THE Scottish Archery U21 Pathway Academy, our programme to support young athletes in progressing to GB teams, is pleased to announce the creation of 360° Coach, a new low-cost and innovative technology solution for the analysis and improvement of sporting form, particularly that of archers. The solution allows a coach to guide archers in an in-person setting or to receive streamed or recorded footage and offer remote coaching. Archers can now quickly correct common form errors before they become bad habits.
Invented by U21 Team Manager, Richard Radigan and parent-volunteer, Ainsley Ward, the creation of the coaching aid has been supported by CGI, one of the leading IT and Business Consulting Services companies in the world, through its community work. CGI, which has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Scottish Borders, provided a number of recycled iPhone devices and hours through CGI member Ward and his colleagues to help make the system a reality.
The solution, which helps to break down the ‘ego-mind’ defined by W. Timothy Gallwey, has become a key enabler for the advancement of youth archery in Scotland and will be used at every Pathway training event going forward. It leverages multi-camera technology from Switcher Studio to provide an all-round view of the archer and presents results in real-time allowing them to correct immediately following directions from a coach. The inventors will help other athletes to leverage the solution as an aid to improving sporting performance.
Richard Radigan said: “We were initially inspired by a set of large mirrors at one of our training locations, which allowed us to give a 360° view to the archer while shooting. This takes it one step further as receiving guidance from a coach is improved as the coach can have multiple viewpoints simultaneously.”
The Scottish Archery U21 Pathway Academy was revamped in October 2022 to establish a resource for all youth archers in Scotland to access elite training and coaching facilities and represent their country in National and International events. Run by Head of Pathways, Alan Martin, the programme is being funded solely through fundraising activities.
Alan Martin elaborated: “The Academy is already proving successful, with young Scots ranking highly in the Archery GB Junior Archery Series and collecting a number of medals at the recent Junior National Outdoor Competition held at the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall thanks to the programme. While we continue to hunt for a shirt sponsor to broaden the reach of our Academy and support more young archers, we are aiming to use this new invention, created with the support of CGI, to bring in essential funding.”
