Think about your favorite teachers and their greatest qualities. They were smart, they made learning easy, and they kept their lessons fun. Ideal archery instructors share many of those same traits.

After all, archery instructors teach and guide you through your journey. You must be able to trust them, which means you must pick the right coach to achieve the best results. Let’s review five qualities to seek in your instructor.

Good instructors have technical knowledge.

It’s essential that your instructor has a solid background in archery form and mechanics, as well as in-depth knowledge about its equipment.

You need complete confidence in your instructor’s advice, so they must know everything possible to teach proper form. They also must know equipment thoroughly to make recommendations and any necessary repairs at tournaments.

How can you assess their knowledge and teaching skills? Goods coaches have the proper credentials to show they’re a certified instructor. Organizations like USA Archery, Scholastic 3-D and the National Field Archery Association offer certification classes where instructors learn to teach archery. In fact, five coaching levels distinguish each instructor’s experience. Learn more about instructor certification by visiting the USA Archery website.

Good instructors keep archery fun!

Whether you’re trying to make an Olympic team or you’re just learning archery’s basics, your instructor should make it fun. Some lessons are serious, of course, and building good archery skills takes hard work, but the process should never be miserable. Good coaches use games to reinforce lessons and keep archery fun.

Good instructors are good communicators.

Good instructors take complicated concepts and explain them in ways that make sense. It’s easy to use fancy jargon and technical terms, but they hamper learning if students don’t understand them. Good coaches also teach advanced topics to students without being condescending.

Teaching and learning archery is a long-term process. Instructors who are patient, and explain the sport’s nuances clearly and systematically, are winners.

Good instructors are adaptable.

Good coaches can teach archery. Great coaches adapt their teaching style to match each student’s learning style. If you’re a visual learner, they’ll demonstrate the technique or show you a video that demonstrates it.

Archery fundamentals are universal, but each archer’s techniques differ slightly because no two people are built the same. Great instructors recognize those realities, and match the principles of proper shot execution to each archer’s body traits.

Good instructors help you achieve your goals.

Whether you’re a serious competitor or fun-loving recreational archer, your coach should help you achieve your goals. It doesn’t matter if you want to win your first tournament, improve your stump-shooting, or beat friends and siblings in a balloon shoot-off, good instructors craft plans to help you achieve your goals.

Are you ready to find your ideal instructor? Click here to find someone nearby!