Bad Axe Throwing - Ottawa activities for teens and tweens

As axe-throwing newbies, my daughters (10, 12 and 14) and I didn’t know what to expect when we walked into Bad Axe Throwing. We’d heard that there was a lot of lunging, a variety of techniques and some competitive spirit - our outing showed all above to be true.

Walking into the open-air studio on Liverpool Ave, we immediately noticed the giant pile of wood planks to the left of the entrance. It soon became clear what those were for! We were welcomed by Coach Darcy who stepped away to finish teaching another group. This left us a few minutes to check things out. There are four throwing “cages” that run along one side of the studio and opposite those are couches and tables. Two of the cages are doubles and two are singles. Each cage has rubber flooring, metal fencing to separate the playing area from the next and there is a large target made of 5 rings on the wall built with the planks we saw earlier. Each cage has a cement block with a wooden box on top that holds 3 different axes (one set per target). The axes are slightly different in both size and weight.

Coach Darcy came over and went over the safety rules and showed us how to hold the axe properly. She showed us a few different ways to throw (one-handed and two-handed) and explained which axes were best for each type of throw. My youngest daughter preferred the smallest axe while the other two chose the medium one. Coach Darcy made it look so easy, I was convinced I’d be able to stick the axe right away (I was mistaken). It took us several throws to figure out what we were doing but Coach Darcy was there to provide pointers and show us how to correct our throws. My 10 year old is very petite and discovered that she needed to take a bit of a running start when throwing in order to get enough momentum for a solid throw. Once she got this sorted she did great! My older two figured out what throws worked for them and did very well; they each hit the bullseye a few times. Seeing their confidence was fantastic! We didn’t keep track of points but if you’re competitive, you can check out the point values that are posted on the wall.

What we loved:
The coaching! It’s easy to get frustrated if you don’t get the hang of something immediately but with a Coach there to help, it changes everything. Coach Darcy also cheered when we had a good throw which upped the morale.

What we loved less:
We enjoyed everything but the only thing that really surprised us was how loud it can get when axes don’t stick and they hit the wall. We got used to it after a bit but it could definitely get much louder if all cages are in use.

Bad Axe Throwing offers a unique experience that combines skill, competition, and camaraderie. This is a fun activity that can be enjoyed with a group of friends.

A couple of things to note:

As this is not an activity designed for kids and teens there are sometimes groups with louder “adult” language, so keep that in mind if you would find that problematic.

There’s no ‘minimum' age’ but you want to keep in mind that your child needs to be responsible enough given that axes are weapons, and strong enough to throw the axe hard enough to have it stick in the targets. 10+ is probably a good guideline but they leave it to your own discretion.

Bad Axe Throwing
Address: 1580 Liverpool Ct #8, Ottawa ON
Booking Hours: Monday-Sunday 8am-11pm
Walk-in Hours (schedule subject to change - call before heading over): Friday 6pm-9pm, Saturday (2pm-7:30pm), Tuesday (3pm-4:30pm)

Cost:
Walk-ins - $26.98pp (45 minutes)

Bad Axe Booking - $41.99pp with a minimum of 6 people (1.5 hours)

Candace is a mom of 4 who loves exploring the city and trying out new activities with her adventurous kiddos.