When do you NOT turn up for a booked shoot?

[Watch_Man]

We know quite a few archers who shoot for ranking and selection scores who will no-show or retire early if the weather is bad or they are not on for a good score. This is all part of the game and I can appreciate why they would do it. The score is more important to them and they arn't really worried if they win, they just want good scores to be submitted.

I shoot for fun and if its not fun I won't shoot. I can't actually see the point in standing in the middle of a muddy field in a 30mph wind with the rain lashing down and then going and sitting in a leaky popup shelter between ends. I could be at home watching F1 on the TV with a nice cup of coffee and the Sunday papers. I spent enough time wet and freezing in the army without wanting to re-live the experience as I approach 50

I will however go along and help setup and score as I see this as being part of the club and a responsibility, even if not shooting.

[Good Sir Pete]

i'm not going to lie - i don't exactly enjoy rain, but it hasn't stopped me yet

[pwiles1968]

I stuck it out at a shoot in the rain last year and made myself ill, so It would be a case of suck it and see, I don't mind shooting in the rain but I'm not going to push it again, if I'm not feeling too hot that would probably be it, after all if you are not enjoying yourself what is the point.

[King Custard]

so....looking at the thread again....
to put in consistently good scores...I have to only shoot when the weather is reasonable, I'm feeling fit and happy, and the first couple of ends are really good.

So which comes first?
Becoming a good archer - then getting picky about which rounds I actually finish...
or
get picky about which rounds I actually finish - then become ( or seem to be) a good archer?

I'm a little confused here as to which would be the best advice to give a wannabe world champion.

[Fugue]

Once I start a shoot, I never quit due to the conditions, in fact last year at Exmouth when they voted on stopping the shoot I was the only one to vote to continue.

I really enjoy the challenge of shooting in difficult conditions, that said, I do find that I don't go to as many shoots which are obviously going to be very windy.

I have found over the years that struggling through a very windy shoot or a number of them in a row can have a very negative impact on my technique for the good weather days. And I know now that I don't need much practice of shooting in bad weather ... I am already an expert!

Shooting competitively for the last 10 years or so I used to be critical of archers who quit during a bad shoot, but as has been said if you are not enjoying yourself then there really is no point, there are many other things you can do with your time.

Also if your main focus is qualifying for GB then there is already a limited availability of opportunities to get the scores, the scores are sufficiently high these days to be only achievable on a good day, you need to do what it takes to be at the peak of your performance on those days. If that means "chickening out" on a windy day, then that's what it takes.

[TJ Mason]

When do I NOT turn up for a booked shoot? When I get snowed in, like today.

[Watch_Man]

Originally Posted by King Custard

so....looking at the thread again....
to put in consistently good scores...I have to only shoot when the weather is reasonable, I'm feeling fit and happy, and the first couple of ends are really good.

So which comes first?
Becoming a good archer - then getting picky about which rounds I actually finish...
or
get picky about which rounds I actually finish - then become ( or seem to be) a good archer?

I'm a little confused here as to which would be the best advice to give a wannabe world champion.

If you need to achieve a selection score and you know the weather is going to prevent you from achieving it, why waste your time and petrol? You can just pop down to your own club and practice in the field instead. When you have to travel a minimum of 50 miles to a WRS and at many events, stay overnight - what is the point if you are not going to achieve your aim.

You will find it is also common practice for those chasing ranking and quali scores to 'retire' rather than have a low score put in. As all WRS scores are recorded by GNAS some feel it is better to have no score than a low score.

Whether you agree with this or not is up to you. It is an individual sport and individuals have their own aims and objectives. How they achieve them is very much up to them and their coach. It is similar reasoning that stops many top archers participating in imperial rounds.

[Deadeye Doc]

... I can't say that I enjoy shooting in cold, windy, wet conditions, but we have to learn sometime. Temperatures above 35°C are unusual in this country, however, two years ago we shot in July at Bronte Archers double FITA, and buckets of water were placed on the line for archers to cool down. I think that temperatures were in the region of 35°C, and most archers completed the round.

The only thing that comes to mind is one of the concepts I have in my head, namely... "it's not a practice that makes perfect, it's perfect practice that makes perfect". If I am shooting atrociously, and am not enjoying myself, I think I might jack it in, as all I am doing is perpetuating bad habits. Thankfully, I have not yet not enjoyed a day's shooting.

[Furface]

Originally Posted by Watch_Man

If you need to achieve a selection score and you know the weather is going to prevent you from achieving it, why waste your time and petrol? You can just pop down to your own club and practice in the field instead. When you have to travel a minimum of 50 miles to a WRS and at many events, stay overnight - what is the point if you are not going to achieve your aim.

You will find it is also common practice for those chasing ranking and quali scores to 'retire' rather than have a low score put in. As all WRS scores are recorded by GNAS some feel it is better to have no score than a low score.

Whether you agree with this or not is up to you. It is an individual sport and individuals have their own aims and objectives. How they achieve them is very much up to them and their coach. It is similar reasoning that stops many top archers participating in imperial rounds.

I quite understand where you are coming from, but is this right? If you "know" the weather is going to prevent you doing anything, then you are defeated before you start - and when you hit "weather" in the Olympic final. And ranking and quali scores are taken from your best, rather than the total or average, so the only point of retiring is to kid yourself that you are better than you are. And this also sounds like defeatism. Both these cases suggest mor psych work is needed, rather than running away from the challenge.

[tel]

You're only running away from "the challenge" if thats what you're in it for. If you get enjoyment from challenging conditions thats fine - if you don't then its your choice not to put yourself through it.