My boy is turning into quite the little archer.
After seeing how serious he was with just a simple toy bow, I may have to get him a proper youth set.
If I do, I'll post a review of the kit at a later date.
Showing posts with label Shooting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shooting. Show all posts
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Backyard archery!
Now that the weather is FINALLY getting nicer, and the backyard has been at least semi - cleared, I can finally take my new bow out for a spin.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Having a good archery technician
So I went to range yesterday, and I discovered that not only did my form feel better, but my bow did too.
The reason for this is a simple one; South Nation Archery has a solid bowyer, right on site. After my one hour lesson with Kathy Millar, her husband took a look at my equipment, and it turned out that I had some problems.
1) My Hoyt was in "reverse tiller" - I had no idea what this meant, and to be brutally honest, I still don't. The tech explained it to me that the distance between the top and bottom of my riser (the Hoyt Horizon is a 25" riser) relative to my bowstring should be slightly further on top when compared to the bottom. My bow has this reversed; the bottom tiller measurement was slightly further than the top tiller measurement - "reverse tiller". The tech made a few adjustments to the ILF bolts on my riser, and the entire rig shot 100% better the next day at practice.
2) Nocking point - after a few shots, Kathy was able to tell that my nocking point was wrong. Not only that, but she told me that I would need some kind of aid to make sure that I was bringing my anchor back to the same point each time. Most people would recommend a "kisser button", but Kathy instead recommended that I have a nocking point set, that at full draw would just brush under the tip of my nose. Kathy said that some archers defeat the advantages of the kisser button by puckering up their lips (see this poor individual). The nock point under the nose is more consistent, and certainly helped my practice yesterday.
3) Bow square - I already had one of these, but I certainly wasn't using it to it's full advantage - a quick discussion with the tech, and I understood exactly what the settings for tiller, brace height and my nock point were for my particular rig. The tech even made a couple of marks on my square so that I would be consistent when working with my rig in future.
All in all, it was a worthwhile hour at South Nation Archery. I am looking forward to taking advanced courses with Kathy in the new year!
The reason for this is a simple one; South Nation Archery has a solid bowyer, right on site. After my one hour lesson with Kathy Millar, her husband took a look at my equipment, and it turned out that I had some problems.
1) My Hoyt was in "reverse tiller" - I had no idea what this meant, and to be brutally honest, I still don't. The tech explained it to me that the distance between the top and bottom of my riser (the Hoyt Horizon is a 25" riser) relative to my bowstring should be slightly further on top when compared to the bottom. My bow has this reversed; the bottom tiller measurement was slightly further than the top tiller measurement - "reverse tiller". The tech made a few adjustments to the ILF bolts on my riser, and the entire rig shot 100% better the next day at practice.
2) Nocking point - after a few shots, Kathy was able to tell that my nocking point was wrong. Not only that, but she told me that I would need some kind of aid to make sure that I was bringing my anchor back to the same point each time. Most people would recommend a "kisser button", but Kathy instead recommended that I have a nocking point set, that at full draw would just brush under the tip of my nose. Kathy said that some archers defeat the advantages of the kisser button by puckering up their lips (see this poor individual). The nock point under the nose is more consistent, and certainly helped my practice yesterday.
3) Bow square - I already had one of these, but I certainly wasn't using it to it's full advantage - a quick discussion with the tech, and I understood exactly what the settings for tiller, brace height and my nock point were for my particular rig. The tech even made a couple of marks on my square so that I would be consistent when working with my rig in future.
All in all, it was a worthwhile hour at South Nation Archery. I am looking forward to taking advanced courses with Kathy in the new year!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The importance of a good coach...
Hey everyone.
I just got back from a fantastic coaching session with Katherine Millar at South Nation Archery Supply. My biggest take away from this session (outside of some drastically improved scores) was the importance of a qualified instructor when starting out in Archery.
An hour of private instruction cost me $25 CAD. And, if I had to nominate the best investment I have made into the sport so far (equipment, training time, membership dues), I would have to say that I got the most return out of that one hour. Heck, I think I learned more from Katherine in that hour then I did in a 1.5 month course at another range.
Just goes to show you how important a good coach can be. I will be working on the things I learned today at the range tomorrow.
Update to follow!
I just got back from a fantastic coaching session with Katherine Millar at South Nation Archery Supply. My biggest take away from this session (outside of some drastically improved scores) was the importance of a qualified instructor when starting out in Archery.
An hour of private instruction cost me $25 CAD. And, if I had to nominate the best investment I have made into the sport so far (equipment, training time, membership dues), I would have to say that I got the most return out of that one hour. Heck, I think I learned more from Katherine in that hour then I did in a 1.5 month course at another range.
Just goes to show you how important a good coach can be. I will be working on the things I learned today at the range tomorrow.
Update to follow!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Archery can be social
Let's be honest.
A lot of the time, archers tend to be alone. We are alone at the firing line; it's just us and the target face. I don't know about all of you, but I prefer a quiet range to a crazy busy one.
That said, sometimes, it can be nice to have someone to chat with while shooting. Yesterday night, I went to the range on "Club Night". I was worried a bit that it might be overcrowded (our range only has five lanes), but I arrived to find it empty. I fired a few practice ends, and then got down to practice.
About 2/3 of the way through my first round the club Chairperson came in. It had been a while since she'd been shooting, so she was working on fundamentals, getting her form in check. Since we were both kinda relaxed about our practice, we struck up a conversation about the club, the Olympics, the complete lack of Archery coverage on TV, etc.
It was nice. I am a bit of a loner when it comes to sport - I tend to prefer the individual vs the team based activities, but it was nice to have someone to chat with while walking up the the target butts, retrieving arrows, or walking back to the line.
Maybe I will have to try and make it out to "Club Night" more often. I just hope it doesn't get too popular. :-D
A lot of the time, archers tend to be alone. We are alone at the firing line; it's just us and the target face. I don't know about all of you, but I prefer a quiet range to a crazy busy one.
That said, sometimes, it can be nice to have someone to chat with while shooting. Yesterday night, I went to the range on "Club Night". I was worried a bit that it might be overcrowded (our range only has five lanes), but I arrived to find it empty. I fired a few practice ends, and then got down to practice.
About 2/3 of the way through my first round the club Chairperson came in. It had been a while since she'd been shooting, so she was working on fundamentals, getting her form in check. Since we were both kinda relaxed about our practice, we struck up a conversation about the club, the Olympics, the complete lack of Archery coverage on TV, etc.
It was nice. I am a bit of a loner when it comes to sport - I tend to prefer the individual vs the team based activities, but it was nice to have someone to chat with while walking up the the target butts, retrieving arrows, or walking back to the line.
Maybe I will have to try and make it out to "Club Night" more often. I just hope it doesn't get too popular. :-D
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