Today ended a week of preparation that had many ups and downs. No matter what kind of tournament I attend, I never want to go to being unprepared. I spent my time in the brutally cold and windy days after work trying to hone my yardage skills. Since I know I have to rely on my yardage to get me through this tough patch, I'll spend a lot of extra time in that arena. If a good shooter knows how far the targets are from the stake, he will be a great shooter who doesn't have those same skills. I fit perfectly into that mold.
At the beginning of the week, my elbow felt better than it has felt since the middle of the winter. I'm not sure if it might be because I took a little time off from doing my physical therapy. I think it might have needed a lit bit of recovery time to give the ligaments, tendons and muscles some time to relax and reload. While the elbow if far from being in good shape, it definitely didn't bring me as much pain as the previous few weeks when I didn't know if I would even be able to continue shooting. I'm hoping for some more improvements as time goes forward. Since I'm not able to shoot very much, I tried to choose my shooting days wisely this week.
The wind and cold just wouldn't let up, so I decided I would shoot 10-15 3-D targets a day at my dad's house to see the numbers. Every day that I shot I seemed to improve with my yardage judging. By the end of the week, I felt very confident about every number I dialed my sight up to. When I finished shooting the mini course every day, I put my bow down and wandered through the surrounding woods to practice my yardage. I'll get more into my process in the coming weeks when I have more time.
On Friday night, I received a release in the mail that I traded for with another guy. It wasn't much of a change, but the change was exactly what I needed. I went from a large Stan Shootoff to a medium. I've shot large releases for a long time, but over the last few months, the smaller frames seem to feel much better in my hand and give me a more consistent feel. I really like the feel of the release, and after shooting it on Saturday afternoon in my final warmup for Sunday, I decided to roll with it. I have won a few things in the past with the large release, so I figured this one wouldn't be much different, especially since it felt better in my hand. Now, on to the real reason why I decided I should shoot that release, besides the feel of it.
On Monday night, I headed south to visit Mark Meyers. He had let me borrow a few things a few months ago, and I needed to get the stuff back to him. After all, he was nice enough to let me borrow it, I certainly needed to get it back to him.
As usual, Mark and I chatted for a bit about everything archery. I asked him to take a look at my draw length. After using his Stan Shootoff, he told me the draw length looked as close to perfect as someone could get it. Amazingly, it even felt good for once. That's why I decided to use the release I received in the trade. It was the same release. Thank you, Mark, for taking the time to help me out and listen to my endless babble. I appreciate all of your insight and honesty. Now, I'll explain what I need to work on next.
When I walked along the trail to the first target today, I didn't know what to expect when I got to the stake. After a quick glance at the target, I felt like I had a pretty good number. I dialed the sight in and struggled a little on the first shot. I could tell that I was tentative on the trigger, which led to a lot of tension in my hand, causing me to become static. Instead of engaging and becoming an active participant, I hung out and watched my pin float around in the 10-ring. I need to put an end to those shenanigans.
Through the first eight targets, I felt really good. My shots felt like they were relatively smooth. Although the shots weren't on the perfect end of the scale, they were solid shots.......until the last two on that first course. I know that when I make bad shots, they are going to the right. I made enough of the them today to figure that out.
As we progressed through the course, we came upon a lot of awkward footing at the stakes as well as some severe up and downhill shots. I seem to do okay with the downhill shots, however, the new draw length has been giving me some issues with the uphill ones. I did a lot better on them today than I did a few weeks ago, and I have Sean Roberts to thank for that. I feel like I have the draw length right about where I need it. I definitely need to continue working on the uphill stuff. It feels like a pair of soggy boots when I try to shoot up any type of inclined grade. I'm hoping that the feeling goes away as the summer moves forward.
By the time I got done, I was glad the day was over. I was mentally drained. The yardage was tough for the better part of the day and took a lot of concentration to get the right numbers. Today was a gentle reminder that my biggest problem lies within my mind. I have the ability to make great shots. I also have the ability to judge yardage close enough to very rarely shoot arrows out of the 10-ring. I felt like I made one bad guess today, and that was on the alligator. I really missed that yardage, but it was because I got a little sloppy and didn't really dial it in close enough when I was figuring out the yardage. That was a mental lapse on my part. That was my only 5 of the day. I lived outside of the 10-ring for quite a bit of the day, and it wasn't because I had bad numbers. The real reason was because of the tension in my release hand. I need to work that into my shot process. I need to really focus on making it part of my process to come into my shot, transfer into my back, then relax the release hand in the index finger and pinky finger. Those two fingers seem to be giving me some issues. It's amazing how easy shooting is when I just relax my hand and let the bow do the work. Amazingly, as simple as it sounds, I very rarely if ever miss when I'm able to relax my hand and participate in the shot. I will beat this, even if it's the last thing I ever do. I will get back to the top of the mountain. The climb has been rough, and today was one of those days I'd like to forget about. I never learn much on my great days, and I'm usually happy after those days. Today got under my skin a little bit and that's because I simply beat myself. I had good numbers all day. If we scored numbers based on yardage judging and not shooting, I'm pretty sure that Jacob and I would have had a pretty good run at the best estimations of the day. Unlike Jacob, I had some issues with my execution. Watching him is a pleasure. I'm hoping that he has a great year. I enjoy his company, and I like watching him shoot. After watching him today, I can't wait to see how the year plays out for him. If he puts in the work with the rangefinder every day, he will, in my opinion, have a fantastic year.
I'm not sure how much shooting I will be doing this week. I have a zillion things going on that need my attention a little more than my bow. I need to take care of some insurance issues, finish writing my speech for my dad's hall of fame induction on Saturday, and continue working on the pagination process of my book. I need to get these things done. Since I'm not sure if I'll be able to go to the Maine shoot next weekend, I'll spend my time with these things.
Here's my card for the day. I need to clean up the 8s. Most of them weren't from yardage. They were from tension in my release hand. I easily left a minimum of 10 points on the course due solely to that problem. Gotta keep grinding. I'll find a way.
Shooter Profile of the Week: Jeff Wagoner
This is my buddy Jeff Wagoner. Many people don't know the first thing about Jeff. It's probably because he's so unassuming that he mixes into the background and you overlook him. He's the kind of guy that everyone needs as a friend. He's always calm and just goes about his business like the doesn't have a care in the world.
Although Jeff shot a Mathews for a few years, he has been a PSE guy for the majority of his archery career. Jeff is one of (or maybe the only guy) who has ever shot a perfect score at the New York Indoor State Championship with fingers. We tried convincing him for year to change to a release, but he always asked why he should do that if he could beat most release shooters with his fingers. He did have a point, but we always figured he would do well in the release classes because he could aim so well and was always calm.
A few years ago he started shooting a Stan hinge and quickly picked it up like he had done it for years. After switching to the release, the is always in the hunt but very rarely gets any credit it for it. He took home second place money at the Connecticut state team shoot last summer, and he was in good shape for a great showing at the New England Trail Shoot halfway through last year, until an equipment problem reared its ugly head and things spiraled out of control but was no fault of his own.
Most people don't know that Jeff has been able to capture a couple of third place finishes at the IBO World Championship, and he has also been at the top of the leaderboard on more than one occasion in the old days at the Atlantic City Archery Classic.
A few years ago Jeff was diagnosed with cancer, which was a direct link to chewing tobacco since he was a kid. He encourages all people to stop the habit if they have it. He stopped instantly when he was diagnosed and hasn't picked the habit back up since that time. He had to take some time off from shooting as he battled against the cancer, but nobody would ever know it by looking at the way he shoots now.
If you see Jeff on the tournament trail make sure you extend your hand to him and introduce yourself. You won't beat a better buy than him. As we say, "He's good people."
Until next week -------------------------> keep working on the little things and jump over the hurdle that's in front of you before going for the next one. It's one at a time until you cross the finish line.
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