Tag Archives: “Beginner’s guide to tradional archery “

Sep 10 2016

What’s on your archery bookshelf?

A few from the bookshelf

A few from the bookshelf

With the rise of the use of YouTube for instructional videos, with such diverse topics as those covering everything for an archer wanting to learn more or develop new skills, I wonder if the written word is becoming less important for some. There are videos on how to fletch an arrow, make a bow string, how to shoot traditionally etc etc. There are also the research videos on new bows or shooting theory. So what do you think?

Okay, before I get inundated with complaints about how I’m ditching YouTube, lets make it clear, I’m not.
What I am saying is there are times the written word, whether it is a good book or magazine article, is really useful.
So based on this thought I have a question for you…

What books make up your archery bookshelf?

Did you buy it following a recommendation, or do you like the author? Why do you find them useful? Is it the writing style or the subject matter? Or do you prefer YouTube?
Let me know.
Thanks for reading.

Jul 3 2014

Wear and tear on fingers

There was a recent blog post (Charles’ Archery Blog) on finger injuries and finger tabs, here’s a  Link to it
For that reason I thought I would post this observation about my own shooting and finger damage. I know it may not look much but believe me it hurts lots and I’ve found I can only shoot about 20 arrows before it becomes a serious problem.
finger wear and tear

Finger wear and tear

As you can see a callous has developed on the tip with the skin being very rough with it splitting and bruising developed.
I’ve avoided shooting for a couple of weeks to give it more time to heal, with the photo above showing what it was like after a week.

So what is causing it?

I think this was  something that developed after the Lyme valley shoot (Shoot report) where most people got soaked. This resulted in my hand got very wet and the skin cracking on the ring finger. The dye from my tab leached into the skin and it looked more like an open wound then cracked skin.

The effect of this on my draw is in an uneven draw and bruising on the ring finger and pain in the fingertip on the draw up and release. I’ve tried applying tape to the finger tip for protection but this doesn’t help.
I have found that Savlon intensive healing skin cream has helped the healing process too and is now an addition to my kit.
I think part of the problem is I’ve developed bad form in my draw which results in an uneven distribution of pressure across the three fingers. I think I’m going to have to work on my consistency of draw to ensure even draw weight on all fingers.
In addition, rather than going for a deep anchor into the first joint of the finger I’ve overtime let it slip to the finger tips. 
I’m also going to spend some time looking at my tab and wear patterns. I might look at adding another layer to it.
So guess it will be coach coach thy self. Hope this helps
Thanks for reading.

May 19 2014

For the win?

Challenge or for the win?

Challenge Spirit or for the win?

The NFAS 3D championship is just round the corner and yes I hope to shoot well but in reality I know I am a long way off placing. 
For those not familiar with the event it is a 2 day shoot which sees approximately 600 archers of different styles shooting two courses one each day. It’s called a 3D championship as all targets are 3Ds.  You can see previous year reviews here for 2013 and 2012

This doesn’t mean I don’t want to aim to do well though. This thought got me thinking about how different people measure success.

So here are a couple of questions to all readers. 

How do you measure your own success in archery?

Is the win important or not so important to you as you just want to enjoy the day?

Is it about getting a placing or medal or having a good shoot?

Is it the possibility of recording a personal best or just getting round the course?  I know last year I just wanted to get round following the problems with my shoulder.

For me I think it is nice to place at shoots but in truth I’m competing against myself each time I go out. 
If I start thinking of how others are doing or what my score is it plays with my head and negatively affects my shooting. 
I know I’m very self critical and if I don’t feel I’m shooting well tend to beat myself up. Not good and something I try and get my students to avoid. Easier said than done though. 
I tend to have in mind what I think I should score in total and after each shot. 
These goals have changed over time though. 
When I started I was happy not to blank half the targets on a course. I now get cross with myself if I blank any!
My next goal was to reduce the number of third arrows I was taking.  Still working on that one.

I started looking at average scores for shoots but realised this didn’t factor in the course difficulty, weather etc. We all know some shoots are more challenging than others so averages have to be taken with a pinch of salt. 
Best measure I found was identifying someone in your shooting class who you know shoots consistently that you can match your score against. They become your base line. This gives you a guide to the difficulty level of the course. 
But scoring isn’t the only thing you have to enjoy the day or why do the hobby?

As always thanks for reading and if you have any comments or thoughts let me know.