Monday 20th June 2011

@ SOPA

Sunny, moderate, slight breezes at times

18x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

Total 108

Tried to work on consistency.  Left/right grouping position was relatively under control today, however I was going low at times, not entirely sure why, possibly due to bow arm and poor release.  Was struggling in expansion, and this affected bow shoulder collapsing and tension in the bow hand also.  ~sigh~

Sunday 19th June 2011

@ Liverpool City Archers

Sunny, no wind of note

QRE

2x 6 arrow ends warmup

F70/720

Total 84

Liverpool QRE is probably the most informal and relaxed QRE I have shot.  There is no flag signals for time but rather the 'DOS' says 30seconds... smoking from behind the archers in the space of less than 3m is very not helpful and highly distracting.  No visible timing equipment is also something I have a problem with as I can't maintain my shot cycle and rest periods as well as I would like to without the timer.

I was happy enough with what I managed to put down today, but towards the end of the second half I was having problems expanding through the clicker, and after completion, I chose to not do the afternoon session (I wasn't even aware that there was an afternoon session until I got there, it was not the most well advertised of QRE events in terms of detail...).  No clear shooting line or middle of target position marked/lanes either.

In terms of technique and score, I was back to my pre-nationals solid form, but was still cycling between good/bad/good/bad/good end pattern, and still with the 1 blue arrow per end.  I had a total of 8 blues, which if 1 point better is 8 points, 2 points better is 16, which, isn't that unrealistic.

First half:

1) 10 10 8 8 7 5 = 48

2) X 9 9 9 8 8 = 53

3) 9 8 8 8 7 6 = 46

4) X 9 8 8 8 7 = 50

5) 9 9 9 8 5 5 = 45

6) 9 9 8 8 7 7 = 48

Total 290

Second half:

1) 10 9 8 8 7 6 = 48

2) 10 9 9 8 7 7 = 50

3) 10 10 9 8 7 6 =50

4) 9 9 8 8 7 6 = 47

5) 9 8 8 8 7 6 = 46

6) 8 8 8 7 7 6 = 44

Total 285

QRE Total 575. 2X's and 8 X+10's

So, in the second half end 6, although it was a 44, it was a tight group with the 8 8 8 7 all together underneath the gold, while the 7 and 6 were the outliers, 6 to the left, 7 high right.  As you can see the 4th, 5th and 6th ends of the second half were when I was having problems getting through and sustaining.

A 290 is pretty good for me, the 285 was okay and definitely could have been a little better.  8 points better would be a 583, 16 points better would be a 591, which is definitely where I should be.....  My nemesis shot a 293 and a 304....

Friday 17th June 2011

@ St Pauls 

Sunny with overcast periods, very windy in inconsistent gusty conditions up to apparent 40km/hr

15x 6 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

Total 90 arrows.

Tried to work on form and what not but it was pretty difficult in the windy conditions.  Was pretty happy with how the groups were for the conditions.

Friday 10th June 2011

@ St Pauls

Windy, very cold

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

2x 6 arrow ends @ 20m, aiming with 90m setting, 122cm shot trainer

1x 6 arrow end @ 20m, 122cm scored

Total 78

After yesterdays shot trainer session with my 90m setting, I wanted to see how it went with some 90m shooting. Unfortunately the weather was pretty bad today, so my results were a bit hard to gauge how well I was truly shooting.

I was shooting very tight groups when the wind wasn't kicking the crap out of me, even with the blades.  The field was producing conflicting wind patterns due to the trees, as the flag at the target indicated a right-left and towards me wind, while on the shooting line, it was a left right wind, which might have been a vortex type of swirl.  

In any case, today was very comfortable in getting a good 4-5 ends away at 90m without feeling like I wasn't in control of the shot.  When I moved to 20m (to accommodate a beginner who arrived to shoot), I went back to the shot trainer.  He asked to see how well I could shoot at 20m, and as it began to rain, I finished off with an end of 6 at 20m, X X X X 10 10, a little to the right of the X ring.  Pretty okay with that.  Wrapped up due to the rain, I really don't want to get sick before I head over to the US.

Thursday 9th June 2011

@ Sefton

Cool, windy

6x 6 arrow ends, using 90m settings, blank blanket shooting using shot trainer

1x 6 arrow end @ 8m, 40cm 6-ring.

Total 42 arrows

Worked using the shot trainer in attempting to get my higher angle shooting fixed up.  Seemed to be okay in relaxing and drawing through, the slightly lower shooting weight due to the last tune I did may have made it a little more comfortable.

Tuesday 7th June 2011

@ St Pauls

Cool, windy gusts coming from behind and right->left, sunny.

4x 12 arrow ends @ 70m, 122cm unscored

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

Total 120

Just put down some 70m today, working on trying to control my bow hand to be more straight forward on the release and helping with expansion.  In my 12 arrow ends, I had a lot of solid groups, a little shifted to the left from the wind at times, but a good half in the gold kind of thing.

In scoring, the ends opened up some in the first six, leaving me with a low 268, but concentrating more on the second half, and also watching the wind conditions better, I scored a 279.  The first three ends being 49, 52, 52, but conditions got a bit blustery and my shooting fell apart somewhat, ending on a 39.  Total coming only to a 547, not particularly good.

That said, process wise, things felt a bit more together, and shooting in windy conditions isn't a strong indicator really, though I need to develop better timing and faster expansion without losing my control.  I feel that I have good control but it is so slow that I have no timing and it is too energy consumptive.  Consistency is probably the biggest issue at hand.

Sunday 5th June 2011

@ Camden & District Archery Club

4x 6 arrow ends, 1x 3 arrow end @ Various distances warmup and sight checking

24 target marked FITA Field

Total 99

I shot the Macarthur Field today, and scored a 278.  Certainly wasn't my best effort, but thankfully it was better than the last field I shot at Nationals being a 261.  I have come to realise that my uphill shots are a lot worse than my downhill shots, in a similar fashion to being likened to shooting 90m+ distances.  The course itself wasn't too bad, but uphill shots made my bow shoulder rise, shortening the draw and made me struggle to get through the clicker, resulting in terrible releases and so forth.  I need to figure a way to shoot with hips better and keeping the bow shoulder down.  It is a much more challenging course I felt than the course at Liverpool, and at Mt Petrie.

Talking with Robert Talbot after the shoot, he mentioned that he thinks of his back shoulder as an entire 'unit' that moves, and he focuses upon feeling it move, rather than anything else.  I haven't got that sensation, so it is something I need to mull on, in how to get consistent engagement of my back to 'move' like a unit.