Tuesday 28 December 2010

Tuesday 28th December 2010

@ Sefton

Cool, overcast, slight wind movement.

2x 6 arrow ends @ 18m, 40cm 6 ring no scoring.
5x 6 arrow ends @ 18m, 40cm 6 ring scored (Indoor)

Total 42 arrows.

Indoor round scored at 267.

Bow shoulder deltoid was worked pretty hard, as shooting speed and return rate was faster than other distances.  First several ends, release also did not feel normal, quite poor plucking resulting in flicked shots.  More concentration upon the release provided smoother feeling releases, while aiming with the open ring was not strained too much with the increased focus.

Sunday 19 December 2010

Sunday 19th December 2010

@ Sydney Bowmen
Initially cloudy and overcast, turning bright sunny with strong gusts of wind

All ends at 60m, 122cm, no scoring
10x 6 arrow ends
19x 7 arrow ends
1x 16 arrow end
1x 3 arrow end with 30lb recurve
1x 6 arrow end with 26lb wooden recurve
1x 6 arrow end.

Total 224 arrows.

I didn't shoot very well today, mainly attributed to the 2 hours of sleep I had Saturday night due to having to go to the hospital for something.

My groups were consistently to the right of the center when I didn't have what I would describe as perfect shots.  A range of group sizes between shotgun in the 7 ring, to small groups of about the 9 ring size but not in the middle were put down range today.

Good exercise at least for my back.

Saturday 18 December 2010

Friday 17th December 2010

@ St Pauls
Started cloudy and overcast, ended up sunny and bright, with odd wind gusts

2x 6 arrow ends @ 70m 122cm warmup
2x 36 arrow rounds @ 70m 122cm scored
1x 6 arrow end @ 70cm 122cm warmup
2x 36 arrow rounds @ 70m 122cm scored
3x 6 arrow ends @ 70m 122cm cooldown

Total 180 arrows.

Scored for my double Olympic rounds.  First two were a 281 and 295 for a total of 576, the second was a 276 and 280 for a total of 556.  Both lots were slightly disappointing due to a lot of 6's and even the odd 5 or 4 here and there.  If, on average those arrows were one point better, I would pick up probably another 10-15 points for each set, bringing me to around a 590 for a good set, a much more reasonable round to my progress.

The current goal is a 300 round for a 600 double, slowly working towards a 320 for a 640.  It's early days yet for sure, but I have confidence that I can do it since I had two really good ends, a 56 (10 10 10 10 9 7) and a 51 (with X X 10), I feel that those aren' flukes, but it is more about getting rid of the randoms that ruin the end more than anything else.

Thursday 16 December 2010

Thursday 16th December 2010

@ Sefton,

Dark, sunlight fading post sunset.

6x 6 arrow ends @ 8m, 40cm 6-ring spot

Total 36.

Tried to work on release being better for most part, had solid groupings but at this distance, is not particularly indicative.

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Tuesday 14th December 2010

@ St Pauls
Bright, warm, cloudy, some light winds but not really gusty, may have had a left-right push slightly as there seemed to be some consistent groupings in that direction at times.

2x 6 arrow ends @ 70m 122cm, warmup
6x 6 arrow ends @ 60m, 122cm no scoring
6x 6 arrow ends @ 60m, 122cm scored
6x 6 arrow ends @ 60m, 122cm scored

Total 120 arrows.

Two lots scored at 60m were 289 and 295, with ratings of 70 and 72 respectively.

Today I attempted the Kyuudou style setup with the continuous motion draw and shoulder alignment with body rotation.  It seemed to work well, and many shots were very smooth to bring through the clicker.  With some more practice in being more stable in aiming at settling when the draw to anchor rests, this would be probably quite nice, and also with more consistently clean releases also.

Sunday 12 December 2010

Sunday 12th December 2010

@ Sydney Bowmen
Sunny, warm, very random infrequent breeze.  Some cloud but not cloudy.

2x 6 arrow ends warmup @ 20m, 122cm face.  Grouped both ends within the 10 ring
10x 6 arrow ends @ 60m 122cm face, no scoring.

Total 72 arrows.

Could have shot more today but was involved in helping with form for several other people.

The 60m was mixed, several good ends with solid 4 arrows at least in the gold, only two arrows out of the 10 ends were outside the red, both as obvious errors that I knew of (one a slipped release right into the white, the second a aimed high shot on clicker into the blue).

Pretty happy with todays shooting.

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Tuesday 7th December 2010

@ St Pauls
Sunny, some breezes but not significant really, very warm, some cloud cover movement.

2x 6 arrow ends @ 70m 122cm warmup
6x 6 arrow ends @ 70m 122cm scoring
6x 6 arrow ends @ 70m 122cm scoring
4x 6 arrow ends @ 70m 122cm unscored

Total 108 arrows.

Shot an olympic round (72 arrow 70m 122cm), scored a 291 and 266 as the two halves.  Considering my PB is a 311 at 70m, the 291 was respectable and I was fairly happy with that result for my work leading to today, but the 266 was a little ordinary, perhaps due to tiredness and still recovery from Sunday's marathon shoot.

I focused on making sure that the bow shoulder position was in line as best as possible, and this did assist in the process, however fatigue is affecting my ability to have clean releases once the arrow clears the clicker.  Must work on releases again to be relaxed.

Sunday 5 December 2010

Sunday 5th December 2010 - City of Sydney Championships

@ Sydney Bowmen
Sunny, some light gusts and breezes, turning overcast in the afternoon, quite warm.

2x 6 arrow ends @ 60m 122cm warmup
Canberra round
2x 6 arrow ends @ 60m 122cm warmup
Canberra round.

Total 204 arrows shot.

1st canberra was not too bad, scored a total of 783, a solid score improved from previous round of 754 last Sunday.  Was struggling at 60m to settle down, competition nerves.  My sight settings were also a little flakey for 50 and 40m but reasonable.

2nd canberra round was improved upon, scoring a 799.  My 60m was once again not particularly good, only two points better (239-241) while my 50m and 40m scores increased somewhat a little better than by 2.  I finished the day with a 60 v^_^v at 40m.

Total score was a 1582, enough for me to actually win the Recurve Division 1 1st place.

In terms of actual shooting form, I was trying to settle down, and for 50m and 30m in the second canberra, I worked on getting my setup alignment down stronly with my shoulder pushed in, while maintaining a strong deep grip on the string.  It helped as even though I was fighting fatigue to draw through the clicker, the shoulder alignment helped reduce bad releases from flying sideways as much.

Still much more work to be done, but progress is there.

Saturday 4 December 2010

Friday 3rd December 2010

@ St Pauls
Sunny with light breeze at times.

7x 6 arrow ends @ 60m blank
5x 6 arrow ends @ 60m 122cm, no scoring.

Total 72 arrows.

Managed to group well towards the end of practice, must attempt to ensure grip position, shoulder position, and deep hook to allow confident draw and relaxed release.

Sunday 28 November 2010

Sunday 28th November 2010 - Sydney Bowmen Club Championships & Matchplay

@ Sydney Bowmen, Latham Park.
Overcast, light spitting rain, random but infrequent gusting.

2x 6 arrow ends @ 60m warmup
Canberra Round:
60m : 240, Rating 70
50m : 246, Rating 64
40m : 268, Rating 69
Total : 754, rating of 67.

2x 6 arrow ends @ 50m for Matchplay (1 warmup, 1 elimination).

Total arrows shot: 114

The Canberra round was a bit mixed in results, not particularly the most consistent of shooting.  In attempt to continue the action I mentioned in the prior post, I was unfortunately unable to, and thus did not seem to shoot as well as I may have had I been able to use that particular technique.  Overall I was satisfied enough with the score since my previously recorded score was a 740.  My 50m score however could have been a few points better as I scored a 52 in one end with a 2 with a flinched and resulting slipped letdown.  Unfortunate but thats the way it is.

My sight settings seemed a bit lower today, may have been light conditions related or just bad technique.

Friday 26 November 2010

Friday 26th November 2010

@ St Pauls
Sunny, slight breeze, very warm.

12x 6 arrow ends @ 60m, 122cm, no scoring.
Total 72
Tried to work on more fundamental basics, worked well towards the end, had good group sizes within the 8 ring or smaller.

Found that could maintain better position by using a slight Kyuudou style draw during the pre-draw setup stage.  Re-engaged a deeper firm hook as with before (going back to basics) to stop random peeling releases and this seemed to help a lot.

Will have to see how it goes on Sunday.

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Tuesday 23rd November 2010

@ St Pauls
Sunny, gusts, some clouds, warm.

2x 6 arrow ends @ 60m 122 warmup

3x 30 arrows, 6 arrow ends @ 60m 122cm.

Total 102 arrows.

Scored 222, 227 and 229.

Was pretty ordinary shooting for most part.  Worst end was a 34, best end a 52.

Tried to maintain good tension, wasn't really able to do so.  Was okay in bow arm position though, feeling a lot better these days with the bow arm though when tension loss is ooccuring it is hard to not tense up on the bow hand.

Sunday 21 November 2010

Sunday 21st November 2010

@ Sydney Bowmen
Clear day, sunny, not really any wind.

12x 6 arrow ends @ 60m, 122cm face, no scoring.

Total 72.

Mixture of good and poor ends, was having difficulty in remaining relaxed and causing release problems. When fully relaxed, shot cycle made it through very easy and clean releases.

Must put some attention into string alignment also as was causing right hand deviations consistently at times but may be related to off-centered aim through the open ring, hard to fully determine.

Tuesday 16 November 2010

Tuesday 16th November 2010

@ St Pauls

Nice weather, a little gusty, bright with some cloud at times.

2x 6 arrow @ 60m warmup

Canberra round
60m: 233
50m: 240
40m: 267
Total: 740, for a rating of 63.

Total arrows shot 102.

The score probably could have been a little better, closer to 770, but the last two ends for each distance (with the exception of being the first and last ends for 60m) were lower than the others significantly.  Concentration and slowing down the cycle to ensure sufficient rest time, along with letting down when the setup is incorrect needs to be done better.

Tried to focus on bow arm today, was 'reaching' out towards the target with the arm, and it was seemingly working in assisting expansion through the clicker when using the back correctly.  It also assisted in guiding more of a 'forward' than sideways movement of the bow upon release action.

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Tuesday 19th October 2010

@ St Pauls, some wind, very overcast, had been raining, cool.

36 @ 70m, 122cm face
36 @ 30m, 122cm face.

Total 72.

Had some bad ends, a few poor releases. Finished up with good sized group at 70m, about the 9 ring size, but off-center.

30m, all but 2 were golds.

Thursday 7 October 2010

Thursday 7th October 2010

@ St Pauls, cloudy, wind coming up midway.

2x 6 arrow ends @ 70m warmup
4x(6x 6 arrow ends) @ 70m  122cm scored
2x 6 arrow ends @ 70m cooldown
12x 6 arrow ends @ 30m 80cm unscored.

Total 240 arrows.

The wind really kicked my arse today -_-;  some good, some bad, just mediocre shooting.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Tuesday 5th October 2010

@ St Pauls, sunny slight breeze.
3m blank butt shooting

16x12 arrow ends = 192 arrows shot.

Just concentrated on getting through the clicker consistently.

Friday 27 August 2010

Question & Answers - 27th August 2010

I recently put a post in regards to shooting on a website.  From this, someone sent me some questions and I thought that I would put them and the answers here.
***
1. Is one anchor point better than another, i.e. I draw to my chin whereas many pictures on the web show archers drawing to the corner of their mouths - should I be doing that too?
There are better anchor points than others in my limited experience.  A good anchor point provides as many possible reference points to the shooter and in addition to this, must provide good biomechanical alignment to maximise draw length while making it easily shootable.


For me, my anchor point of choice gives me contact on the nose, down the nasal cartilage, along my face and chin, so that my hand is firmly embedded into the bone of my jaw.  In addition, my hand position is such so that my pinky is able to touch my neck at anchor.  This position for me sets my draw arm in a good alignment position, and allows me to use scapula movement to rotate my arm around and bring my arrow through the clicker.  Copy-cat behaviour should not be conducted if you don't understand why they are doing it, otherwise you don't actually gain the benfits.


2. How long do you hold steady once you acquired the target before you release? I tend to release immediately once it's on the spot but this doesn't seem to give me consistent results.
In Kyuudou, they should hold for a minimum of seven seconds before their release.  Thankfully, we do not do Kyuudou as modern archery.  According to studies in rifle shooting, if you hold your breath for longer than about 6 seconds, your eyes will start to defocus unconsciously.  While this is related to 3. , this means you really should not hold for more than 6 seconds.


The appropriate hold time is dependant upon the conditions and your skill.  Holding is actually an incorrect phrase, it really is a transfer, from the draw to anchor, to pulling through the clicker (if you use one) since your movement should not actually 100% stop, but rather, slow down.


To further explain this, as I understand it, and try, is that when you draw the bow, you are already in the process of "aiming" on the target.  Once you set to anchor, you should be about 75% aimed, and then it is just fine movement to ensure you are where you want to be.  While this fine adjustment happens, you continually pull, until it goes through the clicker.  If you are where you want to be, release, if not, let down, start again.  It's not a easy process, but rather a good process to ensure you can draw through the clicker smoothly and consistently.


An instant release is pretty poor in consistency if you do not manage to settle your anchor, ie, if body parts are still moving.  You should attempt to bring your body to a slow stop as part of the draw, instead of a sudden "haul" of the string to your anchor quickly, as it causing a lot of body movement compared to a slower steady draw to anchor.
3. What about breathing? Are you supposed to release at the bottom of your breath after exhaling (which is what you do in pistol shooting) or...? I have read several archery books and not one of them addressed this!?
Breathing is an important cycle.  One thing to consider is that, inhalation and exhalation to the extremes require muscle activation to hold.  A half breath situation is less strenuous than extremes, and also provides more oxygen to your body to burn during the holding of the breath.

My coach taught me this cycle, and I have found it to be pretty good, and I try to continue using this.

I) When you are ready to draw, and your foundations are set (stance, head position, arrow on string, bow in hand, fingers on string), exhale fully.  Then lift the bow.
II)  As you draw the bow to anchor, inhale.
III) At anchor as you reach it, exhale half breath.  This then leaves you with oxygen to spare, and a relaxed mid-state of muscle in the thorax.
IV) Draw through and shoot.

Give it a try is all I can really say.  Breathing is important, and keeping a regular cycle is important and helps in maintaining your rhythm when shooting.

***

So, I hope that these opinions of mine are helpful to anyone who might have similar questions, and while they have worked for me, there is no guarentee that they will work for you, so just keep that in mind.

Happy Shooting.

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Tuesday 17th August 2010

@ St Pauls

Nice clear day, no wind.  Bright.

I shot a practice FITA today after really not shooting properly for a while.  I'm not entirely sure why I did it, but I think it was because the weather was so nice and there was no wind.  It's been a while since I shot one in proper order.  The last time I shot one was in 2007.  I did shoot a FITA out of order last year with a 1136 though but it wasn't in order so not a fantastic comparison.

Today, I had two warmup ends at 90m, and off I went.

90m: 29 19 23 27 30 20 = 148, Av = 24.6 Rating 53
70m: 35 43 41 52 52 45 = 268, Av = 44.6 Rating 69
50m: 38 50 34 46 45 47 = 260, Av = 43.3 Rating 67
30m: 56 57 56 54 52 52 = 327, Av = 54.5 Rating 75
Total: 1003 Rating 63, Av Rating = 66, would have been a 1032.

I'm pretty happy with the result, I had hoped for a 1000+, and sneaking in that 1003 was pretty good.  I definitely need a lot more work at 90m as usual to bring things back up, could easily get 100 points in 90m alone with some solid work there.

In terms of shooting, 70m was actually super comfortable.  50m I struggled and at 30m I was extremely tired since this was the most I had shot in one day in a very long time.  What made 50m a struggle was using the open sight ring with no dot.  It was harder than 90m in the sense that 90m is always hard for me and so I was not too worried about the aim aspect, but 50m, I've been able to do okay.  Looking at it, all in all though, my 50m score was close to my 70m, which is actually pretty normal in itself.  Can't complain really.

Not sure where I'll work on next though.

Sunday 10 January 2010

Slow motion/High speed video

I busted a nock today doing some shooting with my new high-speed video footage device. It can record up to 1000 frames/second with a playback at 30 frames/second, but it requires considerable lighting for good footage to be taken.

I have taken some of my release, etc, on youtube. The links are below.
No, you will not get rickrolled, I promise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vN4Ml8BRn0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00NJeRoh3Kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnWUlda9vfM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY1DcxPJYg4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyMpyadmC7o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_exL2J1u2c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NBgnFaJamo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLpobg1SDN8