You Can't Buy Points

Originally Posted by sky_high30

I'd agree with most of whats being said. Case in point though, is the wooden bows that we teach people on. Say what you want - but anyone that can get the right side of 520 with one of them, in my oppinion, is doing bloody well.

Personally - i'm happyish with my equipment. There's stuff i'd *like* - X-10 Twins, Extender, ACE arrows (coming fairly soon hopefully) - but what i've got now will see me out.

I shot a 536 Portsmouth with a Petron trainer bow outside a few months just to see if I could do it. it was fun too!

[Marcus26]

Can you buy points? Of course you can.
A shooting machine may be able to shoot a 1440 with a cheap bow, but chances are you won't.
Case in point is cam designs. Get the wrong cam design and your scores will suffer, yet a shooting machine will plunk them down the middle.
Another is arrows. Yes ACC's are capable of shooting high scores, but X10's will make it easier in the wind.

I agree that is is bad to think that if you buy that piece of gear you will shoot great, but gear is 33% of the equation, so you can not discount it's importance.

[TJ Mason]

Yes, there's an awful lot of "it's all in the mind" around archery, but sometimes it really IS the equipment.

One of the nice things about "The Heretic Archer", the new book by Vittorio and Michele Frangilli, is that it gives due prominence to the equipment -- not 33% perhaps, but about 25% of the book is taken up with equipment.

[LineCutter]

Consider how much better off we are than formula one racing drivers. There the kit is almost everything & the driver the minority contributor to the overall score.

[Little Miss Purple]

I could cope with earning their salary!!!

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Little Miss Purple

I could cope with earning their salary!!!

Don't some of them pay their own way...?

[Marcus26]

Originally Posted by TJ Mason

Yes, there's an awful lot of "it's all in the mind" around archery, but sometimes it really IS the equipment.

One of the nice things about "The Heretic Archer", the new book by Vittorio and Michele Frangilli, is that it gives due prominence to the equipment -- not 33% perhaps, but about 25% of the book is taken up with equipment.

Obviously these things are hard to quantify in real world numbers. My theroy on the % values is
Form: 33%
Gear: 33%
Mental: 33%

However these are interrelated in a big way.
Get aspects of the gear wrong and your form will suffer
Poor form can lead to mental mistakes and confidence loss
Poor gear can do the same
Poor form can lead to incorrect gear selection
Poor mental skills can also lead to incorrect equipment selection.

The gear is by far the easiest to get right, followed by form and then mental. Most have some working but not others. Or one better than the other 2. I would say my numbers are
Form: 28%
Gear: 32%
Mental: 20%

My wife however I would rate as
Form: 31%
Gear: 30%
Mental: 30%

She doesn't pick up gear issues as fast as I do, but her mental game is excellent. Her gear is setup very well though.

The irony is that I know of few 'tinkerers' who actually get their gear setup well. They usually mess around so much with such little focus and understanding that they get it wrong.

[Bald Eagle]

Absolutely spot on,tinkerers mess up big style. So many archers ask me to check out their gear and I can't believe the state it is in. "I haven't touched it" they say! No self respecting dealer would send them away with gear in such a state!. Once it is set up, leave well alone, shoot it and enjoy!

[JohnK]

I've seen some real beauties in the local shop.

They sold a set of limbs to an archer by mail order. A few months later, his coaches drop in, bringing the entire set up, saying "The limbs are twisted so his arrows won't tune".

Well, they weren't. However, the limb pockets were so far out it was untrue, and the button was pushed so far out you could see at least 2cm of space between the right side of the point and the left side of the arrow.

One hour putting things right, and the bow was shooting fine again. So why didn't his coaches spot this problem, I hear you cry. Why indeed . . .

[GeoffT]

Originally Posted by JohnK

I've seen some real beauties in the local shop.

They sold a set of limbs to an archer by mail order. A few months later, his coaches drop in, bringing the entire set up, saying "The limbs are twisted so his arrows won't tune".

Well, they weren't. However, the limb pockets were so far out it was untrue, and the button was pushed so far out you could see at least 2cm of space between the right side of the point and the left side of the arrow.

One hour putting things right, and the bow was shooting fine again. So why didn't his coaches spot this problem, I hear you cry. Why indeed . . .

COACHES ?! How can a coach not spot this ! I recently spoke to a coach who has never been to a tournament! It would appear that you can become a coach if you can stand up without falling over.