First Flight Archery, Raleigh Revolution JOAD US Archery Outdoor Second Quarter Virtual Tournament

Just got home from shooting the second quarter First Flight Archery, Raleigh Revolution JOAD US Archery Outdoor virtual tournament. Beautiful at but hot, almost no wind. Mickey my Apple Watch said it was 92 when we finished. I had three goals going into this tournament which I should have posted to you(my coach George Ryals IV) before I shot but here they are any way. 
1. Execute my current shot routine which I have been practicing all week. This I did about 95% of the time at least three time I had the pep in front of my eye without thinking about moving my shoulder back to get my to my anchor. 
2. Shoot all my arrows in the yellow. This I missed by having five 8s and two 7s. The six-seven liner was shot during sighting in. Speaking of sighting in I had not used the Axcel scope since my rest was adjusted and left was so far off I had to move the scope to the right to have enough left adjustment to get the scope sighted in also I my not have used this scope since my strings were changed because my tape was very far off for range. I will likely go to Boneyard Sunday to make an updated tape. 
3. Was to shoot 320 or better and get my next JOAD pin. I did half of this one. I needed 310 to get my pin so my 317 is enough. Since the worst arrow I shot was a 7 if I had not of had the miss I would have made the 320. Speaking of the miss I have no idea what happen. I am truly baffled. The shot felt good I did not know I missed until Leslie who was doing some spotting told me I had missed. I recovered shooting a 10 and two 9s after it. This is a personal best by 16 arrows. I am pleased with this shoot but would really liked to have not had the 8s or 7s.

Good practice tonight. My first three arrows were two Xs and a 10. A good deal better than last night. I am at 15 yards and was shooting pretty well. I guess last night was just a bad night. I am fairly happy with this target. I shot 48 arrows tonight.

Difficult practice I only shoot 27 arrows. I moved to 15 yards and the target was in a shadow and it was difficult to see well. I had trouble getting my sight set but even when I did I had trouble shooting. I worked hard to focus and do my routine but I did manage to make progress. Today was just hard.

Good practice last night. During JOAD classes again. I was not feeling great but wanted to shoot. I stopped after 30 arrows I was focusing well. But I didn’t want to practice longer and lose my focus so I went home. Routine is working well and getting easier I am happy with this target. I plan to move up to 15 yards Thursday and see how that goes. I’m looking forward to our outdoor virtual tournament this Saturday.

George Ryals  

Jul 24

This is a good target. The ones after this are much looser. What changes did you make after this?

Ashby Spratley  

Jul 25

I do not know of any changes at least there were none that I made intentionally

Good practice tonight. Still working mostly on just my modified shot routine. I shot 81 arrows tonight, the first 30 blank bailing. The routine was felling easy and familiar so I put up a target and began working on my routine with aiming. The three 9s were during adjusting my sight which I had set to 40 yards while blank bailing so I would not aim. I shot the rest of the 81 arrows with the new routine and I was a bit surprised to find it was not as easy to done while blank bailing. It makes since that it would not be but I was surprised.

Good practice tonight. Worked on my revised shooting routine blank bailing at 10 yards so no target tonight. The routine is getting easier at is the adjusted release and release position. Short JOAD night so I only got in 42 arrows. I tried to use the SweetSpot but again it does not work. Becoming annoyed with this unit.

Good but short practice tonight, tonight I also have bagpipe rehearsal tonight. I shot 42 arrows but the target looks worse than it is. After about 21 arrows I became aware of the fact the my StarLite scope was lose and when I worked I it to fix it I messed up the left right adjustment and it took me a few arrows to get it corrected hence the two red, one blue and the apparent miss.

Good practice, again during g the JOAD class. I shot 72 arrows Wednesday nothing on Tuesday I was home sick. I took this target photo with the last three arrow it is nice to finish with three inside outs. Inside outs are my goal every shot. Looking forward to my session with you Friday. Thanks for the comments on my videos. They mean a lot to me.

Only had an hour Monday evening I got to the range a bit late and there was a JOAD class so I had to shoot with the students I do not mind this it just limits how much I can shoot. Only 36 arrows tonight. I just enjoyed my shooting and practiced my form at 10 yards. I do not mi d doing this and I have improved but I am not sure I am continuing to improve.

Drove back to Boneyard Archery again Sunday. This gets me out of the sunshine but not the heat. It was 96 in there. I shot 60 arrows and everything felt good. I still must be doing something wrong because try as I may I cannot yet keep everything in the X ring. I am very much looking forward the working with you Friday George.

Good practice Friday. Felt good even though it was short. Only 42 arrows and afterwards I help with the beginners class which I enjoy doing. I shot Thursday also but had to share a target because folks were in practicing for league. I did not have band rehearsal that night so I stayed and shot the 3D indoor league. It was the first time I was able to use my new shot routine at 3D. It went well I shot 205. Went right back to my target bow and practicing at 10 yards.

A good practice 84 arrows tonight. My plan was to shoot every arrow in the ten ring with as many as possible in the X ring. So on my first arrow I took careful aim after going through my shot routine and I shot my first arrow at the 8 9 line due to having not extended my scope out to 8 on its scale. I did pretty well after that not shooting a until arrow 55 & 56 and two more at 69 & 72 then in my last arrow 84 I shot an 8. I am not sure what I did. It seemed like a good shot. Most likely I dropped my bow arm. I am not unhappy with this practice but it does show me I need to work on focus.

Pretty good practice tonight. I shot 72 arrows tonight at 10 yards. I am still sometimes shooting low when everything feels right and I may have tracked it down to how I am holding my right hand at anchor. I will test this more. John shot a couple of videos of me tonight and he is pretty happy with my right shoulder roll and arm movement to get to anchor including where my elbow is going. When I do that correctly it seems like I have less movement of my pin on the target in my sight. Eli thinks it is cool that that I think of him as my Bagger Vance. I will send the videos, would live to know what you think. Looking forward to seeing you in 10 days for my lesson and bow tuning.

George Ryals  

Jun 20

From this angle I like how the draw direction is working. You’re greatly improved since your last workshop.

George Ryals  

Jun 20

I think the moves may be a little exaggerated. Let’s look at that Friday when you’re here.

A good practice not one of my best but good. I shot 75 arrows Monday night, I got to the range due to having a doctors visit after work. I took Sunday off my daemon “depression” can to visit Sunday and I let in. Doing better now. After about 60 arrows I kept having trouble with hitting low. I made sure I was not dropping the bow and that I was keeping my right elbow back and a little up but still I was consistently low so I adjusted my sight and that helped but I do not know why I was shooting low.

Good practice I had about two and a half hour today before I taught the beginners class. I still had to do a little sighting in everything was low. I had one group of 12 Xs in a row and several group of six Xs. I am pretty sure my misses are focusing problems. I am happy with the target. Things are getting easier and quicker.

I just read "The Legend of Bagger Vance" again. Have I told you I have also read the book, it is different from the movie. I like the book better. As prat of my develop as an archery I was to find my 'Authentic Shot' and i think Eli would make a good Bagger. He just does not know it. LOL Seriously I do believe there is something to finding ones own shot or shot and shot routine. Thoughts?

---

George Ryals  

Jun 12

I think it’s really about finding your true authentic self.

Not as good practice last night. I had an hour and a half to shoot but only got 39 arrows shot. My bow had just had all its strings replaced. John seemed to have done a real good job and the bow looks great but it does feel a bit different and I am not sure why. I will creep tune it Saturday. The pep is in the right place. He said it is one quarter pound more draw weight but that is the only difference. I had to make a number of adjustments to hit the X. Or maybe this just was not a good day.

I had another real good practice tonight. It was short as each Thursday will be due to my bagpipe rehearsal. I did get 54 arrows in tonight and I felt different while shooting and I was shooting a little quicker. But I also had some sort of break through. I shot 20 Xs in a roll then I missed one shot 4 more Xs then missed 2 and finally shot 9 Xs. I am happy with the way I am shooting I just hope I am doing it correctly. The arrow in the blue and the miss were some one else’s arrows.

I had a good long practice tonight. There are two JOAD classes tonight and I got there early and shot through it all. I shot 123 arrows tonight. I received the 6x .019 drilled lens for my StarLite scope and I installed and used it tonight. I really like the scope with this new lens. It did take me some time to sight in the sight with the new lens hence the hits in the nines. It felt good tonight.

I got a couple of videos shot tonight

No target again tonight. Tonight I went to an outdoor range where my JOAD were shooting an outdoor pin night. We shot one end and a couple of practice end. I could not use the StarLite scope as no electronics allowed in USA Archery shoots and the StarLite has no way to collect ambient light. I followed the training I have been working on to shoot tonight. I do not feel I shot very well due to my inability to get my scope sighted properly until the last end. One major problem was I tried to let down and shot into the grass so I had one miss but did find my arrow. Bellow is a list of my scores. 10-9-9-8-8-7=9 X-9-9-8-8-7=9 9-9-8-8-7-6=13 9-9-9-8-8-6=11 9-9-9-8-7-6=12 10-10-10-10-7-m=13 Back to shooting at. 10 yards tomorrow unless you tell me differently

George Ryals  

Jun 6

Was it a release malfunction or something else? When at ten yards, what are you currently working on?

Ashby Spratley  

Jun 6

I consider it a release malfunction. I was not happy with the way the shot felt and was attempting to let down and I malfunctioned by hitting the thumb trigger. If you are asking if the release itself malfunctioned I do not think so I believe it was me. At ten yards I am going over each of the following items in my shoot routine. Stance - same one I have always used. Hook & Grip - hook my release and squeeze the bow handle between thumb and index finger. Raise the bow - I raise the bow over my head at the full extension of my left arm while keeping my shoulders down and allowing the palm of my hand to rest on the bow grip. Draw - pushing my left arm down and forward and drawing my right arm back and to the outside below my chin near my chest Anchor - using my shoulder moving it back I bring my release and hand to anchor under my chin - I do not know if this is a separate step if so I do not know what it is called but here I check to feel if my right shoulder feels like it is back behind my head and down and make sure my right elbow is also back and behind my head Hold on center - now I try to hold my dot on center and just look at the X all the time while I pull back on the release until it releases - it releases pretty easily for me now I allow my right hand to follow through and hold my bow arm up until I hear the arrow hit the target. A lot of this is becoming automatic and I do it without thinking about it but if I think about my shot after I can remember doing the steps and it a shot fails I can usually review the shot and find what I missed or did not do correctly Am I overdoing it?

Ashby Spratley  

Jun 4

Good practice tonight. I forgot to photo my target tonight, sorry. None of the 48 arrows I got to shoot during the JOAD pin shoot tonight. None of my arrows landed outside of the ten ring. If my target is still there Tuesday I will get a photo. I am feeling comfortable with my shot routine with all the changes we made and my release. Should I move the target back from 10 yards and if so how far back?

---

George Ryals  

Jun 6

The way to know if its time to progress to the next step in training is your ability to shoot a solid, quick shot that is still, controlled, and clean. If you can shoot that Perfect feeling shot over and over without making intermittent mistakes, it's time to move to the next step.

Ashby Spratley  

Jun 6

Thanks for your description of how to know when to move back. I am not there yet but I do feel like I am making progress in that direction. Most of my shoots feel comfortable not like I am having to force myself to do the routine like when I first started all this. It has just become my routine now as in this is the way I draw my bow and shoot. I feel like I am controlled and clean but not solid or quick and from time to time it is just a mess. I will continue at 10 yards for now.

Drove back to Boneyard Archery this Sunday afternoon. Got a bit of a late start do to spending time replacing my bagpipe bag. Tying in a new bag takes about 5 hours and I alway do my own. So I only had a little over an hour to shoot. I was using my StarLite scope for the first time and I do not have the 6x lens for it yet so I was using a 4x I have left over. The lens I have has a dot and a halo circle around it. I think I will like the single fiber of the drilled lens better. It took some time sighting it but then worked pretty well. I did learn an important lesson today. I was shooting real well then every shot was going the same amount high so I raised the sight. I was back to the center. Then I noticed a funny sound from the bow and discovered the sight support arm had moved so I put it back where it was suppose to be and I was then shooting low so adjusted the sight down and I was centered again. What is leaking pressure?

2018 USA Archery North Carolina Outdoor and JOAD State Championships

To my coach George Ryals - 

I just got home from shooting the 2018 USA Archery North Carolina Outdoor and JOAD State Championships. It was very hot with a little bit of wind however I enjoyed myself. I was worried because I have not shot over 10 yards since the workshop. I was also worried about breaking my training. I was determined to shoot the tournament in the same way I have been practicing and I did. A bit to my surprise I shoot well. My first round was a 300, a personal best. My second was a 301 again a personal best. I guess everything you have had me doing has helped. I still have a lot to learn and skills to perfect so tomorrow I will go right back to practicing at 10 yards. I did have one miss and two 6s the third 6 arrow hole was someone else’s arrow.

I almost forget to tell you I won first place in Masters 60+ and it was a real win there was at least one other archer in my division.

This is the cord thing. It works very will. I have also made one for full draw practice.

Good practice Friday evening. I only shot 48 arrows 12 blank bail the rest at the target. Had to stop at 6:30 to get ready the help teach the 101 class. I am pleased with this target. The two nines were early releases. I had not been doing this but had four tonight. All of my property executed shot were in the Vegas 10 ring and I had four all X ends. I worrying am doing something wrong to release the string. I feel sure I am not moving my thumb but as I pull back on the string and get the dot the settle and I want it to release it does. I am not sure how to figure out if I am doing something wrong. Even if I am shooting better groups. I received my StarLite scope today but my tournament Saturday is US Archery so not lighted scopes and this does not have anyway to collect ambient light. I am looking forward to trying it.