Sunday, 16 March 2014

Better to Err on the Side of Gutsy

 

Slowly, slowly my clicker has been moving backwards.  I draw a bit faster, and am gradually anchoring harder against the chin and nose.  I still sometimes draw a bit short, because like so many I am afraid of pulling through the clicker too fast.  But, as a result, I have been setting my anchor point too short.

I am thinking about my scapula, shoulder, and arm to the elbow acting as one unit to pull through the clicker.  I wear an under armour long sleeve compression top as it helps me feel the whole “quarter” of my body pulling the string as a single unit.

I know it sounds dumb to think of it as a quarter, but when you quarter a chicken, this is what you get.  Whatever image helps you imagine the process, that is what you use.

I have been yanking through the clicker, pulling with my fingers, because if you don’t pull back far enough to anchor with back tension, you can’t shoot properly. 

So I am giving it the full pull, and keeping a strong deep hook on my fingers (the AAE tab is really excellent for that), and then just trusting if I go through the clicker a little quickly.

I have dialed the poundage back to 48lbs on the fingers, which feels pretty good now.  Some muscle soreness after training between 48 to 50.5 lbs., but I think I will go up in poundage for the outdoor season.  I shot 273 tonight, which is pretty good.  I have been shooting 240’s in January, 250’s and some 260’s in February, and now I am in the 270’s a couple times in March.  I would call that progress.  Tonight when I shot a bad 3 arrows, I just accepted the fact that this is where I am at, record the data, and then move on to the next three shots, which I am sure will be better.  And they were.

The limbs on my PSE are sometimes a bit hard to remove, as it appears to be sticking in the dovetail area.  When my buddy Ken checked, the tiller bolts were a bit loose.  Maybe that is why the limbs are so hard to pull out when disassembling the bow.  whereas before they were not.  So I cranked the tiller bolts down again.  Man, everything loosens up at this poundage, but I am reluctant to use shock absorption like doinkers, lest it counter act the usefulness of my stabilizers.  Besides my bow is pretty quiet.  Perhaps I will dial the poundage up a bit as my 2213’s are a bit stiff at this poundage and 29 inches (yoke of nock to shaft) and I am feeling pretty strong.  

I sprayed foot powder on my bow today, and found that my bottom fletch was hitting the shelf of the riser.  One little bit of rotation and my fletches we clearing the riser no problem.  No strikes on the shelf, rest, riser window, or clicker.  Perfect.

I can’t wait for my shibuya DX cushion plunger to arrive, as my existing cushion plunger is rather old (20 years old, but only 7 years shooting time), and the screws keep rattling lose.  I keep loc tite in my case for when  the screws loosen up, but I am getting pretty tired of this.  Adding an o-ring has meant I don’t have to tighten the plunger after every shot. 

I am grateful to my wife for making it possible for me shoot so much.  I found a ride to the BC Indoor Championships – good things happen in life all the time.

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