28 March 2018
Overview of the night
Yesterday the club held it’s first Easter themed shoot, organised by our rather eccentric Social Secretary Iain (yes he’s the rabbit). From the amount of eggs consumed, bunnies shot and smiles on faces the evening was a great success. With the prospect of a full archery setup up for grabs the competition was fierce! Although many people did just keep going for the chocolate rewards! By the end of the scored shooting everyone was on a suitably high enough sugar rush to warrant a round of balloon shooting to round off the night.
Junior
1st place -Alex Bennion
Ladies
1st place – Linda Wright
2nd place – Jenny Woodards
Mixed Mens
3rd place – Marvin Doncaster
2nd place – Mike Coleman
1st place – Darren Bennion
We enjoyed putting on the Easter shoot and it was really well received. We’re keen to provide more themed evenings for members so watch this space!
You can see all the photos from the night on Facebook
3 February 2018
As you know we weren’t able to shoot last night owing to the annual War Games. But that didn’t stop us from having fun as we went out for a fun night of bowling.
Everybody who attended had a great time, despite Lindsey trying her best to flatten us with a backwards bowl! The best individual score of the night went to Marcus with 174. Top team score went to lane 8 (Janet, Jim, Mat, Simon and Teresa) with a score of 535. For those who want a recap of their scores, here you go.
Finally we just want to extend a big thank you to Iaian (Laim) Lees for organising the outing.
9 December 2017
The format is exactly as it was last year. There are classes for each bowstyle (Barebow, Compound, Longbow, and Recurve), ladies and gentlemen, and for three levels of experience: those who took up archery since 31st January 2017; those who took up archery before 1993; and all the rest.
You may submit as many Portsmouth scores as you can shoot during the month and the Records Officer will remind you when to submit them.
Any questions then please contact the Records Officer in the first instance.
18 November 2017
You probably know by now that the DCAS Postal League is in full swing. Shooting a round for the Postal (and in any competition) can be daunting for newcomers and experienced archers alike. So here’s 5 tips to help you shoot at your best.
It’s frustrating getting up to the line and realising you’ve forgotten to put something onto your bow. Even worse when you’re 4 ends into a bad round and then realise you don’t have a button in! Whenever you shoot it’s important to run through a mental checklist on all the parts of your bow. If you’re a recurve archer don’t neglect your string, having a well waxed string and correct brace height will pay dividends. Finally don’t forget your arrows, make sure all the fletchings are secure and the shafts are straight.
Not everyone does it but warming is very good for you. Not only are you helping to reduce the risk of straining yourself, you are are also reminding your body which muscles you should be using to draw your bow.
It can never be overstated how much of a mental game Archery is. Learning how to entirely focus on your shot and shut out distraction is not an easy thing to do. Before you start your end take a few moments to focus on your shooting. Many find it helpful to recite their shooting routine in their head.
Tensing up before a shot can lead to poor execution in the form of torquing and heeling the bow. If your shoulders, arms, neck or back are tense before your shot you can’t properly control which muscles should be applying pressure at each stage. Take a breath, hold it, release and let your upper body relax. Once your muscles are free of tension you can start your shot.
Scores can be a huge distraction when shooting. If you focus too much on a bad score you can pull yourself down mentally. Likewise getting cocky with a good score can lead to you neglecting your shot. The key is to take each arrow one at a time. Focus on that one shot and once it’s in the target, let it go and move onto the next.
Hopefully you found these tips useful and we’ll be seeing a lot of new personal bests.
16 July 2017
By now you may have heard that Richard has stepped down from the position of Chairman and Susie has stepped down from the position of Treasurer. On behalf of the club I would like to thank them for the time they have volunteered to help with the successful running of the club.
After the EGM last Friday you’ll also see there are a few other changes on the Committee including the new role of “Development Officer” (more details to come). You can see the new up to date committee list here.
We’ve seen a great uptake on the 252 scheme since it started this year. In fact you’ve probably seen people with their fancy badges already! The 252 scheme is a great way for any archer to evaluate their current ability, get sight marks for different distances and generally improve their archery. The scheme has also had another affect, less time is now spent searching for arrows! By ensuring that you shoot at a distance that is appropriate to your skill level we have been able to fit in far more shooting and far fewer Seagull style field searches.
Owing to how well the scheme is going it has been decided that the 252 scheme will now become mandatory for all new club members who have not yet shot outdoors. Basically if you want to shoot a certain distance you must first achieve the 252 badge for the distance before that. For example, if you want to shoot at 40 yards, you will need to have completed your 252 scores for 30 yards.
20 May 2017
If you haven’t heard yet, our new Records Officer Darren is starting up a new 252 scheme for members.
The 252 award scheme is designed to help you practice your shooting at different distances and have your achievements recognised. This is a scheme which is widely used throughout the country to not only help beginners, but for club archers looking to improve scoring and move up to the longer distances in a structured manner, which will ultimately improve your confidence and make you a better archer.
After 6 sighters, you shoot 3 dozen (36) arrows on a 122cm face at your chosen distance. The round can be shot at 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80 or 100 yds with the aim of scoring 252 or better (that’s recurve, alternative scores apply for other bow types). If you achieve the score twice you can claim a badge.
Distance | Recurve | Compound | Longbow | Barebow |
---|---|---|---|---|
20 yards | 252 | 300 | 164 | 189 |
30 yards | 252 | 300 | 164 | 189 |
40 yards | 252 | 300 | 164 | 189 |
50 yards | 252 | 300 | 164 | 189 |
60 yards | 252 | 300 | 164 | 189 |
80 yards | 252 | 290 | 126 | 164 |
100 yards | 252 | 280 | 101 | 139 |
The specific score sheets will be made available in a folder in the hut, however you can also grab a copy to print off here. Completed rounds will then be placed in the completed folder or handed to Darren directly.
22 April 2017
AGM Last night saw the end of the current indoor season and with it our Annual General Meeting. Here’s a few highlights for those who missed it.
The club has never been stronger with regular attendance helping to support the replacement of most of our indoor targets (you probably remember all those hard to pull arrows!). We want to extend a big thank you to all of our members who have made our club such a great place to shoot and have fun.
During the meeting all committee nominations were reviewed and we now have a newly elected committee. You can see the new committee on the committee page. We still have a few open positions, so if you think you would like to help with the running of the club please let us know!
Next the results of the Tavistock Trophy were announced. The results are as follows:
Gents Barebow – Richard Burridge
Ladies Barebow – Suzie Deagan
Junior Ladies Barebow – Jess Yeoman
Gents Recurve – Simon Bench
Ladies Recurve – Charlotte Irons
Gents Longbow – Bob Dakin
Gents Compound – Marcus Yeoman
Gents Traditional – Pasty Cain
Ladies Traditional – Karen Ingram
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who represented us in the postal league.
To wrap things up we said congratulations to Bob Dakin who received the Handicap improvement medal and to Marcus Yeoman for setting nine club records!
From next Tuesday 25th our mid-week shooting will now be outside. For those who don’t know this will be across the road at the All Saints Academy Sports Field. As before please use the entrance at the top of the grounds and park up then walk down. To make the most of the light we will be starting at 6:30pm, but if you can’t make it until later there’s no problem.
One last point for outdoor shooting. It’s inevitable that arrows will be lost in the grass during the course of shooting. They are tricky to find and stick out where you can barely see them. Owing to this it is very important that shoes which cover the whole foot are worn when shooting to prevent injury.
See you on the field!
Simon
15 March 2017
Tonight our website has taken another step towards providing a far better service for our members. This update will simplify the process of adding and amending content, meaning I will no longer be the bottle neck on getting minor updates out.
There is far more left to do but if anybody experiences any issues with the new site in the meantime, please send an email to simon@simonbench.net
Happy shooting!
Simon