I really enjoy this time of year. The indoor shooting season has largely been completed and now the focus turns to outdoor archery.

The first arrows of the outdoor season represent liberation. Watching arrows arc their way towards a target 70m away is pure joy. Feeling the sun and the warming breezes of Spring remind me of why archery is so much fun. It’s kind of like being a kid at the end of the school year. There is anticipation of fun to come and all the possibilities of Summer.

But just like all good things archery, nothing beats properly preparing for a successful outdoor campaign. Never take anything for granted. If you are shooting a dedicated outdoor set up, check it! Some of the things that often change are clicker position and brace height. Yes, in the course of shifting equipment around those things can get accidentally moved. Never take your tune for granted. Make sure to take the time to group tune your kit. After checking the tune, it may be necessary to adjust your sight marks for your yardages. I put this off until I get a fairly large number of arrows down range. I want to be sure I am shooting consistently before noting where my sight marks are.

If you dropped draw weight for the indoor season, training to shoot your outdoor weight should have already begun. Try to cross train, while keeping your arrow count reasonable for the state of your current fitness. It would be a crying shame to over train and injure yourself at this time of year.

Do not worry about scores. It is the beginning of the season. Things have a way of sorting themselves out. You’ll get back to where you were at the end of last outdoor season in time. And if you allow yourself some mental freedom, there is every reason to believe you will exceed your performances of last year.

Anyway, It’s beautiful outside and time to look at flowers blooming, the sun warming and arrows flying.

So, if you have been following along, you’ve read about my travails as a shooter this year and what approach I’ve taken. There are now a few conclusions.

I did have a good pair of eyes look at my shot. The conclusion was that the shot was in basically decent shape.

I took a look at stills and video of my shot. At first glance it was all good. I’ll have a bit more to say about that later.

Taking a positive attitude to the range was hard, but I really do enjoy shooting and was able to stay curious and positive, for the most part.

One additional step I took was a hard look at my target, the area of misses and the magnitude of those misses. This is where things started to make some sort of sense.

My misses were generally high, which is not the norm for me. Over the years my miss has been a right miss, when I stick on the string. But this indoor season, when I missed, it was a very high miss. This, it turns out was the key to diagnosing what was amiss in the shot. You see, I had set my right elbow too high. The consequence was too much pressure on my index finger, which led to some very big misses high. I set my clicker back about 1/4″ and the elbow came down, leading to much cleaner shots.

So you see that looking at the picture in a holistic manner gave me the answer. I compensated for a poor clicker position, by raising the right elbow, to keep a clean shooting line. The elbow position change was slight enough that I did not pick it up in my film work. It was only after looking at my miss pattern and some extended thought, that I was able to pick it apart.

I dare say that I would not have been able to pick it apart had I become disgusted by the whole thing and not thought it through. So the mental part of staying engaged through a slump was really important.

But there is more. After a protracted period of not shooting well, confidence ebbs. Mine did. There is more work to do to in this area. Tournament shooting is all about knowing with absolute certainty you can execute properly, time after time. The mental part of the game is what separates the good from the performers. So now it is about building and maintaining that level of certainty. Bring it on.

So, archery has gotten a bit tough; off the rails, so to speak. What next? First things first. Why do you shoot? For the vast majority of us, it is a pleasurable pastime. So let’s keep that in mind when times get tough. Having said that, competition shooters are competitive and it is frustrating to shoot poorly. So what next?

Get a second pair of eyes on your shot. Your coach should be part of this process.

Get some video of your shot and compare it to prior videos of when you were shooting well. We’ve taken video of when we were shooting well, right???????? Compare the two and pay close attention to both your static positions and dynamic movements. Has anything changed? Things do change in our shots and sometimes it is so gradual, we do not notice.

Make a mental shift. Get over yourself. You are not entitled to shoot well. Get humble and work towards improving. The mental hindrances we place on ourselves when not performing well can be debilitating. Bring a good attitude to every practice and tournament.

In my case, I am not at all sure my shot has appreciably changed. I will confirm that with the camera and another set of eyes. My expectations are high and that may be part of the problem. Every athletic endeavor demands freedom. Physical and mental freedom while shooting is extremely important. Making strong confident shots demands both mental and physical freedom. A certain ‘not caring’ about result is necessary. When an athlete is performing well, they are not concerned with outcomes, only the execution of their skill. When outcomes become the overriding concern, lapses in performance are sure to follow. Perhaps this does not happen right away, but in time it does.

Well, there is much to digest and I hope if you are in a shooting slump, some of this will be helpful.

It seems as an appropriate time as any to eulogize the 90 meter distance in archery.

In the interest of advancing archery to a wider audience, several changes have been implemented by World Archery and adopted by USA Archery and other WA affiliates. WA has changed the multiple distance format for competitions,  to a single distance for recurve and compound archers. Recurve archers now shoot 70 meters and compound archers shoot 50 meters.

While everyone in the sport wants archery to have a wider reach, some of the changes may not have had the intended results. Eliminating 90 meters is one change that may have a negative impact on the sport.

It is a fact that the compound bow is a more accurate shooting platform, for a couple of reasons. 1) The mechanical advantage the system affords via cams and wheels. 2) Mechanical releases allowed in compound bow competitions. So why have the more accurate shooting system compete at a shorter distance?

While shooting at 50 meters, the compound game is very closely aligned with shooting the compound bow indoors; which is a game of not missing. The elite shooters rarely miss indoors and very seldom miss outdoors. For the casual spectator this is a boring activity. (Let me know when someone misses.) I’m sure the intent was to create tension around not missing the middle, but even those of us who love the sport, find that tension to be largely missing. (Unless of course you are in the match.)

90 meters always separated the cream. Even elite compound bow archers had some fairly significant group dispersion at 90 meters. Add a bit of wind and it increased the difficulty factor by some magnitude. It was easy for the observer to note who was great, from those who were good. Spectators paid more attention to the proceedings because there was likely to be an arrow that could change an outcome, every end.

One of the fairly hollow arguments for adopting 50 meters v 90 meters for compound bows was a lack of space. Almost every soccer pitch could accommodate the distance.

Now most event planners around the country have eliminated 90 meters, as well as the 4 distance format which dominated the sport for decades. And who can blame them? Tournament directors want to prepare archers for championship tournaments, which all adhere to the norms of WA.

I do believe many of the rules changes have been positive for archery. The set format for recurve bows is positive and has made the sport more exciting and view-able. The 50 meter compound round has not accomplished what the sport’s governing body wants, which is excitement, view-abitly and a bit of uncertainty, which makes spectators want to watch!

Well who knows, perhaps WA will continue to evaluate the way compounds compete and change their minds. But for now, RIP 90 meters, your death has left a hole in the sport.

As the sand runs out of the 2015 hour glass, some review and introspection is always valuable. What went well? What challenges occurred during the year? What plan of action was undertaken to improve? Did changes bear fruit?

A thorough review of the prior year should lead to an action plan for the new year. I’ll review my year and perhaps that will serve as a template for you.

What went well? I performed very capably at all the major shoots I attended. USAA Nationals, Vegas and USAA Indoor Nationals. I placed highly in each of these events and shot well. I broke a National record while shooting the Illinois State Indoor Championship. So those outcomes were quite good. I shot with a great deal of confidence and my shot held up well under the stress of competition.

What challenges occurred? I believe I shot Outdoor Nationals with a substandard tune. I struggled with fitness toward the end of the outdoor season and it has bled into the start of indoor season. Those struggles have led to some degradation of confidence. I may have made some unintended technique changes to compensate for my fitness level. Some of my recent performances reflect outcomes well outside of my norms.

What plan of action was undertaken to improve? Did changes bear fruit? There were two focus points in 2015. 1) Improve fitness 2) Improve shot timing. On both these points I fell down to some extent. My fitness level did improve mid season, but it fell as the grind of the season wore on. My timing outdoors improved, but indoors was a different story. Perhaps a mental impediment with feeling I needed to aim better. In all, these still need to be improved upon.

What is the plan of action for 2016? 1) Improve my fitness with a defined regimen. 2) Honest evaluation of my current draw weight. Is it appropriate for me? Can I shoot the number of arrows needed with proper form? If not, I’ll need to source different equipment to compete effectively. 3) Move back to the shooting technique of the summer. 4) Continue to work on shot timing. 5) Increase opportunities to put my shot under stress.

Ok, so there you have it, my year in review and my action plan for 2016. Note that my action plan did not include any outcome goals. They were 100% process goals. Perhaps this is a mistake and I may revisit my action plan later in the year to reflect some outcome goals. But as I stated in an earlier post, you can’t expect to obtain any outcome goal without solid process goals.

I would encourage you to engage in some introspection at this time of year and work to develop a plan to have a successful 2016 shooting season. Happy New Year everyone!

I was asked on an archery forum how an archer can gauge his improvement. The author specifically asked about how long it should take to achieve certain benchmarks. Here is my response:

It may be better to have more personal benchmarks. Look at improving group sizes and what your average poor arrow looks like. Most shooters score tens from time to time, but good shooters score 8s with a poor shot. When your stray shots improve from a particular ring to a ring closer to the middle, that is a great way to measure improvement.

While improving scores will reflect closer misses, in the beginning, focusing on improving group sizes and a shot which produces fewer wild results should be your goal.

If you focus on speed of improvement versus just improving, archery could become a discouraging sport. Everyone improves at a different rate. Most youths want things so quickly…….. It is a trap. Enjoy shooting. It will motivate you to shoot more. Setting goals is fine, but don’t get so caught up in how quickly you get to your final outcome goal.

Having thought about my response, I should have added that process goals, versus outcome goals, are extremely important for development. Saying things like ‘I will look to improve my shooting line’, is a process goal. Saying ‘I want to win Outdoor Nationals’, is an outcome goal. I will never win Outdoor Nationals if I have not improved my shooting line. See, the process goal is necessary to achieve the outcome goal. Have your coach identify which process goals are important to your archery. Then put some realistic outcome goals together. And remember, there are short, medium and long term goals! Putting some realistic time frames around your goals is as important as setting them. They can’t be too easy, or hard. This is a great topic to bring up with your coach.

Many of my younger students shoot with equipment of which they have no basic understanding. This is normal and why parents and coaches have to keep an eye on things, as well as teach basic equipment maintenance.

When students come in with equipment, we will give it the once over to make sure it is appropriate for the student. But, things can and do change over time. Assuming the student has not outgrown the equipment, here is a list of things on which to check from time to time.

1) Brace Height. It should be checked regularly. Make sure your student knows what it is and how to check it with a bow square. An improper setting may cause arrows to fly crookedly, or perhaps cause the string to slap the archers arm

2) Nocking Point. Many believe this is a one and done placement. They do move from time to time. So know where it has been placed, how to measure it (with a bow square) and check it from time to time.

3) Plunger Position. I have seen plunger positions become so different from initial settings that the plunger becomes a hindrance rather than an aid. Understand where the initial placement was (tip of the arrow just to the left of the center line, for a right handed archer) and make sure it has not changed.

4) Arrow Rest. Firstly, make sure you have a spare. Now make sure the arrow rest is properly positioned on the plunger. (Center of the arrow on the center of the plunger) The initial setting of the rest should have a slight upward angle, so the arrow stays on the rest and have as little wire as possible protruding from the arrow. (Less chance of clearance issues)

5) String. Give the string a cursory glance from time to time and make sure the serving is in good shape  and no excessive wear exists.

6) Clicker Position. Not only should you mark where the clicker is on the bow, or sight extension, you should take a measurement of its position relative to the plunger position.

Your archers can shoot beautiful groups with a bow set up that pays attention to these details. Bow tuning should be set aside until an archer reaches a fairly high degree of skill. If you have ever tried to tune a bow/arrow combination for an archer who makes a different shot every arrow, you’ll know what I mean

An Olympic recurve shooter, at some point or another, will employ, or try to employ, the use of a clicker. What is a clicker and why is it so important to Olympic recurve shooters?

A clicker is a simple device used to indicate when a certain draw length is achieved. But it is so much more than that! In its most important use, it is a timing device to release the arrow.

It is also used to focus the mind on something other than the ‘gold’ scoring area, in those shooters who have acquired target panic. If the mind is occupied with the clicker and its use, the angst of aiming at the 10 ring is minimized.

Why should anyone use a clicker? At 70m, a couple of millimeters of draw length change could equate to a vertical miss of multiple scoring rings. And if you do not release the arrow on the ‘click’, the variation from shot to shot can be quite significant. So….draw length and timing. The best archers in the world have the quickest reaction time to ‘click’ and release.

At what time should a clicker be added to the bow? There is debate about this in the coaching community, but I prefer adding a clicker when an archer has been able to stabilize their anchor point and more or less make the same shot from arrow to arrow. Additionally, I’ll immediately employ a clicker to a student who exhibits target panic.

The clicker is either mounted on the sight extension, or the riser. All of our younger, or new shooters will use a sight extension mounted clicker. This allows for the use of a longer arrow, which is important for continued growth and draw length changes of the archer.

The archer, along with their coach, or an experienced eye, will position the clicker very close to their draw length. They will then practice coming to anchor and actuating the clicker. There is much that can go wrong when first trying to use a clicker and having the eye of a coach to see what errors, if any, are being made, can cut down on the confusion and frustration of trying to learn.

As a coach I’ve seen the clicker used and abused many different ways. Get together with your coach to make sure you are employing this tool correctly. The clicker can propel your game to new heights, or frustrate you to the brink. It is not an option for a competitive Olympic recurve shooter, it is a necessity.

I had an opportunity to teach a USA Archery Level 2 instructors course over the weekend and as is often the case, I learned as much as I taught.

The first lesson I learned, again, is you can’t do it all yourself. Every archery program needs talented individuals to help archers learn and advance. If one instructor can seed others to help the cause, we all benefit.

The second lesson is, when you teach you learn. Going over materials I know well always opens my eyes to what I have been doing, both as a shooter and a program leader. An example of this is warming up ahead of shooting. Yeah, I give it lip service, but it is important, even if I don’t practice it. A new instructor I was teaching brought it up in the context of other sports and of course it makes great sense to prepare muscles for intense activity.

During the duration of the course we went over teaching techniques and corrections. Every time I go through this I am reminded about what I haven’t been doing as an instructor. We get so dialed into our routines that effective teaching techniques are forgotten, or not implemented.

New blood is essential to the continued vitality of our sport. Everyone looks at things slightly differently and brings new perspectives to help existing, or new programs grow and become better.

The last point may be the most important point of any training we do as coaches. Have you ever thought about how long you will be a coach? Many of us think we will coach until we drop, but life takes us in many directions and we must make our programs ready to effectively carry on when we no longer are available to coach. Training coaches may be the most important, lasting legacy of any coach.

Every archer should have a set of keys. What are shot keys and why should you have them ingrained? While I’m sure every archery coach has defined what is a shot key, I’ll define it as a principle on which your shot is based. Let me further narrow what I refer to as a shot key. It is a fundamental on which I focus to reaffirm my shot sequence. Let me illustrate my meaning.

During a competition, there are many things which can distract an archer; anything from nerves, to outside stimuli, may cause an archer to lose focus and execute poor shots. This is where a couple of shot keys will be of invaluable service.

There are no magical shot keys. They will differ from archer to archer. It may be as simple as saying to yourself………..relax. This may then lead to a more fluid shot, or perhaps a more relaxed bow hand. Some may focus on a position, while others will relate to a mental key.

These keys are developed in practice. You and your coach will identify parts of your sequence……remember that??, which may become out of place, or are not as solid as other parts of your shot. This part of your shot may then become a key when things go awry. Focus on that piece and see if your groups get tighter. You should have a fairly large body of practice experience to know if a particular key is positively impacting your shot.

So what are you waiting for?? Get your keys and start driving your shot successfully!