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Tournament report: Blue Heron 2009
Oct. 26th, 2009 11:26 pmThis was the first tournament I've shot since June of 2008. After that I was figuring out life in a new city and a new social group, scheduling life around work, and archery pretty much fell off the map. Then, two months ago (give or take) I saw a tournament coming up, put on by some familiar names, and decided it was time to fit shooting back into my life. The main victim here, of course, was your friends pages, until I got bored of Loudtwittering everything.
Two weeks in, the beard had to go. Because really? Ow.
Honestly? I didn't practice as much as I should. I did manage to get up for it most mornings, but only made it over to Morley once and Claremont once for any sort of distance practice. Turns out that the difference in angle between a 90-meter shot and a downward 7-meter shot is substantial, and actually affects draw length. I've got a very good, very steady rhythm in the driveway; on the field I end up holding and shaking until I'm out of breath. Fortunately, one thing I've learned rock climbing is to keep going through discomfort, get the job done, and complain about it later.
This is not a sustainable long-term way of doing things, but got me through the weekend.
I came in looking for at least a four-digit weekend. 90 was nicely on track for that - I'm somehow at the lowest sight marks I've ever had in a tournament, but still aiming at the target instead of the flag above it - and I went into lunch pretty pleased.
Then 70 happened. The wind was low and steady to the left, it took me one end to lock in and everything fell together. Despite the shaking I was consistent and clean, and just kept finding the target. I shot a 294 - only four points below the best 70 round I've ever shot, which was on my way to a personal best 1165.
50 has always been a relatively good distance for me, but this Sunday just didn't click as well as Saturday. Even still, I shot comfortably better than I had been expecting to, and finished with a 1095. I'm especially pleased about that given that my last three tournaments of 2008 scored 1025, 969, and 926 ... in that order. Whatever was killing me then seems to have passed, and I still have plenty of room for improvement.
From here on is indoor season, though, and really ... I'm not as much a fan. I actually think I'd rather take my time, slowly shoot and climb and spin, get everything nicely in tune for outdoor season next spring. One more thing (ok, lots more things) to cram into the travel budget!
click
Two weeks in, the beard had to go. Because really? Ow.
Honestly? I didn't practice as much as I should. I did manage to get up for it most mornings, but only made it over to Morley once and Claremont once for any sort of distance practice. Turns out that the difference in angle between a 90-meter shot and a downward 7-meter shot is substantial, and actually affects draw length. I've got a very good, very steady rhythm in the driveway; on the field I end up holding and shaking until I'm out of breath. Fortunately, one thing I've learned rock climbing is to keep going through discomfort, get the job done, and complain about it later.
This is not a sustainable long-term way of doing things, but got me through the weekend.
I came in looking for at least a four-digit weekend. 90 was nicely on track for that - I'm somehow at the lowest sight marks I've ever had in a tournament, but still aiming at the target instead of the flag above it - and I went into lunch pretty pleased.
Then 70 happened. The wind was low and steady to the left, it took me one end to lock in and everything fell together. Despite the shaking I was consistent and clean, and just kept finding the target. I shot a 294 - only four points below the best 70 round I've ever shot, which was on my way to a personal best 1165.
50 has always been a relatively good distance for me, but this Sunday just didn't click as well as Saturday. Even still, I shot comfortably better than I had been expecting to, and finished with a 1095. I'm especially pleased about that given that my last three tournaments of 2008 scored 1025, 969, and 926 ... in that order. Whatever was killing me then seems to have passed, and I still have plenty of room for improvement.
From here on is indoor season, though, and really ... I'm not as much a fan. I actually think I'd rather take my time, slowly shoot and climb and spin, get everything nicely in tune for outdoor season next spring. One more thing (ok, lots more things) to cram into the travel budget!
click
