I get a lot of questions in my role as webmaster for one of the most active archery informational websites in the world and it is rewarding enough to keep me going at this. One question that has come up a lot lately is about the National Training System, and how it relates to the BEST Method. What happened to "BEST"? Just to clear up any confusion I decided on my own to put together this editorial. Nobody asked me to write this, but I think the recent changes are a very cool thing of which Americans can be proud, and I wanted you to know about it. And I HATE confusion. Let's row together.

The USA Archery organization, which recently underwent its own name change from the National Archery Association, has very sensibly designated our national training system as our "National Training System," or NTS. How does this relate to the BEST Method? In the rest of the world, the concept of BEST is alive and well. But here in America we have moved forward. We have taken BEST and made it better. It's AMERICANIZED!

The NTS contains much of the BEST philosophy, but now it also draws from ideas close to the hearts of many Americans, fundamental precepts like hard work paying off, working smarter not harder, and of not doing the same thing over and over and expecting to get better results. American archery is changing, and NTS is going to help us evolve along with it.

Korean-American Kisik Lee, our US National Head Coach, has dedicated a large part of his life to scientifically analyzing the complex motions of archery using his own advanced degrees and significant competitive experiences. He has gone into more detail and a finer meticulous understanding of the body's mechanics in manipulating a bow and arrow than anyone I can find in the modern era. He has a documented performance in creating the symbols of excellence in our athletic world, Olympic medallists and world champions/record holders. He is a proven motivator, a coach of the highest levels.

When Kisik Lee took to risk all and chose America as his future, like so many immigrants of our glorious past he arrived on our shores with pros and cons: such pros as his background diversity, his tremendous work ethic, his proven desire to succeed, a strong belief system, and an above-average education and intelligence. A "con" would be our language barrier - for example, he does not speak fluent Texan and frankly, I find that to be some small problem at times! There are times when I learned that it was critical to listen to his words, try to get the gist of them, and then to speak them again to him in translation as a way to confirm his intent. All in all, I'd say that is a small, small thing in return for receiving his wisdom. Sometimes, I even got the words right the first time!

So in the beginning, when Kisik met with a number of our US Coaching elite organization that were seeking and recruiting for the future of our sport, and discussed his goals and needs in assuming the role of National Head Coach, one concern was how to move the mountain of 'US past inertia'. We Americans proudly have a history of being the best in archery! Many people even today want to say, "America is the best archery force in the world," yet our stands on the medal podiums had in large part fallen into the shades of history. Past glories guarantee nothing in the future. As a member of the peanut gallery during that introductory time for Coach Lee, I remember thinking that we needed a catchy term, an acronym, that the US folk could grab onto and identify with and I said as much to those at the time. (No proof that they listened to me, but still I said it...)

Several great archery individuals in our organization at the time suggested using the logical design of Coach Lee’s methods to come up with a code word or a label, and it ended up being the "B.E.S.T.", the Biomechanically Efficient Shooting Technique. An Acronym worthy? Was it corny? yes, this much is true, but consider this... The BEST method is based on making your bones, tendons, ligaments, posture, muscles, human intent, and most importantly, the subconscious mind work in unison the most efficient way possible to consistently release a string under pressure in just the right way to get the best results 70 meters away. Coach Lee’s philosophy is not limited to just the US, and he has always been clear and straightforward about moving the entire world of archery with his lever and fulcrum, not just the USA. To this end, he and Aussie coach Robert De Bondt created and continue to support their internationally-acclaimed reference website, KSLInternationalArchery.com

I write to say that the US archery movement is alive, and yes, it still moves and evolves. It moves and grows and evolves thanks to the legions of coaches and archers that have heard the logic of Coach Lee, seen the effect up close and personal and seen how even the smallest iota of his methods can cause a beneficial change in an archer's efforts. Call it the BEST, you are not wrong, but in the US of A, call it the NTS - the National Training System. It's more than just the BEST, it is the sum total of BEST and that of all of our American motivations. Together they will prove to be the world ideal in excellence once again. The NTS, the National Training System for the USA.

Welcome to spring and the start of the outdoor season. Great things are happening at AA. Since the State Indoor, Archival Archery is ramping up for a great shooting year.

Archival Archery made a purchase of 15 new bales and 20 center pads in anticipation of a bid for the US Field Nationals and World Field Trials in 2011 and 2012. We are also in the process of writing a grant request from the Easton Foundation to cover that cost and purchase a new traveling trailer. It has been far too long that we have not had the real ability to pack a trailer and transport it for a tournament out of our normal venues. I am encouraging our members who would like to host a State event, to bid on them once we have a traveling trailer again for members use in running a tournament.

A Needs Judges! Without judges, no tournament can be recognized as a Star FITA - no records can be set! Why, there would be CHAOS I tell you!!!
(Judge Jane Johnson, February 2010)
The Archival Archery Board voted to pay the $35 registration fee for you. You have to submit the test and some information, and you get a neat red shirt and red pen, and the opportunity to help some young archers to compete! Let us know when you've been approved and we reimburse you for the fee! The Archival Archery will also be providing $100 to any judge serving on our state tournaments (Field,Target,JOAD Target, Indoor, & JOAD Indoor), and we will work with the tournament DOS to provide room per diem.

If you've ever wanted to be able to give back to the archery community which supports so many people of all ages in this wonderful sport, now is your chance! It is EASY to be a judge!

Bill Coady of A&M brought up in our annual meeting that we are in a critical place where we've lost the majority of our judges for not only A but the entire southern region.
Soooo........
If you are a parent of a JOAD archer, or if you go to tournaments and pretty much just sit in the tent and read a book while your spouse/son/daughter/husband shoots, or if maybe, you are an archer and enjoy the feeling of a tournament but are on the injury list and don't shoot as much as you used to, please consider becoming a judge and opening up a whole new aspect of participating in archery.

This is from the NArchival Archery website, and written by Tom Green, a US international judge:

Ron Carmichael will conduct an Intermediate Instructors course for no more than 15 individuals. This course will be March 27 & 28, 2010 from 9:30am to 6:30pm (1 hr lunches) each day and will be held on campus in the Anna Hiss Gym at the University of A at the archery range.

I achieved USA Archery Regional High Performance Coach status under National Head Coach Kisik Lee in 2007. I have mentored numerous students at the University of A, Paralympic hopefuls, and became the second archery coach in history to be awarded the Order of Ikkos by the US Olympic Committee for assisting an athlete in winning a bronze medal in Beijing during the 2008 Paralympics.

In addition to what I have learned from Coach Lee, I have also learned a way of coaching from Don Rabska over the years starting just before the Athens 2004 games and continuing through the Beijing Games in 2008. Without Don's brilliance and patience with me (and our mutual athlete for which he deserves an IKKOS medal all by hisself as well) the bronze medal and subsequent Order of Ikkos would likely never have happened. Thank you , Don!

This course is a pre-requisite for the Community Coach Course I will conduct later in the spring. Stay tuned for more details...

Whoops, see what happens if you stay tuned? Info on the CCC:

The prerequisites are that you have to be a Intermediate Instructor for one year (NASP BAIT’s also qualify) or a Basic Instructor for two years and be able to pass the “test-in” test (NAST BAI’s also qualify).

The topics covered in the community coach program are:
1. Introduction and Coaching Challenges
2. Mental Aspects of Archery
3. Archery Shot Execution
4. Coaching Philosophy
5. Athletic Training Cycles - Periodization
6. Goal Setting & Getting
7. Preparing for Competition
8. Equipment
9. Training and Certifying Intermediate Instructors
10. Bringing it all together
The course fee is $250.00 and includes extensive support and print materials. A check for $100.00, made out to Ron Carmichael and mailed to 2703 Cornell Cove, Lago Vista, TX 78645 by April 1 (no fooling!), 2010 will reserve your place in the class. No refunds will be offered after April 15, 2010. Course ratio of teacher/student is limited to 1/12 and room is expected to sell out quickly.

The State Field will be held in the same local as in the past 4 or 5 years, near Eagle Lake. It will be held on Mothers' Day (May 8-9) weekend, and run by Rick Stonebraker. Rick is preparing the information for the event and I will have it posted as soon as possible. This event is one of the best field events in the state, bar none!

The Outdoor JOAD Target event will be conducted by Tom Barker and the Straight Arrow Archery Center in Victoria, June 12-13.
The Senior State Target event will be in Bastrop at the same location as last year, but in September when weather will be more comfortable (hopefully)

As usual, the registrations for all of these events will be held online, and info will be posted in a timely manner. Info on the Lone Star FITA at UT is up, which is the next outdoor event to be held in our area. Good conditions are the norm thanks to the design of the field with large rows of trees to block most of the typical spring winds, but space is somewhat limited so if you think you might want to attend, get on board SOON!

TASP held the most recent state championship tournament in Waco one blustery and cold Saturday in February, and they managed to cycle some 770 kids through the range in a single day! That is some kind of growth, to say the least, and the guys running this thing had it going like clockwork!

I was especially impressed by their handling of the scoring and tallying of scores. They used a kind of scantron device, with score sheets that had arrow scores in little circles. You shoot a 7, you use a pencil to cover the little 7 circle with a pencil. No adding. Just like on tests in school you "fill the bubble" and get back to shooting. After the 20 or 30 arrows are shot (from 10 and 15 meters) the scorecards run through a scanner, the results automatically dumped into a computer spreadsheet! Wow, gotta love that, at least, the kids did since it meant no math was involved....they could focus like all kids, on the socializing in the waiting area with the occasional interruptions to shoot arrows.
They were kind enough to allow the University of A Archery Club set up a table and "meet and greet" the kids and explain to them that they don't have to leave their bows at home when they go to college! UT students Peter Dasso and Lindsey Carmichael handed out hundreds of brochures on both the UT program as well as the US Collegiate Archery organization.
They displayed their Olympic recurve bows, which were HUGE hits with the elementary-to-high-school students who to date had only experienced the genesis bow that NASP relies on.
It's amazing how much interest a stabilizer can provoke, not to mention "AN ADJUSTABLE SIGHT OMG!"
They also provided a demo of their shooting prowess late in the afternoon, and more than 100 autographed photos from the Beijing Games competition were signed over by Lindsey during the day as well as dozens of autographed genesis bows.
After all is said and done, the TASP/A Parks and Wildlife organizers will go to each school throughout A (even to as far away as Fort Davis), hold an entire school assembly, and honor the sagittarial students with their just archery rewards.

Wow, what a positive archery experience!
A summary of the tournament has been provided by Burnie Kessner of the A Parks and Wildlife:
Some quick stats on the tournament: