Thought maybe some of you might be interested in learning more about what a structured training program looks like to prepare for a specific competitive event. When I plan to attend any large competitive event, I typically sit down with my coach and put something like this together on paper and then in writing track progress leading up to the event. I'll update my notes here on this thread, and use it as my training "journal", over the next week and a half or so, it's a huge help to write down and reflect on what you are doing and feeling through this process. Writing it all down helps with reinforcing the process into your subconsious, and also helps to build confidence so that your self image doesn't get in the way when your on the line. It's also easier to properly prepare when the steps are laid out and written down, as well as your progress. :d I thought that maybe others would like to follow along with my progress. The largest indoor shoot in NY/New England area (Guan Ho Ha Vegas Tournament) is coming up the weekend of 2/20. I'm fortunate that it is almost in my back yard. This will be the first year in quite a few that I will attend a major indoor shoot. I plan to compete in two seperate events there, including the amatuer Freestyle class, as well as the Pro/Am Team $$$ shoot. The Freestyle event will be a vegas 450 round, and the Pro/Am event will be a vegas 300 round. Training for me started last night. Half of my practice sessions will be at 10 yards so that I can focus on trusting my float, staring at the X, and allowing my subconsious to execute the shot. Knowing what it's like to pound the middle of the target out is invaluable, that's where my best practice happens. I'll update more here each night after shooting with my thoughts and progress. The training plan is outlined below. 2/10 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) 2/11 - 66 arrows @ 20 yards (league night, plus 30 arrows after league scoring is done) 2/12 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) 2/13 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, scaled to 10yds vegas face) 2/14 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) 2/15 - 66 arrows @ 20 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) 2/16 - 66 arrows @ 20 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) 2/17 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) 2/18 - 66 arrows @ 20 yards (league night, plus 30 arrows after league scoring is done) 2/19 - 66 arrows @ 20 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) 2/20 - Game Day -
2/10 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) I've been slacking before last night. Haven't touched the bow since league night the week before. Ended up shooting a 600 - 58x game. Dropped my second arrow of the second end, and the second arrow in the 12th end. Both of them went high and were just barely out, simply a product of getting tenative on the shot and not getting out of it and letting down. I gotta say I executed 57 of those scored arrows very well, they felt nice. 2x of the bad ones missed the X, one of the bad ones I got lucky with. Last 12 arrows were inside out X's. When I load my back from the beginning of the shot sequence, and can manage to keep all tension out of my shoulders during the draw, I hit the X ring every time.
You're an animal, Matt. I suppose it's what it takes to win. I've never been so challenged in something than shooting this 20yd Vegas league. Any small mistake can drop you from a 10 to a 9 or even worse.
2/11 - 66 arrows @ 20 yards (league night, plus 30 arrows after league scoring is done) Shot a 299 - 16x in league, then continued to shoot another 30 arrows after and ended up with a 597 with 33 X's. A pretty good overall score, but lots of jar lickers in there and a pretty poor X count. I only hit 3 X's one time. LOTS of 30-2x's. Got a bit too aggressive with my front bow arm on 2x of those missed arrows and went out at 11 o'clock. The other to be honest I have no idea how I missed, felt crisp and was in the middle when it went off, it just didn't hit the middle. Target #3 I only missed 2 X's on the whole night. There was one big fat hole in the middle of that one! :d Again, like last night........when I can manage to setup my shot from the beginning of the shot sequence with absolutely no tension in my front bow arm shoulder, and build that dynamic tension in my back from the beginning, the dot just hovers slowly in the 10 ring and it seems I can't miss it. I need to focus on this and setting these up perfectly like this during tomorrows session.
2/12 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) Got about 15 arrows into the game, and I just wasn't feeling the shot well. Decided to quit while I was ahead instead of forcing my way through the game. I did manage to shoot 13X's out of the first 15 arrows though, but very few of them were quality shots to be honest. Spent the rest of the time reading through past journal entries to try and visualize what that shot should have felt like. I also culled through the 5 arrows I have setup right now, and got rid of one of them (wasn't straight enough for me anymore). Once done with this, I refletched the remaining 4 arrows, and put new nocks on, numbered them, spun them, and weighed them. These should carry me through to the end of the season, I'll likely recheck just before game day though.
2/13 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, scaled to 10yds vegas face) 2/14 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) 2/15 - 66 arrows @ 20 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) Ended up having family in from out of town, so it wasn't really an option to shoot much. I did get 15 arrows in on 2/13 before work at 10 yards in the basement, and managed to shoot all 15 very strong. 2/16 - 66 arrows @ 20 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) Because of my apparent lack of practice for a few days, I really struggled for some reason and probably shouldn't have started at a full 20 yards. It had been a stressful weekend and I wasn't really focused. Shot about 30 arrows and realized it just wasn't happening, so I packed up and left the range and headed home.
2/17 - 66 arrows @ 10 yards (2x practice ends, 60 arrows scored, full size vegas face) Shot a full 66 arrows at 10 yards in the basement at the full size target. The practice ends, and first game (15 arrows) I really struggled with, but it all clicked and I found it for the last 45 arrows and only missed one X from there on out. Again, I found that spot where I'm able to start and setup the shot with no tension in my front bow shoulder. Towards the end of the round, my dot simply wasn't leaving the X ring, it felt great. After the normal 66 arrows I decided to throw up a scaled target for 10 yards, and kept shooting. Ended up shooting 45 more arrows and ended up with a 447 - 31X. X count was finally up, and I really was feeling some great shots. The 3 arrows I dropped were purely a lack of focus, my new AR is almost completely together (just installed more parts tonight) and I was focused on staring at it on the bench across the room instead of the game at hand............ . Again, when I would take the time to visualize each shot, and set it up properly......I knew it was going in the middle. League night tomorrow, I'll likely wake up early tomorrow morning and shoot another 15 arrows to try and keep that feeling anchored through the day.
Ended up shooting 15ish arrows on Thursday. Got out of work late, and ended up only having time for a few. They were good arrows, not much to write about those. Headed to the range yesterday after work and managed to put together a pretty good game. I decided to only shoot a 45 arrow game to simulate what I'm doing in the tournament today. I came out of it pretty good (448 - 34x) and managed to put together quite a few really strong shots. After my game, I headed to the tournament to watch a few buddies on the Friday 7pm line, and to just get comfortable being there, then I headed home to relax and get a good nights sleep. Changed my line time today to 3pm so I would have time to get to a range first and warm up and start feeling it before heading to the tournament. I'm on at 3pm line today and will update more later for anyone that cares to know how I did. Hopefully I can keep my head together. :d
Thanks guys. I'll update tonight. Jeff: Half the battle indoors is trusting your float, so that you can focus on the spot you want to hit rather than your pin/dot/release/shot execution. Stare at the middle and let it happen. Nothing builds confidence in your float like smoking the middle out of the target. It's easier to focus on what you need to do to get there this way. It also improves self image........I haven't dropped a 10 ring at 10 yards in almost a year.......so I know what it's like to be clean, and I know what it's like to expect it. Now when I'm clean well into the game at 20 yards, it's no big deal.......I've been there before. Helps me to stay focused on the process not the result. Don't know if this makes any sense, but most of my best practice occurs at 10 yards.
Well figured I would at least update this. I ate humble pie this weekend. :d I ended up shooting about the worst game I can remember off the top of my head out of the past 2x years. I basically got on the line, had some nerves that increased my range of motion, and instead of trusting it and just looking at the middle and pulling through, I got tenative on my shots and my shots were breaking well outside of my optimum shot window, I'd bet my shot sequence was 2-3 seconds longer than what I shoot in my basement or at league. It's the first time I've been on an indoor tournament line since my first year shooting spots (4 years ago), and I was just well outside of my comfort zone. I know what I need to do, and I'm going to do it. Our NFAA/NYFAB state championship is coming up end of March, and I'm going to give it another shot then. I can't do any worse..........
Lol Matt, I kept checking in expecting an update, and after not seeing one I could have guessed what happened. It's a different animal with a crowd around you. You know that, you can practice, practice, and practice some more but you can't simulate pressure like that. It makes you appreciate what these guys do in Vegas every year.
