Saturday 30th July 2011

@ Easton Yankton

Hot, not too humid, light breeze, clear skies and sunny.

2x 8 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored warmup on unofficial practice range

3x 3 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm  warmup

6x 3 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm Matchplay (2 matches of 3 ends)

4x 6 arrow ends @ 30m and 70m, shooting new clicker and fingertab.

Total 67

Today was the Hoyt World Open matchplay event.  I was seeded 27th after the qualifying FITA90 yesterday.  My first match was against gt, one of the engineers involved in developing the Easton X10 arrow.  I won the match, and was then put up against Dan Schuller, who came 6th in the FITA90, so when I lost, it wasn't really a big deal.  In terms of execution, I did fine against gt, but lost it completely against Schuller.  I think it is because in the matchplay format there is such a long wait delay while other matches in other divisions happen and it was hard to stay 'warm' and concentration was pretty challenging.

Got to work on bowarm, hand pressure, finger pressure, and confident bringing through the clicker.

Friday 29th July 2011

@ Easton Yankton

Hot, humid a little, no real wind of note, very sunny

6x 6 arrow ends @ 50m and 30m, 80cm 5-ring unscored to check settings and warmup on the unofficial practice targets

3x 6 arrow ends @ 50m, 80cm 5-ring official warmup

FITA Short distances.

Total 126

Shot the short distances.  I struggled a bit at 50m in expanding, and my clicker was still shifting backwards, thus making it harder to draw.  I am really looking forward to being able to set it solidly using the AAE microclick clicker plate.

At 30m however, I did struggle some too but really tightened and put pressure with the thumb to help with expansion and really put the shot through.  

Overall, I had a really good shoot today, a 298 for 50m and a 346 for 30m.  Comes to 1188, so I was really happy with it :)

I had a pretty good time, just need to work on 90m more.

Thursday 28th July 2011

@ Easton Yankton, Target Range

USAA Target Nationals Day 1

Comfortable, overcast with light to medium breeze settled down to light wind of really no note.

3x 6 arrow ends @ 90m warmup

90m and 70m

Total 90

I was pretty unsettled at the start of the day, wasn't able to get into form and suffered for it.  I think also because the shooting is staggered into two flights, the time inbetween made it hard to stay in my usual shooting rhythm, so things were a bit off.  I had a terrible 90m, with a miss in the first two ends, suffering my score greatly.  I did come back with a 236, which is okay for me at 90m, but definitely a little lower than I was hoping.

In the 70m, I really tried to focus my shooting, and concentrated on the arm and fingers, especially finger pressure.  It paid off, and while I did have 5 or 6 bad shots where I just simply had held the shots too long, the rest were solid execution.  I was very happy with the result, much more confident and finished up with a 308 for 70m.  It placed me down on the list at 24th from 48 competitors, so a great place to be.

Tomorrow I am in the afternoon session, and I hope that the weather isn't too bad, and I can stay concentrated through it to finish strongly, a mid 1100 would be great.

Wednesday 27th July 2011

@ Yankton

Thunderstorm showers, light breeze at start of day, turned sunny and hot

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

28 target NFAA animal round

8x 6 arrow ends @ 90m, 30m, 50m, 70m, 122/80cm spots sight setting checking

Total 100

First time shooting the NFAA Animal round today.  It was interesting shooting yardage at animal pictures with marked score zones.  I finished with a 551, with a 560 being a full round, but 588 being the perfect round.  Still a reasonably good score, but put me at 6th in the end.  It seems like it was a bit of a tight race for 1st, 2nd and 3rd, with only a few points between them.

I then went across to the target range after registration and practiced a little, made sure my sight settings were on the target reasonably.  I got to meet Kik-Sik Lee, after being introduced by David Rowson and Marie Hulbert.  My settings worked well enough I thought so I decided to not stay out in the heat any longer than I needed.  They are setting the shoot in two sessions, morning and afternoon, and rotating on the second day.  In addition to this, they are shooting two flights, AB and CD as the line only has enough space for 2 people at a time.  They seems to be over 70 targets on the field. so should be interesting.  I know at least one person on my target, Josh Hinson from Florida who I met during my time at Easton Newberry, so it should be interesting to see how we go against each other.

Tuesday 26th July 2011

@ East Yankton

Hot, light breezes, humidity rising, cloudless

2x 4 arrow ends warmup

Rushmore Range, Hunter Round

Total 120

Shot better today, felt better in execution but there were still weak moments during the round.  I made two separate mistakes today, one with using the wrong sight setting, and a shot after a premature click before I made it to anchor, simply just lack of focus, possibly due to tiredness and the heat.  I started in the morning not feeling 100% right, but not quite feeling sick, but was okay once we got around on the course.

In terms of everyone elses scores, I shot a 491 today, and caught a few points up from yesterdays points against some of the others as I saw a few of them shot 480's.  It means it might very well be a rather tight finish line tomorrow, with the Animal Round being last.

The hunter round target faces were white centres and black elsewhere, so a much smaller dot for focus, and in yardage marks of a variety, not necessarily in 10 or 5 yard marks at all.  I was making guesses at how much to cut to compensate for the lower angle (even though the whole course is rather flat) and I did okay.

Monday 25th July 2011

@ Easton Yankton

Hot, humid a little, light breezes at times.

4x 4 arrow ends warmup

NFAA Field Round

Total 128

I was assigned to the Badlands, one of three field courses they have here (Badlands, Rushmore, Crazy Horse) in addition to the Dakota range that was at Gavin Point Dam.  The NFAA round consists of 4 arrows, on a variety of yard distances up to 80 yards including fans and walkups.  Their target faces are also different to the FITA versions in both size and style.

In any case, it was a long day since the NFAA round is 28 targets instead of 24.  I shot reasonably, but discovered that I wasn't engaging my back properly, and it was affecting the quality of my shot significantly.  I powered into the shot and improved somewhat in the second half, but I did lose quite a lot of points this way.

I ended up with a 471, though it should have been a 481 because my shooting group let me shoot two arrows on the wrong target face even though they even spotted them for me, since in NFAA, unlike FITA, first up on the line shoot the bottom targets instead of the top, and I stupidly shot on the top -_-..... oh well.

Tomorrow is the Hunter round with different faces and distances again.

Sunday 24th July 2011

@ Gavin Point Dam, Dakota Range

Cooler but still quite warm, not much wind movement.

Marked Field

Total 78

I didn't shoot very well.  I realised only afterwards today (Monday) that I wasn't engaging my back properly, which would explain why my sight settings were dropping low in a lot of the shots and I was rather shaky.  I attributed also some of it to being in the same shooting group as Brady Ellison and Jake Kaminski.  It was really good to watch them shoot, very smooth actions, but it was also good to see that they were human, with poor shots, and lack of concentration with Brady using the wrong sight setting, and also shooting on the wrong spot on the 20cm target.

I finished with a lower score on the marked than the unmarked, but both Brady and Jake did too so I didn't feel so badly.  It appeared that their marked field course wasn't really set right in terms of distances.  Still, good experiences.

Saturday 23rd July 2011

@ Gavins Point Dam,Yankton SD, USA

Hot, humid, some breeze at times depending on location, lots of insects and mosquitoes.

1x 3 arrow end @ 20m warmup

Unmarked FITA Field

Total 75 arrows.

First time shooting an unmarked field course.  I had quite a bit of advice and help from the people around, very friendly lot, and proceeded to shoot my way through the standard 24 target course.  The ground is fairly flat in this area for most part, but there was a somewhat hillside that half the range was set into with up and not that many downhill targets.

I lost a lot of points either in the 6 misses I had completely, or in 2 or 3's because I lack the distance estimation skills that the others have, before aiming off or correcting to put my last arrow into the 6/5/4 rings.  I was quite pleased with my end result of a 287, since it isn't that far off my personal best for marked field, a 310.  Tomorrow will be the marked field so it will be interesting to see if I can do better lol.

Friday 22nd July 2011

@ Easton NFAA Yankton

Bright hot, not too humid, slight winds.

About 42 arrows, variety of distances to check sight settings

Today was the first day I got to shoot since I left Gainesville Florida. I did some Shot Trainer and tube work in Minnesota during the time I spent with my brother there.

The sight settings were pretty much spot on in terms of height with the right brace height, but there was some left position drift. I wasn't sure if it was the wind or if something I did, so will have to see in the morning if there is any change.

The events for this entire week aren't really that important, but especially for the field events, my competition field is rather small, I believe 8 is the most, so I won't do so badly lol, but the target event is what will show me up some.

Saturday 16th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry

Very humid and hot, overcast, some wind but hard to determine due to no flags out, but turned calm in the afternoon.

8x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

2x 6 arrow ends @ 90m, 122cm unscored

6x 6 arrow ends @ 90m, 122cm scored

6x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm scored

Total 132

As my final day here at Easton Newberry, Coach Turned wanted me to do some scored 90m to see how I would do after a week of changes.  I had some warmup shooting at 70m before a bit of sighting at 90m and away I went with scoring.

It was really hot and humid, and my strength was already quite low since it was the end of this long shooting period, and I was having difficulty executing as well as I had yesterday. In terms of a end by end scoring, I had a poor start as my execution was quite poor, starting with a 35.

35, 46, 51, 45, 46 38.  For a 261.  For me, 261 is actually quite reasonable since I have a rather large variance, and if I could manage a 261 in competition consistently it would be a huge improvement for me.  I had to have an aggressive draw to anchor with a confident anchoring point as I could expand into the clicker well after that.

The 70m wasn't the best I have shot but the group size was very very solid for me.

43, 46, 47, 49, 50 and 51.  For a 286.  While its a little low, it being close to 290 is good for me, with my sights a bit on the low side and me trying to wind them back into the middle.

The proof though is a picture Coach Turner took on his phone:

I put 5 arrows into the 8-ring at 90m.  The group size is amazing for me, so if I can put that down again, a few more times, it'd be brilliant.

I hope I can keep this confidence up for the rest of the year ^_^

Friday 15th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry

Very hot, humid, storm weather, then cool breezes, then rain, then warm overcast.

Shot a variety of distances to get settings check on sight marks after using Accurate Sights.  Shot some indoor also during the rain.

Total 222.

The weather really hasn't been the most helpful during my stay here but I've been told its pretty much how Florida always is in summer.  I was pretty happy with my group sizes, especially with the 70m, when I had solid timing down, I was getting gold-ring sized groups consistently, they might not have been grouped in the gold but the groups were pretty good regardless.  My timing issues are still there, but when I really set my shot down well, and without fatigue, I can now get a 4-5 second cycle, but once it goes over 8 seconds, I usually am unable to complete the cycle execution well if I do so, rather than bringing it through the clicker and letting down to develop clicker control.

The string brace height dropped again, it was at 8 and 5/8ths  but now it is back down to 8 and 3/8ths.  I only discovered this after shooting the distance settings, so after I re-twist the string back up tomorrow, I will need to go through them all again quickly to ensure that the settings are still fairly viable.  While I am not expecting a massive score change or jump in the next bit of shooting in Yankton, I do feel my shooting has come a very long way in the short timeframe I have spent here with Coach Turner's attention and experience so I am extremely happy that I made the choice to come here for the training opportunity.

Thursday 14th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry

Warm, somewhat humid after rain periods, breezes at times.

Assorted ends at a variety of distances ranging from 5m blank to 90m, totalling 240 arrows.

Worked on shooting form some today early on before the serving on the 20 strange Majesty broke on the top loop serving, so switched over to a 1825 20 strand string that Coach Turner made.  After shooting it in quickly with virtually no stretch, we did some tuning checks by shooting bareshaft and fletched shafts at 18m and 25m.  A few nocking point changes were made as the group was pretty good.  We went outside and put down six ends at 70m, where I clocked in a 305, which was really great since the third end was a 42, otherwise it could have been around a 310.

After this, I shot some more alone to see if I could get my timing and expansion by myself without Coach Turner watching but it didn't go as well, possibly because I did do 140 arrows by then  so was already somewhat tired.  After that, I got some 90m and 50m settings set in before packing up for the day.

Confidence in the shot and mindset is really important for me.  I need to know that I have a very good setup, and be smooth in my action to a strong anchor and bow arm, that will allow me to maintain consistent strong finger tension, that will translate to good transfer and release action.  I need to just set into that very consistently, and ensure that I don't cant my shots to the left too.

Wednesday 13th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry

Warm, humid with a rain spell, windy in the afternoon, very sunny

3x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

7x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm scored

1x 6 arrow end @ 70m, 122cm unscored, watched by Coach Turner

5x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm scored

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

1x 3 arrow end @ 18m, 60cm unscored

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored.

Total 243

Started shooting as usual today and Coach Turner returned from California where he had been for the JOAD Nationals.  Had a brief talk before he watched me shoot, and mentioned the things to keep strong in mind.  Solid hand position, strong bow arm, good head position, strong finger pressure, and everything else should just happen with those aspects.  He said I had a really solid base, it was just a matter of strength and practice to get those elements right.

He got out the 1000fps highspeed video they had, a much better larger one than my Casio, and took some videos of my shooting to see what I was doing.  First thing of note was my arrows were too weak in spine, they were flexing way too much to get good clean groupings.  Secondly, on my clicker, I sometimes have a slight forward creep before release, meaning I lose my back engagement.  The action is so slight that without the highspeed, it would be pretty much impossible to pick.

After that, he made a new string using 20 strange Majesty, with also longer end servings to slow down my bow so the spine would stiffen up some, which it certainly made a difference to the bow speed.  The brace height also went up to 8 3/4", but with stretch it'll come down about 1/8th supposedly.  My sight marks dropped from 77 to 82 for 70m on the rack.  Unfortunately it was too windy outside to tell if my groups shrunk noticeably and I was tired already from shooting a good number of arrows to execute cleanly.

It was a pretty solid day of training though afterwards, my wrist was aching some and I have somehow strained the tendon in my left wrist.... highly unusual since it isn't really something you normally use in shooting at all.....

Tuesday 12th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry

Hot, a little humid, very bright, some breeze.

3x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm scored

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

2x 3 arrow ends @ 18m, 40cm unscored

20x 3 arrow ends @ 18m, 40cm scored.

Total 226

Shot a 584 70m round.  Not too bad with a 291 first half, and a 293 second half, so getting there slowly I think.  I decided to not score in the second round I shot as I wasn't feeling my execution just wasn't the same. I had lunch and cooled off before doing the 18m round, scoring a 560, up from yesterday.

I am still physically tired and strained, from shooting 1180 arrows in the last several days.  But I feel that my form is solidifying.  Hopefully.

Monday 11th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry

Breezy at times, switching between overcast and very sunny, quite warm but not as humid as Sunday.

3x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm scored

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm scored

2x 3 arrow ends @ 18m, 40cm unscored

20x 3 arrow ends @ 18m, 40cm scored

Total 226

Kept working on the new form, and it seems to be settling down, though shooting so many arrows without much of a rest period is probably fatiguing me somewhat.  Releases are iffy depending on setup, though I do seem to have a better sense of timing when everything clicks.  I shifted my clicker position a fraction out, though will need assistance to check that it is in a good position.  After that is better confirmed, a tune will be in order to ensure the bow is going to shoot as best as possible with my form.  My fingers are a bit sore, though I'm not really sure what can be done about it exactly, though I might be using the wrong finger position, will have to wait and see.

Sunday 10th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry

Very hot, very humid, some wind at times

3x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm scored

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm scored

2x 3 arrow ends @ 18m, 40cm unscored

20x 3 arrow ends @ 18m, 40cm scored

Total 222

The very hot and humid weather made things quite challenging to shoot in.  I felt like my energy was really taxed and drained very quickly.  My fingers are still a bit sore, but that was to be expected with the higher volume of arrows.  My outdoor rounds was a 559 with 17 lower than 7, a 530 with 19 lower than 7.  My indoor round was also a 530 with 18 10's (didn't record X's), so nearly a third were 10/X.

Saturday 9th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry

Hot, humid, slight breeze at times

14x 10 arrow ends @ 70m unscored

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m scored

Total 212

Shot a solid day of 70m.  Still using the different draw setup, and I think I have it down fairly solidly now.  Still not 100% of course, but am able to settle into it fairly well now.  I was able to shoot decent groups early on but shooting the 10 arrow ends tired me out quite fast, and also my fingers were quite sore today, so I might be back doing something not quite right with my finger position on the grip.  I hope to get some good rest tonight and do better tomorrow, perhaps start with some scored shooting first.

In terms of the scoring, I only managed a 545, a bit low in contrast to the 590 I shot the other day, but it was after already 140 arrows shot so it didn't quite compare to had I scored a fresh 70/720 round.

Friday 8th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry

Outside conditions rainy, slight winds at times otherwise rather calm

12x 6 arrow ends @ 18m, NFAA 5-spot indoor face, unscored

6x 12 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm, unscored

24x 3 arrow ends @ 18m, NFAA indoor face

Total 216

Tried to see if the pre-load draw setup advocated by Coach Bob would work for me.  From my experimentation indoors, it seems to be okay, though I may be muscularly weak to shoot with it properly for now, though perhaps over the next few days I will develop sufficient strength for it.  That said, I was getting quite reasonable groups to my regular shooting at 70m even though the groups were not in the middle.  Using the technique indoors had similar good groups except when I held too long and wasn't able to expand through the clicker sufficiently in time and fudged out the release and execution.  Hopefully my body can keep up with a high arrow shooting volume to see if this will pan out for WOAF.  If thats even still on with the flood worries....

Thursday 7th July 2011

@ Easton Newberry Sports Complex, Florida

26x 3 arrow ends @ 18m, 60cm, unscored

Total 78.

Drove up from Orlando to Gainesville and visited the facility for the first time.  The weather seemed to be a bit on the turbulent and stormy side, so decided to put in some indoor time.  In the 26 ends I only shot 2 into the 8 ring, the rest were all gold, so I was fairly happy at that result.

I had a bit of a discussion with Coach Bob Romeo, the former head coach of the facility, who is leaving on Sunday to pursue other things as Robert Turner is now the head coach, but is away at the JOAD championships this week.  He suggested a change to my setup, with a pre-draw load so that the lift of the bow action meant the hand was already closer to the face and anchor, reducing movements made by the smaller finer muscles.  It is different obviously to what I have been doing, but apparently it is a shift in Kik-Sik Lee's teaching due to them finally getting around the language barrier of what they thought he meant, to what he actually meant.  I will see if I can try it a bit some more today and determine if it is something that will work and is suitable for me or not.

Sunday 3rd July 2011

@ Northern

Cool morning, odd light breeze, sunny afternoon warmer with also odd light breeze

QRE

4x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm warmup

70m/720

3x 6 arrow ends @ 50m, 80cm warmup

50m/720

Total 186

I was pretty happy with the overall result of todays double QRE at Northern. I was struggling at the start somewhat, and then Rob told me that I should consider not a continuous expansion while trying to hold steady, as I was holding way too long, but instead, if my clicker is set correctly, I could float into the middle and actively "pull" the tiny 5mm through the clicker and release. So I tried it. Usually not something you should do in the middle of the shoot, but I figured now was as good a time as any since it was only just a QRE.

Well, I put down a personal best 70m QRE score for a 6 end session of 304 (53, 47 50, 52, 54, 48) with only 6 blues (5, 6 and 6). Unfortunately something didn't quite go right in the second half of the 70m QRE, putting in a 286, with one end being a horrible 43 (9 9 9 6 5 5). Other than that, it was not too bad (50, 48, 49, 47, 43, 49), so I think it's just a stamina and strength issue.

The afternoon session was 50m on the 80cm, and after having an hour break and some food, I powered into it in similar fashion to the 70m, actively trying to pull through deliberately rather than a continuous expansion. Dropped in a 302 (49, 50, 50, 55, 49, 49) with 2 6's. Pretty solid I felt, another QRE PB. Then to finish the day off, I put down a close shave 299, definitely flagging with stamina and strength issues (50, 48 48 54 53 46). Totalling the second half with a 601.

So, a 590 and 601, puts me at a total QRE ranking PB of 1191, my first 600 QRE score and also three really solid scores at that 300 line. Now, to just keep pushing that line up and up.

Friday 1st July 2011

@ St Pauls

Breezy, cool but sunny

23x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm, unscored

Total 138

Put in a solid set of shooting in preparation for the QRE on the 3rd, as it will be the last QRE for me before I head overseas for the two month period away.  I had good groups I felt, but need to work on being patient and also letting down sooner than later when things weren't working.  Was getting roughly between 47-54 point ends, so in the ballpark I am happy with.  I have attempted to improve the mental aspect of my shooting by focusing upon the sensation of the shot release I want during the expansion and release phase, so that upon the clicker reaction, I will obtain the same sensation.  What I am trying to 'feel' is that 'wow' release as if I had just taken the shot trainer off, with the full engagement of my back etc, and while I didn't quite manage to achieve that, I felt it did help in expanding through.