Surprisingly Down-to-Earth Big City Axe Throwing Club

Review of Bad Axe Throwing, Chicago, USA

Bad Axe Throwing claim to be the “world’s biggest urban axe throwing club”, with 26 locations across North America. That may be true, but I was pleased to discover that the Chicago venue felt much more like a small independent than a big corporate chain. It was a particularly good find for me, as I was by myself and looking for just the simple down-to-earth club environment it provided.

The venue is a fair size. As you enter, there is just a small reception area with one lane caged off from it, but you can go through a passageway to a slightly larger area that would suit a group booking. There was a group in there when I went, who seemed to have a great time. There’s no fancy bar or trappings, but you can bring your own food in, which is a good option.

I was fortunate that the group was booked in. I turned up as a speculative walk-in. They do allow walk-ins, but suggest you ring first, as there are limited lanes. However, the axe coach welcomed me enthusiastically (even though she was clearly only waiting for the group and hadn’t expected any other visitors for that session). It didn’t phase her at all. She booked me in quickly, and, as the group had arrived by then, ran through the safety/training with us all. Once she was happy I was ok throwing she directed me back to the reception area lane.

I had the walk-in lane with two targets to myself, which was a bonus. The axe coach even encouraged me to throw on both targets, rather than just one, so I spent less time walking and more time throwing.

If I had one slight criticism it might be that the axe coach’s initial intro went on a bit more than needed. For example, I think you can just say “axes bounce and are dangerous” and most people get it, without having to elaborate on that. But that’s just my personal preference and the content of the instruction was all sensible stuff. The axe coach was generous with the session time anyway, so it didn’t really impact on that.

I didn’t see much of the axe coach the rest of the time, which was great for me. I could hear her providing instruction to the other group and was impressed by the coaching throughout. I also thought it was a nice touch that she stopped about half way through to teach all the throwers some “trick shots”, including throwing two axes at once, underarm et al. It was fun to work on my underarm throwing for a period.

The boards were a little worn, but fine for social throwing/practice. They were old style WATL targets. Bad Axe are big into WATL and the axe coach did ask if I was interested in joining the league, so that’s a good option if you’re more local. Scoring was a simple whiteboard on the wall next to the lane (what else do you need?).

I didn’t take my own axe, but you are encouraged to do so (to my mind always the sign of an axe throwing venue that knows what they are doing!). The house axes were good enough though. There were a couple of options including the entry level WATL Competition Thrower, which suited me well. You could also pay extra to throw knives and big axes if you wanted.

The environment worked well with their urban “bad axe” image. Wire caged throwing lanes in an industrial looking building, decorated with a blend of intentional street art and actual graffiti on the interior walls (although I imagine the decor wouldn’t appeal to everyone). Externally the building is quite drab, with a single door and just a few simple signs to indicate what goes on inside. It’s located at the bottom of a dead end street, a few miles out of the main downtown Chicago.

The urban ‘scruffy gym’ look added to the down-to-earth independent venue vibe, and I felt like I was dropping in to my local axe throwing club for a good session. The facilities were great and the coaching was just the right balance of friendly encouragement and competent support. I probably couldn’t have picked a better place for a bit of solo axe throwing – although I’d be keen to encourage others along next time too.

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.