The title as mentioned is the final piece of the jigsaw as what coach has advised us all these while, which I had been oblivious to.
Realised that my euipment had been wrong all these while and it had naturally affected by performance -
1) Brace Height 8.0 (when measured to the throat of the grip)- its a killer especially when you are drawing 66″
2) Incorrect nock fletch alignment - explains why some of the shots fall awkwardly left/right even when I had performed everything correctly. The fletches had been knocking against the plunger button and affected the arrow flight in the process.
**Going for the gold**
At predraw, align the bow to the target. Check the top and bottom limb to the target and make sure that it is in line with the target. Give your bow a slight push to lock your elbow and with your drawing arm, give a little tug on the string. Breathe in as you take the bow up for the draw.
Keep looking at the yellow on the target.
Breathe out about 2/3 of what you had breathed in earlier as you draw the bow string to your anchor point. Your shoulders, especially the bow arm shoulder should be relaxed, with the arrow above the shoulders as a reference point. As you draw, feel the back muscles acting as they close up to aid in the draw. You should not be using your draw arm strength to aid in the draw as you will be applying too much pressure on your draw fingers. Only the middle finger should be kept locked in the 90 degrees position.
Keep looking at the yellow on the target.
What you should see now is the sight pin falling nicely onto the yellow. This is the crucial 4 second period.
Second 1 - Anchor. Ensure that the reference points of the nose and the lips are met, with the bow string resting on the chest guard.
Second 2 - Drawing arm elbow turn. You have to visualize the the drawing elbow is in line with the arrow.
Second 3 - Check for the clicker moving in and go for the last aim. Maintain the back shoulder muscle with the bow arm to keep the sight there.
Second 4 - The most important step. You have only this second to go for the push the moment you take a last look at the sight. You only have this very one chance in the yellow. Once there, go for the push by using the bow arm shoulder back muscle.
The follow through step is important as well. Keep the eyes fixated on the arrow as it takes flight as maintain the bow arm height as you ‘punch’ towards the target. This is to avoid the shots from falling too low.
The result?
01x ‘X’
03x ’10’s
02x ‘9’s
01x ‘8′ 56 points in total
Sighting at 50m : 4.6
Sighting at 30m: 1.6
So ultimately it is the timing that is critical. Korean archers may take slightly longer, but goodness they train everyday while college students like us only train twice weekly. Anything longer than the 5 secs, put the bow down and perform the sequence all over again.
Remember, timing is the key.
