After an eventful Saturday, we were back at the field again on Sunday morning for a club competition. This is a handicap competition various distances depending upon age and gender. For gents it is was a choice of a New or Long National and for ladies a National. Given that I have never shot further than 60yds, I decided that attempting 100/80yds would be rather foolish, so I joined the Mrs EA with the ladies at 60/50yds. This meant that I was ineligible for any awards, but I was happy to take part nonetheless. EA jnr was also on the line shooting a Junior National at 40/30yds.
For once the sun was out and it was very warm - T-shirt weather for a change. Some members even gave their [hairy] legs an airing, which led to an interesting wager (in aid of charity) later in the day. My shooting seemed to be a bit erratic, but my final score of 256 seemd to indicate that I had performed as well as could be expected, and better than my running handicap would predict. However, there had to be a stewards enquiry on my scoresheet, as I had not checked the adding-up carefully enough and had signed for 100 less than I had shot. As I was ineligible anyway, the committee showed some leniency. If I had been eligible, I would have ranked sixth with my handicap-adjusted score, which I am really pleased with. Even better, EA jnr came fourth overall.
The wager I mentioned earlier arose out of a discussion between Martin (shooting Compound) and the ladies. Martin had managed to score a gold on the wrong target, and was giving himself a verbal kicking, when one of the ladies said that they would be proud to shoot a gold at 80yds, never mid six of them. Now, the club has organised a shoot later in the year in aid of a charity very close to a couple of members, and Martin offered to have his legs waxed and donate £100 to the charity if any of the group of ladies shot a six-gold end at 70m/80m in a scored round with a recurve bow. The challenge has been duly accepted!
Although the field was open for shooting on Monday, the EA family had a day off, but we were back there on Tuesday evening. I wanted to set up my clicker and Mrs EA had a new set of limbs arrive that day, so she wanted help in setting them up and checking the alignment. As I have been through this two or three times recently I was confident I would do it right but, in the event, the only adjustment needed was with the button to set the centre shot.
There were a couple of other archers on the practice range so I shot with them at 30yds, adjusting the clicker by small degrees and assessing where it went off in relation to my draw. During this process it became very obvious that keeping the front (left for me) shoulder down has a significant effect on draw length - when it is down, draw length is longer. I eventually found a position that the clicker would 'go' when I was drawn properly with my shoulder down. If I drew with my shoulder up, it was almost impossible to get the clicker to go, indicating that there is a problem. In this situation I lowered the bow and started the draw again.
Near the end of the session, after the other archers had finished, Mrs EA suggested I move really close to the target and try releasing with my eyes closed, getting used to the point at which the clickers goes. This was very odd to start with, but it soon became obvious that it not only gets you used to where in the draw the clicker will go, but also builds confidence. The grouping of the arrows on the boss showed that the clicker was doing its job. I look forward to shooting my next scored round to see if it makes a difference.
Over on the long range a couple of the 'wager ladies' were getting in some practice at 70m and doing very well, whilst another of the ladies broke the club record for the distance. Mrs EA is looking forward to shooting on the long range tonight. Game on, Martin!
Update Following some discussion on Facebook, another member lowered the bar a little and offered to donate £50 to the charity if any of the four ladies scored 50 or above in any end at 70m/80yds during a scored round. I thought this was a good idea, so I offered to do the same, and so did Martin, in addition to his original challenge.
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