The archery session takes place on the top-floor basketball pitches at the Downside Centre near Tower Bridge (nearest to London Bridge underground). The have-a-go sessions take place around once a week and up to twelve people can join in each one. At £20 for 90mins, it is really good value for money!
On an organisational front, 20/20 Archery do an alright job. I felt let down the first time, when the notification about the change of time was sent to the incorrect email address, and we didn't find out until we actually turned up on the day. Although they didn't question rearranging the session to another date, when I tried to book this, the first set of options I was sent had either already passed or were fully-booked. I did eventually confirm a good date and the right email address, but even then when I emailed to check everything was still going ahead the day before the session, I didn't receive a reply.
However, when it did come to the 19th (the rebooked session), the experience itself was truly excellent!
With ten people in our session, there was plenty of space on the archery pitch. After being roughly measured for bow and arrow size, donning an armguard and getting some basic safety instructions, we were off!
One thing that cannot be criticised is the amount of time spent shooting arrows, which is what we all went there to do. They have a good system where the A-half shoot, then the B-half, arrows are collected and then you start from the beginning, meaning very little time is lost to faffing around or bringing arrows up and down the pitch.
However on the flip side, this did mean that there wasn't much time put over to technicalities, skills or helping people correct and improve their shooting. As a newly-discovered archery aficionado, I didn't mind this and definitely valued the lack of delays, however for anyone not having as much success (**cough** Sian **cough**) we agreed that a bit more assistance would have made for a more satisfying experience.
The session finished with a 15-arrow scoring competition, where shots were added up over five rounds. After a staunch battle, we had the two stocky guys in third and second (with mid-70s scores) and... me with the top score of 83!
This is for you if...
You just want to try something different and exciting. I would recommend this if you have siblings visiting, if you want to spend an afternoon with friends or even just for the experience. You don't have to be big and strong to have a good time, or find out you're a good archer!
Recommendations
If you're even just thinking about trying archery, do it. I went with friends, and would probably recommend this, but everyone was really friendly so if you did go alone then I'm sure it would still be a lot of fun.
This is the first Something New that I have decided to continue - 20/20 offer training courses from beginner right up to expert, and you can just go and shoot as part of the club. If you enjoy the have-a-go session but want more coaching, this is the way to go. Robin Hood, eat your heart out!
