This week was a blur, and it was filled with some ups and downs, the downs really low and the ups like standing on top of an unclimbable mountain. I started off the week by scrambling to find an arrow combination to use at the New Hampshire Senior Games. Although I didn't put much of anything into shooting this tournament or preparing for it, I wanted to make sure that I had a decent chance to at least stay in the yellow at 60 and 50 and not make a fool of myself. I probably should've spent more time preparing, but I felt confident with my setup when I hung finally chose something on Wednesday night.
After a fair amount of testing with different arrows, arrow lengths, point weights and vanes, I quickly learned that 100 grain points on my Easton Lightspeed 3Ds outperformed the 80 grain points. Actually, I don't think it had anything to do with spine, I think it was more related to the heavier point stabilizing the arrow a little bit faster and better.
I also did a fair amount of shooting with Bohning 1.5 X-vanes, FlexFletch 1.75 shield cuts, and Bohning 2.0 air vanes. After shooting a lot of arrows, I noticed that the air vanes always stayed in the 10-ring and mostly landed in or around the X. These vanes seemed to be the most forgiving on bad shots and grouped the best on my good shots. I chose to fletch all of my arrows with those vanes due to those two simple facts that I saw on the paper in my testing. The shorter X-vane just didn't seem to be as forgiving. While they landed okay, they just didn't hang consistently in the 10-ring when I thought they should have. The Flex-Fletches have always been a great vane for me, going back to the '90s, but I just felt that the Air vane gave me the best chance to save my ass on marginal shots. Maybe it's all in the head, but that's the vane I used on my Lightspeed 3Ds..........still one of my favorite arrows of all time.
Since I had a limited amount of time this week, I knew I needed to get in some range-finding practice before going to the 3rd leg of the National Triple Crown. I didn't want to go there and get my ass throttled. I'll be the first to tell you that I just haven't spent much time this year judging. I've concentrated almost solely on relearning my shot and figuring out my draw length. Looking back on it, it has definitely been worth my time. Now that I'm finally getting it and my shot feels incredible, I know I can win in any event I participate, and that feeling is incredible. In the last seven months, I wondered if I would ever have that feeling again. It has returned.
I did get some good judging practice in at my dad's house, but I just didn't feel like it was enough. I've decided to go to the IBO World, so I know I have to put some time in to be able to be competitive. I could have a good couple of days out of luck, but if I put the time in, I think I will stand a good chance at making the dance after the first two days. It only takes a bad judgment or two to keep you from that final day but having the numbers practice definitely increases your chances of succeeding.
Wednesday night I shot in my normal 3D league at Hudson Falls Fish and Game. Just to gain confidence, I judged the number, ranged it, then shot the target. I wanted to make sure I was aiming in the right place and executing good shots. Here's the result. I think my dad was pretty amazed after about the eighth target. Here's the card for the night.
After that night, I had a lot of confidence heading to the Triple Crown. My yardage estimations were right on, too. I felt like I had the ability to win when I left, after all, if I didn't, I would not go. I don't go to events to go, I go to the them to win. At this stage of my Joe Archery Career, I don't feel that any of the shoots are for experience. I've gotten a lot of experience over the years and don't feel the the random trip just to go shoot arrows is worth my time. It might be a bad attitude, but I don't think it will change at this stage of my life.
So I headed off to the triple crown. It's been a while since I've shot in a national event from the blue stake, so I didn't know what to expect from the course. When it was all said and done, I can say that it seemed like one of the tougher courses I've shot in recent years. It wasn't over the top, but there was an awful lot of broken yardage, shadows, trickery, and just great sets. I have to say that I was impressed. I could easily see all of the work that went into setting these courses. The numbers were extremely hard to guess, and it showed up on my scorecard.
I got off to a good start when I smoked the 11 on a caribou. The good shooting continued for a while. Not only was I scoring well, I was shooting great shots. I didn't have to let down, and I could see everything well, even though it was only 7:30 a.m. Then, I got to a white goat. I was standing in a shaded area, and the target was in the bright sun. When I drew the bow and tried to settle the pin, I could not see the pin at all; it totally disappeared. I drew back a couple of times and decided I would do what once caused me to lose the National Triple Crown by three points. I briefly saw the pin before it disappeared, so I imagined it was where it needed to be an pulled...............my heart sunk when my dad said, "You're not going to like that." As I got closer to it, I was relieved to see that the arrow had struck the eight line.
I could lie and tell you that it didn't rattle me, but it did. Normally, I don't let stuff like that phase me, but I knew I should've killed the target. It's hard to kill it when you can't see your pin. On the next target, I had a tough time getting the shot off, and when it fired, it struck at 3 o'clock in the 10-ring. It ticked me off because it was a target that I should have got an 11 on. I quickly put those two targets behind me and marched forward. When I got to the 10th target, I knew I wouldn't be able to tell where I was on it. It was a bomb of a razorback board. Although I could see the pin, I didn't have a clue where it was on the target when the shot fired. The arrow hit directly above the 10, barely out by a fingernail width. I'm not sure if I hit where the pin was or if I misjudged the yardage. Either way, I got off the course with a decent score but knew it could have been better. My shot felt awesome.
I continued shooting well through the next 10 targets. After ending with a 199, I felt good about it and knew that if that was at the IBO World, I would be sitting pretty after day one. Unfortunately, we were shooting all 40 on this day so we could get home.
I had to lead off a long strutting target on the next course. I got a little tense in the middle of the shot and was lucky to stay in the 8-ring, and that's when the lug nuts loosened up and the wheels on the bus began to wobble. I fought like hell to keep it on the road. It took all of my strength to keep the bus between the lines. I caught lose dirt on the side of the highway and bounced off a couple of concrete barriers in the outside lane, but I gritted my teeth and hung on for dear life as I tried to salvage a good round.
I won't get to in depth, but I lost my yardage on that set of 10 targets. When I lost my yardage, I lost my confidence, made some stupid decisions, and became extremely tense. I simply couldn't get my release to fire. Instead of transferring my shot into my back at full draw, I let it sit right in the top of my right shoulder. Pretending to pull, I couldn't move at all. I became a viewer instead of a player.......and it was hell. It's a feeling I never want to experience again. The more I thought about my shot, the worse it made it. I began thinking about what to do rather than just trusting my shot. I'm a firm believer that this would've destroyed most others. I've always been a battler so I put the gloves on and said, "Give me your best shot. I can take it. I'll knock you out, even thought you're beating the shit out of me."
Although I didn't make any really bad shots during this time, the struggle took a lot out of me. It felt like I had to go back to my corner while my trainers considered throwing the white towel into the ring. Those 10 targets kicked my ass, and I didn't like the feeling. Although I was fortunate enough to make mostly good shots, every point I dropped hurt like a blow to the face without being able to protect myself. I knew that it wasn't me. This was not the new Todd I've become accustomed to know and like.
When I started my last 10 targets, I let a few things get under my skin. My mental game began being affected, too. A guy in the group in front of me was being overly obnoxious and loud. I found it hard to concentrate and my tension problems combined with that guy's voice allowed me to lose focus. I started the last 10 with a max yardage Big 10. I knew it was max yardage just looking at it, but I decided to play it safe and shot it for 47 1/2, knowing it was 50. It hit right on the line at 6'oclock on the 10-ring. Unfortunately, it was less than the width of a a piece of hair out of the 10-ring. That got under my skin. The next three shots, I stroked and it felt like I had released some of the tension and got my shot back. Then, I had a hard time on a bedded white ram. Once again, I couldn't see the pin on the target. It completely disappeared. Once again, I looked a a spot and just pulled. Amazingly, the arrow landed squarely in the 11. So as we walked to the next target, I had all I could handle of the guy in the group in front of me. I coughed loud enough so I thought he would get the hint that I wanted him to shut up. Suddenly, I found myself more focused on him than me. When I turned the corner, I came upon a fairly long uphill coyote. I looked at it and had a hard time gettin a number. Finally, I averaged my guesses and told my selfless it was two less than 40 and figured that would probably keep me in the 10-ring. I dialed the sight and held right on the black dot in the top of the 11. I executed a flawless shot and expected it to hit right behind the pin. Instead, I saw it hit directly above the 10, right near the core. Looking at my sight, I had set it for two hash marks above 40.........one of the worst mental mistakes I've ever made at a big shoot. I'm fairly certain I would have donutted the 11 if I had put the sight where it should've been put. Shortly after I walked to the stake and saw an antelope that had a bunch of low holes on it. There wasn't a hole in it above the bottom of the 10. Looking at it, I know enough to add two to three yards to my guess because my guess is probably similar to the same guess of the people in front of me. I ignored the smart Todd's voice in my head and just set my sight and shot the arrow. Of course, it struck right with all of the other holes under the 10-ring. It was another mental mistake, and I knew time was running out. When I got to the last two targets, I wanted to finish my day on a good note, and I could see both targets really well. On the second to last target, I executed a perfect shot on a fairly long gator, then I topped it off my shooting another 11 on the next target, the last one of the day, a bedded doe.
Looking at my tournament, I can tell you that I can really feel my shot now. When I execute a good shot, I will not miss, and I'm executing mostly good shots. The only issue I'm having right now is getting through my shot. I got hung up on quite a few today, and I need to fix that problem. I need to put that behind me and focus on the phenomenal things that happened throughout the day. Although the score card doesn't look that good, it was so close to being a phenomenal round that I was impressed. If you could have given me about one total inch combined on a ruler, I wouldn't have shot the 5, five 8s, and I would have stroked about 6 more 11s. This is how fine a line there can be between a poor, good, great, and phenomenal day. I think I had a pretty decent day. If I could have guessed yardage a hair better, I would have won this tournament. Hopefully, my numbers will start falling in line. Here's my card for the third leg of the National Triple Crown. As you can see, I had far too many 8s.
Sunday I attended the New Hampshire State Senior Games. This was the first 900 round I've shot since 2002. Although I've shot some practice rounds in the years in between, I haven't shot an official scoring round. On my good days in practice, I usually shoot between an 890 and 896, and my bad days usually fall in the low 80s. Of course, it's all dependent on the conditions. After the little bit of practice I had while getting a bow ready for the event, I figured I would finish in the low 90s if the weather didn't throw us a curveball.
When I drew the bow for the first arrow on the first practice end at 60 yards, I couldn't believe the adrenaline rush that greeted me. I didn't feel it coming and didn't expect it all. It caught me off guard and consumed me. On the first end, I didn't execute one good shot, and I even shot a zero when my hinge tripped while letting go and gently launched an arrow 10 yards in front of me. The second and final practice end wasn't much better. Between the two ends, half of my arrows found their way to the 10-ring. The nerves were taking control, so I decided to race back to my chair before the first scoring end and practice a short breathing routine that I learned a long time ago.
When the whistle blew for the first scoring end, I stepped to the line and couldn't believe how good my pin settled into the middle, especially since I couldn't hold it remotely still at any point in the practice ends. I also felt a sense of calm come over me. I was pleased, and it relaxed me a little bit. My first six arrows landed behind the pin, and I shot one that barely missed the 10-ring at 9 o'clock. That arrow hit directly behind the pin when the sight drifted that way when the release went off. The second end was a repeat of the first end, but I missed one a hair low. When the shot broke, I thought it caught the 10 line, but it didn't; it missed by less than a fingernail width........the power of target arrows. In the third end, I felt a little bit of tension creep into my release hand and the shots seemed much tougher to execute. Four of them found their way to the middle, and two missed, both going low. That end is when I began having some equipment issues. In the fourth end, I couldn't keep my arrow on the rest during the draw, and the arrows kept falling off. Most shooters had three shots gone and I still hadn't been able to draw the arrow back and keep it on the rest. I decided that I might be able to do it if I used my button release. I took it out and luckily got the rest of my arrows shot okay. Rushing through things didn't help matters, and I finished off the round with less than 30 seconds. This was stressful because all of the other rounds I had finished before the two minute mark. I was stroking up until that end. I dropped two points that were directly related to the issues I was having while trying to draw my bow.
That brought me to the last end at 60. In that end, I shot what where probably my best shots of the day. I didn't use any binoculars or spotting scope, and I could see the arrows forming a nice group as I shot. Since the distance doesn't make it possible to see exactly where they were hitting, I felt good about it............until I walked to the target and noticed that one arrow was touching the outside of the 10-ring at 6 o'clock, and the rest of them were all touching each other below that. It was the best group I shot all day. I could have covered the group with to top of a soda can. Looking at the sight, I could see where the knob loosened up and my pointer was no longer on my 60 yard mark, which is why all of the arrows were low.
When I began 50 yards, the problems persisted with the rest, and I got down near the bottom of the time limit again. I couldn't concentrate while dealing with this mess. That's when I decided to go for broke and change the blade. I hadn't had any problems in the last week while shooting at home or during the first four ends of scoring. Something happened to the blade, and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I quickly screwed out the Super Freak .008 blade and put a standard .010 blade on it. I asked Dad to spot for me, so I could attempt to sight it in during that end and lose as few points as possible. When the first shot fired, I didn't know where it went, and Dad didn't see it through the spotting scope. I shot another one and saw the general area where it hit. When I glassed it, I saw my first arrow and the second arrow. The first one had hit just into the 8-ring at 7 o'clock, and the second one was less than a half inch from it, but managed to catch the 9-ring. I quickly adjusted the left and right, and next arrow hit just out of the 10-ring at 3 o'clock. A few clicks to the left, and I felt good to go. The next three ends, I dropped one point, and I'm fairly certain it would've hung a 10 with the other blade. This blade didn't seem to be all that forgiving to a bad shot.
When I got to 40, I had a lot of tension in my release hand during the first end, and my first arrow struck the 9-ring, barely outside of the 10 at 3 o'clock. From that arrow forward, I put it on cruise control and tried executing good shots. For some reason, the tension decided to come back for the first arrow of the last end. When the tension arrived, the pin drifted to the right, and the release fired. The arrow landed in the same hole as the first one I missed on the first end at 40. When it was all said and done, I was glad to be done. This was a day that required a lot of different skills on my end.
I wanted to quit when the problems with the rest arrived but decided to change the blade and make the best of a bad situation. From the time the rest issues started, until I got them fixed, I dropped 11 points. Looking back on it, I know I would have cleaned the last end at 60 due to the group size, just if I had seen that the sight moved. I also know I would have cleaned the end at 50 when I was trying to sight the bow in again after the blade change. I also think I would have gotten one of the two I missed on the end before that. If all of those things happened, which they didn't, I believe I would have finished with around an 890. This goes to show you that sometimes shit happens and you do the best you can to get around it.
I did encounter a lot of tension today but felt like I was able to get through it. I also forgot to say that I shot my hinge today. It's the first time I've shot one for the better part of the tournament since 1994 when that's the only style release I ever used. Although the release works great in my yard, I believe I need to speed it up a little for tournaments. In the few cases when I needed to use the button today, I released that my hands get way more tense with a button. With the hinge, my index finger created some issues, but nothing I couldn't get past. I'm sure that this will improve over time. Here's a picture of the card. It wasn't a great round, but for changing things on the fly while scoring, I'm not sure many people could have done better. I'm proud of the way it ended up. It's far from my high score, but it's my first score when major changes were made in midstream.
So here's my take for the weekend. I really struggled with tension. Tension is what held me back in both of these events. Even though I scored well in today's events considering the events that unfolded, the tension didn't make the round feel very good. My shots broke clean as hell and very few of them were less than good. It just felt like I had too much tension in my index finger and forearm. I need to work on that. It seems to be a recurring problem. If I ever find a way to get through that in regularity, I will be hard to beat. I have considered the Paige Gore routine of going to a caliper. I can shoot a caliper without any problem at all, and I know I wouldn't have to worry about having a tense hand. The tense hand is usually what causes my misses, and I hate the feeling that comes along with it.
I encountered the same thing at the Triple Crown shoot. Almost all of my shots broke clean and felt incredibly awesome. When I execute perfect shots without tension, I don't miss. I can shoot 11s all day long. The weird thing is that my shots feel so good when I execute the good ones, but they feel so poorly on other occasions that it makes me not want to even shoot. I will beat this two-headed demon, because when it's good, it's awesome, and I feel like I will never miss.
Instead of doing our shooter profile this week, I would like to give a shout out to a number of people who competed at the third leg of the National Triple Crown. Can we ever say enough about Jacob Slusarz? He got it done, but then again, did anyone think he wasn't going to get it done. I love routing for this kid and want him to win. I like his approach, and I like the way he executes every part of the training program. It's impressive to watch. I'm glad I can call this young fella a friend. Incredible accomplishment on his part. Next time you see him make sure you extend a hand and give him congratulations. I can vouch for how difficult it is to do what he just did. It's nothing short of astounding.
Jacob's dad also had a great shoot. Once again John finished in the top 10 with a solid round. In two of the three legs, John was knocking on the door for a win. That's pretty damn impressive in one of the most competitive classes in 3D archery.
The Kay clan had a great weekend, too. Ted just needed one more good round to put up a big number. Sometimes the ghosts get us, and sometimes we get them. A couple of them jumped on Ted's back on one course and held him back, still impressive, though. The Kay women put on a good shooting display, both finishing with very respectable scores and finishes. We definitely can't leave Ethan out. Ethan found a great home with the Kays and fits right in with them. He has the drive to succeed and has put himself on the path to do so. He's going to achieve some great things, just because he wants to. Great job, Ethan. You just bet better and better every week. Be proud of your accomplishments.
How about George Connors? I hate giving him credit because he's such a goober and drives a Ford, but he deserves it. Unlike most of us, his work doesn't allow him to enjoy many of these road trips we go on every year. A few years back I brought him to his first national event in Erie, Pa., then we went to West Virginia, where he brought up the rear and finished near the bottom of the pack..........but he learned things on that trip. The best things sometimes come from our worst moments, and that's the case with George. He got a missing piece that weekend and used it to his advantage. He took it and ran with it. It was a small hitch in his form that Bobby Worthington pointed out to him. He crushed the field that year and has continued his winning ways. George finished tied for first at this last leg, tied with a guy who very rarely loses. With more opportunities, I'm sure George would form quite a rivalry with that guy. Great job, Connors, but Jacob and I talked about it and realized that the only reason you had to settle for second after losing the tie breaker on Xs is probably because you drive the second place vehicle, a Ford. Isn't that right Jacob?
I can't leave out Barry Gates in this whole thing. Barry was sending pictures of his daughter at her target archery nationals, and I was glad to see them. Her form was looking solid, and she was pounding them in the middle after she got past a few of her nervous tendencies. Barry, tell her we all get them.............I still get them. We just have to battle through them and do our best.
Last but not least, I must mention Sean Roberts. I called him on his way home, and he was beating the snot out of himself. He was really dejected, and I get it. I've been there. I've take that same exact ride many times. We too often beat ourselves up and forget what we have accomplished. In a few short years, Sean went from being a participant at the IBO World and one or two nationals, to becoming a winner, a guy whom everyone wants to know how he shot because he's one of the guys to beat. Other guys strive to keep up to him and beat him. If you're that guy who everyone wants to beat, you are allowed to have a bad day every now and then. Actually, big buddy, you are allowed to have as many bad days that come your way. Why? Because nobody can ever take away what you've accomplished. You have reached the top of the mountain for us Joes, and that's something to write home to mom about. Great job. Keep you chin up and keep up the hard work. Shit happens. Grab a shovel, dig a hole in the backyard and bury it. Time to move forward.
I also have to mention my other few local people made up of Jimmy Gagnon and John Vozzy. Both of these guys just need to show up to be in the hunt. They both shot well at the shoot, and I'm glad to call both of them friends.
I could continue boring all of you for a while longer, but let's all get at it and keep working on the stuff that holds us back. I'm going to continue working on the set-up of my shot to see if I can decrease some of the hand tension. Since it's almost impossible to replicate in my yard, I will also try shooting a caliper this week. I'll end my sharing a picture of me and my dad at our first senior event that we shot together. It was a great day, even though both of us finished far below where we are used to finishing in the scoring column.
