I managed to get out on my own 3 times to practice at my local range. I am trying to remember and pull together all the technical aspects I learned at my last lesson with my coach. There's a lot to remember.
1.) My stance-open with 75% of my weight on my back foot and my weight more forward on the balls of my feet.
2.) My bow starting open and as I draw pulling more to a close.
3.) My grip-lightly holding the bow with my pointer finger and thumb with the rest of my hand relaxed. With my weight balanced right I should be able to "push" my thumb towards the target.
4.)My draw-extending the time for the last .25" of the arrow to pull through the clicker to about 3-4 seconds.
5.) keeping my arm steady and not rushing the shot.
6.) release and follow through.
It's a complete balancing act. And I mess up a lot.
The good news is that I can feel when I'm warmed up and my left shoulder suddenly moves the way I envision and my release is better and my shots are more consistent.
The bad news is that it's exhausting using the clicker and I constantly have to remember to conserve my energy.
I am working out now with a personal trainer twice a week with the goal of gaining long and lean muscle. And to gain strength. I am also doing yoga inversion classes every other week because that will also help me get strong. And I am going to pay for archery lessons from now on. They are pretty cheap to begin with. I've nixed buying a better bow right now considering that I'm just beginning and have a lot of debt to pay off. It will come when I am ready and am in a better financial position. And to add to that I started a full time job this month and am taking an online course to become a certified personal trainer.
All I need now is some decent sleep and I'd be in good shape! I e-mail pictures to my coach after every practice and he says I'm making good progress. Just have to outweigh my fatigue with my enthusiasm ;)
Friday, September 25, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
The Ol' Clicker
I've received a few hand me downs from Rod White via my coach for my bow. One of the them included a Beiter clicker. I mentioned before that I bought new arrows, coach fletched them and put them together for me and that they were my correct draw length. Since all that is done I can now learn how to shoot with a clicker.
A clicker is a piece of metal that the arrow slides against during the draw. If the archer is at full draw the clicker blade will be at the point of the arrow at almost full draw. Once that happens, the archer needs to pull back about .25" more over a period of 4 seconds and then the clicker blade will snap off the arrow point. At that point the archer can release the arrow. It sounds easy right? I thought so too.
Using a clicker is actually pretty damn difficult. It's meant to help with consistency and help the archer achieve full draw every time. But it's hard enough to be pulling the arrow back. Add your coach adjusting your stance and your grip and your bow arm is already shaking before you are at full draw. At least I am. This is where quantity over quality really helps.
Using the clicker I could only get 2 or 3 decent shots off my bow. The rest would go all over the place. And my coach, having just fletched them all, looked a bit peeved when he had to get out the metal detector and dig one under the dirt, bless him. I'm trying to build a shot sequence now. It starts with looking at the direction of the wind, grounding myself through my feet in an open stance, with 75% of my bodyweight on my back foot. Then I raise my bow and pull my string back with my arrow at the same time. While trying to keep the bow steady, I try to remember the light grip and touch my coach demonstrated for me. Then there's the ol' clicker, sliding along my arrow till I'm at almost full draw. With a definite 'click' it snaps of my arrow point and I release the nock and string. It's important to remember not to anchor at my nose and chin until I've reached that almost full draw point. Also, I am trying to work on lining up my string with inside right side of my riser. Loading another arrow is the last step in the shot sequence. It's a lot of minute detail that you can't really see with the naked eye. Lots of adjustments and lining up and straightening. Lots of strength behind the scenes. Frankly, I need to be stronger so I joined a gym and am working on building long lean muscle for strength. My main machine is the rowing machine for my back. I am also doing some yoga classes that focus on core work.
My shoulders had spazzed out by the end of the lesson. They screamed at me all day long and well into the night. But wait! There's homework!
I have clicker drills to do. I'm supposed to stand 5 feet away from a target and practice using that dang ol' clicker. I have to develop technique and muscle memory and not fight the clicker. Lord help me, this is going to hurt for a little bit.
Last big piece of news. Due to a recent bad experience, I asked the guy whom I refer to as 'my coach' to let me pay him for the 2 sessions we shoot together a month. I want to continue it into the winter as we shoot indoors.
A clicker is a piece of metal that the arrow slides against during the draw. If the archer is at full draw the clicker blade will be at the point of the arrow at almost full draw. Once that happens, the archer needs to pull back about .25" more over a period of 4 seconds and then the clicker blade will snap off the arrow point. At that point the archer can release the arrow. It sounds easy right? I thought so too.
Using a clicker is actually pretty damn difficult. It's meant to help with consistency and help the archer achieve full draw every time. But it's hard enough to be pulling the arrow back. Add your coach adjusting your stance and your grip and your bow arm is already shaking before you are at full draw. At least I am. This is where quantity over quality really helps.
Using the clicker I could only get 2 or 3 decent shots off my bow. The rest would go all over the place. And my coach, having just fletched them all, looked a bit peeved when he had to get out the metal detector and dig one under the dirt, bless him. I'm trying to build a shot sequence now. It starts with looking at the direction of the wind, grounding myself through my feet in an open stance, with 75% of my bodyweight on my back foot. Then I raise my bow and pull my string back with my arrow at the same time. While trying to keep the bow steady, I try to remember the light grip and touch my coach demonstrated for me. Then there's the ol' clicker, sliding along my arrow till I'm at almost full draw. With a definite 'click' it snaps of my arrow point and I release the nock and string. It's important to remember not to anchor at my nose and chin until I've reached that almost full draw point. Also, I am trying to work on lining up my string with inside right side of my riser. Loading another arrow is the last step in the shot sequence. It's a lot of minute detail that you can't really see with the naked eye. Lots of adjustments and lining up and straightening. Lots of strength behind the scenes. Frankly, I need to be stronger so I joined a gym and am working on building long lean muscle for strength. My main machine is the rowing machine for my back. I am also doing some yoga classes that focus on core work.
My shoulders had spazzed out by the end of the lesson. They screamed at me all day long and well into the night. But wait! There's homework!
I have clicker drills to do. I'm supposed to stand 5 feet away from a target and practice using that dang ol' clicker. I have to develop technique and muscle memory and not fight the clicker. Lord help me, this is going to hurt for a little bit.
Last big piece of news. Due to a recent bad experience, I asked the guy whom I refer to as 'my coach' to let me pay him for the 2 sessions we shoot together a month. I want to continue it into the winter as we shoot indoors.
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