Corax67
Well-known member
I had an opportunity today to shoot my first ever metric round and thought why not: it can't be that different to a Long National on a club Saturday, it is the same number of arrows after all - how very, very wrong I was.
Long story short I was in a custom built 70m indoor range next to a lovely young lady who was explaining in detail to this old duffer how the beep system works, the 4 minutes for 6 arrows rule, remember to shoot all 6 in one go not 3 & 3 and don't forget it is ten zone scoring plus mark every arrow before withdrawal !
Bye heck - give me my longbow now !
Ten second lead in and off we went - it was the most utterly knackering and stress inducing time I've experienced, including the birth of our son. 4 bloody minutes for 6 arrows - it should be at least 20 !!!!!!!
Well I managed to scrape a 454 whilst my opponent turned in a 568 and I was happy to have taken the thrashing & score what I did - the 17yr old not only had to shoot against a disorganised panicking recurver but she also had a horrid chest infection & cough to contend with plus she was shooting from her wheelchair.
I'd thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of shooting with a prospective British Para Archery squad member and savoured every moment of the hammering because at the same time I had learned so much.
Her score also belies the fact there was an end of 31 in it as her rest fell apart which she then followed by four ends of 52 after putting a new rest on.
Amazingly it wasn't until we were having a cuppa afterwards that I realised I scored 72 hits - not a single dropped arrow and no 1's - which has never happened to me on any 80yd round I have shot. It's a shock what adrenaline can do in even a friendly competition setting.
I now realise properly the levels of skill, focus and determination that top level archers need to exhibit every time they shoot and it is truly awesome & scary in equal measure.
I can now happily park my Olympic ambitions (what there was of them) safe in the knowledge I am a happy pleasure archer.
Karl
Long story short I was in a custom built 70m indoor range next to a lovely young lady who was explaining in detail to this old duffer how the beep system works, the 4 minutes for 6 arrows rule, remember to shoot all 6 in one go not 3 & 3 and don't forget it is ten zone scoring plus mark every arrow before withdrawal !
Bye heck - give me my longbow now !
Ten second lead in and off we went - it was the most utterly knackering and stress inducing time I've experienced, including the birth of our son. 4 bloody minutes for 6 arrows - it should be at least 20 !!!!!!!
Well I managed to scrape a 454 whilst my opponent turned in a 568 and I was happy to have taken the thrashing & score what I did - the 17yr old not only had to shoot against a disorganised panicking recurver but she also had a horrid chest infection & cough to contend with plus she was shooting from her wheelchair.
I'd thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of shooting with a prospective British Para Archery squad member and savoured every moment of the hammering because at the same time I had learned so much.
Her score also belies the fact there was an end of 31 in it as her rest fell apart which she then followed by four ends of 52 after putting a new rest on.
Amazingly it wasn't until we were having a cuppa afterwards that I realised I scored 72 hits - not a single dropped arrow and no 1's - which has never happened to me on any 80yd round I have shot. It's a shock what adrenaline can do in even a friendly competition setting.
I now realise properly the levels of skill, focus and determination that top level archers need to exhibit every time they shoot and it is truly awesome & scary in equal measure.
I can now happily park my Olympic ambitions (what there was of them) safe in the knowledge I am a happy pleasure archer.
Karl