Most development programs in archery are score based. The problem is that what may yield an immediate score improvement at an early stage of athlete development, doesn't always set you up for further progress down the line. In fact, it may do the opposite...

It's not uncommon for archers to upgrade their equipment, shoot higher poundage or introduce the clicker before they are ready.

We all know this, but development programs that are purely based on score are incongruent with this knowledge, and encourage a very short term results oriented mindset that is always chasing the next badge or pin.

You may think that the first priority should be technique, but there are other disciplines and skills as well.

Planning, equipment knowledge, arrow volume, warm-up, event participation, S&C, sportsmanship, reflection... These are all important parts of an athletes development.

I set out to develop a training progression system that is progressive in it's structure, encouraging archers to learn and practice the necessary skills, disciplines and techniques, in the order that they should learn them.

This is the Rogue Archery Ranking Criteria.

My inspiration for this was from martial arts, where skill and experience is represented by belt progressions. You may notice that in our Rogue Archery squad, there are different coloured jerseys, each of which represents a corresponding rank.

I share this here, not because it is part of the Rogue Archery Masterclass, but perhaps you can use it as a guide to your own development.