I have been rather neglecting this blog, I think that I need to use it simply to think out some of the things on my mind, whether anyone else is interested or not.
My practise range,in the snow!
At the moment I am mostly thinking about how my archery practice has been going. Today was interesting, not because it was good, but rather because it was rather average! My longbow is tillered to 62lbs @ 28" and I start shoot 5 rounds of 20 arrows at 10 metres, 2 per target face. Then I change to a warbow, tillered to 77lbs @ 32" (I am actually pulling about 75lbs at my 30" draw and I use a different set of slightly longer arrows). I shoot 2 rounds of 12 arrows (plus 1 extra to make a total of 25), I am still trying to adjust to this bow as it is approximately 15 lbs heavier than the longbow, so 25 is enough to avoid risk of excessive strain. I record my results as percentages, I count the arrows touching or inside the inner 10 circle, then all the 10's, the the 9's PLUS the 10's and finally ALL arrows within or touching the 8 circle. Anyting outside that is counted as a miss.
When I first started archery I thought I was doing well to get 70% 8's or higher. Last year I was averaging 80%, now I am beginning to push 90% with the longbow! What is interesting is why ALL the arrows aren't within this area. I usually miss - and I know it - because I have temporarly lost concentration, rather than because of any physical mistake. The "better" shots will still vary a bit. A few, though, give a different feel - like everything is just coming together perfectly! I tend to average about 5% close to the exact center, as today. But when it really comes together, this goes up to 10-15%. It almost feel like something is clicking into place at the exact moment of shooting! This is the moment when archery becomes "inspired"!
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