Hi all, so been a few weeks since I posted anything on here and I just thought I would have a little ramble.
So good news, yesterday was our club championships and I managed to lift the freestyle re-curve cup, the only fly in the ointment was that the four people that I would really have like to beat to take the cup did not shoot, but hay ho I am the CHAMPION! :)
while we were shooting I encountered a mystery to rival Loch Ness.
There was an archer who was bemoaning the fact that their sight marks were not working and that they were fine just a few days ago so something must be wrong. I try to say to him that if the bow had not been altered and the weather was not a big factor ( it was a lovely day with just a gentle breeze), then the biggest variable was the big fleshy bit hanging on the end of the bow. He was insistent that he was doing exactly the same as he always did and would not contemplate that it could be him, but he also insisted that he had not altered his bow in any way. So what could have caused this apparent loss of performance?
Well I think we all know the answer, it was those little green me...........
No it was the archer of course it was, but why did he not realise it?
Well I think it was that although we all notice things that make a big difference to our shooting, like a pull or a sprain that we can feel, we don't always notice the small things that can effect our shooting. We are not static our bodies are constantly changing, when things are not working as they should your first port of call should be you. Stop check that your sight mark is right and everything is tight, think about what you are doing, go through your shot cycle in your head, for me this is :
Nock arrow.
Relax shoulders and look straight ahead (for me that is at the archer to my right as I am right handed).
Turn head to look at target and focus on the gold.
Lift bow to put the pin on the gold keeping the shoulder down and the arm relaxed.
Open the bow hand as I start to draw slowly towards my anchor, loading the weight onto my back muscles.
As I reach my anchor my draw slows right down to a crawl but DOES NOT STOP ( this way lies creeping). Remember I do not use a clicker .
Let the pin settle on the gold (let it float a little).
Roll the draw arm shoulder back and relax the fingers just a little bit so they are pulled off the string and the hand comes back to brush my ear lobe (just cos I like it!).
Hold! don't move until you hear the arrow land.
Then take your next arrow from the quiver.
This might seem a very long winded cycle but by focusing on the minute you can exclude anything that is distracting. The whole of the above only takes me about ten seconds to run through in my head, about half the time it takes me to actually shoot an arrow. About ninety five percent of the time my second arrow goes right where it should.
So good news, yesterday was our club championships and I managed to lift the freestyle re-curve cup, the only fly in the ointment was that the four people that I would really have like to beat to take the cup did not shoot, but hay ho I am the CHAMPION! :)
while we were shooting I encountered a mystery to rival Loch Ness.
There was an archer who was bemoaning the fact that their sight marks were not working and that they were fine just a few days ago so something must be wrong. I try to say to him that if the bow had not been altered and the weather was not a big factor ( it was a lovely day with just a gentle breeze), then the biggest variable was the big fleshy bit hanging on the end of the bow. He was insistent that he was doing exactly the same as he always did and would not contemplate that it could be him, but he also insisted that he had not altered his bow in any way. So what could have caused this apparent loss of performance?
Well I think we all know the answer, it was those little green me...........
No it was the archer of course it was, but why did he not realise it?
Well I think it was that although we all notice things that make a big difference to our shooting, like a pull or a sprain that we can feel, we don't always notice the small things that can effect our shooting. We are not static our bodies are constantly changing, when things are not working as they should your first port of call should be you. Stop check that your sight mark is right and everything is tight, think about what you are doing, go through your shot cycle in your head, for me this is :
Nock arrow.
Relax shoulders and look straight ahead (for me that is at the archer to my right as I am right handed).
Turn head to look at target and focus on the gold.
Lift bow to put the pin on the gold keeping the shoulder down and the arm relaxed.
Open the bow hand as I start to draw slowly towards my anchor, loading the weight onto my back muscles.
As I reach my anchor my draw slows right down to a crawl but DOES NOT STOP ( this way lies creeping). Remember I do not use a clicker .
Let the pin settle on the gold (let it float a little).
Roll the draw arm shoulder back and relax the fingers just a little bit so they are pulled off the string and the hand comes back to brush my ear lobe (just cos I like it!).
Hold! don't move until you hear the arrow land.
Then take your next arrow from the quiver.
This might seem a very long winded cycle but by focusing on the minute you can exclude anything that is distracting. The whole of the above only takes me about ten seconds to run through in my head, about half the time it takes me to actually shoot an arrow. About ninety five percent of the time my second arrow goes right where it should.
