First competition in 5 years.

geoffretired

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I took part in my first competition after five years of hardly shooting any arrows, today. It was a Vegas 3 vertical; shot as head to head. A fun shoot with the club, which was a lovely way to get back into scoring my arrows again.
My first sighter was in the ten and didn't even touch the line. It was the sort of start I would have dreamed of.
That first arrow landed exactly where I would have liked it to land, but it got there by some errors that must have cancelled each other. It was a rubbish shot.
I shot 9 arrows to get through the first round, I shot another 9 to get through the second round; and again in the third. In the final round, we had 3 points each so a single arrow knock out was called for. I won by about 3mm.
A gold medal! BUT the truth is I did not shoot one arrow that felt like a well executed shot.
If you have ever knocked nails into a really stable piece of wood you will know how satisfying that can be. If you have ever tried knocking nails into a very wobbly little fence post, you will know how intensely unpleasant that can feel. It's as if the hammer or the nail or the post are fighting your every effort. My shooting felt that bad.
Still, I was glad I went and took part; the banter was great.
Must do a lot more work to get any sort of form going.
 

Timid Toad

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Congrats! But don't lose heart too! We all have days like that - in fact most of my tournaments are completed where I can say the majority of my arrows are compromises and I am not happy with my performance. But you practice and look forward to the next one. And put your medal on the wall :)
 

geoffretired

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Hi TT thanks for that.
It isn't just the odd day I'm afraid; it's every time I shoot. Tournament was a first in 5 years; but I shoot in the garage now and again, though I did have several months with no shooting.
I get the shakes at full draw and on aim. It looks to observers like nervousness, but I feel it is different from that as I don't feel nervous.
I went in the garage straight after the comp and started with no stabs on the bow. The follow through felt so nice; it's as if the stabs had been making the bow jump back towards me. I know that isn't the case, but it felt that way.
KidCurry has been helping me for several months now. I think part of the problem is that I can't get enough shooting time to establish a better form. I can't really manage the hundreds of shots needed.
I am hoping I can get there shooting tens of shots instead.Heehee
 

Timid Toad

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Do the shakes happen when you draw the bow other handed? I know you won't be able to aim or anything and I'm not suggesting you switch, just there's a condition violinists get that archers can suffer from too that causes shakes - it's from years of repetition. It can be treated.
 

geoffretired

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Thanks TT I will try left handed drawing. I feel the shakes in my bow arm; and the sight wobbles and slows the shot a little.I actually trigger the shot despite the shakes, but the follow through just feels really bad.It should feel good, like a " Get in there!" moment.
 

Timid Toad

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If the other arm is steady, it could be that you should see your GP for advice. I have seen this before in a recurver that was so severe they were unable to use a clicker, and it was treated very successfully. This person was also a compound shooter and had less issues, for obvious reasons, but still benefitted from that solid feeling.
 
D

Deleted member 7654

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Well done Geoff (even if you didn't feel it was good shooting)...
Could it simply be the weight of the stabilisers that is giving you the shakes? I remember asking someone the weight of their fully equipped set up... it was bonkers when compared to my 45# Yew self bow.
Del
 

geoffretired

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Hi Del,
In one way, I did do well... or should I say I did better than some archers who are more capable than I am. It was a knockout and they fell.
It is good to read you think my bow might be too heavy. When I got home after the comp I shot it with no stabs and no sight. The follow through felt great. I am now trying to add as little as possible on a short rod and maybe a side rod for a better reaction.
I often use your style of shooting as an example to all archers at the coaching sessions. The bit I draw their attention to is that freedom of movement in BOTH arms when the string breaks free of the fingers. I have one guy who has that gift. I call it a gift because he doesn't know he does it unless I remind him. He demonstrates the difference between free movement and stifled stiffness.
You may be pleased to know that Coach Kim advocates no stabs too. I bet he picked that idea up from you.
Thanks!
 

Emmadragon

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Well done, Geoff, shakes or no, that's great.
I have a full stabilisation set-up on my recurve - I like the added solidity it gives me, but there's only one 25g weight on the end of my long-rod, no weight on my left short-rod, and 75g on my right short-rod. (I have a list to the left, and the right-hand weight stops that.) The bow itself weighs less than 1kg, so the total set up weighs about 1400g. I know that a heavier set-up would have the potential to give me more stability in the wind, but I simply wouldn't be able to hold it up for the length of a shoot.
So heavier isn't always better. Some set-ups seem frankly ridiculous to me.
 

geoffretired

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Thanks Emma. One of my mates used to describe me as "built like a snake; as racing snake!"
So, definitely not built for lifting heavy weights. It seems it is also a bit of a mind thing; still, it could be worse. It has been worse!!
 
D

Deleted member 7654

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Just to give a sense of perspective, I just weighed my 45# Yew primitive field bow.
500grams !
I think you should all go and sit on the naughty step holding your bow out at arms length and see how long you can last.
Del
 

Emmadragon

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I have noticed that risers seem to get heavier the 'better' they are. It was one of the things that seriously attracted me to my present riser. The price was insane, but I couldn't find a mid-range riser that weighed less than around 1400g on it's own, even without all the gubbins added. And I already knew I couldn't hold a bow any heavier for any decent length of time. I struggled already with draw weight; I didn't need to add physical weight to that too.
Del, I can manage about 5 minutes with my set-up, holding it 'dead'. It's easier with the string drawn than not, I would imagine because than the other arm is taking some of the weight too. But with husband's set-up, about 1 minute is all I'm good for. Not that his is set-up to be heavy, it's just heavier than I'm used to. And even his is declared by others in the club to be a light set-up.
 
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