David was keen to do a walk-back test and I joined-in with Andy assessing my draw technique (as well as doing the walk-back test myself). The weather was wet so drawing around arrow groups on wet paper faces with a Sharpie posed a challenge, but we found that coloured chalk works well in this situation. Andy explained that the test gives a good indication of any adjustment needed to the position and tension (springiness) of the pressure button; the shape of the line drawn through the position of arrow grouping shot from increasing distance indicating the adjustments needed.
Andy started looking at my drawing technique and suggested I try changing a few things:
1. Position my front foot slightly ahead of my back foot to give a little stabilizing stiffness in the torso when at full draw;
2. Straighten my bow arm - it was slightly crooked;
3. Use my shoulder as a unit to draw, rather than just rotating from the shoulder joint;
4. Move my drawing hand past my face at cheek level instead of below the chin, and than come down to the anchor point, moving the right shoulder blade in and down;
5. Move the clicker in towards the riser to allow for longer draw using the above;
That's a lot to change in one session, but I persevered and tried to remember each of the points for every shot - and sometimes succeeded. Dave was also practicing at the field that day and also offered some advice. The first was to prepare for the shot with a couple of Zen breaths before setting up for the shot. I had read about this before, but Dave's explanation made it clear and it did seem to have a positive effect. Secondly he looked at my bow hand and suggested a small change to the way it was positioned on the riser. It is not much different to what I had been taught on the beginner's course all those months ago, but I had developed a bad habit since.
As well as assessing my technique, Andy was also looking at the results of the walk back test, and we learned that the position of my button was fine, but that it could do with being a little firmer, so I put an extra half-turn into the adjustment. We also looked at why my arrows were not flying straight, especially at longer distances and, after checking with a bow square, Andy suggested that the nocking point was too low, so we decided to move it. However, in cutting-off the dental floss, Andy managed to nick the serving, so he did a splendid job of re-serving the string before applying a couple of temporary nocking points. At this time, the beginners had finished, so I had to leave to take EA Jnr Snr home and have some lunch before returning with Mrs EA.
Back at the field in the afternoon I de-fletched a couple of arrows ready to do a bare shaft test with Andy. This test gives information that helps in adjusting the nocking point to the right position, and demands shooting a few fletched arrows and one or two unfletched arrows. The relative positions of the fletched and bare shafts give an indication of whether the nocking point is too low or too high.
After a few iterations of changing positions, we reached a nocking point position that was giving satisfactory results, so the nocking points were made permanent by the application of superglue. During these iterations, we managed to get a nocking point so badly wrong that one of the bare shafts went too high,hit the target frame and rose 20m vertically up in the air before falling (thankfully) further down the range. The result of this was one very bent arrow, which was used by Andy to instruct me in the use of the straightening jig.
Since that day I have shot two indoor (Portsmouth) rounds and two outdoor rounds, and I have been trying my best to put into practice what we covered. During the latest outdoor session I had one of those 'light bulb' moments, where I actually understood what Andy had been talking about and felt that I was in control and doing something right. My scores seem to bear this out, too, having shot below (outdoor) handicap for the first time in almost two months. I still shake a bit, but I feel far better about the way I am shooting.
