Outdoor Competitions 2009
22 Aug - Redditch FITA Star
This is the first time that Redditch Archers have held a FITA Star tournament, so they were keen to see that things went smoothly and that even though it was only a small turn out (only 20 targets) that we all got value for money. The major tournament this weekend is at Exmouth where all the GB team and most of the UK's best archers will be competing in the next round of the National Series, so in a way it was nice to be shooting in a field of "club archers" rather than "national archers". Also quite nice, was that I was shooting in a competition at which I barely knew anyone at all (except Graham Potts, the judge) and I was able to focus on my shooting and concentrate on the shots.
Once I'd met with my target partners, it was clear to see that I was shooting with one Junior MB (who subsequently went on to win the day), one other Bowman, and a First Class archer. So it was nice to be paired with archers of a similar ability, and we were able to compete with one another throughout the day. What was also very encouraging, was that at one point or another, three out of the four of us were on the leader board at some stage through the day! (below were the scores after 9 dozen).
So, onto the scores:
90m – 77, 69, 76 (222)
70m – 76, 105, 101 (282) a really bad first end here ruined what might've been a new PB
50m – 85, 101, 93 (279)
30m – 107, 113, 101 (321) a stupid 6 and a 7 cost me dearly here!
Still, I ended the day on 1104 which is a new FITA PB for me, and considering that I'd gone there with the intention of beating my previous "worst" of 1079 from Lilleshall in May, then I'm very happy indeed! This now gives me a total of 4626 ranking points for this year, with just the Lichfield FITA70 & H2H to do before the end of the season. So my target of getting into the UK top 100 is looking fairly good (at least based on last years scores!) It was also a new PB for the Short Metric too (600) which was also nice, considering that I'd already shot 6 dozen in the morning!
One last note about this shoot - it was a great ground, fairly well sheltered by a long line of trees down one side, and despite shooting into the sun nearly all day long it's a great venue. One that I'll definitely be doing again next year, especially if it clashes with Exmouth again, and keeps the big boys away!
2 Aug - Salisbury Double FITA 70
August was always going to be a quiet month for competitions, and the only ones of note were the Salisbury Double FITA 70 and the Redditch FITA Star.
Salisbury was good, but a little windy in the morning. It died down in the afternoon and things improved a little. I shot next to Tom Barber and was mightily impressed by how well he could shoot in that wind! The morning session went 80, 86, 98, 99, 86, 84 for a 533. Nothing too spectacular and not a score I'll be using for ranking points. I need to beat my previous "worst" of 556 which was shot at Rivernook to improve my FITA70 scores. It's still in line with Bowman (36 h'cap) but not that pleasing, even if it was windy!
The afternoon session went a little better with 94, 94, 102, 90, 89, 94 for a 563. Much better! Back into the 33 h'cap area and definitely a score I'll be using for ranking points, assuming I don't better it at Lichfield in September. Over all, I finished on 1096 for the day, which placed me 8th which I'm happy with. The old adage about your Double FITA 70 score being (more or less) the same as your FITA score seems to be holding true.
18 & 19 July 2009 - Beds FITA Star, and Surrey FITA Star
Now playing: 
Probably something really bland - Not been paying much attention
lately!
Been WAAAY too busy to write up this blog for the past couple of weeks, due to pressures of work (did I mention that I have a job again?) and frankly being too knackered! Had no competitions at all this past weekend and slept for 11 hours both on Friday and Saturday night!
Anyway, quick round up of Beds - quite windy, shot with two others who were extremely similarly ranked to myself, which made scoring and competing with them really interesting and great fun. Scored 1097, and very happy, coz I beat them both, and finished 3rd of the one-dayers!
90m – 77, 79, 64 (220)
70m – 95, 102, 87 (284) new PB
50m – 95, 94, 88 (277)
30m – 108, 105, 103 (316)
Quick round up of Surrey - still windy, shooting with the Middx champion (hehe, and beat him at 50m!) Also shooting with a really grumpy compounder who was pretty crap (I think he was only grumpy because both us recurvers were close to beating him!) Scored 1072 - a little below par, and it probably wont be a score I'll be using for ranking points. A great shoot as ever though, and one I want to keep on the calendar for next year. I do like this place!
90m – 65, 72, 69 (206)
70m – 99, 98, 72 (269) bad last dozen here - shot through the clicker and bent it backwards!
50m – 91, 95, 99 (285) new PB
30m – 98, 106, 108 (312)
12 July 2009 - Wiltshire FITA Star
Now playing:
Four season in one day - Crowded House
Who put the “wind” into Swindon then? This is the fist time I’ve shot at the Wiltshire FITA Star tournament, and although it was just over 90 minutes to get down to Swindon, it really didn’t seem that far away. Hosted by Supermarine Bowmen, it is a great little shoot, with a lot fewer targets that you usually see at most FITA Star tournaments – I think there were only 17 gents, and a similar number of ladies and juniors combined. This lent itself to being a fairly informal type of shoot, and there was a lot of light-hearted banter along the line, and it was interesting to see that people had travelled from far and wide to be here today, despite the shoot’s small size. It clearly attracts archers from a wide area.
The only thing that let the shoot down today was the weather – in a major way! I don’t think we managed four, but we certainly got three seasons in one day – we had torrential rain, we had strong sunshine, and we had a gale blowing from left to right relentlessly ALL day long! To be fair, the ground is very exposed, on the top of a large hill, and it’s probably unlikely that they ever get many calm days there.
None the less, everyone just got on with it, and enjoyed it as just a practice shoot, as I dare say not many people will be using today’s score for ranking points! Mine went:
90m – 69, 64, 79 (212)
70m – 74, 83, 86 (243)
50m – 88, 96, 93 (277)
30m – 106, 105, 102 (313)
A final total of 1045 which this time last year I’d have been happy with, but it was so windy, and so impossible to control the bow at full draw, I’m just glad I completed the shoot! I really do need to sort out my 70m though. Would I do it again next year? Hmm, quite possibly, simply because of the smallness of the shoot, and the great atmosphere there.
So, it does now mean that I’ve got three FITAs under my belt, two FITA 70s and two H2H scores to enter for ranking points – all of which add to a total of 4536 points, which is significantly more than last year’s efforts, and should now put me into the top 100. I’ve still got three FITA Stars left to shoot, and a couple of FITA 70s left to do, so hopefully I can improve on this score too.
13/14 June 2009 - Rivernook Double FITA 70 & H2H
Now playing:
Candy - Paolo Nutini
This weekend was the first of my FITA 70's for this year, and also the first H2H of the season too, and these points count toward national ranking position, so beating last year's PBs would be nice. Shooting at Rivernook's ground is always a pleasure - it's lined on three sides with trees and the back drop (that you shoot towards) is a wall of 40ft Leylandii trees which gives a great constant colour to be able to watch your arrows flying to the target. Bearing in mind that we spend 2 days with our target partners, it was great to get three others that were fun, light-hearted and of a similar level to myself, so it was a pleasant couple of days shooting.
Day 1 was a double FITA 70, and a day of two halves. The morning was was a little bit tense as I was focussing on achieving a minimum of 550, and trying to beat last years 533. So the dozens come in at -
86, 103, 92, 91, 97, 87 making a final total of 556. So that's the PB beaten, the black FITA target award in the bag, and a comfortable 34 h'cap too. Then the afternoon was far more relaxed, and all of a sudden things started coming together, in the form of -
94, 102, 81, 98, 98, 102 making a final total of 575. Wow! So another new PB and a 31 h'cap. (I'll use this score to claim the target award, as it looks better when all the results are published in Archery UK later in the year!)
Onto Day 2 - Another FITA 70 in the morning, which went - 89, 98, 97, 94, 89, 89 and a final total of 556 once again! The first three dozen were the best first three of the weekend, so I'll use that as a new 70m distance PB too. This score ranked me 28th place in the seedings (out of about 55 archers) so it was highly likely that I'd be facing someone of a similar ability in the first round of the H2H. Indeed I then discover that my opponent was to be Sean Evans (a junior GB team member) who'd had a miserable morning and finished his ranking round on 543 and in 36th place. I've shot with Sean on a few occasions before, and I know he's worthy of a lot better than 543 so I was intrigued as to why he was so low in the ranking.
Anyway, we line up and my first end was 46 to his 53, so 7 points down at the halfway stage. Second end felt a lot better, and I clawed back a couple of points, 47 to his 45. A fairly close match, but a loss by 5 points was no great shame. I enjoyed the round, didn't feel nervous shooting like last year, and I'll look forward to others later in the year. 93 points from the 12 arrow pass is a lot better than last year too, so I'm fairly pleased with that.
This now puts me on 3410 ranking points towards my position, and needing one more FITA and one more H2H score before I can submit my scores. It'd be nice if I can get another 1100 and another 570+ from my remaining WRS shoots, and if so, I'll be hoping for a total points tally of around 4600 and a top 100 placing (fingers crossed).
10 June 2009 - Guildford 'Take a Break' - St George
Now playing:
I'm with you - Avril Lavigne
I've never shot this tournament before, and seeing as I still have lots of time on my hands at the moment, I thought I'd join the 'unemployed, self employed and retired' archers at the Guildford Take a Break shoot. This shoot is always held on a Wednesday, so unless you're fortunate enough to be able to either get the time off work, or fall into one of the above categories, then you're unlikely to know much about this tournament. It's a very laid back day, with no prizes for finishing in the top three, just a bottle of beer - which is great!
It's a St George round, which in themselves are fairly few and far between, and it's very pleasant to shoot 9 dozen in a very relaxed atmosphere. . . . except for when it's raining! So we had rain for the first couple of dozen, although it was dead calm. Then the rain stopped to allow for the wind to pick up for the 80 yard section, and by the time the 60 yard section came round, we had perfect conditions!
The dozen scores reflected these changeable conditions, and came in along the lines of:
100yds - 61, 64, 68
80yds - 68, 86, 68
60yds - 96, 96, 94
So a total of 701, which is a little disappointing, but it was a great day out, and (given the time) I'd love to do it again next year.
25 May 2009 - SCAS Middlesex FITA Star
Now playing:
Movin' on up - Primal Scream
Day two of the Middlesex weekend, and this time a FITA Star - another 12 dozen of hard work, and with my eye on an 1100 Star if things go as well as yesterday. Official practice went well for the first three ends, all scoring at about 75 per dozen region, and once again well within the 4 minute time frame. I've now worked out that I can get 9-10 arrows off in that time, so when shooting only 6 arrows in a timed end, it gives me the ability to come down on at least 3 shots without having to worry (if I need to).
Then came the first end of scoring, and the wind picked up out of nowhere, blew huge raindrops right into our faces, and made it almost impossible to look at the targets, let alone hit them! My first end I scored. . . 6! I had serious thoughts of packing up at this point, as there seemed no point in shooting in those conditions. Then as if by magic the wind and rain stopped, and the sun broke through the clouds to give us an almost totally calm day with bright sunshine and very little wind at all! Sadly, my first poor end left me with a lot of catching up to do though, and I wasn't hopeful of 1100 at all, so I just relaxed and used it as a training and stamina exercise. The second dozen I then scored 97! (which is borderline GMB level!) So, as I was shooting with a good friend from GOA and enjoying my shoot once I was back on track again, I just got down to it, and the dozens came in at:
90m - 39, 97, 83 - 219
70m - 83, 92, 101 - 276 (new PB)
50m - 96, 85, 98 - 279 (new PB)
30m - 110, 112, 106 - 328 (new PB)
I've added them up several times now, and indeed, they do total 1102! My first ever 1100+ FITA, an 1100 Star, and to be honest I didn't really feel that I shot out of my skin at all! I put some great shots together at 70m (the 101 was nice) and 30m was good today too. Three new distance PBs were nice though. And the reason for the 85 in the middle of the 50m section? Stupidly, I shot on the sound of someone's clicker behind me, shot my arrow through my own clicker, (thankfully I got away with a 7 out of it) but shot the tip off my own clicker! I then had to shoot the remainder of 50m and all of 30m using just the metal clicker blade without a tip!
Still, it has been a fantastic weekend, with loads of new PBs and an 1100 Star, so I'm really, really pleased with how things are going at the moment. Better still, I don't feel absolutely drained, like I did when I did two sets of 12 dozen last year. Another York in two weeks!
Oh, and the moral from today? Don't quit! I was nearly going home after the first dozen, but came away with a new shiny badge - I've learned a lot from that.
24 May 2009 - Middlesex County Champs (York)
Now playing:
The Reason - Hoobastank
Well, after a busy few weeks shooting, practising and generally getting my stamina levels up for this long weekend of archery, I'd almost forgotten to blog what's been happening lately! Shortly after the Whiteleaf shoot I did a New Western down at the club, and scored a great 614, which was my 3rd Bowman score this year, and finally Bowman Class to go with it! YAY!! Then last weekend we did the GOA Spring Handicap shoot in one of the strongest winds I've ever shot in, and got a pitiful 645 Long Western, so I did another one later that same week in much calmer conditions and got a far more respectable 710, and back into Bowman level scores again. All of which left me feeling very confident going into this weekend of a York followed by a FITA over two days.
First day was the county champs, and a beautiful, warm, calm sunny day - so no excuses for the weather then! Anything above the 900 mark would make me smile, but really what I was after was another Bowman score just to reinforce my level, and to make up for the fact that my last one was "only" at the club, with a couple of other archers there.
So the dozens came in at:
100 yards - 61, 66, 71, 86, 66, 77. Three misses here, all low, but otherwise fairly happy. Anything around the 400 mark at lunchtime is acceptable for a 900+ score.
80 yards - 76, 84, 84, 76. An interesting pattern of scores, but a few too many 3's here. There's at least 15 points to be made up at this distance.
60 yards - 100, 92. Nothing much to say about these - about average really, including a six gold end which was nice.
So final total of 939, a comfortable Bowman score and a 35 h'cap. Very happy with that.
10 May 2009 - Whiteleaf Invitational (Hereford)
Now playing:
Revelry - Kings of Leon
My second year of being selected to represent the Greenwood Osterley team at this shoot, and one that I'm now beginning to enjoy immensely. A beautiful warm sunny day on the Chiltern Hills, once again surrounded by the sort of nature that you never see in London - buzzards, hawks, horses, and vast wide open spaces, with a proper horizon! The horizon I normally see when I'm typing these blog entries is the top of the roofs on the other side of the road! This year, we turned up to this shoot with a strong team, and potentially one capable of actually winning the Whiteleaf trophy, which we haven't won for something like 5 years.
The Hereford round is not one that you can obtain a Bowman score from, being only 80 yards, but as long as my score handicap was in Bowman territory I'd be happy. I'd set myself a notional target of 1050 for today, but anything near my PB of 1076 would be nice. Shooting 12 dozen for the second weekend on the trot again is a good way to measure that my stamina is up to it too.
So, the dozens came in at:
80 yards - 80, 72, 79 (with a miss), 94 (a great dozen!) 80, 88
60 yards - 102, 90, 98, 96
50 yards - 104, 98
A final total of 1081, a 34 handicap (reducing my running h'cap by one point!) and a new PB too. All very happy indeed with that. The 94 dozen is way above MB level and was a delight to shoot - everything just fell into place. OK, so it's only for those 12 arrows, and I needed it having had a miss in the previous dozen, but it just proves that I can do it when it matters.
We won the team trophy by something like 150 points, and all in all it was a very enjoyable day's shooting. Hope I get selected again next year!
2 May 2009 - Walsall FITA Star (at Lilleshall National Sports Centre)
Now playing:
Don't stop me now - Queen
What a crazy time of the day to set off to a shoot! A 4.30am start with a 2.5 hour drive up to the National Sports Centre at Lilleshall. It's the home of Archery GB and probably one of the largest shoots in the country , so getting there early was essential, not only to get a decent parking space, a decent spot on the line for the tent, but also some decent breakfast en route! This is where I learned that drinking and driving is a bad idea. Not the type you're probably thinking of, but plain simple coffee, from a plain cardboard cup with a plastic lid. I stopped off at a service station to get some strong coffee to drink as I drove - you know the type, choco-frappacino with full strength beans and semi skimmed milk - a bargain at just £3.00! So then cruising up the M40 at (*ahem* miles per hour - hey, it was early and there was no traffic!). This is when I discovered that wearing my white club shirt to drive in, and drinking coffee through a cup lid was a bad idea - I looked down and saw a classy brown coffee stain down my front! Nice! Thankfully, the next service station had plenty of hand wash and really powerful hand dryers to wash out the shirt. Good job it's nylon! So, lesson learned, don't wear the shirt to drive in, in future.
The 2 mile driveway up to the sports centre and the field were a sight to behold. An archery field, with 75 targets, is an amazing sight. So after shaking off the early morning tiredness with a strong tea and a bacon roll it was nice to see some familiar faces arriving and talking amongst people that are now becoming "archery mates".
I must admit to having some trepidation before coming to Lilleshall. Other FITA stars I've been to have been fairly cold and uninviting places, with no real sense of fun. By contrast, this one was wonderful! On targets in both directions from mine were friendly people, (most who've travelled some way to be there), many of whom I've met before and it was great atmosphere, and a great venue.
After introducing myself to my target partners we got down to business and to the three ends of practice. I'm now happy that I can get nine arrows off in the allocated 4 minutes, which for my timing means that during normal shooting I can afford to come down on three arrows out of six (if I need to). Sightmark was a little high for 90m but the group was OK and by the last end of practice, where I usually only shoot six rather than nine, the group was all blue or better. I was also pleased not to have a single miss the entire day, which is always a bonus!
Then onto the scoring:
90m - 72, 73, 78 - 223 (new PB)
70m - 85, 83, 87 - 255
50m - 95, 94, 85 - 274 (new PB)
30m - 109, 111, 107 - 327 (new PB)
Final total, 1079. And a really happy me! My second Bowman score of the year, my EAF Black Cross in the bag, and PB's at 90, 50 and 30 metres. And obviously a new FITA personal best too! I need to work on and tidy up my 70m shooting now, as that let me down today. When you consider that 70m should be the same scores as 50m, then I clearly lost about 20 points at this distance today. If I'm to do well at the FITA 70's I've entered for this year, then this distance needs to improve - the above would only give me a 510 for a FITA 70 which is low. Aside from that, today was a great day, and I've learned a huge amount about my FITA shooting, and about keeping up the stamina throughout the day. I'll definitely be coming back here again next year!
26 April 2009 - GOA St George
Now playing:
Unbelievable - EMF
What a difference a week makes! This week, with being off work, and having some glorious weather all week, I've been able to shoot virtually every day and get loads of practice in before today's St. George. I was very pleased with my 100 yard practice during the week, and confident that my mental target of 70 per doz at 100yds, 80 at 80yds and 90 at 60yds should be achievable for a Bowman score.
When we set the field up, it was obvious that today was going to be very windy though, and the flags on the top of the targets were flying horizontally from right to left, and the safety tape around the back of the tent line was flapping away merrily in the strong gusts. So today was going to be a challenge! The sun however, was shining all day long, and it felt really pleasant to feel its warming effect - and even having to wear a hat to keep it out of your eyes!
When we started, it was obvious that two of my target companions both had very similar arrows to mine, which made spotting them using a scope very difficult. So I decided to give my new "GOA wrapped" arrows their first outing as they are bright orange with yellow wraps, and really easy to see. Turns out, they work rather well too! Dozens came in at: 100 yards - 57, 82, 68 (with one miss due to the wind). Still, this put me on 207 for the distance, and only 3 points short of my target. The 82 was particularly pleasing! Then 80 yards - 84, 82, 80, and well into the 80 per dozen I was looking for. Lastly, 60 yards - 86, 96, 92 (with 1 one, when the arrow slipped off my fingers). So a final total of 727. Today's ambition was to get somewhere near 721 to achieve a Bowman score, and for the first time ever I've hit it! So, one down, two to go. Hopefully, with a little less wind I can achieve this as the summer progresses. It's very VERY nice to score a Bowman score though, and a real achievement, especially given the windy conditions.
I was so happy to get the first one out of the way though, especially at a competition, and my confidence going into next week's first FITA at Lilleshall is really high now. I'm really looking forward to it too - most of the GB team will be there, and many of the UK's top archers, and at one of the biggest shoots in the country - cant wait!
19 April 2009 - Richmond Pagoda - Albion
Now playing:
Second Chance - Shinedown
There's something about this shoot that I just can't put my finger on, but I've never really enjoyed myself here. Last year we got a soaking and I shot like a plonker, this year we had a strong cross wind and shiny target faces!
I struggled with the right to left cross wind all day, and no matter how much I adjusted for it, I just couldn't get the same rhythm to my shots as I'm used to. And it's particularly annoying when you execute a perfect shot, through a perfectly sighted bow, and then watch as the arrow sails off into the blue at 9 o'clock! Twice in a row now I've underperformed at this shoot, so I'm in two minds whether I'll do it again. We'll see how I feel next year.
The dozens came in along the following: 80 yards - 71, 72, 76. Bearing in mind that I should be hitting a minimum of 80 per dozen at this distance, this already put me 20 points below where I wanted to be at lunchtime. Then 60 yards were a little bit better, with 82, 88, 100. 90 per dozen is where I should be for Bowman scores here, so although I averaged that with 270, shooting an 82 didn't help! Lastly, 50 yards was 94, 96, 92. OK, I guess, but nothing spectacular. So a grand total of 771 (a comfortable First Class, but only a 40 h'cap) and although I was pleased that Greenwood won the team trophy, it's the first time in a long while that I didn't make the team!
My last gripe about today, was the fact that they used new Arrowhead "waterproof" target faces - which were basically made from plastic. The were very durable, and very resilient when it came to pulling out the arrows. However, when we started the day, and through till about halfway through the second distance, the sun was shining on them from behind us, and reflecting like mirrors, which made being able to distinguish the gold from the red almost impossible, and extremely hard to see any arrows at all when it came to spotting them using a scope from behind the line. I hope no other shoots decide to adopt these faces - they're horrible!
13 April 2009 - Spelthorne Opening Shoot
Now playing:
Wish you were here - Pink Floyd
What a perfect day for archery! Warm dappled sun, barely a breath of wind, and surrounded by loads of friends from other clubs. Quite why more people from Greenwood Osterley don't do this opening shoot as the start to their outdoor season is beyond me, but it really is a great way to start shooting outdoors. Granted, the weather wasn't brilliant last year, but today was fantastic.
I'd hastily got sightmarks for 70 yards and 45 yards last week, so I was fairly confident of hitting the target without too much aggravation (provided they're at the correct distance!) and indeed all my sighters were either red or better - quite pleased with that. It is quite weird though, going back to shooting 3 arrows, stepping off the line for the other detail, and then shooting another 3 again. It's a totally different experience to shooting indoors - well duh!
Then onto the scoring - first two arrows straight into the gold, followed by a miss! What? What's going on here? I hope this wasn't going to be the pattern for the rest of the afternoon! When we got to score the arrows, it transpired that my missed arrow had lost a fletching on its path to the target, and although it was perfectly straight, landed in the grass under the target. So I had some catching up to do! Then the dozens went - 85, 92, 86 making 263 for the first distance and 33 points up on where I was last year. Then the second distance seemed once again to just fly by, and went along the lines of 96, 100, 102 (with two 6 gold ends back to back, which was nice). So 298 here and 2 points better than last year. Final total of 561, which was 35 points better than last year, and I also won best gold for the day too - a box of Terry's All Gold chocolates!
I really can recommend this shoot as a start to your outdoor season, and now let's hope that the good form continues. Next weekend, Richmond Pagoda - we CAN do better than last year!