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.

Doing, Teaching, and Dueling

Those Who Can, Do

Went out to the range, walking across a rainy Dedham, trying to improve on last week's pretty good showing. Could not get any kind of consistency, though. Opened with a 23 (of course), and never made any real move to catch up to 25 pace.

No shoulder pain, and not even any real fatigue felt until very near the end. Consistency just eluded me. Some days are like that, and it did not help that I tagged my arm early in the session. Maybe next weekend will be better, and I can pursue a 250 to start a new year.

When all was said and done, I had posted a 227. Good enough to improve on my first scoring round a few weeks ago, but still a loss of 9 points from last weekend.

Those Who Can't, Teach

After I finished shooting, I stuck around (with my bow still set up) and helped some party shooters with their form. There was one little girl who had such an exaggerated stance it was funny. Instead of having her feet shoulder width apart, it almost looked like she was trying to do splits across the shooting line. I spent a lot of ends working with her, helping her adjust her form, and trying to get her to not finish her shots with a flourish (like a symphony conductor), which sends the arrows flying every which way.

When the balloons came out, she did not start well. For the first two ends, her shots were so far off. She popped her neighbor's balloon, then she nearly popped the balloon two lanes away. She was nowhere near her own target, no less popping the balloon.

Then came the final end. Biggest prize at stake, with a bonus for being the first person to pop a balloon and doing it on the first arrow. And lo and behold, this little girl, who a minute earlier seemed to be lucky just to get her arrow within a target width of her lane, took her first arrow and popped her balloon as if it was no big deal and she had been on target all along. I knew she could do it, the little sandbagger.

The Duel in Dedham

As the party was winding down, the question came up on who would take the cross-range shot. Initially, Anthony was going to do it. I had left my bow set up so that I could take it, if given the opportunity, and then it looked like Anthony would do it if I missed with my three arrows. Then it was decided that we would both take the line in lane 1.

Just like in An Archer's Carol, we stepped to the line, Anthony with his wooden traditional bow, me with my (still relatively new) Win&Win. Three arrow shootoff to win everyone in the party a prize. We both knocked out arrows, and took aim. As I was drawing back, however, my arrow slipped off the rest, so I had to reset while Anthony loosed his arrow towards the balloon. Instead of shooting together, we would now alternate shots. Anthony's first arrow missed, and mine followed suit. Second shots each did the same thing. And then Anthony's third also failed to pop the balloon.

I knocked my third and final arrow, all eyes on the range watching what I would do. I don't know how I did it, but I was more relieved than anyone when that balloon popped at the end of my arrow. In this duel, unlike in An Archer's Carol, the Win&Win had won. I don't know if Anthony missed on purpose to put the pressure on me. I know for sure that I was trying to hit it with every shot. And thankfully I was able to do it.

So even without a great score, I still had a pretty good day at the range.

A Couple of Archery Posts from Anthony

An Archer's Carol
By Anthony Bellittini

T’was the night before Christmas and all about the range,
Not an archer was stirring – no flying feather or vane.
And I with my quiver stand patiently on line,
With hope that my "friend" will show up on time.

My tab is powdered and string newly waxed,
My shoulders at the ready, I’m set, where’s he at?

Then through the door he came smugly aglow,
Sporting a new Win and Win bow -
“OK I’m here!” he said, - ”Now, let’s get on with this show!”

He set his clicker, and V-Bars, and adjusted his sight,
To myself I thought - Let’s get on with this "fight".

With confidence he stepped into his lane,
Glanced my way and said, “You’ll be sorry I came!”.

So they’re we both were, his new bow against mine,
An old Bear Tamer Lane, that has seen better times.
One end takes all - that was the deal,
A long-standing challenge, today finally made real.

The first shots were his, won by a coin toss,
I didn’t care - I knew he already lost.
He drew and released those 2315’s
To do battle with mine, each one scored a nine.

I lifted my bow and loosed my first arrows,
And just as I visualized them, each flew slowly and narrow.
You see I knew something my dear friend did not,
That into the ten, again, again - my wood shafts were hot!

With the score in my favor, the end result achieved,
I turned to my friend, smiled and said, “its all in how well you believe!”

“It’s the faith in yourself, knowing that you have already won,
that determines the ending even before the competition’s begun.

“I don’t get that”, he said, “I have all this cool stuff!”
“Perhaps, just perhaps, I didn’t buy enough?”

So I bid him farewell and he went on his way,
And I wish you all Great Shooting this year after Christmas Day!

AJB
copyright 12/2004

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Archery Champion or just another soccer player?
By Anthony Bellittini

Now that Spring has arrived I'm sure many kids will also be participating in other sports such as soccer, baseball, and lacrosse.

It never ceases to amaze me how the coaches of these sports start their recruting in November of the prior year with constant phone messages and emails to families to be certain they have that one more player starting that next spring.

This year, some coaches have increased the ante. Baseball and soccer are BIG Business, and someone has to pay for all those fields. Parents are held in place with threats of their child being dumped from the team if a practice or two is missed.

I've spoken to many parents recently that tell me their son or daughter will have to cut back on archery (or drop archery till fall) because their soccer or baseball coach now has their child practicing two to three hours a day, three to four times a week (essentially locking them out of any other activity - and into theirs), and, not only are they exhausted when they get home, but they hardly have any time for schoolwork.

My heart saddens every Spring because I see such progress in my students cut short because of the high demands of other sports and the parents that give in to them. And then, or if, they return after summer, it's just like starting all over.

I have been coaching archery professionally for almost 20 years. That said, I can assure you that it doesn't take anywhere near that time to know that if an archer practices even 4-6 hours a week- that archer will be a National Champion within a year or two, if they want to take it that far!

Archery is one of only a few sports in which you can accomplish that. That, is what is so amazing about this sport. It's repetitive improvement! It's success that you can be proud of because you accomplished it yourself. You didn't have to rely upon how good another player was, or how much the other team sucked less that day. in order to win.

Archery is a year round sport. Our state archery association and those of our adjoining states all have outdoor tournaments. If one wanted to, you can go to a tournament every other weekend somewhere close by.

Outdoor events are fun! With all the family and team tents, flags, it looks like a modern medieval game.

It's been my goal for a long time, to promote our sport until it becomes as recognized as soccer. So I'm urging everyone not to abandon archery for other sports, perhaps increase your practice time, and keep up with improving your skills!

Thank You,

Anthony
President
ArcheryUSA

"TRAINING CHAMPIONS FOR OVER 18 YEARS"
TM/AUSA

Climbing Back Up for the Holidays

Spent a long day at the range on Saturday. With the snow coming down, I set off a little late for Dedham. A detour through a couple of shops got me out to the range well after the class had ended, but the range was still empty. Weather had kept a lot of the shooting public away, since no one wanted to be on the roads. I can't really blame them. It was bad enough walking out there, especially considering Dedham dumps all of the snow on their roads onto the sidewalk, making them all but impassable. Have to walk in the streets, staying as close to the sidewalk as I can, keeping a watchful eye on the closest lane of traffic, and getting out of the way as soon as humanly possible.

So I walked into the range, and spent a little while talking with one of the range employees. Because of the Archery USA holiday party, the range was closing at 4:30, instead of at the usual 6, so I finally set up my bow and started shooting. I had no intention of keeping score, but my opening warm up ends were so good, I decided to grab a pen and start counting. As usual, I opened with a 23, and capped my first half round at 124, just a single point behind pace for 250. My sixth end was a solid 25, but I slipped on seven through 10. Ended up at 236, a 13 point improvement over last week, and this time with only myself for motivation (instead of competing with my friends). If I can pick up just 1 extra point every other arrow, I will be right back where I left off in July, at 250.

After I put my bow away, I helped set up for the party. People started trickling in over the next few hours, and then we all sat down in the middle of the archery range to eat a pretty good pot luck. This is an annual tradition at Archery USA, a chance for Anthony to thank everyone for supporting the range, and this year a chance for everyone to welcome Anthony back. This was my first holiday party, and probably my last, as I do not plan to be in Boston next winter. Glad I got a chance to attend this one.

Back to Normal, with a Little Help from my Friends

Had some guests with me at the range on Saturday. Couple of friends went out to Dedham with me. One even had a car, so didn't have to take the bus or walk across the cold. After a quick lunch, the three of us went in, hoping there would be room on the line for all of us to shoot for an hour. A party was just getting started, and there were some other archery patrons, but we were able to find a trio of lanes, so while my friends got set up with range equipment, I put my bow together, and out to the line we went.

After a couple of warm up ends, one of my friends decided that we should keep score and have a competition. Now keep in mind, I have not had a scoring round since my shoulder started bothering my back in July, so I'm a little apprehensive, but my shoulder has been feeling better, so I agreed. My friends shot at 60 cm targets, while I shot at a 40. It was my suggestion. One didn't really want to go along with it, but in the end decided to go ahead.

Seeing as my friends have shot a grand total of (at most) twice between them in the last four years, it was not much of a contest. They were going at each other for barebow supremacy. I was shooting for a good ten end round. Ended up with a 223, which while not spectacular, is quite respectable for my first scoring round in 5 months. Finally getting seriously on the road to back to normal. Not ready for tournament doubles yet, and won't be for a while, but I was long overdue to return to single rounds. The work will be good for strengthening my shoulder, and I'll have some tangible results to judge my shooting by.

Finally.