Author Archives: Rob Jones

Feb 23 2016

Shoot report – Paget de Vasey – February 2016

As I’ve said before I always see Paget de Vasey shoot as the start of the NFAS season. It was the NFAS first shoot I ever attended so I make an effort to get there when I can. Fortunately there was no snow or ice this year and the rain mostly stayed away too.
Unlike previous years though this February shoot was smaller, as they were only using the smaller wood which meant it would be a twice round 18. To keep the interest and to make the two halves different the first would be entirely 3d targets and the second would be entirely paper.
Sharon looking amused

Sharon looking amused

You can read my previous shoot report here. Anyway on to the shoot report.
There would be four in our group so joining us would be Andy shooting in gents hunting tackle  and Viv in ladies longbow.
Viv at the first target of the day at Paget

Viv at the first target of the day at Paget

Overall the shoot ran smoothly with the only delay being at lunch break which was expected as people took the time to warm up and have some hot food.
Andy shooting a 3D at Paget

Andy shooting a 3D at Paget

Unlike others I seemed to cope with the paper faces better with very little difference in scoring on the two halves, probably because I shot the 3d targets so poorly. The paper faces were a challenge especially the timber wolf. One nice thing they did was try to match the paper faces with the 3d targets where they could.
Viv shooting the timber wolf

Viv shooting the timber wolf

I think a couple of nets would have been good on a few of the targets not from a safety perspective but for screening. Since they were using the small wood it was inevitable you would see other archers wondering round when you were on the peg .
Andy shooting a 3D at Paget

Andy shooting a 3D at Paget

I still feel that Paget de Vasey is a good shoot for a newbie as it’s friendly, well organised and marshaled.
Sharon shot well especially it was only her second offical time out with her new Blackbrook American Flatbow winning the ladies class.
The day didn’t go well for all though as a friend of ours Nadeem had his Border recurve break at full draw. Fortunately no one was badly hurt and here’s hoping he manages to get it sorted.
So the archery year has started with a friendly and relaxed shoot. They have another in August where they hope to use both woods making a 36 or maybe 40 target course. We’ve already booked our place, who knows maybe we will have warm dry weather.
Thanks for reading.
Feb 19 2016

lights, camera, action, I mean Archery

And the Oscar goes too…
Some people love being in front of the camera, others prefer to do the filming. The question is can video resources help you if you are an instinctive archer?A few weeks ago I posted an article on how we’ve been using a tablet computer mounted on a tripod to record archers at a club coaching session. So How does this help? This aids the archer as they can be shown exactly what they do when drawing up or at point of release. How their hand moves or whether they drop their bow arm. Often they think they are anchoring correctly to the face when in reality they aren’t because it all happens so fast , too fast for some to process. Recording them has huge benefits to the archer’s understanding of what they are actually doing as opposed to what they think they are doing.
Talking to fellow club members on Sunday they showed me footage shot on their iPhone, playing it back in slow motion to watch the arrow flight. With the growth of YouTube and ease by which people can make and edit their own recording I believe there are more budding Spielbergs are out there.

What we can learn from other sports

It is now common for touchline judges and sport referees to make lots of use of instant replays in games, multiple camera angles along with slow motion footage to aid their decisions. Managers and coaches use it for  post match analysis of players performance, game plans etc. So can we use it for our sport of archery, or more precisely for those of us who consider ourselves instinctive archers. I believe it can be used.
From my perspective I believe video resources can be immensely useful for many sports, field archery included and they are becoming more common.
One word of note, there are advantages and disadvantages of these helpful guides and video tips. For starters some may not be that helpful, so it is worth checking out multiple sources of information to get a more rounded understanding of the topic. If you are going to review these resources then make sure you watch a few different sites or techniques as each presenter convoys a slightly different perspective when they narrate their story. The important thing to remember is that they aren’t always right in what they say.
Some can come across as a marketing or sales pitch for the latest products or next development in the technology. Whilst others take a balanced view giving the positive and negative perspective which is important.Generally I’ve found these resources can be broken down in to three types
  • Instructional recordings  where a skill is demonstrated.
  • Video reviews of equipment, competitions or locations.
  • Personal achievement report.

Instructional –  these vary in length from a few minutes to longer durations. Short duration clips of a few minutes I think can be ideal for helping archers out on different topics from how to serve strings, to fletch arrows, to how to aim and shoot instinctively. The short duration is an important factor here as long reviews might go into more depth, but they are harder to find time to watch. Wolfie instinctive archery (https://www.youtube.com/user/Wolfiesairbrush) YouTube channel has some great advice for instinctive archery techniques.

Equipment reviews are good to so long as they aren’t marketing based publicity. I’ve come across a few that are more about selling the product than actually reviewing it’s merits and flaws. Jim Grizzly Kent Archery Adventures (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxl7N0J9Rc8kDnjV_BzH-yg) still comes across as a good product review even though they are now Merlin Archery Adventures. I think Jim does a pretty good job of giving a balanced viewpoint of the bows he reviews.

I also quite like the personal achievement videos; when someone has posted their own success story. You often see these pop up on Facebook sites and YouTube. It can take a lot of courage to put yourself out there for all to see and comment on. There are a lot of people who enjoy criticising others or simply being argumentative. 3d archery (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4HdCXofIA4jsWi1q9AdBUA) have some nice event reviews, showing shots from different courses, offering advice and views.

There are loads of different sites on the Internet so I’ve listed a few others sites that are worth a mention too.

Ironmind Hunting (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9zPmJfjW2R9r0y2uUzq9aQ) has some good instructional guides.
Jeff Kavanagh (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgGoY0qpH8f11COXWkE8aLQ) is worth checking out for a mix of archery related topics.
Nathan Skyrme channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1kxvgSeCWZXdg4I6_BI5Zg) has also started producing some material and equipment reviews.
If you know of any others that you believe are worth sharing then add a comment here.

Making videos where I’m in front of the camera has never appealed to me. As someone once said “I have the perfect face for radio” , but I can see their merits.
Thanks for reading and don’t worry, I won’t be coming to a YouTube channel near you.
Feb 8 2016

Don’t lose your grip

So January is over and Christmas seems a long time past, I hope you had a good festive time.
As January and February often sees us all short of a penny or two, with a corresponding tightening of the purse strings, I thought I would post what might be a money saving idea for my fellow archers. I want to talk about arrow pullers.  You know the things that give you a better grip on the arrow when pulling them from target bosses or 3D targets.
Yes I know what you are thinking, it’s not the most glamorous of archery accessories, but still a useful tool.
Arrow pullers come in all shapes, colours and sizes, varying in cost from under a pound to several pounds. Like everything some are better than others, but all share one thing in common, they can be easily lost either on the range or wondering round the woods.
Anyway onto the money saving aspect. When wandering around our local Lakeland store looking for jars for Sharon’s mass production of home made jams and preserves, I came across this non slip cloth sold on long rolls. It can be easily cut down to smaller lengths and cost just under six  pounds for a roll 30cm x 3 metres  (that’s about 12 inches x 10 feet). Normally it is used to cover work tops, or  in caravan drawers to stop contents moving.
Cut price arrow puller

Cut price arrow puller

I thought this could be used as a cut price arrow puller for newbies. So I cut a few lengths down to about 15 cm x 15 cm (6 inches x 6 inches”) and gave it to some people to try it on one of my coaching days at the wood and I was quite impressed. It worked well for all types of arrows (wooden, metal or carbon) providing an improved grip on the arrow to help drawing, it also worked in the wet weather we had. .
I can see the benefits of this for coaching sessions and for newbies as it keeps cost down and doesn’t matter if the pieces are lost or misplaced. It can be stuffed into a pocket or easily attached to a quiver making for an inexpensive aid to drawing arrows.

Sharon also finds using an arrow puller easier as she suffers from dry skin on her hands that can make drawing arrows difficult in cold weather, especially metal arrows, as it proves very hard to get any traction.

Quick note on drawing arrows

I tend to advise archers to use an arrow puller when drawing carbon arrows in particular, simply because if your hand slips down a damaged shaft when trying to draw the arrow it is very easy to get carbon splinters into the hand and carbon splinters are not easy to remove.
Please note I’m not trying to vilify carbon arrows just provide some advice on being careful. Forewarned is forearmed as they saw.
I’ve learnt that cheaper versions are available from discount pound shops that work as well. When talking to one fellow club member I discovered he uses it as flooring for his pens holding young chicks to stop them sliding and falling over.
One last thing as I  almost forgot,  Happy New year to all readers and followers. Might seem a bit late but I realised that in my first post of the year I’d forgotten to wish it to you. Sorry, must be my age catching up with me. For that reason I’ll wish you a happy Easter now.
As always thanks for reading.