First Tournament

After a few months of experimenting with equipment and shooting form, it's time for a "baseline shoot"... Not sure where I had left off a decade ago, hence no idea what to expect... I know during practice at 18m, shooting 6 arrow sets, I roughly average a 9... a few 10s, an odd flyer, some 9s. But I have not yet formally measured performance as I have been changing things way too often to find what "feels best" to be able to rely on any score. I'm now fairly confident I know what form I want to shoot (and I probably still don't), what draw length/weight works for me, so I feel a baseline is in order.

So, on Sunday (May 28, 2013) I shot a local tourney at the OCCS. 2x30 arrows, 3-face target, scoring just the inner 10 as a 10 for compound (so, no such thing as an "x" - it's either a 9 or a 10).

OCCS - Archery Indoor Tournament, April 28, 2013

Good news first - I came up first in my category. I also wasn't the only one shooting compound. And, this is where all the good news ends.

Now some of the more "upsetting" news.

There were only 2 compounds of about 40-50 archers. So really, I had to shoot better than just one guy to come on top. I believe competition drives results, so I'll have to find shoots with more shooters in my category. Also, the more shooters, the more knowledge sharing.

Next, not having shot a tourney in a long time, regardless of how unimportant it may be, when there's formal scoring and people shooting next to you, it's a bit of a "nerve game". So I opened with a mediocre 9, 9, 8... followed by a 9, 0, 6... And there went the chase for that 9 average I'm used to. I never shot under an 8 for the rest of the tourney, but it took a while to get back into shooting "well". Lots of "sweaty" 9s (ones that you have to sweat over until you see them close up), not even close to "enough" 10s, at least during the first round. So, finished that first round with a terrible 257/300 score, 2 points below the only guy I was shooting against.

Round 2, after some sugar from Tim Hortons and a 20 minute break, I open with a 10, 9, 9. Everything felt better; I could hold steadier longer, release better...  and continued shooting in similar fashion to the end, for a slightly better, but still far from good score of 273/300. However this time almost no "sweaty" 9s, and many 9's that are deep inside the outer 10 ring... so, closing in on that X :)

Total score, 530/600 --- ouch. I remember numbers around 550-560 even as a teenager, so I need to step up my game.

But this tourney was an overall great experience for a few things. This is what I take from it:

1. I now have a baseline score that has to improve consistently;
2. Form is everything - slightest change in any aspect of the shot and it won't go where the previous one went. Note to self - pull hard on that wall, each and every time!
3. Releasing subconsciously is just as critical - I now know I can get the bow to freeze dead center, but the second I decide "Now is the time to fire!" and switch context to firing, the dot and the target center are no longer in line.
4. 2 minutes is enough time for 3 arrows, but not enough to be wasted.

Action plan - work on one problem at a time. Now that I know what form I want to shoot, make sure I can get it each and every time without any thought. From foot to grip and release position, and everything in between, it all must be exactly repeated each and every time. Also, work on that subconscious release by "just releasing"... so no aiming until releasing is perfected. Literature suggests 500 to 3000 repetitions to form a habit, so next, short distance blank bale shooting in my basement until these "problems" have been eliminated. Same literature suggests blank bale shooting is about as exciting as watching paint dry. I guess nothing comes free.

M.