This past Friday I drove 2.5 hours to Springfield for my first lesson with Amy Francka. She's a Level 3 NTS coach and helped me quite a bit.
She let me warm up with shooting while watching my style and then she asked me to adjust a few things. She moved my feet so they are diagonal to the target with the left foot slightly forward. Then she had me rotate my hips so they are line with the target. She also told me to lock my knees as part of my shot sequence. This makes me a much more stable base and foundation in preparation for shooting outside in wind. Next up was upper body adjustment. She changed the pressure point and pivot point on my bow hand and that made a world of difference. She helped me realize I didn't need to pull back and rotate my shoulder as much. She taught me "holding" which is basically lining up a spot on my tricep in line with my bow arm when fully pulled back. Holding strengthens the shot and makes you shoot off your bone structure versus muscle alone. While loading, my arrow slid through the last 1/4 inch of the clicker for each shot. Lastly she helped me with my left hand on my release. Before I wasn't completely pulling it back but she helped me figure out the motion to make it go farther behind me with each release. I have to work on keeping my release hand (left hand) flat and rearranging the pressure on my finger tips. That way the string can basically slip off my fingers even though I deliberately let go of it, and my arm will swing back behind my head, in a straight line.
I would shoot a bit and then she had me watch a bunch of videos of stations led by archery coaches who train archers at the OTC in Chula Vista. They helped clarify technique and Amy also demonstrated with bands different positions and helped me do them too.
By the end I was shooting much better and my bow swung forward easily. She took some videos of me on her ipad and on my phone for me too. It was super helpful to see myself shooting and analyze it. I passed one video on to a fellow archer and he even helped me see that I needed to raise my bow arm because it was tilting down. Amy even tried to get me to raise my bow arm but I think she gave up for that particular lesson, afraid she might overwhelm me.
After 2 hours I was shaking from fatigue. And I got back in my car and started to drive back. I was an 1,5 away when Amy let me know I had left my string and stringer behind! So I drove back to get it and turned around again for my 2nd attempt at driving home.
It was an extremely worthwhile experience. Amy is a very good and patient coach. She passes through my city occasionally so I'll try to meet up with her then for more coaching. I don't know how long my back can handle the long over 2 hour ride in the car to and from but it's definitely worth it for the lessons.
As a follow up to my lesson I had a personal training session the next day. I asked my trainer to show me how to relax and lower my shoulders and she showed me stretches and warm ups to do before I shoot. In addition to training I am eating smaller meals more frequently with higher protein. I have to admit I'm pretty bored with chicken breast but I'll figure out some new recipes to keep eating healthy. I still have chocolate and sugar cravings so although I'm happy to indulge them, I need to figure out what's missing from my meals so I don't crave them. Sweets=more belly fat for me, sadly. And sleep! I need so much more sleep now with my workouts and shooting. I get sooo tired.
So lots of good things happening! It's just going to take more practice and workouts and time to shoot better each day.
I am trying to arrange 32# Kaya K2 limbs because I've had it with my Samick Privilege limbs. Problem is they are around 200$. That's not really in my budget. I put it out there to my family that christmas and my birthday are coming up soon. Gift card to buy the limbs? Why how thoughtful of you sibs and padres!
No comments:
Post a Comment