2B an Archer

Reducing lateral variation

2009-10-25T07:14:00.003Z

Tip of the Day

To reduce lateral variation ( arrows going left and right in the same end ) make sure you line the string up on the same place in the bow window each time.

By lining the string up in the same place each time you are keeping your head in the same line. A major cause of lateral variation is changing head position so ensuring that your head is in the same place every time will reduce the spread of your arrows to left and right

Jargon

Bow window. The recessed area above the grip - sometimes known as the string window

No longer a novice

2009-10-22T10:53:00.002+01:00

It seems only yesterday that I completed my beginners course. Hard to believe that it is really a year which means that I can no longer call myself a novice. Now I have to start shooting “grown up” distances rather than the maximum of 60 yards which I have so far confined myself to. Of course, I don’t have to really, but the end of my novice year feels quite significant and I feel I need to push myself further now.

So what has my first year of archery meant to me? Events are sometimes too flippantly described as being life changing experiences and I might run the risk of that accusation here. But, for me, taking up archery has had a considerable effect and become a significant part of my life.

Learning new skills, feeling pride in slow but steady progress, making new friends, enjoying the camaraderie of the club , breathing fresh air on the shooting field and travelling to tournaments with mates are just some of the benefits that I have received from taking up archery. All of these are thanks to the excellent atmosphere and support provided by the members at my club, AC Delco Bowmen, and especially the coaching team.

Perhaps the most precious aspect of archery for me is being able to shoot regularly with my daughter who completed her beginners’ course during the summer. Having such a shared interest is invaluable in developing a healthy parent / child relationship and I would recommend archery as a means of achieving such to anyone.

One of the great things about archery is that you can set your own, realistic, goals. Mine this year were to use a clicker comfortably and achieve third class “status”. I am pleased to say that I have accomplished both. Next summers target will be second class, shooting 70 yards with carbon arrows and a 36lb bow. Oh, and 500+ in a Portsmouth round.

High point of the year: my daughter achieving second class status after her first three competitive shoots.

Low point of the year: my effort at 60m in my first outdoor tournament, the Easter FITA. Every cloud has a silver lining though and my problem was identified as two fold. 1. Make sure your sight is parallel to your riser ( thanks to Adrian for working that one out) and 2. When shooting sighters make sure you know where the arrows are going / have landed. Resolved by the purchase of a spotting scope and getting a friend to stand behind and watch sighter trajectories. Fortunately things could only get better.

Best advice received: too much to mention really, but Adams tip about shoulder blades sticks out. “Keep the gap between them the same and move it towards the target”. Think about it and it makes sense!

Record Your Classification

2009-10-21T08:50:00.003+01:00

Tip of the Day
Don't forget to let your clubs Records Officer know your scores so that he can work out your classification and handicap.

At the end of the summer season send your qualifying scores, together with details of where they were shot and which round they were shot in to your Records Officer. He / she will then be able to work out your classification for the coming year and your handicap.

Classifications and handicaps are too complicated to be able to explain quickly here, but here is a link to a site which is very useful in helping understand them and also provides an online handicap and classification calculator.

http://www.saints-sinners.org.uk/members/handicap_calc.php

Pulling through your back

2009-10-12T15:22:00.002+01:00

Tip of the Day

If you are a right handed archer let your right shoulder blade follow your left shoulder blade towards the target when completing your draw.

Whilst struggling to "push" my bow corectly by "pulling on my back" and not my arms, a colleague pointed out that when completing your draw correctly, the gap between your shoulder blades should remain the same but migrate towards the target. That way you maintain the line to the target whilst increasing the power of the shot. This was a bit of a eureka moment for me as I instantly understood the feeling of what I was supposed to be doing. Now I just need to practice, practice, practice.

To get the correct feeling in your shoulder blades stand straight without a bow and hold both arms out at shoulder height, pulling your shoulder blades together. Then fold your drawing arm in to get to shooting position. This is what your back should feel like approaching full draw. Then practice moving your shoulder blades together towards the target. That is what it should feel like immediately prior to release.

My consistency has already increased using this technique and so looking forward to score improvements as well.

Try something for the first time - Barebow

2009-09-21T09:27:00.008+01:00

Tip of the Day
Experiment - try shooting barebow, it becomes great fun after some brief initial frustration. Probably best to start at one distance short of your usual maximum.
My daughter who started shooting after a beginners course in May had achieved two second class scores. To achieve her classification she needed a third and we thought we had run out of tournaments before the end of the outdoor season. At the last minute we found a Western series of rounds taking place about 25 miles away from home. A quick phone call to the organisers secured her a place wherupon I discovered that there was a senior shoot taking place at the same time. Only problem was that it was for barebow only. Having never shot barebow before and somewhat worried about making a fool of myself, I opted to shoot rather than sit and watch all day.

How glad I was that I took part. After a disastrous start at 60 yards, scoring a max of 11 and a minimum of "nil point" on consecutive ends, I finally achieved a score of 41 in the final end at that distance. C'est la vie! Fifty yards resulted in a marked improvement, only missing half a dozen times or so out of 4 dozen. No world beating scores but certainly enough to satisfy me and encourage me to try again.

Coupled with that and the excellent encouragement from the skilled barebow archers at the shoot, the experience certainly makes me believe that mystique should be cast aside and barebow shooting given a go.

My next attempt at doing something for the first time will be field archery. I had been wondering about how to find out about field archery locally so at the barebow shoot I was delighted to meet a chap from a local club who shoot field regularly. He invited my daughter and I along and we are both really looking forward to giving "field" a go.

And to cap a great day, my daughter, shooting a Short Junior Western, achieved her third second class score with which we are both mightily pleased.

Jargon

Barebow - archery without techno trimmings. No sight, long rod or clicker. Only a button allowed.

Field archery - walking through countryside, usually woodland between targets set up at various distances, some of which are known aand some of which need to be estimated / worked out!

Western rounds - imperial round of 4 dozen arrows at each of two distances

Short Junior Western - 4 dozen at 30 yds and 4 dozen at 20 yds

Archery - a family sport

2009-08-16T08:12:00.002+01:00

Tip of the Day
Shoot short distances with a junior club member to improve your style.

Last Sunday was a disastrous day shooting for me. I recorded my lowest score for a very long time. Didn't even manage a third class score at the Windsor we were shooting. Not quite the lowest score of the day but certainly the lowest from my club.
Happily however, this scoring low coincided with my daughter getting her first proper bow the folowing day. Having completed her beginners course a couple of months ago, her coach advised last week that she should now get some proper equipment to push her progress on.

So last Monday saw a trip to our local supplier whom I had known for some time had in stock a 23" riser which might suit. Having tried it out on the shops indoor range, purchase was made and we collected her arrows later the same day.

As a 12 year old, the distances she needs to shoot to enter competitions are 20, 30 and 40 yards, so on Tuesday at the club evening session we started at 20 with her hitting the boss consistently. On Thursday we shot again at 20 and then at 30 yards, with even better scores at 30 than at 20. On Friday she improved further at the lower distances and shot a few arrows at 40. Still managing to hit the boss most of the time and getting occassional golds and reds and regular blues.

This gave me the opportunity to shoot with her at lower distances than I normally shoot. So rather than concentrating on my scores, I concentrated on my style. I am pleased to say that it now feels much more comfortable again and my "groups" are getting tighter again.

It is great shooting with my daughter. Initial investment in something as expensive as a bow is always a risk, but I am very hopeful that her enthusiasm will continue and grow, especially as she has started off with the new bow so positively. It is a real pleasure to have a shared activity, as so many activities that young teenagers pursue tend to exclude their parents.

And the added bonus is that my style is beginning to recover and will hopefully allow me to improve again at my next tournament

Broken Arrow

2009-08-04T12:14:00.009+01:00

Tip of the Day
If you shoot at a target with a wall behind it and no back netting - you will inevitably break an arrow or something worse.

So todays entry is not about a missing nuclear warhead, but just a multitude of ways to ruin your arrows, achieved recently by fellow novices and club members. My own effort was achieved in my garden on using my newly purchased small target. Did not want to pay high price for back netting and for safety purposes was shooting towards the house. Misjudged distance and arrow flicked off top of boss and into wall - ruined. Second shot miseed altogether and hit window. OOps - didnt go all the way through but made neat hole in outer layer of glazing. Gave up at that point. Still to try again!

No picture of that broken arrow I am afraid as it was binned but here are colleagues best efforts.
1. Against wall

2. Against bow riser - nasty!

3. Doing it properly the "Robin Hood" way.

Jargon

Robin Hood - arrow embedded cleanly in the shaft of another arrow.

The clicker

2009-07-29T15:48:00.002+01:00

Tip of the Day

Make sure you consult with a coach when you start to use a clicker. He / she will advise you whether you need to cut down your arrows or not.

When I first put a clicker on my bow I could hardly pull the tip of my arrow through it. So I thought I would have cut the arrows down . However, my coach advised me to persist with my arrows as they were and lo and behold it began to get easier. Especialy after he had looked at me again and corrected some further bad habits that had crept into my style. He also slightly repositioned the clicker on the bow so that it is right at the very end of the extension plate.

Lo and behold, when I get my technique right, it is now easy to pull the arrow through the clicker and if I find it is difficult, I know it is my style which is slipping again. I then concentrate on correcting the style, and once adjusted, pulling through the clicker is earsy again.

So not only does the clicker help me towards a consistent draw length, but it is also a barometer of my general shooting style.

Equally inportantly, the same coach has advised my friend and compatriot novice shooter that he should cut a couple of inches off his arrows before installing a clicker.
Installing a clicker really is a personal thing, which if approached wrongly can have disastrous effects upon your shooting, so always seek the advice of an experienced coach before putting one on your bow.

Jargon

Clicker - device which fits to riser and enables consistent draw length by clicking as the tip of the arrow pulls through it.

Always take an umbrella

2009-07-29T15:45:00.002+01:00

Tip of the Day

Always take an umbrella with you when shooting. Apart from the obvious uses when either pouring down or hot and sunny, it can also be used as a ground quiver when you have left your proper one at home.

Achievable Targets

2009-06-13T06:33:00.014+01:00

Tip of the Day
Set achievable targets, both literally in terms of the distances you shoot and, more metaphorically, in the goals you aim to achieve as you progress with your shooting. By limiting your distances you will achieve more consistent scores earlier, and by setting small goals you will maintain your enthusiasm by achieving them regularly and be encouraged to progress in a measured way.
As this is my first summer outdoor shooting season, I decided to resist the temptation to try and shoot the longest distances and so limited myself to attempting a maximum of 60 metres. This has meant that I have been able to shoot a variety of challenging but not impossible tournaments hosted both my own and other clubs. To date I have shot Bristol 2 and Western Rounds at full tournaments and Short Metric and National Rounds at club shooting evenings.
I am delighted to report that as a result of concentrating on achievable distances and rounds I have achieved three qualifying 3rd Class Scores. Achieving 3rd Class classification was the goal I had set for this my novice season so I am especially pleased to have achieved it with time to spare. I can now continue to practice at up to 60 metres and set a new goal of achieving at least one 2nd Class Score before the end of the season. There is a significant leap in progress required between 3rd and 2nd Class classifications and so achieving three qualifying scores in the three remaining competitions I have entered this season is probably unrealistic. Achieving one such score in anticipation of reaching 2nd Class in the early part of next season ought to be however a realistic and achievable goal.

Jargon

Classification System - novice archers are "unclassified". To achieve a classification three qualifying scores must be shot at recordable events (tournaments and club shoots) and the scores verified by your clubs Records/Handicaps Officer. The lowest classification is 3rd Class, followed by 2nd Class, 1st Class and Bowman. Ultimate glory is achieved by attaining Master Bowman and Grand Master Bowman Status. Classifications up to and including Bowman can be achieved at club level tournaments, however the two highest classifications can only be achieved by qualifying scores at tournaments recognised Nationally - and verified by- the GNAS.

Bristol 2 - an Imperial Round shooting 6 dozen arrows at 60 yards, 4 dozen at 50 yards and 2 dozen at 40 yards. Scoring system 9,7,5,3,1. Max score 1296, 3rd Class Score 695.
Western - an Imperial Round shooting 4 dozen arrows at 60 yards and 4 dozen at 50 yards. Scoring system 9,7,5,3,1. Max Score 864, 3rd Class Score 445.
Short Metric - a Metric round shooting 3 dozen arrows at 50 metres and 3 dozen at 30 metres (all on an 80cm face). Scoring system 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. Max score 720, 3rd Class Score 334
National - an Imperial Round shooting 4 dozen arrows at 60 yards and 2 dozen at 50 yards. Scoring system 9,7,5,3,1. Max score 648, 3rd Class Score 319
GNAS - Grand National Archery Society. The governing body for archery in UK.

Waxing about Strings

2009-06-12T08:38:00.003+01:00

Tip of the Day
When waxing your string remove excess wax with a piece of serving twine. Waxing your string regularly is important as it maintains the integrity of the strands and makes for a smoother release. Whether using silicon or beeswax based wax, some residual wax can be left on the string and cause minimal slowing. To make your string pristine every time, after applying and rubbing in the wax, wrap a single strand of serving twine around the string, pul tight and then run the twine down the length of the waxed string. This removes any excess wax and other dirt which has accumulated leaving the string pristine and smooth. Thanks to Adrian for this tip.

Jargon
Serving - a thread material which is wound around the string, usually at the ends and centre, to protect the string from wear.

The Exploding Bow

2009-06-10T08:47:00.004+01:00

Tip of the Day

Make sure that EVERYTHING is tightened on your bow prior to shooting.
The other week, half way through a round, a loud cracking sound and the upper limb flew from the riser. Fortunately it flew away from me and caused no damage to either myself or the bow. The cause was the upper limb pockets Shim adjustment system. The roller in which the system sits had worked loose and as I drew, caused the roller to rotate, releasing the tension on the limb and causing it to loose from the riser. I now make sure that the roller is solid by checking it with allen keys before I shoot.

Jargon
Shim adjustment system. The mechanism on Hoyt bows which allows lateral adjustment of the limbs. By changing the position of very thin washers (shims) on a pin inside a barrel, the limb pivots at its base , thereby adjusting the position of the limb location pin in the riser.

Windage

2009-05-09T06:25:00.006+01:00

Tip of the Day

Make sure your sight vertical is parallel to your bow riser. Having moved on from shooting a maximum distance of 30m to shooting 50 and 60 yards, I couldn't work out why as the distance progressed I was having to change windage progressively. As distance increased I was having to push the sight pin farther left in order to keep arrows near the centre of the target. Thinking it was my bad style causing it, I mentioned it to one of the coaches. He immedaitely looked at my sight and pointed out that the scale was not parallel to my riser. This meant that as I moved the sight down the vertical to allow for each longer distance, the sight pin was moving progressively to the right without my realising it. This was why I was having to move the pin farther left to compensate each time distance increased.
I now have a consistent windage setting - it only needs changing if there are different wind conditions ( hence the term) which require compensation on the day. Left and right variations to my shooting are now entirely due to my lack of consistency rather than the set up of my sight.

Jargon

Windage - horizontal adjustment on the bow sight. As with vertical adjustment, follow the arrow. If shots are to the left of centre, move the sight pin away out from the riser ( if shooting right handed). and vice versa

Keep practicing

2009-04-30T15:29:00.005+01:00

Tip of the Day

Find a way to practice archery when on holiday if you don't want your standard to drop

Quite a long gap between the last blog entry and this one - sorry! Partly because have been on a couple of weeks holiday to Turkey. Supposed to be archery available at the hotel, but - like most of the activities advertised - turns out it didnt start until the main season at Easter. So had to contend with darts!!! And OH DEAR - what a disastrous effect on my scores. Not shooting for over two weeks meant that I had forgotten many of the instructions I had been given, but more importantly, completely forgotten the "feel" of a good stance and a good shot. A few poor practices culminated in a disastrous score at my club Easter Event in which as a "novice" I took part in a Metric III round. That is 36 arrows at each of 50, 40, 30 and 20 metres. Suffice to say that more than half my arrows at 50m missed the boss altogther, shots veering to the left drastically. Although I still won an Easter egg for coming 3rd ( out of 3) in the novice class, time for drasting action to amend practice gone very wrong.

Thankfully I was able to call on the expert and very willing coaches at the club. My style was quickly corrected, including bringing my anchor point forward, centering the string on my nose and chin and relaxing my bow arm - all of which resulted in arrows hitting much more centrally rather than veering off to the left.

Scores are still not as good as before my hols but at least my confidence is returning and I am nowhere near the nadir of scoring a total of 2 with six arrows as in one end at Easter. Looking forward to improving scores at 50 and 60 yds in preparation for some competetive rounds over the summer.

Another change will be shortening my arrows. This so that I can pull the arrow through the "clicker" properly. Clicker was introduced last week but as my draw lemgth has now shortened by my pulling string to centre of chin rather than to cheek, the arrows are too long to be comfortably pulled through the clicker. Will shorten the arrows and reintroduce the clicker when my guru returns from his hols next week.

Jargon

Anchor point - the final resting point at full draw before release

Clicker - a device attached to the riser which creates an audible click when the tip of the arrow is pulled past it. The archer then releases immediately upon hearing the click and thus ensures a conistent draw length is maintained.

Fly in the ear

2009-03-09T18:41:00.004Z

Tip of the Day

If you feel an itch in your ear just before loosing, don't shoot! Third Frostbite round of this winter last Saturday. Whilst my score wasn't going to be my best, I had at least scored with every arrow. Until the last end when, just as I drew to anchor, I felt an itch on the outside of my left ear. Ignoring it I proceeded to loose, - just as the fly causing the itch crawled right into my ear! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, because the arrow only just hit the boss, ending up at 1 0'clock outside the scoring zone - not even a 1. The first miss I had recorded for some time and causing my final score to be one less than last months frostbite at 250! So this weeks pearl of wisdom is - if distracted, let the bow down, recompose yourself, restart your routine and draw to anchor again.

Jargon
Anchor - the point at which you are at full draw with the bow steady and immediately before taking fional aim at the centre of the target face.
Letting the bow down - relaxing from full draw without loosing the arrow.

This was my worst Frostbite ( 36 arrows at 30 metres on an 80cm face) for some time. Best score to date was 285, with others ranging between 260 and 283. So even without the miss thanks to the fly, I would not have been above 260. That will probably be my last "Frostbite" shoot for some time as I am now not able to do the Stafford shoot next weekend ( double frostbite) - no, not very very cold, but 72 arrows at 30m! It is therefore now time to up the ante again and concentrate on 50m so that I can take part in longer shoots coming up over the next few months.

Just discovered that the hotel which I am going to soon on holiday has archery as a sporting option. Hmmm - lets have some fun! Will report back in due course.

Getting adventurous!

2009-03-01T19:02:00.002Z

Tip of the Day
Tighten fittings on your bow regularly. Before you shoot, check that all the fittings on your bow are tight. This includes the screws on the limbs which slot into the riser and all of the knobs and screws on the sight. A couple of my friends have had near disasters with screws and nuts falling off whilst shooting resulting in scouring the shooting area on hands and knees for crucial parts. The most dramatic was when a limb screw fell of whilst being attached to the bow. All four small parts were miraculously found that time. Not so lucky was my other mate who has lost one of the adjustment knobs from his sight. He now has to rely on the coarser adjustment for horizontal sightings. So, check everything is tight before you start shooting.

Decided to take the plunge and enter some tournaments later in the year. This wil mean I have to be able to shoot up to 60m reasonably well and so I have started practicing at 50m. Took quite a while before I got some accurate sightings for 50m but after a couple of dozen arrow and probably too much fiddling with the sight, eventually managed to score a 6 arrow end of 9,9,8,8,7,5. Decided to depart on a high point then as previous attempts had been much worse. Will try again next weekend with the same sightings and see if there is any consistency - or was that just a fluke? Now looks as though I wont be able to make the Stafford shoot in a couple of weeks, which is why I have been practicing mainly at 30m, so will concentrate on 50m instead.

Tune Your Bow

2009-02-27T00:09:00.008Z

Tip of the Day
Make sure you re-tune your bow after changing any component. Initially after changing my bow limbs and string as reported last week, I shot personal bests at both 20yds and 30 metres. However shortly after my scores began to suffer. This was probably due to attempting to shoot longer distances of 50 and 60yds and 50 metres. I found I had to adjust my horizontal sight mark for the longest distance which then threw out my marks for the shorter distances. It took some time to readjust the horizontal mark again. Having asked one of the coaches what was going wrong, he suggested we retune my bow and duly showed me how. This basic tuning consisted of checking the bracing height - OK and the tiller - also OK. Then we checked the central alignement and - oh dear - discovered that the long rod is not aligned correctly with the arrow, it diverges slightly to the left. Whether or not it is this which causes problems with horizontal sighting at longer distances remains unclear, but I have been advised to get the long rod and riser checked at the point of purchase to see waht can be done. Whilst the misalignement wont make much difference to me now, should I ever need the accuracy required to reach Master Bowman ranking or above, it will become significant. I would not have discovered this had I not had the bow tuned and although the rod is still misaligned, my scores have started to improve again.

Jargon

Tuning - the process of ensuring that the bow is correctly set up and balanced for shooting. Basic tuning consists of checking bracing height, tiller and centre, whilst fine tuning is much more sophisticated and only done when the archer has achieved a consistent and accurate style.

Tiller - the two distances between the bow string and the points where each limb joins the riser are measured. The difference between the two measurements is the "tiller". A positive tiller is when the upper limb distance is greater than the lower and a negative tiller is when the lower limb distance is greater. If the distances are equal then there is "zero tiller". Most bows are tuned to a positive tiller and a novice archer should shoot with a positive tiller of approximately 1/4 inch, reducing as expertise increases.

Sorry that this has ben my first blog entry for a week. This is because I now have other literary demands competing for journalistic pride. Last weekend I was flattered to be asked by the club chairman if I would relaunch and edit the clubs newsletter which fell into disuse some years ago. As he made the request after having read this blog, I can only assume that my efforts here are of a reasonable standard. I hope you agree. Anyway - I jumped at the chance to become an amateur journalist and so spare evening hours this week have been taken up producing a draft newsletter format for approval. As the newsletter is only to be published quarterly it will not be persistent in its demands and so normal blog service should be resumed soon.

Chasing the Score

2009-02-19T19:25:00.011Z

Tip of the Day
If you are on course for a milestone score, don't chase it, just shoot normally.
When shooting a Portsmouth round ( 60 arrows at 20yds - max score 600 ) an accepted milestone is shooting 500. At this Tuesdays indoor practice I got very excited as I thought I was going to achieve it. After 18 ends ( 54 arrows) I had scored 448, leaving 52 required - an average of 26 per final two ends. Pressure on - and I scored 23 and 25, missing the magic 500 by 4. Had I not known the score I needed there would have been no pressure and who knows, maybe I would have repeated the 26+ ends which I had managed eight times before that evening. So, perhaps it doesnt pay to add up the scores as you go along. Next time I think I am on target I will stop adding up half way through and see what happens.

Having said all that, I was really pleased with the 496 as it is a definite personal best. Also shot two 36 arrow, 30m, outdoor personal bests earlier in the day, 277 followed by 285. Can't help but feel that all these best scores were the result of my taking coaches advice and upgrading my limbs from 30lb to 32lb, as well as procuring a new "Fastflight" string. Having bought these on Monday I went to the field Tuesday morning to reset my sights for 30m and produced the two best scores, so I had a good feeling about the possibility of a Portsmouth 500 in the evening. Not to be, but there's always next week.

Jargon

Fastflight - bow strings are anything but string. Many beginners start with a string made of Dacron, but perhaps the most commonly used material is Fastflight of which there are a variety of types from different manufacturers.

Feeling confident in the stronger limbs and the faster flying arrows, took the plunge on Wednesday and tried 50yd and 60yd for the first time. The scoring is different at these distances, so instead of the metric 10,9,8 etc, the scores are imperial; gold 9, red 7, blue 5, black 3 and white 1- a maximum for 36 arrows of 324. Set myself a very pleasing benchmark at 50 yds of 260 with only one arrow outside blue, whilst a score 0f 197 at 60yds giving me considerable room for improvement! Can't wait to try again.

First Competetive Tournament

2009-02-15T20:35:00.006Z

Tip of the Day

In a competetive tournament make sure the scorer has entered your score accurately in the official record before you remove your arrows from the target. Today scored 457, including 9 gold tens. On the last end scored 10, 8 and 7. When the scorers entries were checked with my own score pad, discovered she had marked the last 10 as a 9. We had already removed the arrows so it was not possible to ask the judge to change the score. This meant the score submitted had to be 456 with 8 gold tens. Academic in this particular case but not if you are up there with the best or having a close run private duel with a mate!

Jargon

Shooting line - all archers stand astride this line to shoot

Waiting Line - all archers waiting to shoot next stand behind this line and all equipment is kept behind here.

Long rod - stabilising rod pointing forward on a recurve or compound bow

So today was my, Mac and Rods first competetive tournament. A 60 arrow indoor Portsmouth at HMS Collingwood. A great new experience and an excellent day out. Being on an active Naval base, security was high with us having to get past armed sentries on the gate. All very well organised though and no problem having first checked in at the guardhouse to get the appropriate passes. I think there were about 130 archers in the hall, so space on the shooting line was rather more cramped than I expected. Probably only normal, but you do have to be careful not to poke eyes out with limbs or long rod and with so many bows behind the waiting line it pays to be careful not to trip up as falling on expensive gear might make a person very unpopular!

It was surprisingly nerve racking at first, although shooting exactly the same distance as every Tuesday evening, it took a while to relax. This was reflected in early scores, with the second 30 arrows scoring considerably better than the first half. It was great fun though and a pleasure to see such a diverse group of people enjoying themselves. No idea who was the oldest but the youngest was just 8 years old.

Another - not entirely unexpected - bonus was making contact with archers from other clubs. Particularly helpful was meeting some chaps from the Isle of Wight and finding out the days their clubs meet. I now know that when I next visit relatives there I can trot along and shoot every day of the week except Monday if I so wish, although to do so would be a bit antisocial family wise.Its also great to shoot competetively alongside expert archers: even just watching them can provide pointers and encouragement. Congratulations to AC Delco members Chris (1st), Dora (1st) and Melissa (2nd) who all won trophies in their categories and also to Melissa and Adrian for a combined trophy win.

Now really looking forward to another visit to HMS Colingwood in a months time for a Stafford Round.

Don't forget the Button

2009-02-13T13:31:00.012Z

Tip of the Day

Adopt a set routine when preparing your kit for a shoot. Sound obvious? Well it is to me now but it wasn't in the first few weeks after I bought my own bow. There are lots of bits and bobs that have to be attached to your bow or to you before you can shoot properly. After a while, preparing them all properly becomes second nature, but until that happens establishing a check list is vital. There were many occasions when I forgot either to put on my chest guard, attach my finger sling or even get my arrows out of the bag! Its all very exciting and easy to overlook the obvious! On one memorable cold January day all my shots were going left, so I duly adjusted my sight to compensate. ( You move the sight in the direction the arrows are straying to get them more central). 72 arrows later when I was "taking my bow down" and I came to remove the button from the riser - it wasn't there - I had completely forgotten to attach it! Thats why the shots were going left and I had to make another trip out the following day, when it was even colder, to realign my sight again with the button in place! You learn by your mistakes and that is one I wont repeat in a hurry.

So the lesson is - adopt a routine, or at least have a mental check list to make sure you haven't forgotten anything. Here are my steps for ensuring a confident start:

1. Attach the limbs to the riser.

2. String the bow ( using a stringer of course) - more about this in a subsequent post.

3. Check your bracing height. (More another time).

4. Attach the button!

5. Attach the sight and adjust the settings for the distance you are shooting - again, more in another post.

6. Attach long rod / stabilisers.

7. Put on quiver and choose arrows.

8. Put on chest guard.

9. Put on bracer.

10. Put on finger sling.

11. Put on tab.

12. Make sure your puller is at hand.

Then you are ready to approach the starting line and go through your next routine - preparing to shoot - but that's for another day.

Jargon

Bow stringer - an essential piece of kit especially for beginners. Used to apply tension to the bow so that the string (which is shorter than the length of the unstrung bow) can be attached to the limbs. No novice should ever attempt to try and string a recurve bow without a stringer as done incorrectly it can seriously damage the bow.
Bracer - protection for the arm holding the bow. Prevents trauma from the string!
Bracing height - the distance between the pivot point of the bow and the string. Should be within the bow manufacturers recommended limits.
Button - a small intricate device which when inserted into the riser pushes the arrow shaft away from the riser body. Helps the arrow fly straighter.
Chest Guard - covers the left upper part of your chest if you shoot right handed and prevents the string from catching on clothes.
Finger sling - Loops around riser between index finger and thumb and enables the archer to support the bow without gripping.
Puller - a synthetic gripper used to pull arrows from the target. Essential to grip arrows properly, especially if anyone shooting with you is using carbon arrows which can splinter if pulled out incorrectly and cause significant pain and damage to a bare hand.
Quiver - holds your arrows.
Tab - fits on the shooting hand covering the first three fingers to enable the string to be held and drawn comfortably. Usually made of leather.
Taking the bow down - disassembling a recurve bow after shooting

No shooting today. Partly because a bit stiff after yesterdays marathon but also because a busy shooting weekend ahead. Regular practice session at the club ground on Saturday is followed by first real competitive tournament on Sunday. This is a Portsmouth round being held at HMS Collingwood, a naval base near the actual city of Portsmouth. Taking part with my two pals, Mac and Rod, who like me did the beginners course in November. We are all progressing well and there is a bit of subtle healthy competition between us which prompts us to try and improve each week. Will report after the event to let you know how we got on. Report will be text only as HMS Collingwood is an active Naval Base and I dont want to get slung in the brig for taking photos when I shouldn't!

Cranking up the Volume - First 144

2009-02-12T19:48:00.009Z

Tip of the Day

Always listen to your coach, he will save you money and pain. It was windy the other day and so I thought I might invest in some carbon arrows in addition to the aluminium ones I am currently using. Carbon arrows are thinner and so, I am told, are less affected by wind especially over longer distances. They cost a LOT more than aluminium ones. Fortunately I asked Paul, my guru, if it was a good idea as I intended to try shooting longer distances over the next few months. After a sharp suck of air through his teeth and an inquiry as to why I was desparate to part with cash, Paul explained the reasons why I was being premature.

As you build up strength with practice you need to increase the power of your bow - in other words the amount of energy you need to exert to pull it to full draw measured in lbs. You do this on a "recurve bow" like mine by purchasing progressively stiffer "limbs" to attach to the "riser". As the power of your bow increases you may need to change the arrows that you use. It would be stupid to buy an expensive set of carbon arrows ( about £200) only to have to change them after a couple of months because your strength and poundage of the bow had increased making them useless. So the excellent advice I was given by Paul (and Gary) was to build up my strength, get a higher poundage set of limbs and practice with that until I reached what seemed to be a consistent and confortable maximum poundage. Only then consider expensive "carbons" when I am likely to use them for a long time.

So today, following the advice to build up my strength, I shot 144 arrows in one session for the first time. This is the equivalent of shooting 4 "Frostbites". Previously I have shot either 60 in a session during indoor "Portsmouth" rounds or 72 ( two sessions of 36 each) outdoors. Weather was crisp today so I thought I would get as much practice in as I could, as I need to build up strength to shoot more arrows over longer distances ( up to 100m) if I am going to enter some serious competitions next year. As this is my novice year ( all archers in their first year are officially known as novices and can enter tournaments as such) I am confining myself to shooting 20yds indoors and 30m outdoors. When I am consistent enough at those two distances I will try 40 and 60 m outdoors. Next month I will be entering a "Stafford" round at HMS Collingwood in Hampshire where competitors shoot 72 arrows at 30m targets in "ends" of three arrows. So 24 ends in which the last arrow needs to be as accurate as the first. So the idea of shooting 144 arows today was to gauge my strength and see how I coped with the higher number of shots. Pleased to say it all went pretty well. Scores for each 36 were 263, 253, 265, 256 which I was very pleased with. Whilst my previous best at 30m was 277, this is by far the most consistent I have been in one session at this distance. I was especially pleased to score 54 in one end, with 4 gold tens. Here it is for posterity:

Pity about the 6 mixed in. C'est la vie!

Jargon

I have just realised that there are a lot of archery terms in this post. If you are new to, or considering taking up, archery, they might mean nothing to you. So from here on, as I introduce a new term, I will try to remember to include it in a "Jargon" section. On future posts I will put this section up front immediately after "Tip of the Day".

For now here is some of the jargon in this post.

Recurve Bow - one of the three most common types used in modern archery, along with Compound Bows and Longbows. A recurve bow consists of a central handle or riser and two limbs to which the string is attached.
Portsmouth - a shooting round consisting of 60 arrows shot in ends of 3 at a 65cm target, 20 yards away. Usually shot indoors and therefore great fun in winter.
Stafford - Usually outdoors shooting 72 arrows in ends of 3 at an 80cm target, 30 metres away. Legend has it apparently that somewhere in Hampshire or the Isle of Wight, one cold winters day a group of archers were shooting a Stafford. The elements were just a bit too much, bitter cold and frost on the ground and in the air. So they decided to shoot half the number of arrows and retire early to the crackling fire in the pub. They claimed they had shot a Frostbite. So a Frostbite is 36 arrows, shot in ends of 3, at an 80cm target, 30metres away. Thanks to Chris for the anecdote.
End - an archers turn at shooting at the target. Usually three arrows. Therefore a 36 arrow Frostbite round consists of 12 ends of 3 arrows each.

To end on a non archery note - today is my wifes birthday. Happy Birthday Jane, I hope the year brings you everything you wish for. Love D.

Starting out

2009-02-12T18:57:00.000Z

Welcome to the 2B an Archer blog. I have now been practicing archery for about 3 and a half months at the AC Delco Bowmen club near Southampton and in that time have learnt a great deal from excellent coaches and other willing archers. Whilst I am still very much a novice I am really enjoying making what I feel is steady progress guided by the extremely friendly folks at the club.
I thought it was about time I reflected on some of the things I have learnt and will put them in this blog just in case they might be of use to others who are considering, or have just taken up, archery as a hobby. I will try and include a tip based on my experience in each entry, as well as some comments on my recent archery activity and forthcoming events.
There might once in a while be comments on other topics if I feel strongly enough about them, although I don't plan to be radical or overtly political. The main thrust will therefore be archery, its benefits and appeal.

Tip of the Day
If you are considering taking up archery, make sure that you do a beginners course at a local club to learn the basics and create a solid foundation for your progress.
Apparently some people just go and buy a bow and some arrows from a sports shop and start shooting. Foolish in the extreme. Not withstanding the vital safety procedures that you learn first and foremost at the start of the course ( after all , a loaded bow in the wrong hands is a deadly weapon) , by learning from a qualified coach you will start from simple principles and introduce good technique from day 1. The importance of good basic technique cannot be overemphasised - it is much harder to unlearn bad habits than learn good ones in the first place. Archery is not just point and shoot, the process of preparing to shoot, drawing the bow, aiming and releasing each have many things to remember about them and your aim over time should be link all of them together into a natural rhythm which you can replicate each time you shoot. Archery is after all "The Art of Repetition". By taking a properly instructed beginners course you can learn all of the basic steps from coaches who themselves are experienced - and often champion - archers. So take the plunge, look up a local archery club and book yourself in - it need not be expensive - mine was £25 for two hours tuition on four successive Saturdays. The best £25 I have spent for years.