If you've read the previous post then you'll already know what happened at the Kings Cup for 2015. My score of 477 was nothing to write home about and I need to know what went wrong. So here's an analysis of the day ...
- The physical game
- The mental game
- The kit game
Let's look at these one at a time ...
The Physical Game
I am out of shape. I shoot about once a week, approximately 60 arrows. That is not sufficient preparation for a competition. It's not sufficient preparation for progressing in archery. If you have any hope of doing well in archery then you need to be looking at shooting at least twice a week. 3-4 times a week is good. It allows your body to recover from the exertions of drawing and holding a bow in place for over 60 arrows at a time. Your muscles will gain the muscle memory of drawing a string back and releasing, but only if you practice. Unfortunately I did not. My best scores were achieved when I shot 5 days a week. I need to get back into that routine. However, my wedding plans may cause that to be an issue. Nevertheless, I need more practice.
Another indicator of my poor physical preparation, 2 weeks before the comp I ditched my 36lbs limbs for my 28lbs limbs. I just did not have the strength to draw that poundage for 60 arrows. I also had issues with my anchor. I couldn't find a solid anchor point. If you don't have a solid and consistent anchor you don't stand a chance in archery. It's one of the basic foundations for a good arrow shot.
The Physical Game
I am out of shape. I shoot about once a week, approximately 60 arrows. That is not sufficient preparation for a competition. It's not sufficient preparation for progressing in archery. If you have any hope of doing well in archery then you need to be looking at shooting at least twice a week. 3-4 times a week is good. It allows your body to recover from the exertions of drawing and holding a bow in place for over 60 arrows at a time. Your muscles will gain the muscle memory of drawing a string back and releasing, but only if you practice. Unfortunately I did not. My best scores were achieved when I shot 5 days a week. I need to get back into that routine. However, my wedding plans may cause that to be an issue. Nevertheless, I need more practice.
Another indicator of my poor physical preparation, 2 weeks before the comp I ditched my 36lbs limbs for my 28lbs limbs. I just did not have the strength to draw that poundage for 60 arrows. I also had issues with my anchor. I couldn't find a solid anchor point. If you don't have a solid and consistent anchor you don't stand a chance in archery. It's one of the basic foundations for a good arrow shot.
The Mental Game
The mind of a winner expects to hit gold every time. Doesn't matter if it's the first arrow or the last arrow. When the archer releases the arrow he expects to see it in the gold when he looks down range (if he even bothers to look down range). I did not have that mental picture. It was more a case of hoping to hit the gold on release. That's a big difference. So how did I come to be in this state? From the above section you will already know that I had to drop down in limb poundage as I could not cope with 36lbs. That had already knocked my confidence. I also had to replace my riser and sights two weeks before the comp. I knew the pressure button was set for 36lbs and and that I had no sight marks for a WA18 with the new sights. I went into this competition with no confidence and a list of excuses for not shooting well. Is it any surprise that I didn't break 500?
So how do you win the mental game? More practice is all I can do for the moment. More arrows and more sessions.
The Kit Game
Archery is one of the few sports where a competitor with £100 worth of kit can do just as well as one with a few grand of shiny gear. Ask roger, he managed it. It has always been my intention that my time in archery would be more about the shooter and his skill than the kit. However, I have had to make a few purchases and select certain bits of kit to enable me to compete last weekend.
The Riser - I had to bin my old riser when I broke the arrow rest. Sounds a bit heavy handed to replace the riser when all I had to do was stick on a new rest. But I was hoping to replace the sights at the same time. My cartel sights for some reason would not sit 90 degrees to the sight rail. Everytime I made a windage adjustment I had to compensate for elevation. It was most annoying so I thought I would spend a bit more on the sight for peace of mind. Unfortunately I had threadlocked the sight bolts to the riser and could not remove the attachment point. Hence the need to buy a new SF Premium Plus 2014 riser. It was virtually identical to my old SF riser and I could fit my old custom grip to it. So, the replacement of a defective sight although at the cost of a new riser went a long way to give back the confidence I had lost. I consider that a win in the Mental Game.
The Limbs - For the past year I have been using 36lbs Win & Win limbs. Although great for outdoors they were a bit over powered for indoors and definitely not within my physical ability to draw for 60 arrows. So I made the decision to drop down to 28lbs. I immediately saw a difference. I think I added 30points to my recent scores just by using limbs I could pull. So that was a win in the Physical and Mental game.
The Tab - I have been using the Fivics Saker 1 tab with EP frame for quite some time now. But I couldn't settle on a consistent anchor which was affecting the release. The answer? My thumb. I have never paid any attention to the placement of my thumb on the tab. A big mistake. By allowing my thumb to change position and orientation I was allowing my anchor to move backwards and forwards. I paid special attention to this during the comp and was rewarded for my efforts when Sarah mentioned that my release looked better than those that were shooting around me. That's another win in the Physical and Mental game.
The Clicker - For those who don't know, a clicker is an aid on the riser which lets the archer know that he has reached the his draw length. It does this with an audible 'click' (hence the name). Now, This should be a boon for archers who suffer from inconsistent draws and anchors. If the clicker is set incorrectly or the archer has not spent enough time with the clicker then you end up waiting for the 'click' when you think you're at full draw and that's when the fun and games begin. Your body is at the point where you want to release but the brain is telling you to pull even further. So you pull a little more... no click ... you pull a little more ... no click ... you pull a little bit further but now see your sights wander and your arms are beginning to shake ... CLICK ... erm but now you're not set, you're not on gold ... what do you do? Whoosh ... your fingers give in and the arrows is on its merry way. Repeat this enough times and doubt begins to creep into your mind. Your confidence in your abilities starts to drop. It takes a strong competitor to recognise this and take the appropriate steps. It took me 12-24 arrows.
I must admit, my clicker (Spigarelli Guarda Clicker) was the one piece of kit that I bought with the sole purpose of overcoming my lack of ability. If you haven't seen it already here it is on my riser:
The mind of a winner expects to hit gold every time. Doesn't matter if it's the first arrow or the last arrow. When the archer releases the arrow he expects to see it in the gold when he looks down range (if he even bothers to look down range). I did not have that mental picture. It was more a case of hoping to hit the gold on release. That's a big difference. So how did I come to be in this state? From the above section you will already know that I had to drop down in limb poundage as I could not cope with 36lbs. That had already knocked my confidence. I also had to replace my riser and sights two weeks before the comp. I knew the pressure button was set for 36lbs and and that I had no sight marks for a WA18 with the new sights. I went into this competition with no confidence and a list of excuses for not shooting well. Is it any surprise that I didn't break 500?
So how do you win the mental game? More practice is all I can do for the moment. More arrows and more sessions.
The Kit Game
Archery is one of the few sports where a competitor with £100 worth of kit can do just as well as one with a few grand of shiny gear. Ask roger, he managed it. It has always been my intention that my time in archery would be more about the shooter and his skill than the kit. However, I have had to make a few purchases and select certain bits of kit to enable me to compete last weekend.
The Riser - I had to bin my old riser when I broke the arrow rest. Sounds a bit heavy handed to replace the riser when all I had to do was stick on a new rest. But I was hoping to replace the sights at the same time. My cartel sights for some reason would not sit 90 degrees to the sight rail. Everytime I made a windage adjustment I had to compensate for elevation. It was most annoying so I thought I would spend a bit more on the sight for peace of mind. Unfortunately I had threadlocked the sight bolts to the riser and could not remove the attachment point. Hence the need to buy a new SF Premium Plus 2014 riser. It was virtually identical to my old SF riser and I could fit my old custom grip to it. So, the replacement of a defective sight although at the cost of a new riser went a long way to give back the confidence I had lost. I consider that a win in the Mental Game.
The Limbs - For the past year I have been using 36lbs Win & Win limbs. Although great for outdoors they were a bit over powered for indoors and definitely not within my physical ability to draw for 60 arrows. So I made the decision to drop down to 28lbs. I immediately saw a difference. I think I added 30points to my recent scores just by using limbs I could pull. So that was a win in the Physical and Mental game.
The Tab - I have been using the Fivics Saker 1 tab with EP frame for quite some time now. But I couldn't settle on a consistent anchor which was affecting the release. The answer? My thumb. I have never paid any attention to the placement of my thumb on the tab. A big mistake. By allowing my thumb to change position and orientation I was allowing my anchor to move backwards and forwards. I paid special attention to this during the comp and was rewarded for my efforts when Sarah mentioned that my release looked better than those that were shooting around me. That's another win in the Physical and Mental game.
The Clicker - For those who don't know, a clicker is an aid on the riser which lets the archer know that he has reached the his draw length. It does this with an audible 'click' (hence the name). Now, This should be a boon for archers who suffer from inconsistent draws and anchors. If the clicker is set incorrectly or the archer has not spent enough time with the clicker then you end up waiting for the 'click' when you think you're at full draw and that's when the fun and games begin. Your body is at the point where you want to release but the brain is telling you to pull even further. So you pull a little more... no click ... you pull a little more ... no click ... you pull a little bit further but now see your sights wander and your arms are beginning to shake ... CLICK ... erm but now you're not set, you're not on gold ... what do you do? Whoosh ... your fingers give in and the arrows is on its merry way. Repeat this enough times and doubt begins to creep into your mind. Your confidence in your abilities starts to drop. It takes a strong competitor to recognise this and take the appropriate steps. It took me 12-24 arrows.
I must admit, my clicker (Spigarelli Guarda Clicker) was the one piece of kit that I bought with the sole purpose of overcoming my lack of ability. If you haven't seen it already here it is on my riser:
It may not look like much but it has a very unique ability. When you draw the arrow past the shelf on the clicker arm the arm moves visibly. This gives you an indicator that you are just a few mm from release. It stops you from being in the position where you think you're at full draw but not yet pass the clicker. It also stops you from drawing pass the clicker when not ready to shoot. Some shooters will say that drawing to the first shelf and then stopping ruins a smooth draw and splits it into two motions. And they would be right. But weigh that against me at full draw and wondering why my clicker hasn't gone off (and all the mind games that go with it) and I'll take a two part draw any day. It's been said that the Koreans actually practice clicker discipline where they can repeatedly draw the arrow to within a few mm of release and then come down. Now that's some serious control.
Now, some coaches teach archers to look at the their clicker when drawing and to only aim once their arrow is a few mm from release. (see note of the Koreans above). I cannot do this. Every time I tried I ended up drawing pass the clicker. Put it down to physical strength and impatience. With the Spigarelli I was able to judge this much better. When I manage this my shots are better. But halfway through the comp I switched off and stopped looking at the clicker. I found myself at full draw and trying to anticipate the clicker. And when the click was not forthcoming then the mind games set in and my shots went wild. 24 arrows later I had noticed my mistake and started looking at the clicker. Bingo, my shots were improving. Unfortunately too late to make a difference.
So, that's a break down of my failings for Saturday. So how do I set about making a change? Strangely, the answer is to not change anything. I need to settle on a setup and shoot it ... a lot. I need to practice more and become even more familiar with my gear. Repetition is key. It doesn't matter how much money you spend on kit if you don't back it up with practice.
So, let's go and shoot some arrows down range.
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