Tuesday 19th April 2011

@ St Pauls

Warm, no wind, winter approaching so getting darker in the late afternoon.

18x 6 arrow ends @ 30m and 70m, 80cm no scoring.

Total 108

I shot some 30m and 70m today to work on form at the two general distances of note.  There is a club event on Friday that is a 30m event so I was ensuring my 30m settings were set correctly before putting in 12 ends at 70m.

In terms of shooting, I felt my release today was fairly consistent however my anchor was shifting a little.  I moved my clicker out about 1.5mm and it was definitely a lot smoother to bring through at 70m though at 30m I was hesitant since I think I was over-thinking the shot process and not wanting to release when my sight wasn't floating in the gold.  In terms of alignment, it was so so, not terrible, not fantastic, but there was no major visible fishtail behaviour as I have sometimes had in the past with poor shot execution.

At the moment, I am pondering the wisdom of attending a few international events.  There is the US Open Field Championships, the US Open Target Championships, the Hoyt Open, the Canadian Open Nationals, and then the World Indoor Cup in Singapore.  I would love to get the international experience, but it is a matter of cost vs value.  

Talking to James Larven, the CEO of Archery Australia Inc. he recommended me to attend everything possible as the experience is invaluable even if I would be totally outclassed by the archers there and I wouldn't be eligible to win any placings/awards etc.  I agree.  In terms of costs for the US Open Nationals, the estimate is about $2200 for flights (I'm assuming it's going to be dirt cheap travel method, worse carrier in economy etc) and about $140+ for entry/event + accomodation, travel, food etc.  Someone told me that to shoot a 2 week circuit, it would be about $6000, which kinda is probably bout right once you incorporate everything into it ($6000-$2200 = $271/day, so putting in hotel, car hire, food, it's about right).

Its quite a bit of money.... will have to ponder a little, but can't ponder too long....