The Think Tank

I felt tired and shaky all day, especially in my right forearm, which had me concerned all day. My head hurt a little bit and I felt sort of lightheaded off and on as well, which I think is the result of the pseudophed that I took prior to shooting, coupled with the headcold I think I am getting.

I started the day off a little nervous and felt a bit like I had something to prove, that I can shoot better than I’ve been showing. Unlike usual, when I feel that I do better in higher pressure situations, today I did not answer that call at all. I dropped 7 x’s between the first two and last two ends. That’s more than half of my misses in 1/3 of the ends.

Especially as the day work on, the more I tried to step up, the more I lost track of some part of my form, which is too bad because I’d say that at least 20-25 of my shots were a bit of a struggle to get through.

I did manage to shoot some very good arrows today, but all in all I don’t think this was a very strong performance, especially when you consider that arrows that I dropped (IE, when I really felt I needed to clean the ends).

I didn’t get particular upset over any single arrow or shot, which is good. In fact, two or three of the missed X’s came off of shots that I thought I had performed pretty well, and those didn’t phase me at all. I was trying to shoot for form, and when I hit my form I called it good, even on the few occasions when those shots missed.

Overall I am disappointed with this weekend. I feel that I could have / should have shot 6-10 X’s better. At the same time, I feel that I shot an awful lot of really good shots and a lot of inside-out arrows as well, so I that is encouraging.

One concerning trend is dropping X’s in groups: I shot something like seven 3-X rounds over the course of the weekend, which more or less equaled the number of 5-X ends I shot. That is way too much. Missing is bad enough, but missing in multiples is something that I really can’t let myself do. I have to special attention to this moving forward. If I drop one, I have to made damn sure I don’t drop another.

One thing to note, on a few occasions this weekend when I hit my form perfectly, I could see the arrow flight and it looks pretty horrible. I need to check it through paper and see if it is messed up. If so, that could account for the lack of forgiveness I am experiencing.

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Start date: Mar 13, 2011 12:54 PM Target: NFAA/IFAA Indoor Total score: 300 49X Weekend Total: 600 99X

Today was the first day of the NFAA Indoor Sectionals (regionals). Our region includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Alaska.  There are shoots being held in each state this weekend, and will be combined for the final results.

Debbie came up from Sweet Home to shoot this weekend, and since we got to choose our own shooting lanes we shot  next to each other, which is fun.  Very much like old times.

I shot a 300 with 50 X’s, which is 1 X better than I did two weeks ago at State, although I shot a much higher concentration of really good arrows today (shots that were right on the X and in the same hole over and over again).  That made me feel good, but I am a bit disappointed as I’ve been practicing more in the 52-54 X range the last week or so.  In my head I feel like I can do better.

Debbie finished up with a 299 and 38 X’s.  She was in much the same boat as I was: she shot a lot of good shots, but struggled through more than usual.

I guess that’s what we get for playin’ hookey for so long.

We shoot tomorrow at 1:30PM.

I started feeling like I was getting sick last night, and that translated into today.  I had a headache trying to come on most of the day, partially plugged up ears and a scratchy throat.  I took pills which helped make me feel better, but I was sweating like a pig and I was having a really hard time getting through me shots strong.

I felt pretty confident after shooting last night, and I tried really hard to keep my focus on maintaining my form.  It was difficult to keep my mind purely on form, though, because Archer’s Afield is kind of dark (so I struggled to see a little bit) and I was a bit nervous.  My shoulder felt a little weak as well, so I wasn’t holding as well I have been the last few days in practice.

My first two practice ends were 10 almost inside-out X’s, which built a little confidence, but I started my scoring ends with 4 X’s and 3 X’s, which was disappointing.  I missed my fifth shot on the first end, and the shot was a struggle, and by the end I had lost track of my bow arm and the shot felt tight.  I knew it was out when I shot it.

For the most part I did a good job of feeling my form while I was aiming, focusing on the position I wanted my bow-arm and release arm to wind up in after the shot.  When I did that successfully, I pretty much always drilled the cross hairs on the X.  Basically, my score perfectly reflects my good shots: the ones that I focused on my form while I was aiming, and my bow came to rest on my hip and my release hand was on my shoulder (or just above it) the arrow was inside out.  When I failed to focus on my form, or struggled a bit and therefore lost track of something (usually my bow hand and/or arm), the arrow missed and missed badly.  There were perhaps 4-5 arrows where I felt my form was less than perfect and the arrow still caught.

Three arrows do stand out:

1. On the second end, my aim was solid X ring the whole time and my bow arm/release hand wound up in perfect position, yet the arrow hit at 6 O’clock mid-five.  The only thing of note was that it felt like I was looking through the bottom of my peep.  I’m not sure if that means I had my head out of position or if my anchor was slightly off, but it’s something I need to pay more attention to.  I have seen the exact same thing in practice a few times.
2. The exact same thing happened on the seventh end, and the arrow went in the exact same hole.
3. On the 8th or 9th end, my third shot was feeling perfect for a long time, but I held it a little long.  I was sitting rock solid on the X the whole time, so I kept pulling.  Right at the very end the dot bobbled down out of the X and of course that was when I released.  The shot was beautifully executed and hit exactly where I aimed it.  Unfortunately, I had aimed it just under the X.

The 12th end saw a similar problem, except that instead of sliding out of the X, I crept on my release arm just a touch and put the arrow at 12 O’clock mid-five. I was very disappointed in that, because I always try extra hard to clean my last round.  I did shoot two perfect shots on 4 & 5, both literally splitting the center of the X.

Additional information: —————————————

Start date: Mar 12, 2011 11:25 AM Target: NFAA/IFAA Indoor Total score: 300 50x

The results for last weekends OBH State Indoor Championships have been posted, so I thought I’d share them.  I as I mentioned in my previous post, Debbie won her division, which is Senior Female Freestyle (abbreviated “S-F-FS”).  My division is Adult Male Freestyle, abbreviated “A-M-FS”.

I finished in 17th (out of 39), not exactly a barn-burning finish, but all-in-all I guess it wasn’t terrible.  If I hadn’t dropped the point that I did, I would have moved up 5-6 places, which is more in line with where I felt I should be, both in terms of placement and score.

Full results are available  by following this link.

I shot at Broken Arrow today.

I was very tired due to spending the last two nights out, but despite that I felt pretty good to start out. Still, I alternated shooting and resting to try to keep my arm and back fresh: shooting two ends and then resting one.

Things started out very good. I decided to keep my pinky finger out on the pinky slot on the release Instead of bunching up like usual in the hopes that it would aid in getting through my shots a little faster, especially when I was tired. It worked very well, although in the early going it worked a little too well: I had two shots go off way early, one before I was even really on the target. Fortunately I was able to push that up to the five.

Aside from those miscues, things went pretty well in the beginning. From the first shot, my hand was snapping back onto my shoulder like it is supposed to, and every time it did that the arrow went inside-out in the X, almost without fail. I did drop two x’s out the right side, after struggling a bit. I think that I wind up doing something with my hand, because when I struggle but also pay attention to my bow hand, the left/right deviation is greatly reduced.

When I moved to the upper bales, things got tough. I let down one shot and struggled through two others on end 7 but managed 5 x’s, though two of them needed help. When I started out on end 8 I was really trying to shoot solid shots even though I was very fatigued and my right arm and back were trying to cramp. The first arrow was dead center, but the next four were awful. They were all weak, and I k is I crept badly on at least two of them. I went Smurfin’ with #4 and ended up with a 24 1x. Yuck.

I took a longer than normal break after that and started back with a renewed vigor to keep my release hand touching my shoulder on the follow through, which was my main focus all day. I though somewhat about keeping my bow arm user control, but mostly I was thinking about my release hand, and that was working very well.

I ended up shooting 5x, 4x, 5x & 5x on the last four, bringing me in at an even 50x’s. I was really happy with that, because I put a little pressure on myself to finish clean, but I still buckled down and stayed focused on the form in order to make it happen.

I definitely had a higher number of inside-out shots today than any other day I’ve shot, and the 50 x’s is also a high since I started again. Most importantly, I felt more natural and some of the nuances of my old form were present today, specifically after a good shot my hand would be on my shoulder, but came out of that form by shrugging my shirt back into place and touching my chest withy release hand, just the way I used to.

I feel pretty encouraged by today’s shooting, despite the blueberry I killed.

Additional information: —————————————

Start date: Mar 2, 2011 4:43 PM Target: NFAA/IFAA Indoor Total score: 299 50x