Another Comp and Battle Buddies

It's another weekend and another competition.  This time its the Essex Indoor Championship.  It's the last comp for my indoor season before I start preparing for my first outdoor season.

As usual, the day started with a trip to MacD's and then to pick up the TheAgeingArcher (Richard).  Richard was due to shoot in tomorrow's session but weekend public transport was going to let him down.  Instead he generously offered to accompany me to the competition to spot for me.  Trooper! Our destination today was the Sandon School in Chelmsford, Essex.  The journey wasn't too bad.  Approx. 1.5hours from Croydon.  The sports hall we would shoot in wasn't too shabby at all.  A bit smaller compared with some of the halls we have visited this season but still a good place to shoot.

 Not a bad venue at all

 Equipment line ... archery porn!

And this is how many archers there were in my session.  There are some dirty compounders on the right!

Pic courtesy of TheAgeingArcher

The judges at the comp were a bit more lively than some of the ones we have seen in Surrey.  During the assembly the judges lined up either side of the comp organiser.  But whilst he was making various announcement they are proceeded quietly further behind him ... did they know something we didn't?  Also, one of the judges required the use of a belt mounted voice box.  Although it is never appropriate to make fun of anyone for any reason you have got to admit it was different and set the mood for the day :)

This pic taken by Richard is worth it's weight in gold flecks!  It shows I'm leaning my neck to the string, body is leaning and right arm isn't straight!
Pic courtesy of TheAgeingArcher

The comp started badly.  For starters, I did not realise the targets would be set up 4 to a boss.  I would be shooting on the lower left target.  Immediately I had flashbacks of the troubles I had with the triple spots.  the lower target was never my strong point.  My first 6 arrows contained 2x5 and a 6.  I don't normally shoot those colours!  Oh did I mention these were 40cm targets?  Fortunately, with Richard's help I was able to continue battle my way through to 475.  Not bad really.  The last time I shot these targets was in the King's Cup and I only got 470.  I won't lie, I was hoping for more but when you analyse everything ... it's not too bad.  It's only the third time I've used my v-bars, I still have't picked up my practice hours and frankly ... I'm out of shape.  I could tell my string hand was wrong.  Richard could see my bow arm dropping and could hear me plucking the bow.  

Not bad at all

I should mention at this point that Richard was invaluable today for making sure I didn't slump any further.  It would have been too easy to focus on the negative and then dig myself deeper into the black hole.  Instead he was able to provide insight into possible areas of improvement and give the odd word of encouragement.  We've decided that where possible we might be able to spot for each other if we book into separate sessions.  One shoots the early session whilst the other spots and then swap over for the second session.  I like this.  Battle buddies!

And so comes to an end my first season of indoor competition.  And I must admit ... I loved it!  You can read through my previous blog entries to see how the other comps went.  I've made some good friends and I've been to places I wouldn't normally go (Essex hehe!) ... oh and \i had a quick chat with Brady Ellison!

Outdoors here we come!!

Sutton Bowmen Charity Shoot 2014 and New Kit

Today, myself and Richard (TheAgeingArcher) attended the Sutton Bowmen Charity Shoot.  This year's chosen charity was the Kent Air Ambulance.  There are several archers who shoot at both 2020 and Sutton Bowmen so this comp would also serve as a nice gathering of fellow archers.

As usual we bumped into a familiar judge.  This time it was Mark Davis who we first met at the SCAS shoot last week.  During the day we had a good chat with Mark.  It looks like 2020 is on their radar ... for all the right reasons.

Earlier this week my v-bar and short rods turned up ...

 Riser with new v-bars and short rods and extender

Normally, you would spend several hours/weeks at the range to fine tune the v-bars.  Even with the limited options with the SF Axiom+ v-bars you try to get some range time in with them first before using them in a comp.  Not me!  I couldn't wait so I slapped them on (with Richard's help) and off I went!  Yay!

Whilst waiting for our shooting session to start we tried our hands at the raffle tombola.  I handed over £10.  Its for a good cause.  What I didn't realise was that £10 gets you 50 tickets!  The tickets had been rolled up and inserted into a display board.  All I had to do was pick 50 tickets and unroll them to reveal the number.  Any numbers ending in 0 or 5 got a prize.  I won a handbag, necklace, address book and picture frame.  More Yay!

After the tombola mishap we started looking out for friendly faces:  Richard and Claire were busy shooting their recurves.  I hope I still beat Claire.  We have our own mini rivalry and the current King/Queen of the hill gets bragging rights.  Bryn is shooting his long bow.  Trent is there with his compound.  Neil is marshalling.  And Jason Meehan of CMO .. well he's just shooting the pants and knickers off everyone with his barebow!

It's not long before it's our turn on the line.  I start the session with some average shooting.  Nothing major but no 10s :(  Whilst I tackled the tribulations of rusty skills and lack of range time I struck up onteresting conversations with those on my target and neighbouring targets.  Seems we all shared similar past times other than archery.  Some used to do practical pistol whilst others were former armed forces.  And yet none of them were eager to jump out of a plane like me ... I wonder why.  Still, it does show that archery lets you meet some interesting characters.

  

Dirty compounders ... always holding up the shooting line!

Anyhoo, I eventually settled down into a nice shooting rhythm and routine.  However, it wasn't until near the end of the shoot that I was happy with my shots.

 There's always one that doesn't want to play with the others ... 

 Mine are the thin black arrows.  

By the end of it I managed 531.  That's a good score in my book.  I managed 535 last year when I was shooting 7 sessions a week!  So 531 after a long break and with new kit ... Yeah I'll take that!  Richard set a new competition PB of 554.  Well done!

Richard spotted that we had both altered out setup in some way.  I had new v-bars and he had re-tuned his bow.  None of us had shot or tested our new setups before the comp.  Also bear in mind that I had never shot with v-bars before.  Maybe there is some truth to New Kit Syndrome!

Next competition - Essex County Indoor Championship.

Another Club Shoot

Well, it's my first club shoot after a long break from archery and I'm still trying to get back into my shooting.

10-10-9 I can live with that

The shoot didn't go too badly but it's still not at my best level.  So ... I decided to order some v-bars and short rods.  Woo hoo!

There are many many v-bars and short rods in the archery market.  Which one do you buy?  The old advice of testing before buying is still good advice.  but I was impatient and wanted them pronto.  so what does an impatient archer do when he wants kit but can't test which ones to buy ... he buys ones that are a matching colour for his riser.  I'll post pics once they arrive.

SCAS Indoor Championship 2014

Better late than never, here's the entry for last week's SCAS competition.

SCAS or Southern Counties Archery Society is the umbrella organisation which includes amongst its members Kent, Essex, Sussex and our own County of London to which 2020 Archery is a member.  For a full list of counties and other info about SCAS you can check here.  This year they held their indoor championship at the K2 centre in Crawley.

The day started with what is fast becoming the usual routine on a competition day.  I picked up Richard (TheAgeingArcher) before setting off to the venue.

The venue was ... very nice.  It was effectively a sports centre in its own right.  The facilities included a climbing wall, gym, swimming pool, climbing wall, running track, squash courts, halls, conference rooms and its own car park.  This would definitely be a place I would like to come back to ... if only they had more parking spaces.  Fortunately, I arrived just in time to occupy the the last space in their overspill area.  Phew.  

Once we figured out where we were meant to go we spotted something which always brings a smile to my face ... a t-shirt vendor selling custom shirts for the event.

Front view

Back view

hose of you with keen eyes will see that the back panel is a list of all registered competitors.  Unfortunately they didn't have this in red.  There were other stickers and logos available.  You could choose what you wanted and where you wanted them on the shirt.

After buying our first trinket of the day we booked in and set up.  At this point we started getting worried that Jeff still hadn't appeared.  We got even more worried once we started making our way into the hall and were about to assemble.  Richard informed the judges that we were short an archer but that he was on his way.  They said that as long as he turned up and was ready to shoot by the time the competition started (ie missing the sighter ends) then he could still compete ...  he arrived just in time to set up and start scoring.  Don't do it again Jeff!

Jeff ...

Speaking of judges, we bumped into Steve Vallis again.  He remembered us ... that's always a good sign ... I think.

Anyway, the actual competition didn't go too badly.  I only managed 501 but I knew I was still a bit rusty and in need of more range time.  Richard managed 550 which equalled his best competition score.  He might have got 552 if his penultimate arrow hadn't coincided with his long rod falling off ...

Anyone seen my long rod?

With the competition over, all that was left to do was buy one last trinket ... a red zip up hoodie.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any at the stall but I could order one for delivery.  Yay!

Next competition ... Sutton Bowmen charity shoot 2014.

Failure Breeds Success

Well, this weekend's first competition was the King's Cup in Chessington (no not the theme park). A fair few archers from 2020 and other nearby clubs would be attending so I was rather looking forward to the event.  I haven't been back to 2020 in over 2 weeks so was feeling a definite lack of range time.  It would also be nice to meet up with my shooting buddies.

But first, I needed to pick up Roger from East Croydon Station and then a short trip to fetch Richard.  Now I must confess that I couldn't remember the exact times I told each person to be ready for pickup.  Regardless, Roger ended up arriving earlier than expected but Saturday morning traffic meant the trip to Richard used up most of the buffer Roger's early arrival created.  Still, we still managed a visit to McDonald's for breakfast.  Result!

The journey to the venue (King's Centre, Chessington) was uneventful.  My trusty SatNav did not fail me, unlike previous events.  It wasn't long before we bumped into some familiar faces.

This was my first visit to the King's Centre and I was impressed.

The hall is carpeted, well lit and mildly ventilated.  There were two rows of chairs for competitors and spectators and a large space behind the equipment line.  Things were looking up!

We picked our spot and started the bow stringing dance.  It's a ritual that all modern archers learn early on in their archery journey.  However, today's dance would be different for Richard.  He's forgotten to pack his new super shiny sight!  D'oh!  There's nothing quite like the feeling you get when you're unpacking your kit bag and realise you've forgotten something.  Fortunately, today Richard was surrounded by his fellow archers and he was able to move his shooting slot to a later session and therefore borrow my sights off my bow (more on this later).

After assembly I settled down to the task at hand.  Given that I had changed my nock point the previous night I knew that my sights needed to be adjusted.  This would normally be done at the club prior to competition day.  I had just 2 ends of sighters to do it! Grrr!

As I took up my position on the shooting line I noticed a few things:

1. There's 4 targets per boss.  A through to D, starting top left and then moving in an anti-clockwise direction.
2. There were two dot matrix displays at the sides of the range.  They would show the time left to shoot your 3 arrows (120secs).
3. The dot matrix displays also showed which details were due up on the line (A and B, or C and D).  This would be a very useful feature.  More competitions should have this feature. 

I won't bore you with a breakdown of my 60 arrows.  To summarise, I scored 470.  I had hoped to get 500 or higher but you have to remember that I was shooting on 40cm targets and I hadn't shot in over 2 weeks.  But even this low provided me with some very useful info ...  

For some time now my form had taken a drop.  Around January I had reached a level of performance where most of my shots were landing in the gold.  I couldn't miss and was feeling a certain amount of ego inflation.  I wasn't at the level of a county champion or even a club champion but I was definitely feeling good about myself.  But then I started scoring under 520 ... what was I doing wrong?  54 arrows into the King's Cup I finally figured it out.  My confidence had made me arrogant about my archery.  It turned out that I was just raising my bow, drawing, point at gold and then assumed the arrow would hit gold.  That's not how it works .... unless you're Korean.  I had totally forgotten about my shot routine, my form, breathing, shoulders, target focus etc.  My final 6 arrows took all of my concentration and energy.  In fact they took more effort and concentration than all the arrows I had shot since February.  And I was rewarded with 10,9,9 and 10,9,8.  ChaChiing!

Anyway, with that revelation and my 60 arrows shot I stepped away from the shooting line, presented Julie with KitKat chunky for doing all the scoring for everyone on our boss and handed over my bow to Richard.

For those who remember from eariler in this blog entry, Richard had forgotten his sight and was going to use mine.  Except that we couldn't remove the sight block from my riser!  Luckily Bryn Bache offered his sight.  With the second disaster of the day averted, Roger and Richard proceeded to warm up for their 60 arrows ...

Not sure they taught 'Jazz Hands' stretch in the beginners course

After watching R&R start their session I joined the others at a local watering hole to await the final scores.

And so ended my first King's Cup.  I thoroughly enjoyed today.  It's always good when you have your shooting buddies with you at a competition.  It helps calm the nerves and in Richard's case you can call upon them for help if needed.

I guess I better get ready for the SCAS competition on Sunday!

Don't forget to check Richard's blog for his thoughts on the competition.

PS.  I should probably mention the other highlight of the competition ... a couple having a domestic whilst on the shooting line of a world ranking status competition ... whilst each holding a bow and sharp pointy arrows in their hands.  It never ceases to amaze me the things you see at archery meets.

Weekend of Competitions and Disaster

Well ... it's 1.41am of the morning of my first competition in March.  Normally I would be excited but I'm not really feeling it this weekend.  I haven't shot an arrow in 2 weeks and I know my bow has a nock point that is too high.  So, there's only one thing for it ... man up and string up.

I've just opened one of the compartments on my archery bag and found everything covered in a blue gel.  It's all over my tool pouch ... feck it's the thread-lock!  I normally store my bag in a vertical position but since I haven't had time to shoot the bag has been lying flat on the ground and the bottle has leaked everywhere.  Guess I'm gonna have to buy some replacements ...

OK, I've moved the nock point down but I have no idea how effective it's gonna be.  I really should be testing this at 2020 but it's a bit late for that now.

So, competition for today is the King's Cup at Chessington.  A fair few archers from 2020 will be competing.  It'll be nice to get some pointy sticks down range again.