The rhythmic sound of metal on wood can be heard daily in the backyard of the seven-member family.

They are all avid woodchoppers; everyone chops right up from Jack, 7, to dad, Howard.

Mum, Wendy, gave it a go once or twice but is happier to be the tour manager and the chief cheerleader at competitions.

So there is Jack and Kate, 8, they are learning but are still too young to compete at agricultural shows.

Then there is Sam, 15, Tom, 13, and Lucy, 11. Sam and Tom competed at the Sydney Royal Easter Show this year.

Lucy didn’t there was a bit of controversy surrounding that but she will go next year and show the boys just how good she is.

Woodchopping runs through their veins, it started a long time ago with their grandfather.

He used to have bullocks and worked in the forests down the south coast around Milton.

Mr Backhouse said he followed in the footsteps of his father and his two elder brothers.

“They started chopping, then one day dad was at the Milton Show and he got my older brother chopping,” he said.

Mr Backhouse then decided it was his turn so at 16 he started competing and he has been chopping for around 40 years.

He has competed at the Royal Sydney Easter Show for around the same time. During that time he has never won, but this year the drought was broken when he won the father and son section with Sam.

It was a proud moment for the Backhouse family.

Mrs Backhouse said Howard always wanted the children to woodchop.

“Sam was about 12 or 13 when we went to a local woodchop at Chevalier,” she said. “We saw the junior event and there were only two boys in it. Howard said, ‘we will have to get Sam into it now, not in a few years time’. So he started to train him.”

Sam’s first woodchop was at the Sydney Royal three years ago.

But like the rest of his brothers and sisters he picked up his first axe when he was much younger.

In fact they all usually get given axes for birthdays, usually a toy one to start with, then a little tomahawk and then up to a bigger one.

Jack was very excited this birthday to get a little axe of his own.

Safety is the priority for the family, with the children wearing mesh feet and leg guards. They also have a great respect for the axe, which are so sharp they could take the hair off a person’s arm.

Like any professional sport there is a lot of practice involved, most days one of the kids would be out the back having a go.

Mrs Backhouse said it is practice, practice and more practice.

“When you are chopping there is a pattern that you have to follow,” she said.

“You don’t just hit into it.

“The easiest block to cut is the underhand block where you stand up on top of it.

“You mark the block out and Howard tells Sam where to stand, how to hit it.

“You follow your pattern so bottom, top and then you go on the other side top, bottom so you are going around in a circle.

“There is a technique to it.”

Sam has gone from a handicap of three seconds to 75 seconds in a little under three years.

So during a competition a chopper that isn’t as good would be given a head start.

On average Sam would cut four or five blocks a day when he is practising. He also has to keep his fitness up by cycling and doing weights.

Mr Backhouse said woodchoppers could over train and wouldn’t be at their best for an event.

“You had to spell a few days before a chop,” he said.

“I always train Sam hard on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

“Then Thursd’y, Frid’y, he just relaxes.”

Mrs Backhouse added that fitness played an important part in woodchopping.

“You could chop well but you have to have that stamina to go for that 30-50 seconds flat out,” she said.

“It is a burst of energy for that short period of time, so you have to be fit.”

Every woodchop is a family event, with the seven of them piling in the family car to cheer on whoever is chopping that day.

So it was an emotional day when father and son won at the show this year.

With mum and the four other kids in the stands, it is what helps Sam and the others compete at their best.

Mrs Backhouse said the kids love woodchopping. They wouldn’t be competing unless they did.

“Even Kate and Jack. Kate will say, ‘next year I can chop’,” she said.

“You have to be 10 to start chopping at the local shows.”

An avid ballerina as well as an axe woman, Lucy said woodchopping was a challenge.

“I like challenges,” she said.

That is also in the blood.