In this episode I provide a shoot report for Long Eaton Field Archers NFAS competition which they hosted last week.
Overall it was a good day, with some fantastic weather and good company. I didn’t shoot as well as I would have liked but if you listen to the podcast you’ll understand why I was distracted earlier on in the day.
The course was 36 targets and all 3Ds, with some very cleverly set shots and good use of dead ground.
I’m going to record a YouTube video for this podcast too using some of the photos I took.
Thanks again to all involved with setting up and running the event.
I’m trying something a little different with this episode and recording this as a video walk through of some of the different shooting gloves and tabs used in traditional archery.
I’ve also listed this on my YouTube channel.
I probably need to do some work next time on editing and the like but it’s a first attempt.
Over Easter I was lucky enough to get up to North Wales to spend some time with my family. While there I managed to record this episode whilst sat outside in the garden. I was wanting to try out the new Lavaller microphones I mentioned on Instagram a few weeks ago.
New wireless microphone
Let me know what you think of the sound quality as I’ve been quite impressed. I do wonder off topic a bit and talk about the wildlife that’s surrounding me. Sorry it’s taken so long to be posted but unfortunately my heaths taken a hit as you might be able to tell in the recording and I’ve been laid up for several days as it triggered my Asthma.
Feedback and Feed Blocks
Onto the topic of this session which, is focusing on acting on the feedback you receive from your body and brain when going through your shot sequence.
In the episode I talk about feedback and what I call feed blocks. These are points in your shot sequence where you have the opportunity to receive feedback from the process. It provides an opportunity for you to either go yes feedback is positive so move on or stop before you make a mistake or error in judgement. Feed blocks are when you, as an archer decide to ignore this feedback your body is giving you. You block the input you are receiving thats’ telling you something is wrong and push through. You continue with the shot. This can be a bad idea, as the results can vary and are often not what you want. Yes, you might be lucky and the arrow. Hitting where you are aiming but chances are it won’t, leaving you annoyed at yourself. The larger problem is the impact this can have long term as you begin to believe you can push through and still make a shot.
You need to be able to listen to the feedback and act on it correctly, whether this is positive feedback or negative. Whether you are an instinctive archer or a process based shooter you need to have points in your draw and shooting sequence where you can take a moment and decide whether you should or should not be moving forward to the next step. Remember just because you draw up, doesn’t mean you have to take the shot. It is something I cover in a past article on this site The hardest lesson
Enjoy your shooting and as always thanks for reading.