First tournament - how did you do?

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
We had our first tournament yesterday. We've done a couple of "postals" and done okay, plenty of club nights and done okay but the competition yesterday was rather large wake up call; the sort that either encourages to up my game or puts me right off.

So many hours, a bit of shoulder aches, some issues with anchor point (I think my wrist release might have stretched - it's moved back to behind my neck!!) and a bit of digging deep, I ended up with a Hereford score of 1101. 71 golds, 143 hits (1 miss). Now in isolation that might have been quite good but compared to the others, I was quite simply, pants. 6th out of 6. First time I've ever come last in anything! I did one "6 in the gold" at 60 yards (once, several 5 golds) and several at 50 but it was not nearly enough - some errant "twitch" releases and a general lack of consistency just killed the score.

The high score was 1243, 5th was about 40 points ahead of me. I managed to "beat" a couple of female compounders but that was it.

My poor son (8) shot a Bristol IV and was so tired, he was in tears at one point - he got a medal (being the only one of his age that shot that round) but it was pretty hard on him too. And 40 yards is a long way for a little one!

So do we seek more coaching, should I change to a more solid release (thumb trigger maybe), should we practise more or something else?

It felt like we were progressing well - we started in February. Maybe expectations are too high? Anyway a bit of a knock back TBH.

I should probably add that archery is just a fun thing to do for us - we do a load of other stuff (running, surfing, karate, etc) so it'll never be "our lives" but it's nice to be decent at it.
 
So do we seek more coaching, should I change to a more solid release (thumb trigger maybe), should we practise more or something else?

It felt like we were progressing well - we started in February. Maybe expectations are too high? Anyway a bit of a knock back TBH.
Improvements wise, seeking out more coaching and practicing more will both help. A different release might, but depends entirely on how it feels to you - release aids are a highly personal choice and once you have a well built and reliable model, the variations of type don't really matter as long as it suits you.

That said, given you started in February, 1101 out of a possible 1296 for a Hereford is good going (ranking place is irrelevant at this stage, what matters is how your score compares to your own average - how did the score you shot compare to the scores you average in practice?), so I suspect the main issue is overly high expectations; you say you came 6th out of 6, but how long had the other competitors been shooting? How many times a week do they practice? Did they shoot above or below their average that day?

One of the best things about archery is that it offers a competitive environment, but ultimately you can only measure your performance against yourself - if you shot on or above your average, then it was a good day, regardless of where you came. If you shot below, then chalk it up to the pressures of a first completion and know you will do better next time :)
 

Geophys

Member
In any competition, like archery, the only person you are really competing against is yourself, you have absolutely no control over what others are doing, their skill level or experience. As this was your first competition, you now have a benchmark for the next one, so treat it just as a learning exercise and, with the length of time you've been shooting, I think you did really well.
 

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
Very helpful thanks Dan.
All were experienced club shooters, the winner is fully sponsored so probably whs you'd call tough competition.
Hard to know if it was okay or not without comparing.

I felt I shot okay; but the last place still hurt (maybe I am a bit too competitive...).

I'll keep trying and get some coaching lined up; while my new bow is far better, it has changed my position a bit so might need a bit more tweaking.
 

Raven's_Eye

Active member
Ironman
Practice, practice practice. If you are going to shoot Yorks/Herefords, then a good number of archers there will be MB/GMB level. So don't go to these expecting to win, esp. since you only started in Feb. You're going there for the experience/atmosphere, what you got out of it will help you in future competitions.

Well done to your son, for sticking it out, 12 dozen is a lot of arrows. I've been told that on a York the 100yds is there to break you, and for him the same can be said for 40yds. But keep up the practice, seek out advice and keep shooting.
 

bimble

Well-known member
Supporter
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
AIUK Saviour
I won the blue colour prize (a blue candle) in my first shoot, but I don't think I won a proper medal for four or five years. Because remember, you are shooting against people who've been shooting for a lot longer than you. The thing is to learn what you can from this shoot. You said that you think your wrist release might have stretched out over the shoot. Is this because the material has stretched, or come loose?

Likewise, you'll only get used to shooting full 12 doz rounds with more shooting. Especially longer practice sessions. In theory your last shot should feel as good as your first!

But well done to you and your boy! Hopefully the first of many more shoots to come
 

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
Cheers guys, really useful stuff!
Bizarrely there's no aching today in fact I just did a weights session without issues; I thought I'd be near crippled!

Some wise words here; when I shot a Portsmouth about three months in I got 543; I was pretty happy with that but if that had been in any comp, I would also have been last! So it's relative I guess.

Just got a bit used to doing well when competing; three wins (a triathlon, a 3.5 mile running race and a surf comp), many top 5 and more top ten finishes even against a large number of entrants but that's a totally different type of competition.

Anyway onwards and upwards; I think I'll try some releases and see if that helps but I think I need to tune myself to the new bow too.

Chuffed with the grit and determination of my boy (Stan) though; he had a major energy crash at one point!
 

Mrrikki

New member
I echo what people have said, you have only been shooting since Feb don't beat yourself up.

I always shoot against myself, if I win or get placed that's awesome, I was barebow until October before I switched to compound, my aim is to achieve 1st class this season and not worry about others.

Also maybe start with nationals, most clubs give you medals at Unclassified or 3rd class, then move up to Hereford and York.

For yours boy it would be good to get him some cereal bars or banana etc. make sure he eats regularly to keep the energy up.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S8+ using Tapatalk
 

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
We had our camper so we were good for food (plus there was a catering tent!) and tea. Being an endurance event goon who has rubbish fuel economy I'm fairly hyper about food. But I'll pack more next time on your good advice!

I guess I need to get a bit of a feel for the scores (e.g a sub 40 min 10k run is quick but race an elite road run with that time and you'd be toast!) rather than guessing and trying to compete with the experts!

It'll do us good in the long run!

Thanks again all!
 

ben tarrow

Well-known member
Look at it this way.
If you'd have turned up and shot and won, what then?
You know you're no where near as good as you could be.
If you'd have won, you'd be thinking "that was easy, where's the challenge in that?"
 

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
Look at it this way.
If you'd have turned up and shot and won, what then?
You know you're no where near as good as you could be.
If you'd have won, you'd be thinking "that was easy, where's the challenge in that?"
Ha ha - very true. I had absolutely ZERO expectation of winning (I'm not quite that competitive/daft) but just hoped not to be last. I did "beat" a couple of experienced female compounders though so not all is lost.

Anyway, I just need to rethink how I mark progress and stop whining.

The scores I can remember so far are;

Portsmouth - 543 (three months after starting)
Short Metric - 599 (in the POURING rain, lost three vanes)
Hereford - 1101

Shot a Long Warwick and a FITA 70 but can't remember the scores!!

So am I "running" a 50 minute 10k? Or a 45 minuter? Or a three hour one?! Hard to say!
 

Rik

Supporter
Supporter
As I recall, my first competition won me... a stainless steel pickle dish! In the raffle.
I shot my second 500+ Portsmouth, so wasn't overly disappointed.
In my second indoor season, my first round was a higher score than any round of the previous year... It's really hard to judge how well you are doing in isolation. You either need peers to judge against or a record of scores/handicaps so you can track progress (fun with graphs :)).
 

ben tarrow

Well-known member
So am I "running" a 50 minute 10k? Or a 45 minuter? Or a three hour one?! Hard to say!
Ok, there is a whole HEAP of progress type awards. Ask at your club. You'll notice the various badges adorning folks at shoots. There are:
classifications - 3rd class (novice) through to grand master bowman (world/olympic standard)
handicaps - like in golf, but not taken very seriously, but a good tracker of personal progress
252 badges - lots of clubs do these, score 252 with 3 dozen arrows at progressively more challenging distances
AGB Rose awards, FITA badges (not sure what these are called now since FITA became WA) English Crosses, score based achievement badges for full day shoots like York rounds and WA1440.
Six gold badges for getting 6 golds at 80 yards in one end.

They should keep you busy for a couple of years at least.
Take small steps and before you know it, you've covered the mile
 

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
Only got six golds at 60 yards (and several at 50)!
Sounds good; probably trying to run before I can walk. The dangers of initially making (fairly) good progress...!
 

fbirder

Member
A very good way of keeping track of progress is to calculate your handicap.

You'll need access to the handicap tables which can be bought in paper form or borrowed from your records officer (who may do the calculations by default). Many scoring apps will also do the calculations for you.

The good thing about the AGB handicap scheme is that it allows you to compare scores from different round types.
 

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
Just downloaded arrow tracer - inputting the three scores I have. It's a REALLY good app!
I'll see if I can apply some sort of handicap to them.
 

RavingRev

Member
Take a look at the Archery Score Pad website (not the app)

Your scores plotted are on a graph (showing both indoor and outdoor scores) and is a good way to see your progress (or not in my case)
It uses a system similar to the handicap system, but seems more granular
Your scores are ranked against other archers each month and also has indoor / outdoor / tournament rankings like a postal shoot
 

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
Whacked a couple into arrow tracer - I do like techie nerd stuff.
I use a Suunto Ambit 3 Peak for running, cycling and swimming - death by analysis.

The REALLY bad shots are the result of a bit of a "twitch" release or in a couple of cases, an accidental very slight release of string tension combined with a trigger pull - all "safe" but certainly not well aimed!!! A bit of a combination of nerves and fatigue.

The Hereford


The Short Metric

 
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little-else

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
improvement is by measuring standard deviation, not average. Basically you get rid of the variables, the bad shots etc that are essentially within your control if yu concentrate. The average is then a measure of your grouping ability. Competitions area funny thing as they reflect the ability of the people that turn up for it rather than any absolute so a popular event will mean you are propbably not last ut the winner will be further ahead.
What you shouldnt do is become disillusioned with your result if your performance was as you would normally do on a club day or better. Sometimes you can get a result in your first comp that is so far away from your average it then skews everything in your mind s to how you expect to do and then that gives a false expectation for the next time. It wuld be a bit like people only recording their good scores and then thinking that this is their average and become disappointed they can only match it a small amount of the time or in reverse, you hvae a bad first comp and then think that there is no point enetering any more because you are abviously rubbish compared to the rest of the world. Well, it isnt about them, it is about trying your best, being happy with what you have done on the day as far as technique goes and becoming more relaxed about comps so you can improve in the next one.
Last but one is a coomon place to find my name in a listing, I sometimes think I should ahve done better on the day but generally even in my best form I am not going to challenge those more than half way up the results column so that isnt the driving force, it is trying to beat the weather conditions and myself.
Ye cannae change the laws of physics
 
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