The Think Tank

Shannon and I went out to Chinook to shoot in their Wednesday night league tonight, since I was going to be at Blazer games on both Tuesday and Thursday.

We left late and arrived while they were scoring their second end.  I put my stuff together while they were shooting their third end, so I started cold on End 4.  I shot three pretty good shots to start, but my second target was barely in at 11 o’clock. The other two were X’s.

I struggled most of the evening to put together many good shots in a row.  The first several ends followed a very similar pattern: First shot good, second shot bad, third shot good.  I did that for the first 4-5 ends, dropping three points in the process.

Towards the end I really focused on hitting the second arrow, and I started getting some X’s on that target, but I was still having a hard time keeping things together.  My form was just off.  I kept feeling like I was pulling through strong, but when the shot went my release hand popped out and away instead of coming back to my shoulder like its supposed to.  Sometimes I think that I just tense my muscles instead of actually pulling.  I’ll have to investigate that in the future.

Ends 5-6 were six solid X’s on pretty good shots, although one of them I held a long time.  End 7 was a 2X with the third arrow just barely out left.  I was thinking about wanting to finish out with all X’s and that is probably where I went wrong.

I shot pretty well for the rest of the time until the last end.  I wanted to finish with a three X.  I always want to finish strong, I think it is important.  First arrow was a solid X, right in the hole I’d been in all day.  Two was inside out.  Three was tough.  I pulled up, tried to pull through but it wasn’t there so I let it down.  I came back up, kept telling myself to hit my form, to bring my hand back to my shoulder, but instead my release hand jumped straight out behind me and my bow arm shot straight up.  The arrow was middle nine at 9 o’clock.

The last arrow was very frustrating because the only reason I missed it was because I was nervous because it was the last arrow.  That’s a big fail in my book, and something that I always try to avoid.  I hate missing my last arrow more than anything else.  Even more upsetting, I was telling myself to hit my form, and in practice it was probably the worst shot of the whole night.

I finished up with a 296 and 21X.  The score was disappointing, but the X’s were OK.  My take away from today is that I need to keep working on my form and make sure that I always hit my form, that my hand comes back to my shoulder and the bow arm pops straight forward.  When I do that, I nail X’s all day.

After I got back I discovered a neat new program from arrow plotting and scoring called iArcheryScores.  It pretty much does everything that TargetMate does, but it has one feature that I really want: it tracks individual arrow performance.  Below you can see there are arrow plots for each of the arrows that I shot tonight.  I switched out Arrow 3 because it felt like it was going high, so that is why there is only one mark on that target.

So far it seems pretty neat.

Arrow Order: 4-(3)-6-5

This will be a combined post for both days.

I started out shaky on the first day, a little nervous I guess.  Dropped my first arrow high-right, then shot a 27 on the 4th end.  The X’s were pretty good: I was popping out holes inside-out in the X, but I was having trouble stringing together more than two good shots in a row.  The 27 came off of three crappy shots in a row, and that pissed me off enough that it knocked some sense into me.  I started really focusing on my form and doing better.

The only thing to note was that it was very dark where I was shooting and I was struggling to see a bit, especially on the bottom bale where I started.  I also got gyped out of an X somewhere along the line.  My count showed 19, but the official score was 18.

The eliminations were not good.  I was very nervous and bouncing all over the target while I was aiming.  The shots felt OK, but only one of them felt perfect.  My last one in particular was crummy.  I was very disappointed.

I finished 5th in the First Flight.

I shot my 2315’s on Saturday, but I bought some new Gold Tip Triple X Pro’s to shoot on Sunday.

I got to Archers Afield a little early on Sunday so I could shoot the Gold Tips a bit and see if they were flying well.  They had a little bit of a knock-high tear, but they seemed to be grouping well, so I went with them

I felt more confident on Sunday.  Things started out pretty good, I felt like I was shooting my shots really well.  My first target was practically inside-out X’s all day, except for a couple.  For some reason my number 2 target kept hitting high, right around the ten line.  The shots felt good, and arrows were hitting the same holes, but they were high.  I switched arrows twice and finally started getting X’s, but without that little issue I think I would have scored about 5 X’s higher.  All in all I thought I shot the qualifier round pretty well.

The three points I dropped was disappointing, but only one of them was really a bad a shot.  The first point was on target three, and I think I just aimed too hard and didn’t pull through.  I was getting a little tired and I did that thing where my release hand pops funny and it went straight high.

The second point I dropped was on target two, and it was just a touch right of where those high arrows had been hitting, missing by a hair.  The shot felt good.  It actually hit the exact hole where both practice arrows had gone.

The third was my first arrow on the last end, and I had a pretty good focus on form because I was feeling a bit nervous, but it came off a little fast and missed by about 1/8 inch at 7 o’clock.  I think it came off fast because I was excited and pulled through a little too hard.

I finished 2nd in the First flight with a 297/18.  My target looked a lot better than that.

I felt better going into the eliminations on Sunday that I had on Saturday.  On Saturday I just knew I was going lose.  I didn’t feel it.  On Sunday, I knew I could do it.  I was nervous that I wouldn’t, and I sort of expected to win the first and lose the second due to nerves, but it was just a different mindset.  My arrows had been landing so well that I knew the only question was hitting my form.  If I hit my form, I’d hit X’s.  It all came down to that, and that left me feeling pretty good.  I wasn’t overly confident because I have had some issues being consistent under pressure, but I had some more confidence in my equipment than I have of late, and that just made me feel better.

Chuck Bakies was my first opponent.  I was very focused on my internal mantra and really wasn’t all that nervous at first.  I was excited, but not really nervous.  Or maybe I should say nervous but not scared?  It’s hard to explain.

I pulled up, held solid, and shot a perfect, dead center X.  That felt really good and proved to me that I could do it.  The next shot was was likewise calm, and likewise dead center.  For whatever reason, that was when the nerves started in.  I pulled up on the third arrow, started to aim and found myself bouncing around. I started to push through it, but then thought “No.  This is isn’t right.  Let it down.”  So I did.  My hands were starting to sweat and my heart was accelerating, but I told myself “Just shoot your form.  It’s easy to shoot your form.  The arrows will go where they go.”  I pulled up, but I was still shakey: my dot was bouncing around the target more than I like.  Not awful, but more than I like.  But, I just kept pulling through my shot, telling myself to hit my form and then boom!  The shot went off, and the arrow hit a ten, just a hair out of the X.  A very solid shot.

That made 30 and 2 X’s for me, 29 and 1 X for Chuck.  I felt fairly confident at that point, but I did not want to get cocky.  I still had three arrows to go, and that was a long way.  The new, larger arrows make a big hole in the target and I could see it clearly through my scope, and since it was right dead-center in the middle, I locked onto that hole and pulled through as cleanly as I could.  The shot went off well, and the arrow slid silently into the same hole in the center of the target.  That one felt really good!  The next arrow was a tough one.  I was starting to feel pretty confident now, and that can be as deadly as being too nervous.  I started to aim too hard, losing my focus on my form in place of trying to hit the X.  I let it down, closed my eyes, and shot a perfect shot which landed on the crosshairs of the X.  Now I felt good.  Even if I shot a 9, I was still going to win on X’s, so all I had to do was stay in the yellow.  That took some pressure off, and I drained another inside-out X.

Next up was Jim Valencort.  I’ve known Jim pretty much since I started shooting, and that is always fun, shooting with people you know.  Jim shot really well in the qualifying round, ending with a 299 and 15 X’s.  The archer in the higher seed gets to pick their shooting position, left or right, and Jim opted to take the left, leaving me on the same target.  I was feeling a bit nervous again, but nothing out of control.  I thought that was a good thing.  I knew I was going be strong with the extra adrenaline, and I just needed to keep my focus, keeping pulling through and hit my form, and I figured I could win it.

The first arrow was a little tough.  I let it down after bouncing around a bit and I felt myself tightening up on the aim.  I took a breath, told myself again that I just needed to hit my form, and ended up shooting a perfect shot that drilled the X.  Jim was shooting faster than me and I heard his second arrow hit virgin paper, and the crowd’s reaction told me it was probably a nine, but I made sure not to look at it.  “You just need to shoot your form,” I kept telling myself.  My second arrow was much like the first: I struggled a bit, let it down, and then shot a solid X on a near perfect execution.  The third arrow started out well, but I struggled though it just a bit.  When it went off, I didn’t like the shot.  It didn’t feel bad, but it felt a little tight, my release hand came out a little instead of straight back like it should, but the arrow caught an X 9 o’clock.  It wasn’t a bad shot, but it wasn’t perfect either, and I felt I had gotten away with something.

30 and 3 X’s for me, 29 and 0 for Jim.  On the way down to pull our arrows, Jim and I were joking around a bit.  “My knees were shaking so bad I could barely stand,” Jim told me.  I laughed, but didn’t say anything.  Bob Green always told me never to let anyone know you are other than calm and in control, so I just smiled and kept quiet.

I knew the match was mine to win.  I had a one point lead, and three arrows to go.  All I had to do was shoot my form, and it was all done.  Saying it was easy… doing it in front of a room full of people is another.  “You have to shoot ’em first,” I told myself.  “You don’t have anything yet.  Just shoot your form.”

First shot was an X.  Second shot was another X.  Both felt really good when they came off, and both hit just about dead center.  I hadn’t looked at Jim’s target, but I’d heard virgin paper again instead of the soft spot in the center, so I felt confident that I had it no matter what.  Still, I wanted an X.  I wanted to drain the last shot, in front of everyone, like it wasn’t ‘nothin’.  Like a pro.

I pulled up, bounced around a little, tightened up, held it too long.  I almost pushed through, but finally I said “Nope!” and let it down.  I shook my head, took a breath, told myself to shoot my form, just hit my form.  I pulled up, held pretty well and shot a good shot.  I didn’t get my X, instead hitting the same hole from my first round just a hair out of the X at 12 o’clock, but it was a totally solid 10.  Debbie said that both rounds looked like 6 X’s through her binocs, but up close there was a sliver of yellow, so it was a 30 and 2 X.  I honestly don’t know what Jim shot, but didn’t matter, because he couldn’t catch up.  I had won.

I was very proud of myself during the eliminations.  I didn’t shoot a single bad shot, and I think I laid down 11 perfects out of 12.  That’s pretty good under pressure, and definitely the best I’ve done since starting again.  This is something that I think I can look back on in the future when I find myself shooting with some nerves, remember what I did here, and duplicate it.

Today was a very good day!

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Start date: Dec 10, 2011 10:58 AM Target: FITA Total score: 296 19x

Start date: Dec 11, 2011 2:04 PM Target: FITA Total score: 297 18x

— Sent from my iPhone

I don’t really have a much time to go into details here, but I finished up a little bit  better on the second day, scoring 580 on the day.  That is in line with the 290 average I wanted to maintain, even if it is on the bottom end.  All in all I felt I shot very well.  I was actually on track for about a 585, but I got into a little jag where I couldn’t get my poop in a group, and I dropped seven points in just nine arrows (accounting for all but one of the misses in the outer yellow that you see at left).  Aside from that stretch I felt very solid.

I am unsure of placement because I shot Friday-Saturday and there were still guys shooting on Sunday who weren’t done yet.  I will post an update when I hear from WSAA.

Additional information: —————————————

Start date: Nov 19, 2011 11:33 AM Target: FITA Inner Ten Total score: 580

Tens: 40  Nines: 20  Shots with proper execution: 57/66

Two Day Total:  1156

— Sent from my iPhone

We started this line at 7pm and did not finish until after 11pm, so at this point it is is after midnight.  As such I am going to keep this brief.

I shot 288 on both rounds today, for a total of 576.  (600 is possible). My general rule is that I shouldn’t drop below a 290, so I was a bit off of that but not so far as to be really disappointed.  (FITA tournaments score this target differently than most.  For FITA, only the very small dime-sized X-Ring counts as a ten.  Everything else in the yellow is a nine.  The X-Ring is not really visible in the image at left, because it is underneath a pile of hit indicators.  For comparison, using normal Vegas scoring, I would have shot 596/36X  out of a possible 600/60X.)

I felt that I shot pretty well most of the night. I stayed pretty calm and focused on my form and usually when I missed I could identify why. I got shakier as the night wore on and my shoulder got sore, but that is par for the course right now.  I really need to into the shop to shoot 3-4 times a week (instead of once a week like I have been), and I also need to get into the gym as well and build up my shoulder strength.

I don’t know my placement so far because a lot of people did not shoot tonight: you have to shoot two of the three days (Fri-Sun), and only a few adults shot the Friday line. I’m guessing that score should put me in the top 5-6, but I find it doubtful I would be higher than that.

All in all I feel OK with today. I messed some up, but I shot pretty well overall. Tomorrow is the next day, as the man says.

The rest of the post will be my self critique and shooting notes. Read on if you like, but it will prolly be boring. 😉

(continue reading…)

Shannon and I went shooting this afternoon, the second day in a row I had gone out.  I shot yesterday for about 3.5 hours, so my shoulder was a bit tired to start out today, though nothing too bad.

I had spent most of yesterday working on my new Freak Show rest, and after about 30 minutes today I found that I felt it was not quite right yet.  (I should mention that I am shooting my 328’s again, thanks to the Freak Show which mounts behind the TEC on my Contender Elite, allowing me to shoot a shorter arrow.  I was shooting FF 200 vanes and 100g points.)

I rummaged around in the cook shack and found some paper I could use to papertune, and found that I had a very small low-left tear.  (The nock-end was low-left). I made some minor corrections, which got me shooting bullet holes and seemed to make a difference in the grouping, though I still sort of think there might be a slight right-ward drift as I go to longer distances.  Its sort of hard to tell: I shot several ends that grouped pretty much on target at 10 and 80 yards, but as has been the case since returning, pretty much every miss is right, and more often than not, high-right.  I really don’t know what causes that, but it is very frustrating.

I quickly got some sight marks and we set out for a field course.  I felt I was holding pretty well, but I had much the same experience as I did the last time I shot: it felt like my sight marks were not quite right.

The first target (15) was a 36 fan, which should be easy since it is a slightly oversized target for the distance.  My first arrow was well executed, though I was having a lot of trouble seeing due to standing in the bright sun and shooting into the shadow. It hit about one inch high at 1:30.  I adjusted my sight up three clicks and the second arrow was a 5/X liner at 11:30.  Number three was in the same basic spot, but it was a five.  The fourth shooting stake was in the shade, so I could actually see well.  I aimed solidly, executed well, coming to rest with my bow arm forward, extended at the target and my release on my shoulder.  The arrow drilled the X.

The next couple of shots are close ones, a 15 and 28 fan, which I cleaned.  (Barely on the 28 fan, a poor shot that was aimed left barley caught at 11 o’clock).  On target 18 (44 yards) My first shot was slightly right and about 1/4 out of the spot.  The other day when I shot that target, I put all four arrows into a quarter-sized group in the same spot.  I adjusted my sight and shot two nice 5’s touching each other a little high in the spot, then a couple more clicks and I shot a five at the bottom.

Next up is the 70 walk-up.  I set my sight, adjusted for the down angle, and it at 5 o’clock 1 inch out of the spot.  65 went in the X, and 61 and 58 went right beside the first one, so that all three were in a group the size of a quarter.  The exact same thing happened the last time I shot this course also.

After that I was getting a little frustrated.  It feels like the only times I ever shoot really consistent groups on a field course, they are outside of the bullseye.

The next target is a 40 yarder, and my first shot was mid-four at 1 o’clock.  I held well and felt like I executed OK, but the bow rocked backward (top limb toward me) like happens sometimes, so I wasn’t all that surprised to see the highness.  The next shot I made a effort to extend my arm after the shot, and it drilled the X at 11.  Next shot was next to it.  The last shot I was really thinking about pulling through with my right shoulder and back, and pushing with my left arm, and it went off very fast while I was on the left edge at 9 o’clock.  It missed by about 1/8th of an inch.  That was frustrating too.  Now it felt like I was having trouble shooting well and coupled with the grouped misses I was disappointed that I was not going to wind up with a score in the range I want to be in.  I know I can average around a 275 in my head, I just can’t seem to prove it to myself when practicing.  The only pair of 275’s that I have ever shot were both in tournaments, one at the Sectionals and one at the State Field.

Pretty soon I was down 9 points and coming up to the uphill shot that always seems to have my number.  I remembered that for whatever reason I needed to be about one half bubble to the left to hit the spot on the up hill, so I bubbled over, pulled through well and hit a five at 1 o’clock.  Two clicks up and I drilled three X’s to finish with my first ever 20 on that target.  I felt pretty good about that.

The next target is uphill as well, and I did not check the angle on my phone.  I just shot it for the same 10 degrees as the previous target, which I think is incorrect.  I think it is more like 7-8 degrees, which is probably why my first shot was out the bottom.  It probably would have caught, but I dipped down just as I shot and missed the spot by about 1/4 inch.  I adjusted my sight, drilled two X’s, and I was thinking that I was going to come out of these two targets down only one point, and blam0: a poor shoot, juked to the left with a funky release and a miss at 7.

The next target is a 32 fan which has also caused my trouble in the past, mainly with level issues.  I paid special attention to my level, shot two nice X’s and an outer-edge 5 on the left side, then a weak-ass dip-and-collapse shot at 5:30.  Just for self satisfaction, I shot another arrow, which held OK and felt OK but did the bounce-back thing and went to 1 o’clock on the pro-line.

The next two are a 19-17 and an 11 which I aced, then it was on to a 64 walk-up to finish up.  My first shot was a little left when it fired and was a jar-licker at 9.  The target was very shot out so it was hard to tell if it caught or not, but it looked about 1/4 of a shaft in to me so I counted it.  The next three were pretty solid shots and were all X’s, ranging from 9 to 3 in a straight line.

The final score was a 268.  Going over the targets again, I fell safe in saying that 5 points can be chalked up to sight issues, on ends 1, 4 and 5.  The rest are mostly all my own.   Still, if I had not had those unexplained misses, that would have been a 273.  I also had a couple of pop-back misses high, which were otherwise well executed shots.  Thinking about that makes me feel a bit better and closer to my goal, but I don’t like having to do fancy math after the fact to translate what my score “Should/could have been.”  I need to get to the point where it is just where I want it to be, no if’s and’s or but’s.  Until then, I just have delusions of grandeur that don’t quite match the reality.

After that I went to the practice range again for a little bit.  I shot a few arrows at 80, pulling a pretty decent 24 out of my ass with two bob-left-and-release-funny shots which touched each other at 9 on the 5/4.  My last shot was actually well aimed and executed and landed at 11 on the 5/X line.  I had one miss at 11 also, which is exactly where it was when I released it.

Then I moved up to 50.  My first shot did the pop-back thing and hit a pro-line at 5.  Then it was an X off a nice shot, a five at 3 barely in and two crappy shots, both of which felt like they popped back and went at 12 and 1 o’clock respectively, about 1/2 inch out.

I adjusted my stabilizer weights so that the front two are almost touching, leaving the other two where they had been: one around the middle, and the other one at the very back.  I honestly don’t remember the next end for arrow placement, but I do remember that it felt like I held a little better.  The bow definitely was not popping-back any more: it fell just slightly forward after the shot of its own volition, but did not swing quickly down like it has in the past.

My last end was a pretty decent group.  The first shot between the upper X legs, and the second was a bit of a struggle and was a 5/4 liner, clearly in.  The next two shots were both a little slow to release as well, but they were inside-out on-the-cross X’s.

Hopefully the greater weight distribution out front will keep the bow from popping back like it has been.  I just hope it doesn’t put undo stress on my shoulder having the weight out so far.

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Start date: Sep 5, 2011 3:24 PM Target: NFAA/IFAA Field Total score: 268 29 X’s.

— Sent from my iPhone