Practice after my holidays

Last week I came back from a two week break (to Scotland and watch the Archery World Cup), and have managed to steal some time to shoot some arrows.

The day I came back I shot 30 arrows in a terrible wind, but was happy to just pick up a bow again.

Today, I intended to shoot a full York, but time meant I could only shoot 6 doz @ 100 yards. Its was again a horrible day with driving rain and wind, but finished with a 594. Not bad considering the weather, but about 20 points down from my usual practice distance score. Some ends not too good, but some really great ends, and gave me good encouragement that I have not lost it whilst being away!

With more practice and better weather, then I will be back to where I was a few months ago.

Allington Castle York "White Friars"

After the KAA Champs I was determined to shoot better, and I did, but the weather put a stop to any high scores. The wind was so bad that the shoot was stopped twice. However, my 100 yards was fantastic, I really shot well and finished on 598. On a calm day it could have been a lot higher.

80 yards was a lottery, and anything inside the red was good. Brute force won the day here but was well down on my usual score at this distance. However, at the end of this I was still on for an MB score if I maxed 60 yards.

Alas, the wind did not relent, and with really low sight marks (terrain on the range was uphill with lumps and bumps coupled with a head wind), 60 yards was poor and I finished on 1196, still 50 points ahead of second place.

I feel now I can battle the wind with ease, both mentally and by choosing the right moment to shoot. Also, my reading of the conditions down range was good, using the bubble to steer arrows into the gold. Although I lost a few points by reading it incorrectly, I gained far more by making decisions on canting the bow to guide the arrows in.

I am very pleased with how I shot in terms of my alignment, and some of the shots were as good as I have ever shot, and to come away with a convincing 1st place in very difficult conditions was pleasing.

SCAS/Bedford Double FITA Star

A week after shooting a 1361 in practice, I went into this confident, if the weather was good I could shoot a good score. However, again I was faced with very strong winds and things could not have started worse.

The first end at 90m was a 43. This has to be the worst end I have ever shot. A combination of gusts and simply forgetting how to shoot meant I was facing a real battle. However, I dug deep and managed to get to 302 for the 90m distance. Anything over 300 is very important and gets you on your way to at least 1300.

70m started fantastically. I drilled in a 58, including three x's. Each shot was almost perfect, timed wonderfully. The rest of the distance was OK, but I shot a disappointing 51 to bring in a reasonable 328. At this stage, surprisingly I was third.

I shot a competition PB of 328 for the 50m distance, and this was solid but with two very poor 7's.

By the time the 30m distance started the wind was very strong and this started badly, with a 56. I dropped points throughout most of the ends, until the last nine arrows. The second to last end I shot a 10, 9 and 8, and this frankly angered me, and so I really went for it and tried to almost pull the bow in half and smashed in nine consecutive 10's to finish on a below par 347, with an overall score of 1305.

This was a frustrating day. When the wind died down I shot some awesome shots, but as soon as the wind got up I fought it and shot poorly.

To take some positives from this I would say the bad start at 90m could have really killed my confidence. However I dug deep and hauled it back. Also I did shoot some great shots, and the finish at 30m was one of the best I have had in such conditions. I suppose to get over 1300 is good considering the weather.

However, I did get sloppy and could have had more points, and my second MB. I look forward to the day when I actually get to shoot in calm conditions!

I was due to shoot the second day, but after getting up at 5:15am, I really didn't feel that great and so opted to stay in bed and rest. Shame as I was in third but a rest hopefully will set me up for the Andover FITA Star next week.

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.