Reality Check

I fell prey to a terrible trap for new archers. We see archers competing on the world circuit and analyze every.single.thing.about.them. How do they stand? Which brand do they use? Are those foam or wood limbs? Her release is like that but his release is like that. And what is their poundage?

We totally forget that most of these archers have been shooting for a very long time and have earned that high poundage.

Then other more experienced archers tell you, it's not about the poundage. It's about the form. The poundage will come with strength gained from proper form; however only injury will come from shooting too much poundage too soon.

I heard the more experienced archers, worked really hard at achieving the strength to increase poundage and then it sunk in...it really isn't about the numbers. You don't need fancy equipment. It just needs to be tuned. And then you need to work very hard.

I had to make a judgement call this past Sunday. I had intended to find my 70m sight mark and also tune my bow with new Winex limbs. I had literally started the process of sighting in different distances when another archer showed up and advised me to choose. She pointed out I would reach the 70m faster in the long run with the Winex limbs because of the speed, but I would be struggling with the heavier poundage and would have to wait a bit to actually reach 70m.

Do you see my dilemma?

If I can't shoot 70m yet, there is no state competition for me end of August. I would focus the rest of the summer on distances such as 40m and so on until I reach it. The reason why I am over complicating this is because I want to compete safely. And I don't want to lose my arrows needlessly in the field trying to find my sight marks. I also am having head placement problems. My arrows keep grouping right and I am troubleshooting it, some pun intended there.

My gut is telling me I need to focus on strength training with these new limbs to handle the weight. And since so much of archery is instinctual, I am going to trust my gut and let go of attending state in August. My new long term goal is to master this current poundage (again the number is NOT important) by this time next year without losing any of the form I've worked so hard to build. And if I can only tackle 70m next August, then so be it.

I do not care if I don't screw my limb bolts in for another 4 years to increase the poundage and maximize the limbs. I would rather shoot with strength and perfect form now then hurt myself and risk never shooting again or for a very long time.

The higher poundage will always come. And something tells me, call it instinct, that my coach and 2 others archers I trust, and my gut will all concur when that time comes.