Recurve archer with Korean flavour

Namibian’s top junior recurve Archer Xander Reddig has received his final touches ahead of the Junior Olympics in August when he participated at a training camp with world renowned trainer Kim Hyung-Tak outside South Korean Capital Seoul from 22nd June to 3rd July.
His participation came about after Namibian National Coach Marja Woortman first met Hyung-Tak at a coaching seminar in Brazil last year and discussed a possible future participation. But it was only this year that an actual cooperation materialized.
While being at the World Cup in Turkey, World Archery (WA) invited Reddig and coach Woortman to a coaching clinic in Thailand, but a series of unfortunate events prevented the pair from attending. Reddig did, however, need some more specialized training and Woortman quickly got in contact with Hyung-Tak to arrange a visit which was confirmed shortly thereafter.
“Hyung-Tak made Xander shoot a few arrows to see what kind of grouping he achieved”, Woortman said about the humble beginnings in South Korea.
 “After getting a clear picture on his capabilities, Hyung-Tak changed his style step by step. The adjustments were kept simple but they made a huge difference”, the Namibian coach, who holds the highest qualification in the country, continued. The South Korean was amazed at how quickly Reddig learned.

En-route to the games, Xander will continue his new training routine in his hometown Tsumeb, practising not less than two hours a day under the watchful eye of his father Frank, who also saw positive changes in his son’s style.
“Xander learned a lot with Kim Hyung-Tak. The training was extremely intensive and very personal in terms of individual training. The set-up was world class and Xander is very positive that he will put the things he learned to good use”, his father Frank said.
Kim Hyung-Tak started archery back in 1972 and is widely considered to be one of the founders of modern South Korean archery. He has since acted as head coach for both the South Korean and Taiwanese national teams at various tournaments, including the Olympic Games and Asian Games.
Coach Hyung-Tak opened his training centre in 2004. Since then, more than 800 archers from around the world have come to learn from him. Some of the participants later went on to win medals at the Olympic Games, such as Ruben Victor of the Ukraine.