Payton Bellings April – If you’re reading this, then you probably already know how great of a program NASP® is. It gives students so many great archery opportunities and encourages academic excellence. The thing that puts it apart from other youth archery programs is that it uses one specific type of bow instead of leaving options open to the archer, making equipment easily accessible and more affordable. Most NASP® students have never shot any bows other than the Genesis.
When I first got a compound bow and started shooting it, I caught on fairly fast. There are two reasons for this. First of all, I already had my form built up from years of shooting NASP®. My NASP® form transferred over almost perfectly. I only had to make a few minor changes. In fact, those minor changes actually helped me with my Genesis bow. The other reason that I did decent right away was because I was already very used to a tournament environment. While every style of tournament is run differently, being used to tournaments helped with controlling my nerves.
One of the great things about all of the different archery options is the fact that there are so many opportunities. While I do believe that NASP® is a great program, there are a lot of other options to go along with it. One option that stands out to me especially is the fact that archery is currently one of the fastest growing collegiate sports in the United States. There are so many colleges offering scholarships to compete in archery for them, and I have had the opportunity to speak with a lot of coaches. When I was first starting out in archery, I had no idea that I would be preparing to participate in it on a collegiate level.
If you are considering starting to shoot with a different style of bow I would highly recommend it. It is most definitely one of the best decisions that I have ever made. While it may take a little time to get used to, it is worth it. There is an entire world of archery outside of NASP that I think that everyone should have the chance to see. There are so many different styles of tournaments, not to mention many hunting opportunities. NASP® is the perfect stepping stone to expanding your archery game.
Payton is a 2023 student contributor.
