As Ken Tromer eyed retirement, he realized he needed to line up an activity that would keep him fit and active.
“Somebody gave me great advice. They said, ‘Don’t retire until you have enough hobbies to keep you busy. Otherwise, you’re going to hate retirement,’” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He’d been interested in archery during college, but didn’t get back into it until he found the Atlanta Archery Club last October. Now 62 and still working — in sales for Experian — he’s found his activity as retirement approaches.
The compound bow
“I took my first introduction to archery, and I was hooked. I dove headfirst into the deep end,” Tromer said. “I bought, actually, both recurve and compound bows, and then I ended up concentrating on compound bows.”
Recurve bows, the more traditional apparatuses, feature a single string attached to two limbs. Compound bows are more modern and allow users more performance payoff from the same amount of draw weight — that is, the amount of energy they’re putting into the bow’s limbs when they draw an arm back to shoot.
Credit: Contributed by Ken Tromer
Credit: Contributed by Ken Tromer
“Compound bows have cams on both sides — wheels on the top and bottom that act as a way to be able to pull the bow back, and it releases some of the tension, so when you’re holding it back to aim, it doesn’t have as much tension on it like a recurve,” Tromer said.
The gadgetry requires work and adjustments for timing.
“I’m on archery forums all the time trying to figure out and learn,” Tromer said. “I’ve created an archery workbench in my own home because it takes a lot of equipment to be able to work on your own (compound bow).”
Tromer, an Alpharetta resident, was shooting two or three times a week before the AAC’s recent move to a soccer field off Tilly Mill Road. In July, he said he was waiting for the heat to abate to pick up the pace again, but when he’s shooting, it helps him stay in shape.
“I think it has a lot to offer. It requires mind and body,” he said. “Muscle tone is important. You need to be able to pull back. The better you get, the more you’re going to have tension on the bow, so the more muscles you’re going to have to have in your back.”
His first competition was early this year, and he plans to do more, but it’s the sense of community he said he really values.
“If you don’t have people around you, it kind of gets boring or you don’t get out of it what you’re really looking for, and so that’s why I think archery does great things because I think it’s something everybody can do together at all skill levels,” he said.
“You don’t have to be great. You don’t have to invest a lot. You can invest a little and use the club equipment.”
The recurve bow
Heather Polk, 70, began archery four years ago after she hurt her back and had to pivot from 30 years of riding horses.
The Dallas resident found like-minded adults at the Kennesaw Archery Club where she shoots three times a week. She’d dabbled in archery at various points of her life, so she had some familiarity with the pursuit before picking it up again.
“The first year, I just went on Saturdays, because that’s when Kennesaw Archery has lessons for beginner types,” she said. “And then, I realized, ‘Wow. I have my own bow and arrow, so I could go anytime I want …’ It’s not a pay-every-time-you-want-to-shoot type thing.”
Credit: Contributed by the Kennesaw Archery Club
Credit: Contributed by the Kennesaw Archery Club
Polk shoots an Olympic recurve bow, an accessorized version of the traditional recurve. Coming from horseback riding, she had the necessary hand-eye coordination, but she had to build her strength.
“For someone just starting into archery as a sport, you don’t start shooting 70 meters,” she said. “You start shooting 10, and you’re close to the target, and it’s not arm strength. It’s more shoulder and upper body strength, and you progress through the distances as you’re able to do it. … Now, I can shoot 70, but it’s taken two years before I got there.”
Archery encourages her to better her own performance, Polk said.
“You’re competing against your last scores,” she said. “Whether you go to a tournament or not, it’s not a team environment. It’s making yourself feel good because you’re doing something for yourself.”
Polk has competed at Georgia Golden Olympics. She’s also qualified in her age and bow-type division for the State Games of America national competition and the National Senior Games.
Like Tromer, she wants newcomers to know this sport serves a variety of participants.
“Archery’s for all ages,” she said. “We start at 9, and I think our oldest person is in the high 80s.”
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