Anyone got the time?

[Old Bloke]

So, a new season is upon us and we all run around like headless chickens trying to cram in shooting down the club when we can. We give not an inconsiderable amount of time to archery but how much time do we actually spend *shooting*. Consider this:
The business end of our sport (in my opinion) is when we are going through the process of the draw, anchor and release. Where the arrow goes depends on the skill of the archer during the draw, anchor and release. Most archers take approx' 5 secs to execute the shot (do a practise count) so let us use those 5 secs as a basis for a snap shot of what your archery is about.

There are 52 weeks in a year.
Winter shooting 25 weeks
You shoot twice during the winter weeks.
You shoot 2 x 80 arrows (160 arrows each week)
160 x 5 secs..800 secs..13.33 minutes
13.33 minutes x 25...333.33 minutes....5.5 hours

Summer shooting 25 weeks
You shoot twice during the summer weeks
You shoot 2 x 150 arrows (300 arrows each week)
300 x 5 secs...1500 secs..25 minutes
25 minutes x 25.....625 minutes....10.41 hours

Total time on the shooting line shooting is.....16 hours (Of which 4 hours is warming up, 8 hours shooting comfortably and 4 hours feeling tired)

You can play with the nimbers to fit your regime. Some will be more, some will be less. But I hope you can all see why, in archery, time is the Holy Grail.
You might not have to work harder at your archery..but smarter.

Have a good year!

[clickerati]

Originally Posted by Old Bloke

You might not have to work harder at your archery..but smarter.

Wise words, Professor!! I think I said this exact thing to you last week

[cornish george]

Relates well to another thread, The Wish List, time is one thing we all need more of, if i could retire now and spend each day shooting i might just get the hang of it.

[clickerati]

we all need sponsorship so we can work part-time or not at all...just shoot!

[King Custard]

.so... running through an albion on a Sunday at the club...allowing 10am till 2pm..gives 108 arrows at 5 secs per arrow...is just NINE minutes shooting for an input of say 5 hours TOTAL TIME (with a little travelling time).

How infuriating is that? It's simply not enough to make any real progress, well not to get where I want to be!
In the light of this 'new way of thinking' regarding time spent shooting- Visualisation off the line takes on a whole new importance!

Just visualising your own Shot while waiting for the next line to finish can more than double the actual time that your Mind at least, is on the shot, instead of chatting and munching sandwiches! Obviously a very very valuable area to be exploited!
And to think how so many of us say we 'Work hard at our archery'- when in fact we are in jeopardy of being called the laziest sportsmen/women on the earth- well those who just shoot at the club once or twice a week anyway!!!

OB''s figures..and they're not wong- just frighteningly enlightening, justify Why it can take YEARS to become an even Half-decent archer!

I believe those that want - I men really WANT- to do more than be an average'ish club archer after ten years manage to put in Far more shooting time than this! It's well worth looking at what the serious guys are doing with their week and how they actually manage to fit in time spent in the gym too!

Anything like a serious top class archer must literally put in much more than most of us are doing now...six hours shooting PER DAY is not unheard of...hundreds of arrows per day.

Leads me to thinking how shooting a round- or even two rounds a week is an awful waste of time...three arrows...rest ...three arrows...walk...score ...retrieve...walk... when as you said- Its the skill at set-up where everything is won or lost....totalling a final score of the practice arrows is really unimportant in relation to what can be gained by the shooting itself.

As much as I have two bosses at home - one that cant be shot at more than 5yards indoors in awful weather or even in the dark hours, - and one outside at about 15 yards... and just plugging away at these gets me 'on the shot' for a far higher percentage of the time investment , time on the range and physical excercise has to be factored in too. Add to this that most people want a life outside of archery as well as working - and hey, it's not surprising that most just cannot commit the time to becoming 'really good'.

This is where I can spot a niche!
A niche - inasmuch as even the top archers weren't genetically engineered in the womb to shoot arrows with x splitting accuracy....their skills have been hard sought after, hard earned, with committed learning and practice.
A niche - inasmuch as we could all aquire those skills - if we had the time.
OB's so right- in saying work smarter!

Long range work is obviously essential, but an hour a day at point blank range at home can't be a bad thing either can it - just print out x's on a sheet of A4 to aim at to save smashing your arrows and thats in incredibly more efficient way of maximising your 'on the shot time / time input'.
And why shoot just six arrows before collecting them?
Why not twelve?....or twenty, if you have them? you don't need 'twenty arrow sets'...just some cheap glass arrows at the right length, stood in a pot by your feet to replenish your quiver.

To really get some pure volume shooting done, build up to shooting a dozen arrows straight off..I can fairly comfortably knock out a dozen arrows in 3 minutes...and go again easily after a two minute rest..(so three arrows in 2-2&1/2 mins is going to be a total doddle) Thats 12 arrows in five minutes or 144 arrows an hour- which I admit to being very demanding and way too much for most...including myself most days. I am aiming to keep up with this routine at least 5 days a week- with a scored Albion or St George on sundays, maybe a scored portsmouth on wednesdays.
Thats around 900 arrows per week - 900 times 5 seconds on the shot = 75minutes a week on the shot for ten hours time input! ALBEIT - before someone shoots me down -not all Quality shots, and as with this regime Im looking for volume and mechanics practice I wont worry much about precision aiming!
Precision aiming, Perfect shot set-up and Volume dont go hand in hand.

I believe tournament shots ( accuracy shots) should be practiced with a completely different frame of mind...and at a much slower rate of course. Volume shooting is more about physical toning and 'internal' feedback..accuracy of shot placement is not imperative. Shooting Quality arrows is different in that the amount of external feedback received must be made to 'float' on top of the internal feedback, once the internal feedback has become so practiced as to become engrained to some degree- allowing 'mental space' for the external issues such as sighting, wind adjustment, arrowplacement.

So how will you increase your productiveness - given your available time?

[mk1]

How many here shoot to get fit for shooting?

How about spending sometime in the run-up to the outdoor season in the Gym getting fit to shoot. A much better use of theose crap winter evenings IYWMO

[buzz lite beer]

Originally Posted by Old Bloke

So, a new season is upon us and we all run around like headless chickens trying to cram in shooting down the club when we can. We give not an inconsiderable amount of time to archery but how much time do we actually spend *shooting*. Consider this:
The business end of our sport (in my opinion) is when we are going through the process of the draw, anchor and release. Where the arrow goes depends on the skill of the archer during the draw, anchor and release. Most archers take approx' 5 secs to execute the shot (do a practise count) so let us use those 5 secs as a basis for a snap shot of what your archery is about.

There are 52 weeks in a year.
Winter shooting 25 weeks
You shoot twice during the winter weeks.
You shoot 2 x 80 arrows (160 arrows each week)
160 x 5 secs..800 secs..13.33 minutes
13.33 minutes x 25...333.33 minutes....5.5 hours

Summer shooting 25 weeks
You shoot twice during the summer weeks
You shoot 2 x 150 arrows (300 arrows each week)
300 x 5 secs...1500 secs..25 minutes
25 minutes x 25.....625 minutes....10.41 hours

Total time on the shooting line shooting is.....16 hours (Of which 4 hours is warming up, 8 hours shooting comfortably and 4 hours feeling tired)

You can play with the nimbers to fit your regime. Some will be more, some will be less. But I hope you can all see why, in archery, time is the Holy Grail.
You might not have to work harder at your archery..but smarter.

Have a good year!

are you sure you can waste time working out these statistics???

[Old Bloke]

If just one archer, who after reviewing those *statistics*, increases their average score by just one point, by working smarter, then, to me, it has not been a waste of my time.

[SimonW]

Well, personally speaking I'm imersing myself in archery at the moment.

The shooting bit (the bit you refer to) is just part of the whole.

I spend about 30mins a day on here - crumbs, I'm spending more time reading other peoples musings than actually executing my shot sequence!!!!

For me I have two modes

mode 1: turning up just to enjoy myself

mode 2: improving

There's a great quote in Al Hendersons book something along the lines of if you don't set any goals then you shouldn't be dissapointed if you achieve nothing.

This year I'm planning to be in mode 2 most of the time.

Simon

[buzz lite beer]

Originally Posted by buzz lite beer

are you sure you can waste time working out these statistics???

Sorry OB my attempt at wit it would seem has failed again,