Thoughts on the Side

Walked into the range on Saturday, looking forward to trying out my new v-bars. Behind the counter, I saw a couple of short Doinkers, and figured they must be the new side rods I ordered. They seemed pretty heavy for v-bars, though. A little down the counter, however, there was a box with a "sold" tag and my name on it. Inside, was a Shibuya bracket (in silver) and a package of Doinker v-bars. Much lighter than what in truth was a pair of short stabilizers (for compound bows), this was actually my new equipment. Spent some time getting the bracket straight on the bow and the side rods set to a down angle to maximize stability. Anthony brought out a blue Shibuya bracket to show me, but I decided to stick with the silver one. In another case of caring about colors more than I'm used to, the blue just was not quite right with my bow, and the silver both provides a contrast to the handle and matches my sight.

Took the bow out to the range, and took a pair of warm up ends totaling seven arrows. Felt pretty good about my setup, so even with a slightly fatigued shoulder, I decided to dive right in.

First five ends:

End #	End Score	Running Total	Compared to 25 Pace
1	28	28	+3
2	28	56	+6
3	24	80	+5
4	22	102	+2
5	24	126	+1

Opening a little better than a 23, I would say. Shoulder shaking a little, but that's just fatigue. No pain to speak of, and things are looking pretty good. That's when the wheels fell off the wagon.

6	15	141	-9
7	24	165	-10
8	26	191	-9
9	23	214	-11
10	24	238	-12

Sixth end just absolutely killed me. No idea what happened. The end itself didn't feel particularly different from all the others. All three arrows just landed in the outer rings.

If you throw out the low, I averaged 24.78 points per end. Essentially, I gave away 10 points in the sixth end. If I were to get those 10 points back, all I have to do is find two more points over the other 9 ends and I'll be back over 250. Might even be able to do it this weekend.

Because of how my shoulder felt all throughout last week, I didn't shoot any extra arrows on Saturday. Shot my full round and stopped. Probably the plan this weekend, too. Don't want to overwork my shoulder and end up back where I was in July and August and into the fall. Much better to back it off a little bit now, and take it just a little easier than I might otherwise like to.

Couple more weekends at the range, then I'll head back out west. I'd like to get my second 250 before I leave. All I can do, though, is take care of myself and try my best.

Closing January the Right Way

Ordered v-bars Saturday. Shibuya Ultima bracket (with quick releases) and Doinker bars (to match my stabilizer). Hopefully will show up by this weekend.

Anthony then let me borrow a bracket and bars so I could see what shooting with v-bars was like. And let me tell you, it is incredible. Tight groups, consistent placement. I didn't try scoring at all, since I had never used the bars before, but I'm hoping that this weekend lives up to my introduction.

Did have one moment of panic, though. I was the only one on the line, and I set up an arrow to shoot. After I released, a terrible sound echoed throughout the range. Everyone turned to look at me to see what had happened. I had a feeling that I knew what the problem was, but I still went through every piece of my bow to make sure nothing was loose or broken. All pieces appeared to be in order, though. When I went down to collect my arrow, my suspicions were confirmed. We had all heard the sound an arrow makes when a vane is being ripped apart. And down to eight usable arrows I go.

At the end of the second party of the day, I had the chance to take the cross-range shot. Loaded with the v-bars, I got set, aimed, and fired. First show success, as the balloon popped and the kids cheered. What a great feeling to have that kind of success on one try.

After the range closed, Anthony had a private lesson. I was meeting people in Dedham around 8, so I had to find a way to kill a couple of hours. Anthony was kind enough to let me keep shooting during his private lesson, so I spent an extra hour and a half pumping arrows five at a time into the wall. This was the most I've shot since the summer, and I was shooting really well. Did not have any pain on Saturday, just some very serious shoulder fatigue. Not unexpected considering the number of arrows I shot. A little bit of extended soreness in the days since, but nothing too bad, and nothing that a few pain killers won't take care of.

Saturday was January 31st. January was not a great month. A lot of things happened, my mind wasn't always in a great place, and my shooting was not up to a level that I would like to, and know that I can, achieve. To finish the month spending all day pumping arrows into the wall in tight groups was exactly what I needed.

Thoughts on the Subject

A few random thoughts, organized relatively randomly.

Last week, through 6 ends, I had 150 points. This week, through six ends, I had 115 (added up after I gave up on scoring). So I stopped scoring and just started shooting. Once I didn't care any more, among other ends, I hit a 29, missing a 30 by about the width of a vane (maybe 2 widths). Just a mechanical day, I guess.

Range was crowded with back to back to back parties. Same thing coming up this weekend. Anthony put an add in some Boston parents' magazine, and it is more than paying for itself. I'm glad to see business coming to the range, especially in the current economic climate.

I'll be helping that business this weekend. Finally going to complete (?) my set and pick up some v-bars. Probably going to be a Shibuya quick-release block and Doinker bars to match my stabilizer. Will know more after this weekend. Product report next week.

The past few weeks I've taken a couple of trips down to the neighborhood bar to throw some darts. Apparently I like projectiles of all kinds. Archery we all know, and this dart thing is pretty good, too. I've been taking a lefty archer's stance, but I have to throw right handed. I think what I need to do is practice throwing darts aiming with my left eye and throwing with my right hand. Also need to find a good place to throw darts in San Francisco when I get back home. I think the Philosopher's Club has a board. We'll have to see.

Calculating a Problem

Another round and a half on Saturday. Started my first warm up end with a 28, so things looked pretty good. Then I started scoring, and things looked a little more normal.

Here were my first 6 ends:

End #	End Score	Running Total	Compared to 25 Pace
1	22	22	-3
2	25	47	-3
3	28	75	0
4	25	100	0
5	24	124	-1
6	26	150	0

So I'm doing pretty well through 6 ends. Every time I fell behind pace, I was able to catch up. That's when things, for reasons unexplained, started to fall apart.

7	16	166	-9
8	26	192	-8
9	19	211	-14
10	25	236	-14

So somewhere between ends 6 and 7 (during which I did not take a break), everything just fell went downhill. No idea why. Sometimes things like that happen, I guess.

1	24	24	-1
2	22	46	-4
3	20	66	-9
4	21	87	-13
5	23	110	-15

Trying to keep my shoulder strength up, I shot another half round as I slowly make my way back to a full tournament double.

Not the best 5 ends I've ever put together, but for numbers 11-15 on the day, it certainly could have been worse.

After shooting, I was sitting around talking with the guys at the range, and one thought is that keeping track of the numbers on the fly may be causing me to over think my shots and thereby throwing me off. I should probably note here, that when I'm scoring at the range I don't keep track of the pace. That was something I did after I was finished. I do keep track of the individual ends and the running total, though. So, to counteract the problem, I think I will just keep track of the individual ends. If I get my stuff together, I'll make a score sheet and just keep track of the individual arrows, but that's not going to work out, I don't think.

Ignoring the running total ought to be enough to at least test the theory. And even though it won't really prove anything (absence of proof is not proof of absence), As long as I get to (or at least get closer to) my goal, I'll (probably) be happy.

Mechanically Inclined

Only scored half a round this past Saturday. Opened with my usual 23, and the next 4 ends took me to a 113. With no consistency, clearly I was having some problems with my shooting, so I decided to drop the scoring and work on my shot mechanics instead.

And wouldn't know you know it, my grip was wrong. I have had a long standing problem where the way I hold the bow "kicks up" at the end of a shot, sending the arrow higher on the target. I have partially compensated for this problem, but it only appears from time to time when my shots start to slip. One of the range employees watched me shoot, reset my grip on the bow, and it looks like he may have helped my drop the kick-up for another cycle. We'll see what happens this weekend at the range. Hopefully I'll have better scores to record.

On another topic, the range has finally set up and installed a delayed video system. An archer can take a shot, and a few seconds later, the image will appear on the screen. Great way to actually see what you are doing. Instant feedback, as it were. Last weekend it was only set up for right handed archers. Supposed to be set ambidextrous this weekend, so I should have a chance to see what I'm doing. Good times to be had by all. And because the system is in its infancy, I may even be able to use it for free.

Counting to 15

Spent a long time at the range before finally getting set up to shoot. When I got settled on the line, I finally broke my streak of opening-end 23s. Started right on pace at 25, and moved on from there. Finished my first half with a 121, just 4 points behind 250 pace. Had a good size drop off in the second half, but I was able to pull off 110 points for a 231 total. A 4 point improvement on last week.

After a short break, with my shoulder seemingly holding up well, I decided to go ahead and try another few ends and see how it goes. Opened again with a 25, but dropped off significantly after that. Finished five ends with a 111. Not a great score, but the point was more that I was able to shoot 15 ends, and I did not have any lasting effects on my shoulder this week.

Bottom line for the week, solid but not great scores, but I'm finally putting the last six months of limited shooting behind me.