Rio 2016 Olympic thoughts and Form Updates

Like everyone else, I am very excited for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics. I have it all planned out, where I will watch the opening ceremonies with my family and with this drink  in hand. I saw archery for the first time watching the Atlanta Games in 1996. Athough I don't remember watching the archery finals in the olympics (were they even covered?), I do remember features on the American men's recurve team. I stayed up late to watch the USA women's gymnastics team win team gold and Kerri Strug's vaults and injury. It's a very special memory for me because not only was it in my home country but also introduced me to the world of competitive sports. And now one of the men going is from my very own state too! Go Zach! Good luck to all our teams and all the athletes competing in Rio, from other countries, that as I know as well! It's not all about the gold, it's about good sportsmanship too!

On that note, last time I met my archery club, a friend took some videos of me. I can finally feel my back tension! It took a lot of picturing it, description from my coach and trying to mimic motions sans bow. I started to cover ground, figuratively, pretty fast at the range. My focus is now 90% on my back muscles and how they compress versus aiming alone. But do you know how hard it is to watch a video of your progress and see how much farther you have to go? I am very happy with all the progress I've made and I know to phrase everything I still need to learn positively in my journal. It's all about the positive reinforcement. 

I took myself to MJ Rogers for another lesson. It was hot, super sunny (I have the sunburn to prove it) and not a ton of shade when you are surrounded by corn fields, but every once in awhile a cool breeze blew by us. I practice relatively close to the target there. Then MJ walks around and corrects my technique or demonstrates the right technique. Today I was focusing on my release. Apparently I was wasting energy letting my hand go to far behind my head. But if I can harness it and stop it at the right point, I can maintain alignment, angular motion around my spine, and have a much cleaner shot. Then I can shoot A LOT more arrows without getting tired half as fast.

Speaking of arrows...I ordered more Easton Apollos since half of mine are buried in the archery club field, haha! Due to a measuring error, on my part, I told Lancaster Archery's made to order service a number shorter than my draw length according to their system. MJ pointed out that the shorter length was actually better for me and I was pulling through the clicker a lot more. So my draw length is a little bit shorter than 28" now. I am not hung up about the number as long as it gives me the results I want. I'm trying out Spider Vanes which are really durable. Pink Easton pin nocks still. I'm thinking I may stick with this set up for a lot longer than I originally thought. I eventually want to try a barreled arrow and am leaning towards Easton A/C/Es. Apparently X10s won't do me any good until I am at least 40lbs in draw weight. I'm all for that because it will save me money as I get stronger and increase my draw weight.

Something told me that I was shooting higher than the 30# draw weight marked on my limbs. MJ hooked a scale on my string and drew an arrow through the clicker. After the 3 pulls through the clicker the average weight was around 32#s. And there was still room to bottom out my limb bolts. So we screwed them in all the way and low and behold, it cranked my humble 30# limbs up to 34#s! This has been a major goal for me to reach this year. I wanted to reach it by the end of the year and here I am already at it in mid summer! It feels SO GOOD! Better yet, I found a pair of 34# Winex limbs for cheap on eBay and they are on their way to me. So with a little bit readjustment I can pop those lovely, smooth Winex limbs on to my riser and shoot. I'm hoping I can crank them out to about 38#s before I replace them with a higher poundage limb. But I'll have to see how the Winex's behave. 

It's amazing how things come together suddenly. I'll be trudging along, running into walls, wondering what am I doing wrong? why aren't things working out? Turns out I needed to be stubborn and put in some long hard hours at the range this summer to reach my poundage goal for the year. In other ways my life has been sifted. I thought I had picked out the right degree program and found a great job for me. Then poof! the job went up in smoke and the degree program I am currently in could not be a worse choice for me. It was for a safe job and definitely needed by the world, but dear Lord I could never sit at a desk for that long cranking away at logs and numbers and policies and government regs. Give me sunshine, fresh air, nature, and room to stretch! I realized I had already started the right path back when I received my NASM CPT. But I need to learn more, receive more certs in different forms of exercise and conditioning and performance, and a bachelors in exercise science. I really want my bachelors but I also want it to be in the right field for me. Luckily I found a completely online program that fits the bill. I will start my courses Aug 8. 

So I will learn everything I can about exercise and how it helps us use our bodies to the fullest. I use it on my own life as much as I can-listening to my body told me I was eating too much and when I decreased my portions and kept moving, I lost a few stubborn pounds. I also have been doing lots of pilates sessions on the reformer with my pilates teacher for overall strength to shoot better and love the results I see, not only in my shooting, but in my muscles. I am so much stronger and leaner than I used to be. And I am not hung up about the number on the scale. I've been skinny weak-literally a wraith, due to depression and anxiety, and I've been skinny strong. I know which one I prefer. I proved this to myself fighting the wind on a nearby lake as I steered a standup paddle board for two hours. That's no joke people. It's a full body workout, like archery, and keeping myself upright meant I was so sore the next day! There were a few times when I thought I might lose my balance but I bent my knees to absorb the shock of the waves. If I could absorb the shock, I wouldn't fall. I'm looking forward to using that knowledge on dry land too. 

So lots of good things happening-physically and mentally in my life! I am so thrilled to be in this brain space; I am old enough to know myself and what I want, and young enough to chase my dreams. I'm going to do what I love doing and see where it leads to me. And it's going to be dang near impossible to dissuade me. No rose colored glasses on my face, I simply think this is the only way to live life. 

Shot Sequence Update

I had my first lesson with MJ Rogers this past Friday. I learned so much in two hours-I can't believe how much my shot sequence has improved already.

I am now using the 'barrel of the gun' set up...
I have an open stance and square my shoulders up to the target.
I pull slightly on the string with my left hand to create tension and feel responding pressure from the riser in my right hand. With the tension in my left arm I make a right angle with my left elbow and flex my wrist while my thumb and fingers are curled neatly around the tab. Any fingers not on the string are curled back towards my wrist.
At this point I raise the bow from left to right across the target and in the process, I am drawing back on the string.
By the time I am at my anchor point, with the string resting along the right side of my nose, I should only have to expand internally, like a spring compressing between my shoulder blades.
Once that expansion happens, and the clicker goes off, the string should leap out of my fingers while the arrow flies to the target.

But in the space of seconds between shots, I forget things.
I forget to check the pressure on the string from my fingers. Too much of a deep hook will block the string and too shallow of a string hook will kill my fingers.
I have to find the balance between keeping my riser stable and not gripping it.
I also forget to check the distribution of weight in my feet.
I would really love it if I could remember to swing my shoulder back along that tightrope of bones I am trying to construct with each shot.

Shooting like this is different than any shooting I've ever done before. I can feel my muscles responding differently because their supporting bones in the different positions than before. My upper traps gets sore very fast and so do my shoulder blades. And tonight at practice I could feel my left deltoid muscle working in a way I've never felt it work. But overall it feels much better to be shooting off my bone structure as opposed to muscle alone.

MJ had me shoot fairly close to the target and so that's what I'm doing now. Perfecting in close proximity and than challenging myself with some distance. Because I finally understand, that if you can't perfect it up close, how can you shoot well at 70m, when there are more variables at play with the arrow and your shot sequence?

Lastly, I'm teaching myself not to aim. I may glance briefly at my sight aperture but I am more interested in watching the arrow slide past the clicker as I feel the string slipping past my fingers towards the target. If I have lined up everything correctly my bow may even give me a bit of flip forward as a finish.

Lots to practice and learn!