A Day of Highs and Lows

Today's archery practice was … interesting. Let me start off, though, with some most excellent news:

JOHN MADE BOWMAN!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!

During the last timed end, I was actually watching where his arrows landed rather than where my own did. I'm SO over-the-moon excited for him!

I began practice today with a right-handed longbow. It was every bit as awkward as I expected it to be--every muscle in my body tried to revolt against what I was asking it to do. I had to consciously think of everything, from which foot was on which side of the line, to which eye I was aiming with, to where my aim point was. It all felt so foreign.

I scored 8 points on my first end at 20 yards, and 5 points on the second end. 😂 I do think that with monumental amounts of practice, though, I could become at least proficient in shooting right-handed.

Then I switched back to my own bow and began both a Royal Round and the IKAC with a timed end at 20 yards. It was like my entire body heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed … and it showed in my shooting. I scored 21 points!

That was immediately followed by what is probably the worst untimed, 20-yard end I've ever shot. I scored three points. THREE! I don't even know what to do with that. I tried to cut myself some slack, given my mental state this weekend, but oy. That bugged me for the rest of the day.

I managed to bounce back, though, with a decent 9 at the 30 and 5 at the 40. I went right into my second Royal Round. Ironically, both RRs were a total of 38 points (yay, consistency?).

20: 3
20T: 21
30: 9
40: 5
TOT: 38

20: 16
20T: 15
30: 5
40: 3
TOT: 38

WELL below where I've been shooting this season, but again, given everything, I guess I'll take what I can get. We did the timed ends at 30 and 40 to finish off the IKAC, and my score wound up totaling 95 points--just 4 points shy of my current record. That was surprising. If I hadn't had such an atrocious 20-yard end, I'd have had a new record.

20: 3, 16
20T: 21, 15
30: 9, 5
30T: 4, 11
40: 5, 3
40T: 3, 0
TOT: 95

We were pretty tired by the end of the IKAC, but wanted to take a crack at the SSAC as well.

It didn't go well, score-wise. BUT! I did manage to do this:

And I was pretty proud of it. 😊

Archery in the Fall

Our outdoor archery season is rapidly drawing to a close here in the northeast. I've been trying to get in as much shooting as possible in the time we have left.

On September 29, I had a really off day. I shot both the IKAC (including two RRs) and the SSAC.

20: 14, 20
20T: 9, 14
30: 3, 5
30T: 3, 3
40: 1, 2
40T: 0, 0
TOT: 74

The higher of the two RRs was:

20: 20
20T: 14
30: 5
40: 2
TOT: 41

Ugh!

The SSAC was equally awful that day. I did the Full Course and the Par 3.

Full
Timed: 30
Untimed: 17
TOT: 47

Par 3
Timed: 13
Untimed: 21
TOT: 34

For comparison purposes, my scores on record for the SSAC are 32 (shot the following weekend) for the Full Course and 29 for the Par 3 (which I shot the prior weekend).

That awful day notwithstanding, however, I have some good news to report: as of the September update, my Royal Round average has increased to 54.67! I am sooooo close to Bowman, I can smell it. If I can figure out a way to practice frequently throughout the winter, I feel like I may be able to kick off the 2020 archery season with a 60+ average.

On a non-score-related front, I had an epiphany at the range today. Elena let me try shooting her (right-handed) bow. To do so, I had to adjust my gear. I moved my shooting glove to my right hand, and I FLIPPED MY BACK QUIVER TO THE OTHER SHOULDER.

Why did I yell that, you ask?

My quiver is DESIGNED FOR A RIGHT-HANDED ARCHER.

That's why it slips constantly, and I feel like I'm wrestling with it all the time. This thing has driven me bonkers for more than a decade, but I just assumed that that's kinda just what back quivers do when you're a well-endowed woman (my seatbelt in my car also slides all over the place on me, so the logic seemed sound). But OMG. When I put that quiver on the other way this afternoon, it was like night and day. That thing was glued in place.

I'm so mad.

I'm also relieved, because as a leatherworker it should be a simple matter for me to alter it to a left-handed setup.

What will it be like to not have to fight my quiver anymore?!

I can't wait to find out.

September (So Far)

I went from No Archery Whatsoever for most of the summer into All Archery All the Time for the past few weeks!

Hunter's Moon was Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. I didn't shoot at all on Saturday, because after being on my feet for two hours straight retaining for Her Highness, I just didn't feel up to more standing/walking. But Sunday I got my bow out. There was a novelty shoot in addition to the standard RR. I started off the day focusing on 40 yards, which turned out to be a Series of Frustrating Events. No matter what I tried, I couldn't seem to even hit backstop, nevermind achieve scoring arrows.

...until I shifted one gate to the right.

I literally spent an hour shooting from the same spot, trying to control everything from my aim point to my stance to my breathing, with no success. I don't know WHY shifting one gate to the right made the difference, but it was a good reminder of a lesson I had learned earlier this season (and then forgotten about during my hiatus): if something isn't working, change things up.

I only shot a 44 for my RR that day, but I submitted the score anyway. It won't affect my average, and it helps document archery participation (go, Omnibus Peerage!).

The following weekend was Panther Vale's annual archery event, Lost Tip. It's one of my three favorite archery events of the year (along with On Target down in Atlantia, and the Coppertree Holiday Shoot out in AEthelmearc). It featured three ranges: a static range with RR targets and two timed novelty shoots, a walking range with 3D targets in the woods, and a roving range that involved lobbing shots at unknown distances, trying to get as close to a stake in the ground as possible.

The last time I went to Lost Tip, I did the static range and the roving range. Therefore, this year I really wanted to make sure I did the walking range. As a fully warranted marshal, I got to lead my own group through the course, which was cool. The two archers that accompanied me were delightful, and though we lost a few arrows in the brush, we had a great time!

I wound up with a final score of exactly 100 points for the day, which landed me in third place of the archers who submitted their scoresheets! First place was 169, and second was 137.

Lost Tip RR
20: 15
20T: 19
30: 10
40: 10
TOT: 54

The very next day was Concordia's archery practice, which I was actually running because John was out of town. Elena was my hero, though--she came out to support me even though she couldn't shoot (fresh arm tattoo), and she actually ran the line the whole time so that I could actually shoot! I nailed down two RRs, the higher of which I submitted, and then I went on to do the extra timed ends to complete my first-ever IKAC!

9/8/19 Practice RR
20: 18
20T: 12
30: 16
40: 7
TOT: 53

9/8/19 IKAC
20: 18, 14
20T: 12, 12
30: 16, 11
30T: 3, 5
40: 7, 1
40T: 0, 0
TOT: 99

Yesterday, John was back in town for archery practice. I drew up a target face for the fall SSAC, and we set that up along with the 20, 30, and 40 RR targets. Counting the score for the SSAC was … trying. It requires math! For this particular shoot, a LOW score is better.

Fall SSAC
Timed: 20
Untimed: 14
Total: 34

Then I switched over to shooting the RR. At the 20, I adjusted my stance slightly--after drawing, I kicked my left hip back a tick, which I think improved my total body alignment, because … wow. I mean, the difference was measurable and immediate. I explained to John what I had done differently, and he tried it too--with the same immediate improvement. 😮 I'm not seeing a LOT of difference at 30 and 40 yards with this yet, but John also saw improvement at 30.

9/15/19 Practice RR
20: 25
20T: 16
30: 10
40: 4
TOT: 55

We're going to offer a special, extended practice option next weekend, explicitly for folks who want to shoot the IKAC. And the EK's top IKAC archer (and newest Tyger of the East!), Peter the Red, may be joining us at a practice in the not-too-distant future--I look forward to the opportunity to watch him shoot, and maybe even receive some guidance from him!

First Practice in Two Months

Hello!

I had surgery in June, which resulted in me not being able to practice or shoot at events for over two months. As such, my quest to attain the next rank has been pretty thoroughly derailed, and I may have to update my goal to "Marksman to Bowman 2020" at this point.

But today I got out to Concordia practice and shot a Royal Round for the first time since the end of May. It was hot and incredibly humid, and we all observed that our arrows were striking lower than normal. It took quite a few warm-up rounds to dial in an adjusted aim point, and it was really frustrating.

My Royal Round today wasn't great, but for my first day back, I'm happy that I at least stayed in the Marksman range with my score.

20: 20 (I shot this round last, and I was REALLY happy with it)
20T: 14
30: 8
40: 4
Total: 46

We'll have practice again next weekend, and then the weekend after that is Hunter's Moon, so I can record scores on both Saturday and Sunday. I'm hoping the progress I had made before the surgery will come back to me fairly quickly, and will be reflected in those scores. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Target Making and Practice in the Rain

A group of us gathered at SUNYA on Saturday to tackle the monumental task of making the targets for the novelty and youth tournaments at War of the Roses. Our goal was to get the designs drawn onto the cardboard, and then each of us would  take a couple of them home to paint them.

Well.



In addition to Jonathan, Janna, and the MITs (me and Elena), we had our Baron and Baroness and Their daughter! So not only were we able to get everything traced, but we got everything painted as well. Many hands make light work! You should definitely come out and shoot at Roses--it's gonna be a great tournament!














Then on Sunday, we the nutty but dedicated few went out to the range in the rain and shot royal rounds. It was ... weird. I expected my arrows to strike lower, because of the added weight of the water in the fletching. However, I overshot the target repeatedly--especially at 30 yards. Baffling.

20: 16
20T: 11
30: 11
40: 9
TOTAL: 47

So, it was decent, but not spectacular. It's probably the last time I'll get out to shoot for a while, because I'm having surgery tomorrow.

To end on an exciting note: we nabbed a second Jo-Jan multifletcher! WOOHOO!

Practice and RR Scores 4/17/19

Because today is Easter and John is out of town, we moved this week's practice up to Wednesday. It was a beautifully warm day with no wind, so shooting conditions were ideal.

Despite that, I really struggled to find my groove. I don't know if it's because I had a doctor's appointment right before practice, during which I learned I need to have (minor) surgery next month, or whether it was because I hadn't shot in a week and a half, but something was off.

After several frustrating warm up rounds at 20 and 30 yards, I decided to just start shooting for score.

The first RR went, as expected, more poorly than I've been doing lately. With a disappointing timed end, several shots that missed the target entirely at the 40, and a total of only 44 points, I was super frustrated with myself.

I wasn't going to submit a score at that point--a 44 won't affect my average anyway. But I realized I should go ahead and submit it, to keep a record of the fact that I *am* actively shooting every week (which will hopefully be a plus in my ongoing quest to be warranted?).

That decision made, I decided to work at the 40 for a while. I lined myself up, calmed my frustration as much as I could, and shot.

And something *finally* clicked.

So I began a second RR, starting at the 40. And though not all of my arrows scored, none of them at any distance missed entirely. That was MUCH more like what I expect of myself these days. My 20 yard, untimed end was last. I knew going into it that I needed 18 points to make a total of 50.

I shot a 19.

My takeaway from this practice was to not give in to frustration, but to try and find a way to work through it. Off days will happen. Change focus, work on a particular skill, stand in a new position, whatever. Do *something* to shake it up--something where I don't have a preset expectation of myself, and see what I can accomplish.

4/7/19 Royal Round

I had a very good day at the range today! 😊

20: 22
20T: 17
30: 15 (a new personal record!)
40: 2
Total: 56

Averaged with my last two RR scores, I now have an average in the 50s for the first time ever! 😲 Progress!! 😃

Last week's practices got side-tracked first by the new bow and then by the high winds, so this week I will really focus on honing in on that 40-yard target!

Today's official practice was very well attended. Along with the usual crew, we had several Anglespur archers and two complete newcomers!

We're having an arrow-making night Friday to replenish the baronial stock of loaner arrows, and we'll also be hammering out details for the Roses competition.

3/28 Royal Rounds

I shot two RRs today:

20: 19

20T: 18

30: 10

40: 0

Total: 47

20: 22

20T: 14

30: 9

40: 6

Total: 51

So the 51 will be submitted, which will pull my average up into the high 40s. Progress!

I also think I may have begun to work out my no aim point problem at 40 yards. At 20 and 30, I aim with the tip of the arrow, but at 40 the tip is so far above the actual target face that there's no reliable way to point it at the same spot for each shot. I discovered, however, that if I align the front of the arrow *rest* with the top of the target at 40 yards, I get more or less the right distance. At my next practice session, I will work on refining this and see where that gets me.

Catch-Up Post

So the archery season actually began a week and a half ago, but I didn't have the idea to begin a blog until today. So! There's some catching up to do.

First off: Royal Round Scores!

March 17 == 38 points. Ack! That wasn't the way I had hoped to start the season. However, I experienced bow failure (a crack in the handle of my longbow :-( ), and had to switch back to shooting my recurve for the first time in two years.


March 24 ==  50 points. That's more like it! It's ten points shy of Bowman, but it's a VAST improvement over the previous week. Still shooting the recurve, though I ordered a (cheap) longbow that should come in a couple of weeks. I expect that will primarily be my travel bow for when I fly to out-of-state events, unless I discover I absolutely love shooting it. My RR scores will probably continue to be the recurve for the foreseeable future.

Next: Practice Sessions!

== 3/25 ==
•Arrows Fired: 99
•Average Points Per Arrow: 2.6
•Best End: 22 points (6 arrows)
•Worst End: 21 points (12 arrows)

== 3/26 ==
•Arrows Fired: 138
•Average Points Per Arrow: 2.8 (+0.2 over yesterday)
•Non-Scoring Arrows Fired: 8 (5.8%)
•Best End: 22 points (6 arrows) -- three times!
•Worst End: 15 points (6 arrows) -- also three times.

I've made the executive decision to not go to the range tomorrow (3/27). I could feel the ache in my shoulders when I got up for work this morning, and after stacking planes all morning and then shooting all afternoon, I expect tomorrow morning the ache will be worse. So I declare it a recovery day!

We're shooting RRs on Thursday! Woohoo!