texas, their phone number is 512-452-1222. More information can be found out on http://www.austinarcherycountry.com.