One week later

Wow the difference a week makes, last week the whole field was snow bound and this Sunday it looks like spring. Still a bit chilly and the ride up on my bike was with a head wind all the way (and all the way home again you would have thought it would be a tail wind on the way back)>

Brace Height?

Here's a little thought does brace height really effect  how the bow shoots, or is it more a case of a noisy bow distracts you from your shot and the anticipation of the noise is enough to make you tense up?

 I don't know the answer all I do know is I like my bow to be as quiet as possible and this seems to help with my groups. Changing the brace  height will only alter the tension on the string at rest not at full draw, so it can be compared to tuning a guitar string by increasing or decreasing the tension on it and therefore it's 'tune'. I find that is the brace height is too low I get a 'buzzing' sound from the bow, which I think is the top and bottom of the string vibrating against the limbs, if the brace height is too high the bow seems to make more of a 'thunk' or 'slap' and this I think is down to the tension on the string being so high that the limbs are almost pulled to a stop. At the 'best' brace height for me (about 9.25 inches) the bow 'thrums' and just feels nice to shoot.

The other problem I have is how people say brace height effects groups, other than what I have said about being distracted by a noisy bow I cannot see the vibration of the string effecting the arrow. After release you get the power stroke as the string pushes the arrow forward this whole movement from the release point until the string reaches it brace height again is part of one oscillation (so at this point the only vibration will from a poor release see a little release in the snow), the string will continue past the it's brace height and as it does will start to slow down at which point the arrow will leave the string and from watching high speed videos of releases it would seem that the arrow leaves the bow before the string has started it's return journey, so again I wonder if the only effect the brace height has on the shot is the anticipation of the noise. Of course changing the brace height will slightly alter the nocking height and this will have a small effect on the arrows flight.    

Snowy Weather

I was up at the club again on Sunday and it is still a winter wonder land.

A little bit of release in the snow.

 I think it is time for a more general archery post, getting away from the specifics of the revolution for a change. On Sunday I was up at the club shooting in the snow, there was nobody else there when I arrived and it was just so peaceful really perfect for some nice quiet practise time.
I just shot 10 ends of nine arrows in groups of three trying to get my release right, I have been having a little issue where most of the time I either release well, or keep my bow hand still, but not both at the same time. On the few occasions when I get both right it feels better and the arrow goes just where I want it, if I move my bow hand ( my fingers not my whole hand) the arrow goes left a little (torquing the bow) and if it is my release (it keeps going dead) then they tend to go right. I have sort of got it sorted and it really is a case of not thinking about it too much, if I think about my bow hand then my release suffers and vice-verse , the bow hand is just resisting the urge to grip when pressure is applied to the palm (we all do it when we catch a ball or grab onto a rope swing, it's what saved us from falling out of the trees, so only a few million years of instinct to over come there). The release is if anything more important to me, I do not use a clicker and my draw is normally a continuous motion with my anchor point being more of a transition point, so as I draw and the weight on the string increases I have to increase the tension on my fingers by a corresponding amount to keep the string on my fingers but as I pass my anchor/transition point and start to roll my shoulder back I stop increasing the tension on my fingers and they are then 'pulled' off the string. This gives a nice clean and almost 'suprise' release and as there is no conscious decision to release there should be no build up of tension ( that's the theory any way).

Getting a few more views now and it would be nice to get a little bit of feedback. Go on just a little comment even one word, like/dislike interesting/boring informative/dross. You get the idea.

Just a thought

Just a little thought I found that the arrow rest was hitting the riser and damaging the finish so I just put a small piece of electrical tape on the riser where the rest hits.

Shooting the revolution

Not having spent much time shooting other bows I cannot make any real comparisons,  but I can tell you what it is like to shoot the revolution. The first thing you notice is how quiet the bow is when tuned, I have found that quite a high brace height gives the best result with the Kaya Tomcat Carbon limbs I usually have it set at between 9" and 9.125" and would be interested in hearing what bracing height  other people use.The revolution's internal damping means that it shoots very smoothly even with no extra damping and very little vibration reaches the bow hand. This where it shows it's bare bow credentials and I can imagine lots of archers would be pleasently suprised if they were to try it out. I  find that I prefer the feel of the bow without a long rod and that out to 40m I can shoot almost as well without one as with. It is also, as one of the members at Noak Hill observed 'ridiculosly well balanced' with no extras fitted. But there is a trade off between accuracy/consistency and 'feel' at longer distances, yes the bow feels much better without the long rod but the groups are much tighter with one at anything past 40m. I also feel that shooting with out any stabilisation will be increasing my basic stability, which in the long run will lead to a more stable form.