Practice update

After the struggle at the weekend in Southampton, I was keen to get out and build some confidence in my shooting. Tonight at the club was flat calm, with zero wind, not even a breeze. I just wanted to get back to 90m and be hitting the gold, and I did just that.

My release aid usage and alignment was excellent, and this resulted in some great groups, which helped build my confidence back up.

I also changed my stabilisation set-up as well. The old set-up was great when things were going well, but in windy conditions or when I am not shooting so well, it was not as forgiving. It did not have much torque resistance for those not so good shots.

The changed set-up has an extra long rod weight, but I have gone back to two side rods, both extended so they are now 14" each with several end weights. Both of them are very splayed out and pointing down to lower the bows CoG. The bow is much harder to torque, and this showed up on my groups. The balance is not perfect yet, but I will work on this over the coming weeks. I plan to change my long rod to a longer, lighter and stiffer version as well.

Southampton 720 & H2H

I went into this wondering what was going to happen. If it was flat calm I felt I could be on for a 670+, but if the weather lived up to its forecast then how would I deal with it? Well, the weather certainly lived up to it, and I really struggled over the two days. In the end I shot 617 and 614, about 50 points down on my previous competition PB's.

The first day was a very strong left to right wind and driving rain. On some ends I was being blow across 3 targets. I didn't help that being soaked through I was very cold and wet, and I found it hard to concentrate.

The H2H was the new set system, and despite getting knocked out in the first round, I took it too a one arrow shoot-off with the archer who ended up in third place, with him hitting the X and my shot just below the 10.

I felt that my draw length was still too long, so I took the opportunity after the first day's shooting to shorten my d-loop (easier than changing actual draw length) just to see what affect it would have. I was hoping that it would allow me to brace myself a bit more and prevent me coming off the back wall which happened a few times when I was fighting the wind.

The second day started like the first. Whilst no rain, the wind was just as strong but this time it was the worst kind of swirling wind that changed in all directions. On a few occasions the flags were pointing in one direction but the groups went the other way. The first 3 dozen arrows went very badly, I shot 299, with one end a 42, where I was blown from side to side and shot a 4 and a 5.

The second 3 doz was better and I put in a 313. The big difference was I added an extra long rod weight and this seemed to stabilise things up a bit (although it was a little front heavy). By this time I had also really opened up my stance to about 45 degrees to help stabilise against the wind.

In the second H2H, I went out again, losing 4-2 (two draws and one loss). However, by this time I started to get to grips with the wind and just fully relaxed and I shot some really nice groups and some good end scores.

Over the two days, when the wind died down, I was shooting some really great groups. However, I really am now motivated to learn to be a good windy shooter, and will now practice whenever I can in bad conditions because I can't rely on good weather.

My trigger usage was good throughout the weekend. I have ensured that the placement of the release aid is more consistent in my hand and because of this I have been able to wrap my thumb around the trigger. The release now sits firmly on the middle pads of my fingers, rather than in the first crease. Apart from a couple of half-punches on the first day, I shot pretty clean shots.

One thing about shooting the Monster is that it is very easy to creep off the back wall, and when fighting the wind and tensing up, this happens a lot. This is something I will be working hard on over the coming weeks.

Salisbury FITA

I have just arrived home from a very wet and windy FITA down in Salisbury. The round was dogged with blustery winds and torrential rain at some points, so much so that the shoot was stopped for 10 minutes at one point.

I finished on a respectable 1305, and came second overall, behind the winner who shot an outstanding 1362.

When the wind was not blowing, I was hooting some fantastic ends. At 90m, I shot ends of 56, 55, 54, but when the wind blew I was down to 48's, 47's. At the end of 90m I had 310 points.

70m was poor, and finished on 321, again fighting the wind on the first dozen to only score 104. 50m was no better, and I finished on 324, despite opening with a 5 where the wind blew me off the gold when the shot went off.

30m was OK, but by this time the rain was relentless, and I posted a 350.

It was pleasing to hit over 1300 in such conditions, but a few of the shots were snatched at due to the wind, which is not a good situation to be in. Its also a good score as its the first FITA I have shot since September last year, so in good conditions I think a 1320/1330 would be achievable given the form I showed today.

Southern Counties Championships

I went into these championships hopeful of getting my first MB (Master Bowman) score, and I came away with one, just about.

The first day started very well, finishing the 100 yard distance on 596. The previous week I had shot a 1226 York in practice which also started with a 596. However, the 80 yards was awful. I started OK, but the more I dropped points the harder I tried and the worse I got! I finished the round on 1198, enough to win the first day but it should have been far far better.

The second day was better. The 100 yards was a little down on day one, finishing on 588. However, 80 yards was a lot better. Whilst it was not spectacular, I put in a steady performance and made sure of each shot as best I could. The wind was not helping, with a changeable tail win pushing groups to the left and right of the target.

I went into the last distance knowing I was on for an MB score. I could afford to drop 4 points and still hit it dead. I dropped those 4 points on the first dozen which made for a very nervy last dozen arrows, but they ended up being good shots, and I finished on 1206. This was good enough to come second overall in the competition over the two days (although I became champion as the winner was a SCAS visitor).

It was pleasing to come away with an MB score, and even win the event, but the most pleasing thing was that I ground out a result on the second day despite having a poor first day, which could have easily have knocked my confidence.

Stabilisation improvements

In the last week I have played around with the stabilisation on the Monster to see if I could cure the top heavyness and improve the aim. I had just slapped on some rods just to get me going for the Andover shoot a week or so ago, but it still wasn't quite right.

I wanted to try and achieve the level of balance I had with my Drenalin LD with as minimum mass as possible. To my surprise I did manage to get the Monster to balance really well and really steady on the aim, which is something I didn't think I could achieve.

Its essentially my long rod with a small amount of weight on the end, and a long side rod with weight right at the back and low down to balance it out. The side rod is tucked right in to ensure the bow doesn't cant to one side.

Having played around I decided to shoot a York at the club at the weekend to see what affect it would have. It was a flat calm day so conditions were good for a controlled test run. I ended up scoring 1226, well into MB territory (if I was in competition), and it proved the set-up was good.

Tonight I visited a friend who has been playing with stabilisation and his set-up is really nice. I tried to torque the bow in my hand and it really resisted, as it had more weight on the side rods and a longer long rod, but the balance was so good it felt like the same weight as mine although it had more mass weight. Whilst this might not improve the aim of my bow which is really good at the moment, it will certainly help with those more dodgy left/right shots when the hand position is not so good, so I will play around with it further over the next few weeks to see if I can achieve the same results.

Here are some pictures of the set-up.

Andover Saxon Shoot

The weekend before last I did my first outdoor competition of the year, at the Andover Saxon Shoot (York round). I went into this just wanting to get a feel for shooting the new Monster in competitive conditions, and maybe a PB as well.

The final result was a PB of 1196 was pleasing considering there was a very nasty wind halfway up the range that resulted in arrows being swept to the right. In the end I ran out of windage and had to move the scope across.

The 100 yards started badly, and I opened up with a 40 end. However I picked up and finished on 300 for the first 3 dozen at 100 yards. The second 3 dozen was not so good and finished on 588 for the 100 yard distance.

The 80 yards started badly as well with the wind on the shooting line making it difficult to hold still, but again I picked up to break even at the 80 yard distance.

The 60 yards distance went as expected, with all but one (there is always one!) in the gold.

Overall I finished 4th in the Gent compound line-up out of 30 odd which is OK.

The Monster has again delivered the goods, and I feel like I have been shooting this bow for years.

I have just got to stop snatching at shots when the pressure is on, but overall a reasonable days shooting.