NW Shootup Nock Point
by Chris on Jan.08, 2012, under Shooting Journal
My jaw and ear were hurting very badly over night, and because of that I got very little sleep. I was taking ibuprofen and pseudaphed every three hours to keep the pain and inflammation down. By the time I started shooting I was also in quite a bit of pain from my neck muscles cramping. It apparently showed in face, because several people asked mom if I was feeling alright.
My game plan for shooting was the same as it had been before: Just keep shooting my form and trust that the arrows would find the middle. I started out feeling pretty confident given how things had gone the day before in Bow.
My practice ends were pretty good, but as usual by the time I got to the scoring rounds I was getting tight and having a harder and harder time getting through my shots. I started right off with a miss on the first end off of a really crummy shot, one of the ones where I aim pretty good and think it is there right up until the point of release, when my bow arm flies around and my release hand pops straight back. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. If half of my shots felt like good ones, I’d be surprised.
I finished with a 297 / 15x. I was frustrated and disappointed because I really wanted to better my scores from the first two Shootups to help ensure a higher position at the Final, but instead I was worse. No help at all.
I qualified in third and tried to stay positive for the eliminations, which in my heart I felt I would lose because every time things got a little bit tough, I shot bad shots and hit nines. Still, I tried to keep my head together and kept telling myself to hit my form. I went on to lose my elimination round and wound up in 4th place. As usual, the two guys shooting in the round immediately after mine shot a 58 and 57 respectively, which sucked because I shot a 59 in mine.
Upon later reflection I realized that while I had been telling myself to “hit your form,” I had not been holding that form after the shot. When I made an effort to hold my form after the shot, I did a better job of getting into the correct post-shot form.
I also bought the Neat trainer thingy from Cory after the shoot.
Additional information: —————————————
Start date: Jan 8, 2012 10:48 AM Target: FITA Total score: 297
— Sent from my iPhone
