Robin Hood in the making!

How often have you tried your luck at archery? I guess apart from those few instances during our childhood of getting a make shift bow with a jute string and some arrows made of thick straw during Indian festivals like Dussera, I am sure you would not have had a chance to play Robin hood. I was lucky. Though, I could only manage to get a bow and a few arrows from the otherwise long list of paraphernalia that Hood otherwise carries.

I utilize my business trips to the US to the fullest. If last time it was skiing, this time it was archery. We, I and two of my colleagues, decided to go to the Golden Gate Park, San Francisco on one Saturday when I was in California. The day was breezy and there was a nip in the air. Honestly, I was not sure what to expect. Having said that, I am glad I went for it.

One of my colleagues had tried his hand at archery before. He was the one who recommended that we go for it. We were supposed to reach the park at 3:30 in the afternoon…but we got delayed and by the time we reached, dusk had set in. However, the moment we saw the lush green field, some 7-8 targets and some 15-20 people with their bows and arrows doing archery, we got really excited.

Our coach, a soft spoken, methodical and knowledgeable chap, scientifically explained the dos and the don’ts of archery, the position of the quiver, the placement of the arrow on the bow, the stretch of the string, the stance and the final release. He was observant and thorough to the extent that he noticed my slouchy posture and asked me to correct it.

We had a common target and we were placed a couple of meters from each other, forming a small arc. After 10-15 mins of briefing, he left us to be on our own and the next 45 mins were nothing short of thrilling. Each one of us took aim at the target by turn and at the end of 6 rounds, we used to measure the points. We played three rounds and my colleague, who was visiting from the UK was clearly the one who stood out amongst us. He was very consistent with his scoring pattern too. However, it was the third and final round where I showed promising signs too and in one case almost hit the bull’s eye, which is worth 10 points. (The narcissist in me could not help but write about this :))

I am sure Hood himself would have been proud of us if he had seen our efforts. The 25 dollars were well spent.