The Think Tank

 

Day One:

I hurt my shoulder putting things in the attic on Friday night, so it started out more sore than usual.  I also went out the night before for Joel’s birthday, so I did have a fair amount to drink on Friday.  I did not have a hangover, but it is something worth mentioning.

I felt pretty confident coming into the day, having shot a 58X on Wednesday.  I started out really strong, cleaning my first 4-5 ends, and I was down 1 at the half.  I started struggling more and more as the day progressed, and the shots got weaker.  I started struggling through my shots, holding a long time, my form started breaking down a little bit.

I finished the day down 5, not terrible but nothing to write home about.  My arm was quite sore by the end of the day.

After shooting Sectionals, Debbie and I went over to Archery World to shoot in the Charity Shoot, which was another 40 arrows plus practice.  I shot alright, dropping 5 again (on a birdie target), but I had several disappointing shots in the last 10 or so arrows.

All day long it  felt like I’d been grouping wide, from one edge of the X to the other.  After the charity shoot, I made a minor adjustment to the rest, moving it out 1/2 of a mark.

Day Two:

My shoulder was more sore starting out today than it was yesterday.  I shot a few practice ends and I was having trouble already.  I told mom that I thought it was going to be a rough day.

In the end, it wound up being almost the opposite of yesterday: I started weak and finished the last few ends pretty good.  After I dropped five, I really did not want to finish lower than 110 X’s total.  That extra bit of nerves helped me come through my shots stronger than I had been, and my final end was all inside-out; the only inside-out end I shot all day.

Around half-time I told mom that my shoulder was hurting and that I must have been rolling my left shoulder, so she was paying attention.  She started paying special attention, and after we were done she told me that it looked like it was humped up.  In talking with Debbie and Mom, I decided that I needed to adjust my pre-shot setup by making sure to relax my left shoulder and ensure that it doesn’t hump up while I’m aiming.

Aside from target 3, which had no discernible pattern, I punched out solid holes in the other four targets.  It looks like the adjustment to rest had an effect.