Personal Record Keeping

[cestria]

In an endeavour to maintain a record of this year’s season I’ve got myself a little book to keep all those important bits and pieces in.

The question of course, besides the obvious ones like sight mark, scores what do you consider to be vital information?

[cornish george]

Originally Posted by cestria

The question of course, besides the obvious ones like sight mark, scores what do you consider to be vital information?

Thats about it really though if you keep a diary as well it may be worth recording weather conditions, what you ate / drank, and how you felt at the end of the shoot (stamina) little things that can make a big diffrence as you improve

[moo-mop]

I have lots more things in my notes like my goals, annotated pictures of my shooting, plans for the next practices etc etc. I also wish I'd kept every precise detail of my previous kit including thing like flecthing angle and how far the fletches were from the nock. Also any "tuning" - to compare to my results years later! Yes also scores and the weather they were shot in, but also how I felt in the competitions and anything I need to work on. Actually one of the few things I don't write down are my sight marks, they are just written on my sight!

However, the most important thing in my opinion is I that I record the precise number of arrows I shoot, as this above anything else is what I need to know if I am to compare my performances over time and to my goals. I shot about '100' yesterday will easily turn to having no idea how much I have shot over a month or over a season. Knowing how many arrows you shoot compared to what you need to shoot to reach your goals is a vital step in setting realistic targets.

[Little Miss Purple]

My little book purely contains the round, date, venue & score (with hits and golds)

[Pancake]

ever thought about recording tiller. then recording brace height before starting to shoot and then brace height mid and post shoot. this might give you a better idea about how to set the brace height before you start shooting to allow for string stretch. if you know what the change will be you might be able to anticipate small changes in sight elevation as you brace height settles.

[john heff]

Because I 'fiddle' a bit I need to keep a record of all the things that I tend to mess with so that I can duplicate that setup when I want to. Therefore, along with my sight marks I record: date, location, riser, limbs and poundage at my fingers, arrows, pile weight, vane type and size, which sight and aperture, tab#, V-bar or Back-weight, plunger#, bowstring# (plus material and #strands), clicker location, and (if it has changed) sight marks & brace ht. at the end of shooting that distance. With the use of abbreviations this all fits on one page of those pocket-size note pads. - John

[buzz lite beer]

I keep notes on as many things as possible, basically because my brain lets me down in the memory department. The usual draw weight, arrow type, length and pile weight, nock point tiller, and any general observations that will make duplicating a set up as quick and easy as possible, such as how much string groove is visible under the bow string. Then there's the archer form stuff, little things like recording a stance that is favorable to best clearance, what part of your chin and nose is touching the string. That reminds me I have a mountain of stuff including arrow speeds, string configuration etc. on floppy but my new PC has moved on some and is floppy drive less, will get round to taking then to work and transfer them to a memory stick.

[Murray]

I'm with moo-mop and buzz on this. The more detail you record, the better. Kit setup. Form setup. What works. What doesn't. Scores. How you felt. Weather (if relevant). Diagrams. etc.. etc.. etc...

[clickerati]

Originally Posted by Murray

I'm with moo-mop and buzz on this. The more detail you record, the better. Kit setup. Form setup. What works. What doesn't. Scores. How you felt. Weather (if relevant). Diagrams. etc.. etc.. etc...

you, moo-mop and buzz are higher class archers. i think the basics as lmp has suggested are fine up to first class, unless you're a real fiddler.

that said, i have a gorgeous A5 binder with all sorts...handicap tables, classification tables, round card, arrow diagnostics chart, shot diagnostics chart, etc. of course, i only use the diagnostics charts when tuning.

the one thing i always forget to do is write down my bloody sightmarks. must Must MUST do that this year (once i'm allowed to shoot, that is!)

[napolienne]

Have to disagree clicki. I ask (make) all the archers I coach keep a session log, detailing the usual (scores, distance, sightmark etc) as well more detailed information (bracing height, problems encountered, goals for next session, what went well?). We include a template log sheet with this stuff on in our beginner's pack. Start as you mean to go on, I say. Plus they e-mail the log to me after every session, allowing me to keep track of their progress and spot any potential problems even when I haven't been at the session.

And yes, I do keep the same record myself, most of which can be found in my AIUK journal. Which my coach reads when he wants to check up on me.