Archery is a sport that offers significant benefits for physical, emotional, and psychological health. It is a sport that goes beyond conventional boundaries to combat stress or the lack of action in life. When we talk about children’s development, we try to understand the physical, psychological, cognitive, and social changes they go through, which will shape the adults they become in the future. In this post, we strongly advocate for the benefits that archery brings to the development and growth experienced by children during certain stages of their lives.
Benefits of Archery for Children
- Archery improves hand-eye coordination. What does this mean? Children develop the ability to use their hands or feet and their vision simultaneously in order to perform a task.
- It enhances concentration and self-control. This is a crucial aspect of a child’s development as it helps them manage how to control themselves and better handle any situation. A child who can identify the emotions they are feeling is more equipped to handle situations in a beneficial way. Self-control undoubtedly leads to a more successful and happy life.
- It fosters social integration among children, young people, adults, seniors, and disabled individuals in the same environment. Children acquire the ability to adopt different perspectives, meaning the capacity to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, to see the world through the eyes of people different from themselves.
- It helps control and relieve daily stress. Archery has different formats, one of which is called the “forest course,” which involves direct contact with nature. It consists of an open field with 3D targets, like a circuit outdoors where we must score each target we encounter along the way.
- Socialization. Sports and sporting competitions develop values and attitudes that shape people’s spirit and character. They create individuals with a positive mindset, cultivated in personal effort and overcoming challenges, respectful, fair, and disciplined. Generally, all sports practices develop values and attitudes that shape people’s spirit and character; but when it comes to children, it is even more important since they are in the transition towards becoming adults.
- Fun and personal challenge. Besides the enjoyment this sport provides, it is also important to set personal challenges and goals, as this helps us in the future to appreciate our achievements and also to overcome our own failures.
Did you know that this practice offers so many benefits?
As with all the posts where I talk about this discipline, if you are really interested in having a child in your environment start archery, this sport should always be practiced under the supervision and guidance of professionals. Therefore, if you’re interested, it’s ideal to approach sports centers that have professional instructors in this discipline.