More El Hachazo in Spain and Still Great Fun
A visit to a second El Hachazo axe throwing venue in Spain, which was great fun – just like the first one
Review of El Hachazo, Valencia, Spain
El Hachazo Valencia is part of the Spanish El Hachazo axe throwing network, and I was interested to see if it offered an experience as good as we’d had previously in Murcia – I wasn’t disappointed. Like Murcia (and, I assume, in the other 3 Madrid venues too), every aspect of the experience was just that bit better than other axe throwing places. Great boards, good customer service and more games than you could shake, or throw, an axe at!
We were greeted enthusiastically by our axe coach on arrival, and quickly walked through the instruction on throwing. It was their very specific ‘flamingo’ style one handed over the shoulder throw, shifting weight on your leading foot as you throw, ending with your trailing leg in the air as you release. It’s an effective throw, just curious that it’s taught as standard. However, as in Murcia, our axe coach didn’t object once we reverted back to our usual throwing style after the initial warmup. Seeing we were proficient, she left us to get on with it, but popping back regularly to offer encouragement and to bring new throwing implements.
The choice of throwing implements was very generous. In addition to a range of throwing hatchets, there were tomahawk style axes and a range of throwing star and chakram type throwers. Even a throwing shovel. On the Premium package, you can try out up to 8 different items, and even on the standard “Classical” package you could try up to 4, which was more than sufficient for a 55mins session. Our axe coach brought each one over in turn and made sure we knew how to throw it, before leaving us to have a play. It was a great balance between good instruction and allowing us the freedom to throw.
The choice of games was equally generous. El Hachazo have their own bespoke projected games system, which is great fun. The games are all on a tablet and very easy to get the hang of. You choose a game icon, enter the player names and off you go. The games automatically score when you tap the appropriate area of the tablet, so it’s only partly interactive (but personally I prefer that to the other automatic-scoring software option available, which you often need to adjust).
There were a wide range of games. Too many games for us to try out in one session, but we thoroughly enjoyed the ones we did try. There were target type games you see in many places, but there were also plenty of arcade type games we haven’t seen anywhere else.
The facilities were great for throwing, with good quality boards and plenty of space around the throwing lanes. Single lanes, which I always prefer, as you can just get on and throw without worrying about what the other lanes are doing, divided as they were by professional wire fencing. There was also a sizeable seating area around the bar, which would be great for an after throw drink, for groups in particular.
The sign of a good axe throwing venue is leaving and thinking we should do that again. At Valencia, we left thinking we should have booked a longer session. We were really pleased to see their commitment to excellent axe throwing fun extended to this venue too. I would definitely visit Valencia again, but for longer next time!
Pros
- Great choice of throwing implements
- Plenty of fun projected games
- Enthusiastic axe coach
- Good quality boards
Cons
- Unusual (for some) hatchet throwing technique
Disclaimer: “The Axe Inspector” receives no payment or benefit of any kind from either TheAxeThrower.com or from the venue, for this review. The review is the subjective opinion of one person (albeit as objective as possible) and we encourage throwers to try out the venue to make their own mind up.
