The Think Tank

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