Thursday 12th May 2011

@ SOPA

Bright, Sunny, Windy, Cool

5x 6 arrow ends @ 50m, 80cm, unscored

7x 8 arrow ends @ 50m, 80cm, unscored

Total = 86

Wasn't great conditions to shoot in today, but struggling with the wind to aim meant I didn't really care very much about the aiming and was able to work a little on keeping bow arm up, and also shoulder alignment.  Good releases though, felt comfortable and smooth for the most part.

Tuesday 10th May 2011

@ SOPA

Bright, very cold, stiff constant breeze

24x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

Total 144

One of the things I have noticed, especially today, is that with the Carbon Blades setup, I can't tell how windy it is if there are no wind flags on the target.  The wind today was out there, but being in my jacket, no flag, and the blades, I couldn't really gauge the wind well.  The winds were gusting sufficiently to be pushing my groups from the gold into the blue constantly.  In brief lulls of wind, my sight settings did group where they should have, and at times I had very tight vertical lines of groups, all to the left of center.

I was actually shooting okay in terms of group size when I was able to push my concentration, but at other times had terrible scatter.  The feedback though from shooting with cold fingers, a cold face, and having a jacket sleeve on (compared to not having a jacket on my bowarm) probably made me feel like I was shooting worse, and so fed back and turned into me shooting worse.  While 144 arrows isn't a lot, I shot them straight through without a break, and so am feeling the muscle tension quite a bit right now, and my right shoulder is tender, in its usual spot.

Sunday 8th May 2011

@ SOPA
Warm, bright, not noticeable breeze.

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

Total 72

Nothing really of note.  Was getting okay groups at times, a bit of scatter at others.  Bit stiff and had some shoulder pain at times, possibly from the 200 yesterday.

Saturday 7th May 2011

@ Northern Archers

Cold morning start, sunny, barely a breeze, turned warmer.

2x 10 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm, warmup

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

QRE F70/720

4x 6 arrow ends @ 50m, 80cm 6-ring, warmup

QRE F50/720

Total 200

In an effort to warmup faster, I tried to shoot more arrows in the warmup, so shot two lots of ten arrow ends instead of the six.  I don't know if it really did anything useful since I have been sick (thus not shoot any at all since Wednesday), and had overslept so rushed over without a proper breakfast either.  I was still not feeling best of conditions today with a bit of coughing still happening during the day.

Not much to comment on the shooting in terms of technique, it was pretty mediocre.  

QRE F70/720

1) 48 47 46 47 51 54 = 288, 3 X, 4 X+10's

1) 45 54 48 55 45 49 = 296, 2X, 9 X+10's

Total 5X, 13 X+10's for a 579

QRE F50/720

1) 47 47 49 44 47 45 = 279 0X, 3 X+10's

2) 43 53 46 47 50 51 = 292 0X, 4 X+10's

Total 0X 7X+10's for a 571

A bit ordinary if you look at it as a whole, but I was satisfied with a 296 and 292 as individual round ends for the 70m and 50m respectively.  I believe that my round averages are moving up, it is a matter of improving consistency.

Wednesday 4th May 2011

@ SOPA

Sunny, warm, light to medium breeze

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

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

Total 108

Put in some more 90m practice today, it went okay, still being pushed around somewhat with the wind today though found it harder to shoot today possibly being a little stiff from yesterdays shooting in the cold.

70m shooting went well I felt, in that when the pin was dead on and I had a clean release, it went where it was aimed.  In terms of groups, I was happy with the general scatter, with the odd outlier as usual, scoring a 291.  I have to find a way to stay relaxed but yet able to maintain good muscle tension control.

Tuesday 3rd May 2011

@ St Pauls

Overcast, medium winds head on and right to left crosswinds, cool.

3x 6 arrow ends @ 50m, 122cm unscored

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

10x 6 arrow ends @ 90m, 122cm unscored

Total 96

The wind made it interesting to shoot the 90m today, but I put down a few ends at 50m and 70m to check sight settings for this weekend's QRE at Northern coming.

I split a set of arrows so that 2 were fletched with Spin Wings white (as my arrows normally are), 2 with blue Eli Vanes fletched normally, and 2 with blue Eli Vanes fletched using the fold-back method (as how my spinnies are done).  I wanted to test their flight characteristics, to see if there were actually any differences between them or not.

At 50m and 70m, they grouped all tightly together (as tight as my groups generally are lol, 50m all in the 9 ring) and certainly at 50 and 70m there were no obvious deviations in left/right nor up/down scatter.  90m with the wind made it pretty hard to really say if there was any differences.  There is a price difference of $5 between the two, with my supplier of Eli Vanes being the more expensive, but that said, they do have a nice look to them when done on the fold-back, I really don't like the conventional method at all.

In terms of form today, 90m shooting was the most comfortable and relaxed that I have ever shot 90m.  I don't know if it is just the lower shooting weight than previously, or if form has made it easier/better to shoot, but they were going through quite nicely today.  Unfortunately though I have still insufficient bow arm control for steady aiming (but it is much better with the pin I feel), and at times a panic release on the clicker so I punch through the release causing bad shots.  Other than that though I definitely feel I have made progress.

Sunday 1st May 2011

@ SOPA

Bright and sunny with brief overcast at times, medium wind periods but not many, beautiful day.

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

F70/720 QRE

Total 102

Shot the first QRE for May today, in much better conditions than yesterday.  I was hoping for better scores and after the first session, I was down a bit with only a 285 (cf 288 yesterday), so it was going well enough.  In the second half however things were going a little strange in I was shooting a poor end, good end, poor end and so forth, and in the 5th end I was at 240, where my shooting lane partner said I needed a 60 and I'd get the 300.  Well I certainly gave it a good go at it and finished off with a 57.  I was pretty happy with that.  What it does tell me though is I really can shoot those scores if I can just make my consistency better from end to end, and not just between each arrow.

In the process today though, I must remember to extend my bow arm and lock it down before the draw, and ensure adequate lean forwards to accentuate the feel of the shoulders when in use.

Session: 1 ( FITA 122cm at 70 metres ) 1  = 40 40 2  = 52 92 3  = 50  142 4  = 44  186 5  = 48  234 6  = 51  285   Session: 2 ( FITA 122cm at 70 metres ) 1  = 44  44 2  = 54  98 3  = 45  143 4  = 54  197 5  = 43  240 6  = 57  297