This was me talking to my buddy Doug during and after the Connecticut State Championship.
Well, this week has been filled with a mixture of emotions for me. I had all sorts of elbow pain in the beginning of the week, which I'm sure most of you are probably tired of me referring to it. Anyone who has had to deal with injuries that affect shooting get a better idea about the battle. It's hard when you love the sport so much that you don't want to stop, and it's even harder to be unable to put the proper time into it to work on the things you truly need to work on to fix them.
That's why I decided to do a lot of range-finding this week. Since my shot is the worst it has been in many years, I know that my yardage judging is essential to shooting a remotely good score. I'm paying the price for bad shots, and the price is getting increasingly higher. It seems like the bad shots are costing me $100 now as compared to the dollar or two they used to cost me in the past. They seem to add up much quicker now, especially the last few weeks. I'll talk more about this in a bit.
You might have to bear with me for this entry because it could get lengthy. A lot of things happened, and I think they are things I should share with you because I'm sure many of you battle the same things.
Where do I start? I'll start with the range-finding. This has always been one of my strong points. I'm good at it, and I'll argue with people when we both have drastically different numbers and hit in the same place. That's how sure I am of my yardage. Have you ever shot with that guy who is 4-5 yards different than you, and you both insist you're right? Yup, I have too!! But I will always argue with the person if I make a good shot. I practice this as much as I practice shooting, so I feel confident enough to know if I'm right or wrong by seeing where the arrow hits after a good shot. This year has made me even more confident about my estimations. I've been getting my ass kicked this year, but it's definitely not because of my yardage. In past years, I'd probably be in the hunt at every one of these regional shoots. However, when you deal with change, sometimes it takes a long time for the changes to show up on the score cared..................and you can't give up. I've shot in three shoots this year, and I've been lucky enough to shoot with Sean Roberts and Jacob Slusarz. Amazingly, both of these guys have the same numbers as me. This doesn't happen to often. The reason it happens among the three of us is that all three of us practice judging yardage and most likely our rangefinders read the same numbers. These guys are executing good shots 95% of the time or more. I need to do the same. Looking at the last few years, my shot execution was much better. I know this because I was shooting scores that were always at the top of all blue stake scores. Now, I've fallen of the mountain and seem to be picking up speed on the way down like a giant snowball that has become larger than the moon.
So how do I practice yardage? People complain because it's so boring and it takes too long. You can make it take as long as you want to make it take. Some days I have more time than others, so I base my practice on the amount of time I have available on certain days. Just like shooting, when I have bad numbers that day out of the gate, I don't practice anymore that day.
How do I do it? Well, I always try to find a starting point that I can automatically identify. I played baseball from the time I was five years old until I was 21 on regular basis. I was lucky enough to spend most of my time playing third base, and I also found a way to get on base a lot while hitting. The distance between the bases is 90 feet, which is 30 yards. Over the years, I got so used to seeing that distance that it became automatic for me. I can look at something and almost instantly tell if it's 30 yards. I also spend a lot of time shooting my bow from 40 yards and 50 yards. Seeing those two distances the most while practicing makes those distances almost automatic for me when I see them in the woods. That means I have three automatics for the most part. I know I won't usually be more than a yard or two off at those distances. I would advise you to go out one full practice session and just walk around practice starting number for yourself. If you shoot the yellow stake, try to make 20,25 or 30 automatic. If you can do 30, it eliminates a lot of room for error because you can instantly tell if it's over 30 or under 30. I range trees. Trees are my strong point. Jacob ranges things on the ground. We have two different ways of doing it, but we both have a system.
When I walk up to a target, I rough it in and roll my sight to a number near where I think my first glance tells me to go. So I walk up and say, "43 yards." After finding my 30 (the money number), I imagine how many steps it will take me to walk from that 30 yard marker to the target. I'm looking and I think it will take me 9 steps to get there, so now I have 39 yards. Then, my last visual is looking at the ground in front of me to find 10 yards (10 steps in front of me), then I imagine how many yards it is from that 10 yard marker. Looking at it I get 40 yards. Okay, now I have all three numbers 43,40, 39. I'm going to take the average, which is 41, and shoot it for that number. I never try to make the numbers be equal. Sometimes I get drastically different numbers, like 50, 41, 43. Okay, so now I have a 9 yard difference and two of my guesses are almost exactly the same. This is where I need to be careful, and I need to know my tendencies. I always just tunnel shots long and I judge black targets long. If this is a tunnel shot or a black target, I'm automatically subtracting a couple from the 50. If it's a deer, I'm going to go with the average, but lean a yard or two toward the lower number. Averages usually don't lie. If you're a .300 hitter in baseball, you hit safely 3 out of 10 times. These averages with yardage are very similar. Very rarely will your average be wrong. Find a system for yourself and give it a whirl. Change you system if you have a hard time judging yardage and see if you can find the perfect system for you. If you're shooting blue stakes, you need to identify 40 yards fairly easily because a lot of the game is played in that neighborhood. If you're shooting yellow stacks, then try your hardest to identify 30 yards immediately, because 30 is where your game starts. If you can eliminate everything under 30 or over 30, you only have to deal with about a five yard gap, then if you're still unsure you can cut the middle and shoot them for the number in the middle of that 5-yard gap, and more times than not, you will be in the 10-ring.
Here's my practice session for one night last week. On the far left is my guess, then the actual distance, then the difference.
Okay, enough with the lessons of the day and on to the destruction of my archery ego. Most people who know me probably know that I don't have much of an ego. It's usually hard to tell if I lit the course up or if I totally bombed. I like to stay even in my mind and appearance. Don't show too much emotion either way. I also know how quickly you can go from becoming a great shooter to an average shooter. Shooting is difficult. The great guys make it look easy, however, Joes seem to bust their ass at it and have a hard time being consistent. It's not that they work any less at it than the good guys, it's just that something is missing. I've always considered myself an above average shooter, and I have some notable hardware to prove it. On my best days, I'm pretty good, and on my sub-par days, I'm still usually better than most others. This year has been an eye-opening experience for me. Actually, it seems that I'm executing shots better than ever this years, but when I make a bad one, I pay the price in a big and bad way. Fortunately, I haven't made too many bad ones, but I'm making enough of them to quickly turn a good day into a well below average day compared to what I'm used to.
This is where former ego is battling new ego. They're sitting on both of my shoulders and meeting just about in the middle of my head between my ears. I know I'm better than what my score card is showing. This year, I'm trying to let the old ego go. The past is the past and it doesn't mean anything as compared to today. Whatever I did in the past doesn't mean squat today. I might have beaten up on the same people for the last 20 years, and now, they're kicking me while I'm down. This is the point when some good shooters have an attitude problem. I actually enjoy the struggle, but I won't lie and tell you it's not getting under my skin, because it is. I don't like shooting well below the guys I've always hung with, but I'm lucky because the vast majority of them are more than understanding and supportive. They encourage me to hang with it. In the end, I'll turn the corner, but it's hard to believe.
Then, I'll run a stretch on a course and realize I still have game, so I know it's in there if I can eliminate the mistakes in my shot.
So how did this weekend go? I shot the IBO Connecticut State Championship then I shot the IBO in Richfield Springs, NY. So this weekend I had a lot of things to think about when I sat down to write this. Where do I start?
I'll start right from the gate on Saturday morning when I began the CT shoot. I found myself easily distracted. Very rarely does something like that happen to me, but I just couldn't focus. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and I knew I was letting the wind affect my shot, even when it didn't have anything to do with it. Instead of just setting up and shooting, I let the sound of the wind in the trees take over and inundate my mind with distracting thoughts. As the day moved on, I found my mind further and further from where it needed to be. When I got to the 15th target, I walked ahead of the group and searched my mind. Looking into my release pouch, I said, "Fuck it, when you learned how to shoo the proper way almost 30 years ago, you always shot a hinge, and you shot it well. Pull that son of a gun out of there and shoot it." That's all it took. I decided to shoot it. I haven't shot a hinge in a tournament since 1995. Although I shoot them all the time at the range and occasionally in a league, I have always avoided them in tournaments. I figured with 15 left, I would see what I had. My first shot was a poke, and the arrow landed in the 11, one of the only 4 I shot on the day. Well, I committed to it the rest of the way. After getting off those last 15, I think I had shot two 8s and a zero. The zero wasn't a bad shot, either. The zero came from when the arc of my arrow intercepted a low-hanging branch. Due to my height and the speed of my bow, the arrow barely clipped the bottom of the branch. Shit happens, it happens to all of us. When I got to the next target, I shot an 8 out the right, but the zero was still boiling a little under my skin, and it's evil head popped out like a zit on a teenager's face............it happens. Fortunately, I've always been a guy who can instantly get passed a bad scoring arrow and capitalize on it on the next shot. I let it bother me too much on Saturday and paid for it. I shot a 90 on the last 10 targets with a zero and and 8 on the last two targets. I was really happy about that, and on the last 15 targets, I only shot one other 8. The hinge worked. I should stick with it, but it still makes me a little apprehensive when I'm shooting it.
So to make a long story short, my former ego battled my new ego all the way home from the shoot. I ended with a 269, but I knew I shot way better than the score. I paid the price for not being able to concentrate and letting outside interferences into my mind. I know I need to pay attention to that out of the gate if I notice it happening in the future.
That brings us to today at the Richfield Springs IBO in NY. This course was really challenging and had a little bit of everything in it. It challenged me with close shots, long shots, steep uphill shots, some nice downhills shots, some field shots, and some shots in open hardwoods. This shoot had it all. It might have been a hair easier than the Connecticut shoot, but not a whole lot. Once again, I was able to shoot with Jacob. Brian Purdy was also in my group and John Layou. I knew there was going to be a good arrow in the target every time I shot today.
I started off really well. I got a few 8s on some pretty tough uphill shots, but I held my own and felt good about it. I started with my hinge and made some great shots. Then, I got to a place on the course where I was a little concerned with where I was standing in relation to a group in front of me. I let it get in my mind and thought about that the entire time I was trying to execute. I overhead the shot, my had got tense and I bobbed when I should've weaved, and the shot broke. I shot a 5 on a target I had no business shooting a 5 on. It didn't make me angry because I knew why I did it. I cleaned it up after that and had a pretty good run of 10s until another bad shot crept up and got me. Before the day finished, I let the wind in a few field shots mess with my head again, which caused two bad shots. The wind probably wouldn't have bothered me at all, but I allowed it to mess me up, something I've never done in the past. I'm a great wind shooter, and I know I shoot well in the wind. I'm not sure where this new wind demon cam from and how he found his way into my head. I'll surely kick him out next time he tries to sit on my shoulder and whisper into my ear. He's leaving. I'm sending him home.
So how do I sum up the weekend? Yup, I'm pissed off because I'm getting spanked all over the map. But the plus side to this is that unless my peers are bullshitting me, they have all said my shot looks good. Jacob says I should stick with the hinge. I think I have to agree. Of anyone, he has seen my the most on a 3D course of anyone over the past few years. Unfortunately, many people think 18 year olds don't know enough to tell them what to do. I trust his feedback. When we shoot with people a lot we get to know the way they operate. I seen a weeee-tiny bit of tentativeness in Jacob's shot this year as compared to last year. That's the only reason he hasn't gone on a tear yet. Once he gets a little more experience from this stake, I'm pretty sure he'll pick up where he ended on the red stake last year. He was much more aggressive today, and it showed on the score card when he there down a 311 I think. Every shoot, he gets closer and closer. I hope he steadily improves as the year goes on and does well at the nationals. Here's my card for today's shoot. I feel that I'm close. I made 5 really bad shots today, and I paid for all of them. The amazing part is that the two fives were from when I hung up on shots and I shot both of them while using my button. Here's the damage. If I had executed good shots on those, I would have ended with 306 because I had the yardage on all of them according to the comparison that Jacob and I did. Here's my card in the second picture, and Jacob next to Mark Myers' sign in the first picture All I can say is that I saw a few of the guys who Mark works with shoot pretty damn awesome today and yesterday. A shout out to Chuck Weeden, Jacob Slusarz, John Layou, Gary Jones, and Mark Smith. They were all really happy with their shooting, and all of them say Mark has helped them to up their games. Thanks Mark for supporting the IBO Northeast, and I'm glad your shooters are doing well. If you take a look at my card, I shot my high 11 count for the year. Although the course was a tad shorter than most others, it wasn't much easier due to the tricky numbers. If I can shoot close to the same number of 11s as Jacob, especially using one of the thinnest diameter arrows as possible, I feel like I had a successful day.
This week's shooter profile goes to Bill Romanchick
I'm not even sure when Bill and I met, but I'll bet it was sometime in the early '90s. I've liked Bill since the first day I ever met him. He has a great personality, and I enjoy his fire. Recently, he has talked about hanging it up. Since he's one of the few guys left from my early days, I hope he never does that. I always look forward to seeing him and watching his success. Right from the beginning days, Bill has always been in the hunt. I've been able to see him grow as an archer, and I know the New England IBO shoots have helped him over the last four years. In the old days, Bill's mental game is the only thing that held him back, but as he's gotten older his mental game has improved. Now, when he goes to the IBO World, everyone knows they have to beat this guy to stand a chance at making the cut because he's probably going to have one of the top 5 scores it takes to make the cut. I think Bill is one of the few people who has improved with age, and his mental game is much stronger than it used to be. I think it's great that Wade Chandler has just gotten back into shooting because he had Wade used to battle it out in the old days. I shot with Wade on Saturday, and he was shooting really well until near the end. I hope they both get back to being neck and neck so we can watch some battles in the near future. Both of these guys were big players back in the day.
I've always considered Bill a good friend. My dad and I have always loved picking on him. He opens himself up to the abuse, but he can dish it out, too. We've had many nicknames for him, including Back Brace Bill, The Mayor of Middleburgh, and Billy Bravo. I like all of them, but the Mayor of Middleburgh is probably the one that sticks.
Dad and I were lucky enough to shoot with Bill quite a bit in the '90s, and we had some great times. We shot together at the Nashua, NH, leg of the IBO Northeast Triple Crown one year, and Bill and I both ended up right at the top. Then, we shot together at Merrimack, NH, in the Northeast Triple crown. Although Bill never made many bad shots, I can remember a head-on strutting turkey that we shot straight down the hill on the bank of the Merrimac River, and I smoked it for a 10. Bill hit it in the waddles and said, "How the F**K did you get him?" It was quite a shot. I probably couldn't do it again if I had to. For some reason, I just remember that. He has always had the ability to make me laugh.
Now, all these years later, it seems like Bill is unbeatable, and I'm really happy about his success. I like to see the old guys still at the top. It makes me realize that I was able to shoot with some phenomenal shooters back in the day, and I have all of them to thank for all of my success. These guys pushed me to be better and made me want to me better. They all rooted for me, and I rooted for them. All of us liked to win, but none of us wished anything against the others. We wanted to beat the other people on their best days. It made all of us better. If Bill had ever competed in all of the national events back in the day, he would have always been in the hunt. The modern time just shows that. Unfortunately, he very rarely traveled to the big ones, but now he's a force to be reckoned with at the IBO World. I hope he brings home a belt buckle this year when it returns to Snowshoe, WV, where we all shot together as Semi-pros. Bill, thanks for being a great friend and pushing me to be the best I could be. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Keep plugging, buddy.
Until next week...................keep plugging. That's what I'm going. I feel like I'm never going to get back to the top of the mountain, but it won't be for a lack of trying. If I can conquer the obstacles I've conquered along the way to be somewhat competitive, I know all of you other Joes can if you put the work in. -------------------------------> til next week..........have fun. I apologize for all of the typos, but I'm not rereading this tonight.
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