Tuesday 24th January 2012 - Decisions

I received an email today offering me a position on the NSW State Team for the 2012 National Championships, based off my performance in 2011.

I was pretty amused because I didn't expect to be given an offer as I was not in the top four of the state rankings.  In fact, I was 6th in the rankings, so obviously two people above me have already declined their invitation.  Probably why I was asked so late, and also why I only have just over a week to consider it.

I haven't been shooting seriously for a few months now, so thats an issue.  On top of that, its $220 entry fee for the event, plus ~$200/night for accomodation, so it will come to about $2000 for the week or so once you throw in petrol for driving down and food costs.

Is it worth it?  I have a few days to think about it.....  But I have to make a decision quickly it would seem.....

Meanwhile after I received the email, I went outside and put down a quick 8 ends at my target, getting back into good form as best I could remember, was starting to get a bit tired and compromising form at the end, but with a 8m range, I wasn't getting any rest period between my ends like I normally would in shooting distance.  I'll hope for good weather on Friday so I can ascertain better how I am going before I make a full committed decision.

48 arrows.

Friday 20th January 2012

@ St Pauls

Overcast turned sunny, slight winds at times slight gusts.

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

Total 72

Having not shot my recurve for over a month, it was a bit of a struggle to get through.  I took rests every 4-5 ends, as through the end cycle, typically 4th arrow, I couldn't get through the clicker on the first attempt.  My bow shoulder was collapsing and unable to take the weight and strain, while my release fingers were getting a bit red from the pressure of shooting.

Still, it didn't go too badly, no misses, groups were that flash, but still putting in 40's in, so I haven't completely lost it.

31st December 2011

Its been a while since I posted, and to be honest, I haven't been shooting heavily in the last quarter of the year.  Once again I suffer motivational issues, since, while I haven't shot a 1200 in competition, having shot the 1200 in practice has been pretty solid for me.  1220 is just an arbitrary number really :P

This year has been great for me, I travelled a lot, met many great people, had a wonderful time shooting.  I also qualified to be a National Judge Candidate, and finally got my level 1 coaching certification.  A lot has happened.  I am at the crossroads of whether to continue to pursue competitive shooting, and I know that at my age, plenty of people are still highly competitive, but it really does get harder to play off against the continuing younger generations that pass through.  The other option that I also have which just suits me quite well, is the coaching and mentor side, providing my experience and what not to new archers.

Perhaps I can have someone I coach, live their dreams of being an elite archer, and if that is successful, then I too would be happy.

Happy New Year to you all, and good shooting for the year to come.

Tuesday 20th September 2011

@ St Pauls

Very windy, gusty, bright and sunny

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

2x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

Total 48

Way too windy to really shoot terribly well, very gusty.  I was feeling a bit strained trying to shoot in the wind so decided to stop.  Not too long afterwards, my pinky finger knuckle on my right hand also started to ache, so not quite sure what was going on there.

Monday 19th September 2011

@ Northern

Warm, sunny, light to moderate winds at times

3x 6 arrow ends @ 90m, 122cm unscored

FITA90 practice

Total 162

Practiced a FITA90 today in preparation for the State Championships this coming weekend.  I shot straight through with only water and the time to move distance and change target faces, so no food or energy replenishment.

Was having some left/right issues, but my sight settings from uni were pretty good and spot on enough for me to put in good groups when my release action was clean

I put through an 1178 today, only 10 points off my competition PB and a bit better than the 1151 from the other week.

Distance scores were much better, though the disappointment for today was my 30m score, though I was shooting 6 arrow ends through 50m and 30m instead of 3 arrow ends.

The distance scores were 265, 296, 292 and 325.  The 325 did hurt quite a bit, and was pretty much what dragged it down somewhat since the 296 and 292 are really solid in terms of being at that 300 point, and the 265 is also getting close to the aim of a 270, 300, 300 and 330 breakpoint 1200 score.  It is encouraging though that things are slowing coming together when everything happens right.

Friday 16th September 2011

@ St Pauls

Sunny, warm, light winds

12x 6 arrow ends @ 90m, 122cm unscored

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

Total 108

Did some practice at 90m and 70m today, but stopped early as my left elbow tendon was feeling a bit sore and didn't want to aggravate any kind of potential tendinitis.  Todays releases were much better and I had a better control over my shooting cycle and timing. 

For 90m, I was grouping better, averaging between 41 to 48, and for 70m, around 45 for the worst spray, up to a 56, but more around the 51 mark, so I was happy to be back where I expected my shooting to be.

I strained my right side rhomboid somehow and its still a bit sore and stiff, twinges in pain a little, so shooting the lower volume today probably wasn't the worst idea I could have had.

Tuesday 13th September 2011

@ St Pauls

Warm, interesting wind behaviour, bright.

3x 6 arrow ends @ 90m, 122cm unscored

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

1x 6 arrow end @ 70m, 122cm unscored

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

6x 6 arrow ends @ 50m, 80cm scored

6x 6 arrow ends @ 30m, 80cm scored

Total 168

I tried to shoot a FITA90 practice today, and besides one hiccup, I got through the arrows, rather mediocre though.  I forgot to move my sight pin for the first shot of 70m, so just decided to use the round as a practice end for sight setting purposes.

I was a bit tired, didn't sleep so well, and had release problems all afternoon.  Poor releases sent my shots right and high regularly.  Being able to send shots down with very relaxed releases went straight, but the winds were playing up with switching left and right inconsistently.  Enough so at distance to be pushing my shots around quite far.

Score wise, I put down 248, 297, 286 and 320.19 10's and 6 X's.  Total 1151.

Looking at them score wise, they were all down across the board, though I was happy with the 297 at 70m as it was decent relative to how I felt they were shot.  90m was solid at least, though 50m and 30m were a bit ordinary.  I haven't shot a 320 at 30m for a while, usually up in the 330 area.  That said, a 1151 total isn't terrible either for how I felt I shot today.

Monday 12th September 2011

@ Northern

Warm, Sunny, no wind of note, brief cloud period

3x 12 arrow ends @ 90m, 122cm unscored

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

3x 12 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

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

Total 144

I tried to get in some strength and distance practice today, alternating between 12 arrow ends and 6 arrow ends, and I can say I definitely felt my back in use by the end of it.  I was finding that as I got tired, my hand was lifting off my face so I was losing my anchoring, so something to be aware of when shooting tired.

Sunday 11th September 2011

@ Northern

Some wind, a little gusty at times, warm, sunny

4x 6 arrow ends @ 60m, 122cm warmup

FITA900

Total 114

Felt good today, some very solid shooting, improving in terms of not shooting most bad shots and letting down, a few odd shots that might be anchoring related or something to do with finger pressure, but I was pretty happy overall with how the shoot went, good execution.

For the distances, I shot 264, 272 and 277, so a small creep in scores as the distances got shorter, to be expected when on the large face, moreso less 8's than more 10s.  Total score being a 813 which turns out to be a new PB for me by 7 points so very happy with that.

Saturday 10th September 2011

@ Northern Archers

Very windy, some sun, some cloud.

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

12x 3 arrow ends @ 50m, 80cm unscored

14x 3 arrow ends @ 30m, 80cm unscored

Total 96

I visited Northern today with the intention of getting in some light practice and to join up as an Associate member since my other club I used last financial year no longer accepts Associate Memberships due to 'political' reasons.

When I arrived though, I found that some guys from UNSW had started shooting a FITA90 practice for the State Open in a fortnights time.  So, I joined in with them, finishing off the shoot, but not scoring at all.  My 70m execution was a bit fiddly because the wind gusts were really kicking the buggery out of me in holding still, and 50m wasn't much better, but when we got down to the 30m, I was happy enough to finish strongly, shooting my way through and only dropping 1 arrow outside the gold into the 8 ring, so a very solid finish I felt.

Tomorrow is the Northern FITA900, so will see if I can get over the 806 I shot at the start of the year at Waringah.  My estimates put me at about a 810, so if I can make that, I'll be happy enough.

Friday 9th September 2011

@ St Pauls

Cold, light rain at times, light wind, not of note to shooting but to windchill, sunny periods at times generally cloudy and overcast.

1x 7 arrow end @ 60m, 122cm unscored

1x 8 arrow end @ 60m, 122cm unscored

6x 9 arrow ends @ 60m, 122cm unscored

5x 9 arrow ends @ 50m, 122cm unscored

5x 9 arrow ends @ 40m, 122cm unscored

4x 9 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

1x 9 arrow end @ 90m, 122cm unscored

Total 213

I wanted to get some practice in for the Northern FITA900 on Sunday, so put through some 60,50 and 40m practice.  But to bulk up my shooting fitness I put through 9 arrow ends instead of the six and pulled through okay.

For most of the ends, I was getting a good 7 or more arrows into the gold, so settings were pretty decent and form was in a good shape, with the exception of the 70m and 90m that was conducted at the end as someone from UNSW visited wanted to try them with their new bow setup.

Tuesday 6th September 2011

@ St Pauls,

Warm, slightly breezy but not particularly gusty or strong, sunny

12x 6 arrow ends @ 90m, 122cm unscored

17x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

1x 7 arrow end @ 70m, 122cm unscored

Total 181.

Was practising my longer distances for the State Open Championships since 90m scores always kill my FITA90 score.  I had a good 12 ends for 90m I felt, scoring consistently in the low to mid 40's, average score but the execution felt better.  The smaller pin allowed me to feel more relaxed as I could see more of the target than before, even though I still had obstruction from my stabilizer.

I moved up to 70m, and put down a extended session.  I had good ends, reasonable ends, and normal ends, putting in between 45 to 57, with a good half in the 52, 53 point range.  Consistency is still lacking as some ends will be quite tight, while others are ballooned out.  But on average, it is showing that there has been good improvement though in the last two months.

I have pretty much settled into finishing this year shooting wise, I don't see much point in me caring about national rankings anymore, or winning events, rather, returning to the feeling of enjoying my shooting, as it is paramount to me shooting long term.  The Northern FITA900 is on this weekend, then a fortnight for the State Championships, then in December the City of Sydney.  There are a few other QRE's in the middle that I may or may not go to, since it really doesn't matter anymore for me at this point, even if I have the same goal long term, but rather enjoy what I'm shooting, and slowly creep up in my improvements.

Friday 2nd September 2011

@ St Pauls

Windy to start, quite cool, settled down and turned warm late afternoon

7x 6 arrow ends @ 30m, 80cm unscored

7x 6 arrow ends @ 50m, 80cm unscored

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

Total 120

Tested out the AAE pin today at standard distances, though it was hard to tell exactly since the wind was pushing me around quite considerably.  It made it hard to shoot so harder to gauge how the pin behaviour would affect my shooting as such.  I think shooting in the wind also has strained my shoulder a little bit as I am feeling somewhat from it.

30m and 50m in good light conditions, I was able to float the pin fine, though at 70m as light was fading a little and cloud cover appearing, the target shade went dull which made it difficult to aim as well with the brighter pin.  I would imagine though that a normal shoot conditions means closer at the end of the day, so it wouldn't be as much of an issue, at least for target shooting, not sure how it would be for field shooting.

Execution for 30m and 50m was pretty solid I felt, but 70m was a bit lacking, either just because I wasn't really happy with how the light was helping me not aim or just from being tired with the wind and cold.  Was scoring 54-57's at 30m, and 50-52 at 50m, and 45-52 at 70m, so while not terrible for 70m, probably mediocre really.

Thursday 1st September 2011 - AAE Gold Aiming Aperture

@ Sefton

Warm, average day

6x 6 arrow ends @ 8m, blank

Total 36

I received a new sight pin, so installed and tested it out.  The AAE Gold Aiming Aperture isn't cheap by most peoples standard, but it does come with a good array of features.  The pin has a similarly sized ring to the stock Shibuya pin that comes with the Ultima Recurve but the main 'feature' really is that it has a 0.019" (or 0.5mm) fibre optic pin.  The problem I had with the Shibuya is that their pin comes with a curled spring metal insert with an orange blob that was just simply way too big to be of any decent use.  It wasn't an overaiming issue but rather obscured vision too much for my preferences.  I had replaced it with the end of a tailors pin I put in, but this 0.019" fibre makes that look obese.

The fibre holder is very snug, and in the kit it comes with a pink/orange, blue, yellow/green fibres.  Up to you what you want to use, I switched out the defaulted pink to the green.  It has a soft plastic sleeve to thread the fibre into, and there are two attachment points for the sleeve that hold it quite firmly.

The quality of the fibre is also really great, it isn't a brittle fibre like the fibres that used to come with the Titan Scope that I have, quite soft, flexible and suits this application perfectly.  In average-moderate light conditions, its bright, and in sunny conditions, it looks like a LED light source.  Originally a concern that it might be too bright.

It seemed to be okay shooting at home, so will put it to the test out on the range.

Tuesday 30th August 2011

@ St Pauls

Warm, some light winds, turned overcast and cool

18x 6 arrow ends @ 90m, 122cm unscored

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

Total 156

Worked some on 90m today, was roughly scoring low to mid 40's about normal, some reasonable group sizes at times, but not great consistency.  By the time I got to shooting some 70m, I was a bit tired after not having shot a high volume for nearly two weeks, but had some good ends in there, some good groups also, not fantastic day of shooting but just good to put the arrows down.

Monday 29th August 2011

@ Sefton

Warm, sunny, no wind

6x 6 arrow ends @ 8m

Total 36.

Just put through blank again.

Its hard to say exactly where I'm goal-orientated towards now.  While I am not going to make it for 2012, where exactly am I heading now.  There are a few QRE's still on the calendar, the Northern FITA900, the State Championships, and the City of Sydney too.  Without a week-day venue right now, its harder to practice properly, except for uni days.  I need more practice for 90m for a FITA90 score increase, so I guess I will have to focus upon that in the upcoming few weeks to the State Championships, and then assess the situation at hand.  I've had a good run, no regrets.  I've also had an email from my boss regarding potential work so I don't know what will come of it, and if it is an opportunity for me to have more career orientated movement or not.

One step at a time.  Though, someone I used to coach (since I haven't been around for two months, and even prior to me going overseas, they kind of stopped seeking development from me) has been shooting fantastic scores lately, better than me, so whoever is assisting them, great and I hope they keep up the improvement, since as a junior they have many years available to them upcoming.

Sunday 28th August 2011

@ Sefton

Warm, sunny

6x 6 arrow ends @ 8m, blank

Total 36

Put some ends down on the target at home, with the smaller rest break, since it takes almost no time to retrieve from 8m away, the 36 arrows were a little harder to shoot than compared to 70m shooting.

Saturday 27th August 2011

@ Liverpool City Archers

Overcast, warm, no wind of note

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

Woke up too late and not feeling top shape after my international flight in, so rather than trying to rush down to shoot the State Field, I decided to forfeit my entry.  Since SOPA no longer accepted Associate Memberships, I needed an alternative venue to practice at, with Liverpool being the next closest club, I dropped by to ask about their fees.  Unfortunately no-one was there who had the ability to help me, so I just put down some practice.

I didn't score, but the groups were reasonable size, just not centred well, though they would not have been as tight as Fridays shooting.  One thing that I am not a fan of for the Liverpool club is their target range is uneven and well, it is a challenge to shoot on for sure.

Friday 26th August 2011

@ St Pauls

Sunny, no wind of note, warm for a winters day

12x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 60m-10m in 5m gaps for sight settings

Total 72

I went from the airport directly to the field, the flight being delayed so I didn't have much opportunity to go home and come back out again as I had originally wanted to.

Putting my bow together after a week or so of not shooting, and put down several ends felt good, and for 70m, I had several good ends scoring 50, 53, 51, 57, 52, 50, which would have resulted in a 313.  Tight shooting especially coming off a 15hr flight that had been delayed 5 hours.  My field settings were good enough for my liking so I packed up and headed home as I originally intended to shoot the State Field Championships on the weekend.

Sunday 14th August 2011

@ Delisle Sports Ground

Overcast, slight breeze, moderate temperatures

5x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, warmup 122cm, sight settings check.

Matchplay

A-side 1st round: 15 arrows - Win

2nd round: 12 arrows - Loss

B-side 3rd round: 9 arrows - Win

4th round: 9 arrows - Loss

Total 75.

Being the FCA Open, it was matchplay using the WAF Set System, with qualifying rankings based from the FITA90 and the 720 rounds the two days before.  I was placed 7th in the rankings and so had to shoot my way through.  They ran an A side and B side, where the B side was where the losing athlete from the A side had an opportunity to win a 'consolidation' prize.  Two losses meant you were out.

My first match was a tight affair, 2-0,0-2, 2-0, 0-2, then 0-2 to me for a 4-6 point win.  My second match was against Canadian Olympian Crispin Duenas, where it went 0-2, 1-1, 0-2, 0-2 for my loss 1-7.  It was however the 1/4th round so I was pretty happy with that result anyway.

On the B side, I shot my first round with a clean sweep 6-0, before getting the same in return 0-6 to be bowled out in the Semi's.  The guy who beat me ended up winning the B side, while Crispin also won the A side, so I can't really complain at how I lost out.

Overall, the week of competition in Canada was a lot more relaxed in general though I had greater pressure from myself and expectation to do better in my scoring than I did in the WOAF.  Sadly it didn't happen but I still had a great time.