Archery: a sport one cannot master

29 August 2008

Don S Rabska, one of the most knowledgeable archery experts in the world, was here in the country for four days. A day before his departure, he talked to some 40 Bhutanese archers.

Don S Rabska is a regional Olympic archery coach in the US and he holds the position of executive director in the Easton Sports Development Foundation.

Talking to the Bhutanese archers, he said that there were only a few differences in the Olympic style of archery and the Bhutanese style. “In the Olympic style you play from a distance of 70 meters aiming at a multi coloured target and here in Bhutan the target is about 143 meters away. There is not much difference, you are still shooting a bow and arrow and still aiming at a target. Ultimately it is archery,” he said.

He said that Bhutanese archers could improve if they changed the way they shoot. “There is no wrong way to shoot but there are better ways,” he said.

Asked why Bhutanese archers could not come home with a medal from the Beijing Olympics, he said that it was because Bhutanese archers did not have professional techniques and high level of training.

“It is not that they failed, just getting there is a huge success but had they had more training their chances would have been better,” he said, adding that most countries have professional and high level trainings.

He demonstrated and showed ways and means that could help the Bhutanese archers shoot well.

However, although he has been in this field for almost 50 years, he still considers himself a student of the sport. “Archery is such a vast pool of learning that it takes a lifetime to really understand the sport but you never learn everything,” he said.

By Tandin Pem

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