Control Freak

Stumbled across a new online mag that is for the modern recurve archer.  rchery Magazine. Yup, little r, no A for you good spellers. Loads of conditioning and nutrition info, interviews with international archers. Tres cool, non?



From the article, "Control Freaks" basically the difference between a seasoned archer and a newb, is that the seasoned archer is comfortable at full draw and doesn't worry about the execution afterwards as it has all become automatic. Like driving a car or signing your name. You don't think about it while you are doing it. 
"The experts “let go,” they trust that their practice has prepared them and they stop trying to control everything."

"The following is the mantra of the truly exceptional performer:
'Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.' 

So remember when you are cold and bored and ache in practice that you are being courageous, and when you are competing for whatever is your desired prize be serene and wise."

Am I still a control freak? For now, yes. But the things I am concerned about are smaller and pickier. And I have it on good authority that things are looking up.

Let it blow...

Livin' on the delta's quite a show
They got hurricane parties every time it blows
And here up north it's a cold cold rain
And there ain't no cure for my blues today

Well, the cure for practice boredom - try shooting outside while your area is getting the edge of a tropical storm. Irene is kicking up 20 mph winds, but somehow that gave me that cool white noise effect. It's oddly relaxing. At least it wasn't raining, but if you know me, you also know that a little rain is fine and dandy. Actually shot better than I have in a couple of weeks. Whee! Being able to adapt to less than great weather conditions is good practice, but you have to be willing to take off the training wheels.

If you are reading this, ya'll still have power.

One..two..three...

...120...121...122.
Here's my arrow count for tonight.


We'll see if the last six weeks did any good tomorrow.

Crossing toes 'cause my fingers are on the stiff side. Tomorrow is sorta my Friday, so that makes today sorta my Thursday.

Shoot 'em if you got 'em

Hm, thinking my nephew watches a little too much Uncle Ted? He's getting excited about deer season already. Atta' boy. I still haven't decided what I want to do about that. Looking like a "not" at the moment. Matt's talking about sitting out in our lone white pine though to see what walks by though.

Been shooting a lot this week. Bumped up my arrow count and my everything is sore. The light is going fast now, had to come in before I was done on Wednesday. All I could see were the mosquitos between the target and me at that point. Boredom has set in - solved part of that by dumping most of what was on my ipod and downloading some classic stuff from Prince and few others. Part of it is just being out there on my ownsome, I look forward to Fridays cause I'm shooting with others. I will miss shooting outside at longer distance now that I have the hang of it. May need to set up a shop light on the target so I can stay outside this fall.

It's also hard to concentrate when Cloe from next door decides to visit. She managed to get INside the fence in our dog run. Silly puppy. 10 weeks of wiggly, new puppy smelling, boxer. This is the only pic that she stood still long enough for. The rest are all a blur.

If you have any suggestions about mixing things up for a less boring practice, send them over the fence, eh?

Uh, huh. It's Thursday.

One Year - Gut Check

Out practicing this morning and a hummingbird decided to see if my bright red sight was edible. He didn't seem to care that he was literally only an arm's length away from me. Got right in there for a taste of metal and decided that it wasn't the right vintage. Have never seen one that close up before.

Our rabbits don't seem to care if I share the back shooting lane with them either. There's apparently enough clover to go around.

It's been just over a year since I decided to switch to recurve. The first four or so months were just plain fun and then it got miserable for pretty much the winter as I struggled to remake new muscle memory and get rid of the old ones. They still sneak in there sometimes when I'm not paying close enough attention. This summer has been back to enjoying this, thank god. My muscles are stronger, I'm in better shape overall, and I'm lucky to be working with and around other talented archers on a regular basis. Having someone who can explain the mechanics of the shot sequence and break it down is so important when you are learning something like this, especially when you start refining things. Have regained a lot of lost confidence outside and added some new distances to boot. Will miss shooting for a couple of hours after dinner when the light is not there anymore and I'll have to go back underground for the winter at only 10 yards. Thinking about the indoor season already and what goals I need to have.

Those who can, shoot...

Was musing over this earlier this week. Lots of high-profile tournaments lately, including the USA Nationals as well as the World Cup (watch today on ESPN 3). Noticing that the coaches don't shoot, at least not in competition in the public eye and not next to their students.  They got into this sport at some point as archers first, I'm assuming.  Why don't they shoot now?

Time, for one. If you shoot recurve, you need to shoot as often as possible to keep your skills up to par. Recurve systems, you find there are too many nuances. Your left shoulder is over here and needs to be ...just here. Strength matters, sure.

But during competition, if you are coaching top level archers as as well as shooting AND having an off day (they are only human ya know) their credibility suffers. Especially if you coach kids or possibly just immature adults.

If you teach (and shoot) I'd love to hear your side. Betting there are many more compound coaches/teachers that compete than recurve. 

For a current inside look at the World Cup from the coach's perspective, check out Doug Ludwig's WC notes on FB or the Points to the Cross website. Exciting stuff.