The only reason I chose to start this entry with this picture is to remind myself that I have the ability to shoot my bow mistake-free throughout high-pressure rounds. I've been struggling with that this tournament season, and I realize I need to get back on track. My focus will go toward improving that area of my game to allow me to shoot rounds like the ones I shot that allowed me to win the patches in the picture above.
After getting home from the First Leg of the IBO National Triple Crown, the cuts were still bleeding, and the burn could be felt from the inside out. The phantom lows ate at my craw through the midnight hour, and my mind raced to find an answer.
Over the course of the week, I found a few answers, but I wasn’t sure if the things found would lead to an A on the next report card. My timing was still good, as nothing had changed. Jacob and I took my cams off and checked the bearings… everything was good. The creep tune on the bow was good, with arrows hitting with each other under all circumstances.
Then, as we were sitting around BSing about different things, Jacob took a nock and slid it up and down on my serving under the loop. The nock barely budged without help. Although I had noticed the same thing throughout the year, I never paid much attention to it. A few years back, Jacob said he had the same issue with nocks on his arrows. Although he was shooting acceptable groups, the groups weren’t what he thought they should be… the same feeling I’ve had.
After changing nocks, his groups tightened. Well, mine did the same. I changed from an Easton G pin nock to a Beiter hunter, and the results could be seen instantly. Over the course of the last two weeks, I decided to shoot a 70-pound bow and overdid it. I basically blew my shoulder out and was unable to draw my normal bow for five days. I got a knot in my upper back/shoulder, which runs into my neck. I also have a lot of pain across my collar bone. It is not pleasant, and it’s making drawing, aiming and shooting the bow extremely difficult.
While around many people with different rangefinders, I also learned that my rangefinder reads an average of 2 to 2.5 yards more than everyone else’s. Instantly, I knew I had to rectify that problem and go back to my dinosaur rangefinder. Jacob and I have always had the same numbers, and I’ve noticed that his numbers have been consistently two yards short of my numbers the entire year. So, some of the lows could’ve been from the target being at 50 yards on someone’s rangefinder, which would’ve been 52 on mine, then if I set my sight at 48 to hang a 10, I could’ve shot it for 46 when it was 50. The result of that is a low 5 on every shot under those circumstances.
We got a late start due to Dad losing his phone. Shortly after getting on the road, we were in the middle lane of I-87 when a tremendous bang shook the truck. My heart went into my throat, as it sounded like a gun bast. However, we quickly realized a tire had exploded on a tractor-trailer in the lane next to us. I always know that traveling creates risks, and none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. That’s why I try to make the most out of every day.
Practice Day
I’ve never enjoyed shooting in London, Ky., and it’s probably not for the reasons why so many others don’t like it. It has never given me the feeling that is associated with a big tournament. It always feels as if it’s something that someone sets up in their backyard to invite their friends over to see which one of them they can piss off the most. Although everyone must shoot the same targets, the timing is crucial on these ranges as to when you shoot each one. In a 20-minute stretch, one group could have no problem seeing a target, while another group may find it merely impossible.
Anyhow, practice wasn’t the best. My shoulder was still in a tremendous amount of pain and aiming the bow with any type of steadiness was all but impossible. I focused on getting good numbers and making the best shots possible.
By the time we finished, I probably ended up shooting a total of 40 arrows for the day, so in the previous week and a half I launched no more than 60 arrows.
Day 1
With the shoulder issues lingering, I shot eight arrows to warm up before my round and called it good. Last week all the pros got an email that stated things were going to change with range assignments due to complaints about integrity. I laughed and predicted the future. They were going to give our ranges different letter numbers than normal so nobody could share numbers between each other from day to day… comical. Yet, in the meeting before we started, they said that unknown shooters would not be shooting any known ranges. Well, Einstein, there is only one other unknown pro range we could possibly shoot… the one we always shoot… the one that Open Pro shoots on the first day. How about just moving 7-10 stakes between days. The stakes only have to vary about 3-4 yards. It doesn’t take any time, and that would eliminate any advantage people would get if they actually shared numbers. Nope, why do that? C’mon, how about having integrity as the business setting the courses. Employees in businesses are paid to work. Changing a handful… or all … of the stakes would take minimal effort and time. Although I could go on, but that’s my rant about that.
I started my day on a deer and made shot a good shot, just missing over the 12. Amazingly, the bow sat down nicely, and my shot felt powerful. In the next four targets, I made smooth, effortless shots and got three 12s. After five targets, I was sitting at +6 and feeling confident. In the next 10, my shots continued breaking effortlessly and the pin continued holding steady. I barely missed a few and had a glance-out on one before taking my first 8 of the round to find myself sitting at +4 after 10. However, I realized that I stopped playing the game the same way I started it. Now, I found myself playing to not lose points rather than playing to gain more points. I began getting a little defensive instead of playing offense and controlling play. Then, on target 14, a wolverine, I heard an arrow and knew the target was in that 48-50 range. It was a no-doubter. Although I didn’t make the best of shots on it, it wasn’t too terribly bad. When the arrow hit, I didn’t like the sound. Looking at it through my binoculars, I could see it sitting below the 8-line. It was my first marginally bad shot of the day, and it made me pay the price. I earned it. Even with the 5, it only put me at -1. I felt I could make a comeback over the next six targets and finish my day on the plus side. With a few targets left, I missed one to the right, with another marginal shot, but I finished the day barely missing two 12s. The group thought both were 12s from the stake.
At the end of the day, I sat at 3 down, but my shooting played out better than the scorecard showed. Heading off the range, I was disappointed, but I was also satisfied that I gave myself a chance going into Day 2. I shot with Joe Pitt on Day 1, and we usually shoot well when we shoot together. The same played out this weekend. We both stayed afloat and found ourselves within reach of the leaderboard. Joe always keeps the group loose, and I find it easy to shoot with him. I enjoy his company in my group, and I always feel at ease when I learn we will be sharing the same stake. While it’s easy to shoot with some people, others can make for a long day.
Day 2
Heading into day 2, I figured if I could get back to even, I would have a great chance at making it into the shootdown round, and I knew my shooting was on par with achieving that. Once again, I only fired eight shots at the target butt before the round.
When I got to the target, a black panther, I felt good about my starting position. After the cards were drawn, I learned I would be shooting last. The panther was close, and I knew I would go after the 12. However, with it being a little dark out, I must’ve aimed a little too low while also seeing the yardage a little short. I started off with an 8. It’s never a good thing to go backward when you’re on one of the closest targets you’ll see during the round.
When I got to the next stake, the target at the end of the lane was a leopard. After hearing a few arrows, I knew it was a bomb. I set my sight and aimed for center 10. Before drawing the bow, I turned my light on, and the pin was huge. At full draw, I had a hard time seeing beyond it, but I lazily ignored it and figured it was OK. After all, I knew I could shoot the arrow in the 10-ring without any problem.
When the shot fired, I felt good about it until Digger Cogar told me it hit to the left. I guessed that it probably hit right where the pin was sitting. I knew better than to shoot the arrow with the light on the brightest level, so I deserved the 8. I was simply complacent and ignored something that was obviously going to hinder me from putting my best effort forth.
After pulling the arrow from the target, I knew I had to buckle down to stand any chance of saving face. From that point forward, I went on a roll, but I couldn’t catch a 12 to save my life. Nearing the end of the round, I came upon another bomb of a wolverine. This time I made sure to aim above the color change on the target. That’s when I realized I had probably been aiming in the wrong place on it. It felt like I was extremely high on it, and it gave me an uncomfortable feeling. That feeling overtook me at full draw, and the shot got squirrely in a hurry. Before I could save it, the pin started dashing and the bow fired. It resulted in a less than desirable score, but I finished the round strong. I went into day 2 in 14th place and that’s basically where I finished. Although the final tally says 16th, it’s because two guys who had the same score shot more 12s than me.
My Final Take on the Weekend
In all reality, I didn’t expect much from this weekend. After injuring my shoulder, I was nowhere near where I needed to be with my shooting. It’s difficult to aim at 12s when you can’t hold the bow steady enough to hit them without paying the consequences along the way. The injury makes me wonder if my shoulder will recover enough to be able to hold well this summer. I haven’t shot without pain since having reconstructive shoulder surgery, but this pain is up a few notches from normal. Time will tell.
In all the ASAs this year, I’ve gotten off to a good start. However, I’m getting behind the 8-ball with a bad shot here or there that I’m paying the price for. The bad shots aren’t remotely close to scoring double digits, with most of them resulting in ugly 5s – even uglier than they appear on the scorecard.
I’m shooting well enough to be at or near the top at the end, but I need to find a way to avoid making two to three bad shots per tournament. In the last two tournaments, they’ve occurred on max-distance wolverines, so I walked by the target trailer and made an impulse buy. I bought the wolverine to ensure I don’t shoot a 5 on it again. When I got home this morning, I took four shots at it from 50 yards without any practice. This is the group. I’m pretty sure I’ve been aiming way too low. When you add that to a bad shot, the result is disastrous. I’ll make sure that does not happen in Metropolis.
Even though I faced physical limitations this time, I still expected to do better. I could have almost no use in one arm, and I would still think I should do better. I don’t believe there is any reasonable excuse for not doing well. Then again, I do feel blessed to be able to compete at the level I compete at and do well at times. I know there are many people who would kill to be able to do the same. I guess in some ways that must makes me a lucky person. I’ve put the work in over the years, and many times it just doesn’t feel like it adds anything to my game. While I’ve gained the respect of my peers, I need to do more for myself. I’m not satisfied with the way things have played out over the last year. My shoulders have gotten progressively worse, and I’m not sure how much archery they have left in them, especially at the highest level of competitive archery. I’ll keep trying, though.
Coming home, I stared out the window and felt like punching a hole through the glass. Then I felt like ripping my new wolverine out of the back of the truck and punting it like a football. All I can tell you is that everyone goes through ups and downs and faces challenges, even the best.
Sometimes you talk with your peers during and after events, and you discuss different things. After this one, I was talking to Tony Tazza, and he was telling me he feels like he’s shooting the worst he’s ever shot, and he’s having issues hanging up on his release and just watching the pin sit there without executing. People think that pros never have any issues because they somehow find a way to never dip too terribly low. We all face the same things everyone else faces. Experience just teaches people how to navigate the bumps in the road. I encourage all of you to remember this when you’re feeling down. I must remind myself of this right now.
This year has been a learning curve, and the curve seems to be getting wider and wider, and I can’t see around the bend in the road. I’m hoping there’s a straightaway once I clear the wide sweeping curve. I’d like to mash the pedal to the floor to race to the checkered flag. I just need to keep the wheel tight and lean into the corner until I get through it.
I’d like to congratulate my dad, Wade Chandler, and Mike LeFevre. They all shot well in Kentucky, and it was good to see them gain some confidence and be rewarded for their efforts. Mike called me earlier in the week and asked for some advice. I gave him a little direction that I thought might help him, and it worked out well. I was glad to see that he stuck to the plan and accomplished his goal. Way to go, Mike!!
My final thought of the week as the national 3D tournament season hits the halfway point:
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