Shot first ever metric round (WA720) - got destroyed by a teenager !

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
 

Corax67

Well-known member
Ha! Sounds like a memorable day.
BTW, where is this “custom built 70m indoor range”?

It was fantastic, hope to do it again in the near future - I am a glutton for punishment :)

The range is part of a larger complex on a private estate which I visit as part of my work every few weeks.


Karl
 

Corax67

Well-known member
When I shoot longbow it's usually at Agincourt pace - half a dozen arrows away in a minute flat - and my recurve shooting is normally a quite rapid affair too.

The simple fact that there was a set time limit for each end, which is way more than I normally take, made every shot seem like it was taking way too long and I was in danger of running out of time.

In hindsight I had plenty of time but it was my inexperience of those conditions that made me wobble :)

Every day a new learning experience.



Karl
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
Cheers Karl. I shot half a dozen in a minute with my compound.... when I had TP and no aiming because of it.
I understand now, the time limit makes you more aware of the time to the point where you have no idea how long your shots are taking.
I think it's called Focus distraction.......... the gorilla on the netball match,yes?
Seriously, time can stand still when the clicker is half a mm from going off. The next half mm takes ten minutes and the blood has drained from the arms into the wellies.
 

Corax67

Well-known member
Never mind a gorilla, you could have stampeded a herd of wildebeast across the range at times and I would have been none the wiser ��



Karl
 
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