The Social Stages of Archery

Stage 1. The Newborn - The newbs of archery are bursting with questions and ignorance. If they are smart, they ask questions of more experienced archers and try to learn quickly. Socially, their goals should be to befriend the more experienced archers so they can learn faster.

Stage 2. The Toddler - These archers have learned how to walk, understand the basics of form, and they're able to talk about it. They know that they don't know everything, but they have also determined that they learn quite a bit by talking to their fellow archers.

Stage 3. The Addict - These archers start hanging out at the range every time they get a chance and are even bringing their friends. They talk about archery often even when not at the range, watch all the movies and TV shows, and cannot get enough of it. Their addiction effects them daily, causing them to want to be at the range constantly.

Stage 4. The Yapper - These archers won't shut up. They yap all the time, often pushing their knowledge (which may be faulty) unto other archers, bragging about their skills, about their bow(s), about specific equipment, and won't shut up about it. These archers get on the nerves of more experienced archers who frankly don't care any more. (Note, this stage can sometimes come before stage 3.)

Stage 5. The Master - Experience best describes these archers. They've heard everything and just don't care any more. You can spot the experienced archers in the fact that they obviously know how to shoot, they only socialize when they choose to do so, they can be talkative and share their knowledge, but they have the good manners to not be pushing their ideas and knowledge unto other archers. Their humility about their skills shows in the fact that they avoid bragging about it. To be a Master of any skill one must learn humility. Some of these Masters may even take up teaching archery, putting their skills to use helping others to learn the art of archery.