It's the weirdest concept. How often I hear someone say 'I shoot (insert appropriate bla bla here) because it is more of a challenge'. But they aren't World Champions, they aren't National Champions... They're average... Often below average achievers.
So how does one define a challenge? When there is a bench mark and you haven't gotten there one would suppose one is still 'challenged'.
In Barre they often say if you find this easy then try this and challenge yourself. Archery hasn't struck me as any different. The guys who hold the world records don't say oh that's easy I give up... They usually step up and push for the next challenge. Someone asked Clint Freeman what he would do if he shot 1440 and he said he would probably complain it wasn't a perfect X count... May be just a rumour..I've never asked Clint if it was true, but it sounds good :)
And often the one's who say this bow is more challenging than that... Never achieved all that high with either... Medals in a division of one or where the level is so poor as to make amateur an exaggeration. Or backyard braggarts who can shoot a legendary score in their own company, but never seem to pull it out when it counts.
Always gives me a giggle when some braggart as naive as any brash child steps up and shoots a ten first arrow at ten metres and announces 'this is easy!'. Oh child let me show you the error of your ways...imagine the Olympic sprinter had given up running after winning their first race and so never makes the Olympics... How many wannabes became never was-es after announcing 'it's too easy'. So easy they never achieved anything.
So I say step up or shut up. You get to say it's easy when you have achieved all there is to achieve. Before that you're making excuses and seeking the easy option where you don't feel pressured to show achievement because it's 'harder'...otherwise you're doing it because you just enjoy that option more and are too spineless to stand by your choice.
I don't find much easy. I'm smart but not that smart. I'm coordinated but not that coordinated. I find everything presents challenges if you want to be good.
So glad I'm a girl. I get to shoot because I like shooting and don't need to make excuses for it :)
Friday, October 12, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
She's so lucky. Yeah me and Brittany.
I heard a thing the other day...'you're so lucky'. I've heard this before and one has to wonder... am I?
Now don't get me wrong, my life is pretty awesome....My family loves me, I'm well educated, my boyfriend is cuter than a bug's ear and the nicest guy I ever met, I like my job, I've won a few gold medals and shot a few records in my chosen sport, I haven't had a pimple since I was a teenager, my friends are great people and I'm not ugly. Who could complain?
But is it lucky? I adore my family, I studied hard, I strive to be a good person, I work hard days and long hours, I practice archery as much as I am able, I make effort on my appearance and I try to be a good friend. Is that all just luck? Can I drop the ball and stop trying and keep all this luck? Will my job just do itself and I'll still get paid? If I spent every cent on cigarettes and alcohol would my savings plump themselves up? If I sleep instead of studying all night will the knowledge just manifest between my ears at will?
Well I already know I can't miss practice and expect to hit the target and when I don't study I fail exams. And I know that peppermint tea and wishes won't make my pancreas work (no joke some well meaning nut job tried to tell me this in earnest once... said if I still died it was because I didn't want the tea to work strongly enough...obviously, why didn't I think of that?)...I know I'll get fired if I don't rock up to work, and the government campaign - 'Every cigarette is doing you damage' is less effective on me than 'every cigarette costs a few dollars that you could use to buy some new shoes' (and shoes don't smell half as bad)....And if you don't treasure your friends and look after them... one day you just don't have any.
And if I'm so damn lucky, did it run out when God was handing out pancreases (or is that pancrei?). Hands up who would trade a gold medal or two for their slightly used but fully functional pancreas? Some might view diabetes as less than lucky. Do I run around pointing at random people and accusing them of being lucky because they can drink the maple syrup? Well maybe somedays when I think I'm being funny, but I think I have better things to do with my time than coveting pancreases and cursing the lucky bastards who have good ones. Unlike grass which may now and then prove greener (but just as likely not) other pancreases are almost always in better nick than mine and the wanting of them improves me none.
So I call shenanigans on 'luck'. I don't know anyone that I would call lucky. People earn their 'good luck' with hard work. The crappy thing about bad luck is that it's a lame excuse. Everyone has their lot in life. And no matter how crap you think yours is there is always someone who got shafted worse who probably complains less.
And apparently luck isn't doing me any favours today. No practice for two weeks and a week in Thailand and I can't hit the proverbial standing inside with the doors shut. I think by accident I should have hit more gold. But I also think the bow shoulder is holding :) and if you have paid any attention in the last 4 years, you will know that is worth a smile.
Bangkok was a melting pot of corruption and pollution. We got kidnapped by taxi drivers, cheated by restaurants and rained on everyday and I'm pretty sure that wasn't just water falling from the sky and at least one of the boys came running out of a massage looking a little wild about the eyes when the massage came with more than expected. But a flotilla of 65 tuk tuks through the city and a trip to one of the royal temples would rate pretty highly on my list of must dos. And chilli... lots of chilli :) most awesome ingredient ever besides chocolate.
And now I'm home (well in my usual hotel), the air is clean, the rain is water and the sky is actually blue. Shenanigans or not there are worse kinds of luck.
Now don't get me wrong, my life is pretty awesome....My family loves me, I'm well educated, my boyfriend is cuter than a bug's ear and the nicest guy I ever met, I like my job, I've won a few gold medals and shot a few records in my chosen sport, I haven't had a pimple since I was a teenager, my friends are great people and I'm not ugly. Who could complain?
But is it lucky? I adore my family, I studied hard, I strive to be a good person, I work hard days and long hours, I practice archery as much as I am able, I make effort on my appearance and I try to be a good friend. Is that all just luck? Can I drop the ball and stop trying and keep all this luck? Will my job just do itself and I'll still get paid? If I spent every cent on cigarettes and alcohol would my savings plump themselves up? If I sleep instead of studying all night will the knowledge just manifest between my ears at will?
Well I already know I can't miss practice and expect to hit the target and when I don't study I fail exams. And I know that peppermint tea and wishes won't make my pancreas work (no joke some well meaning nut job tried to tell me this in earnest once... said if I still died it was because I didn't want the tea to work strongly enough...obviously, why didn't I think of that?)...I know I'll get fired if I don't rock up to work, and the government campaign - 'Every cigarette is doing you damage' is less effective on me than 'every cigarette costs a few dollars that you could use to buy some new shoes' (and shoes don't smell half as bad)....And if you don't treasure your friends and look after them... one day you just don't have any.
And if I'm so damn lucky, did it run out when God was handing out pancreases (or is that pancrei?). Hands up who would trade a gold medal or two for their slightly used but fully functional pancreas? Some might view diabetes as less than lucky. Do I run around pointing at random people and accusing them of being lucky because they can drink the maple syrup? Well maybe somedays when I think I'm being funny, but I think I have better things to do with my time than coveting pancreases and cursing the lucky bastards who have good ones. Unlike grass which may now and then prove greener (but just as likely not) other pancreases are almost always in better nick than mine and the wanting of them improves me none.
So I call shenanigans on 'luck'. I don't know anyone that I would call lucky. People earn their 'good luck' with hard work. The crappy thing about bad luck is that it's a lame excuse. Everyone has their lot in life. And no matter how crap you think yours is there is always someone who got shafted worse who probably complains less.
And apparently luck isn't doing me any favours today. No practice for two weeks and a week in Thailand and I can't hit the proverbial standing inside with the doors shut. I think by accident I should have hit more gold. But I also think the bow shoulder is holding :) and if you have paid any attention in the last 4 years, you will know that is worth a smile.
Bangkok was a melting pot of corruption and pollution. We got kidnapped by taxi drivers, cheated by restaurants and rained on everyday and I'm pretty sure that wasn't just water falling from the sky and at least one of the boys came running out of a massage looking a little wild about the eyes when the massage came with more than expected. But a flotilla of 65 tuk tuks through the city and a trip to one of the royal temples would rate pretty highly on my list of must dos. And chilli... lots of chilli :) most awesome ingredient ever besides chocolate.
And now I'm home (well in my usual hotel), the air is clean, the rain is water and the sky is actually blue. Shenanigans or not there are worse kinds of luck.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Home again, home again jiggety jig....and spring cleaning it is :)
So home... where the heart is...well not really...that's on the other side of the planet lately enjoying way better weather than me... home is where my bed and my kittens are so close enough I guess :) and I get to be home for a whole week and a half.
So stage one of this important and rare event (being home) is barre class, treadmill and food diary. We're off to Thailand for work in 10 days and you can never work out enough pre bikini opportunity. Oh please let there be opportunity to lounge and photosynthesize! I spent my summer doing archery stuff and freezing my butt off in deepest darkest Denmark all in the name of love... what silly creatures humans be... and will likely spend my next summer doing the same...all I need now is new shoes to match my party dresses for conference and we're prepared for Bangkok and warm weather :)
Stage two is conquering the bows... my recurve is much neglected. So shot a bit of recurve on the weekend. Have ordered a new Titan recurve scope and a clicker extension so I can play with draw length a little more. Only shot maybe 40 arrows, but technique and strength were not as bad as expected.
The weather was heinous and foul so I shot a grand total of 4 ends outside with compound. Still have the odd shot through paper that can't be explained, but otherwise the bow seems good. So going to ignore the random unexplainable paper tear and drag out bow number two for an overhaul. It's quite possible that the random shot is purely my lack of arrow fitness biting me on the butt. So arrow fitness first. We will address fine tuning again when my fitness is up. You'll have to excuse the latest vid as a bit random. I gave my mum a lift home from the archery field on my way to indoor and managed to leave my trigger and finger sling on the table... hence using my Atension for the day and one of the shoelaces from my runners for a sling :D and occasionally wondering what on Earth I did with my spare Target 3, for once not in my handbag.
Rant:
And on the topic of boring old dad stories that go know where... I never made dad sit through 10 hours of Thomas the Tank engine a day (as my nephew loves to do), so I'm not even obliged to sit through his stories beyond being a nice daughter let alone those of total strangers... so just in case anyone wondered what happened to the 50 posts a day I get from boring prats giving the same old my bow is better than your bow drivel that seems to be an obsession within the traditional class against the rest of the archery world... it's boring. Really boring. Up there with my PC is better than your Mac tripe and my iPhone is better than your Samsung...Or I guess in reality my bike is better than your evil modern car...So along with arrow to the knee jokes and comments just lacking in basic civility, there will be a lot less of them getting through the comments filter.
I am mortally dependent on insulin, readily available due to modern science, you'll have to excuse me if people ranting about how everything was better in the good old pre scientific invention days doesn't interest me. Traditionally I would have died a slow and horrible death by now...so tradition really isn't the greatest selling point with me. I'm just fine with modern conveniences like smart phones, compound bows and recombinant insulin... oh and the internet for that matter. Not that using any of these would be hypocritical if the old ways are the only good ways....no not at all...
End Rant.
But most of all just glad to be home :)
So stage one of this important and rare event (being home) is barre class, treadmill and food diary. We're off to Thailand for work in 10 days and you can never work out enough pre bikini opportunity. Oh please let there be opportunity to lounge and photosynthesize! I spent my summer doing archery stuff and freezing my butt off in deepest darkest Denmark all in the name of love... what silly creatures humans be... and will likely spend my next summer doing the same...all I need now is new shoes to match my party dresses for conference and we're prepared for Bangkok and warm weather :)
Stage two is conquering the bows... my recurve is much neglected. So shot a bit of recurve on the weekend. Have ordered a new Titan recurve scope and a clicker extension so I can play with draw length a little more. Only shot maybe 40 arrows, but technique and strength were not as bad as expected.
The weather was heinous and foul so I shot a grand total of 4 ends outside with compound. Still have the odd shot through paper that can't be explained, but otherwise the bow seems good. So going to ignore the random unexplainable paper tear and drag out bow number two for an overhaul. It's quite possible that the random shot is purely my lack of arrow fitness biting me on the butt. So arrow fitness first. We will address fine tuning again when my fitness is up. You'll have to excuse the latest vid as a bit random. I gave my mum a lift home from the archery field on my way to indoor and managed to leave my trigger and finger sling on the table... hence using my Atension for the day and one of the shoelaces from my runners for a sling :D and occasionally wondering what on Earth I did with my spare Target 3, for once not in my handbag.
Rant:
And on the topic of boring old dad stories that go know where... I never made dad sit through 10 hours of Thomas the Tank engine a day (as my nephew loves to do), so I'm not even obliged to sit through his stories beyond being a nice daughter let alone those of total strangers... so just in case anyone wondered what happened to the 50 posts a day I get from boring prats giving the same old my bow is better than your bow drivel that seems to be an obsession within the traditional class against the rest of the archery world... it's boring. Really boring. Up there with my PC is better than your Mac tripe and my iPhone is better than your Samsung...Or I guess in reality my bike is better than your evil modern car...So along with arrow to the knee jokes and comments just lacking in basic civility, there will be a lot less of them getting through the comments filter.
I am mortally dependent on insulin, readily available due to modern science, you'll have to excuse me if people ranting about how everything was better in the good old pre scientific invention days doesn't interest me. Traditionally I would have died a slow and horrible death by now...so tradition really isn't the greatest selling point with me. I'm just fine with modern conveniences like smart phones, compound bows and recombinant insulin... oh and the internet for that matter. Not that using any of these would be hypocritical if the old ways are the only good ways....no not at all...
End Rant.
But most of all just glad to be home :)
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Youtube Invade London
And that would be that. 6 videos over six weeks for Youtube's Invade London initiative. They had been aiming for 25 million hits and apparently achieved 40 million. I don't know realistically how successful it was, but folks saw archery videos and that was the goal for me. Thank god that's over. A video a week is harder than it sounds.
'Invade London' was a focus group initiated by youtube to show themed content over the duration of the Olympics. And my channel was chosen as archery is an Olympic sport. A number of the archers featured were at the Olympics, including the Aussie lass in the final vid and the Mexican girls in the first two vids.
My videos featured people/friends we all know from the World Cup circuit. Martin and Reo for example are huge names in target Compound. The Canadian team are big characters on the field and great archers etc I was trying to give a little feel for the people that make up our world. It's not easy to explain to people that this is our whole world, our friends and our family. The announcer on the first two vids is George Tekmichov, designer of the x10 arrow and voice of international archery...we always miss that voice when he's not there.
Fascinating stuff seeing how other creators approach youtube and their respective audiences. And what goes viral and what totally tanks. Even seeing it is sometimes still totally mystifying.Big thanks to Youtube for the project and big thanks to the folks who helped out. Martin, Sherry, Duncan and everyone who stood in front of the camera (not as easy as it looks) :)Those of us with real jobs find it very hard to train enough as is without extra projects on the side. It's been a long, sleep deprived 6 weeks and my treadmill has been much neglected as a result of too much travel and too much youtube stuff. So last night I settled in on the treadmill with Terminator: the Sarah Conner Chronicles on the iPAD and hopefully life will be a little quieter from now on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_c7ZGCThYs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcXYzLvOao8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm-ncrYWDsM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo9SWS8dF0w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT0g9V2fdFg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNOaQJgN0uE
And tonight we'll see if the draw length adjustment is a true fix or just beginners luck again :)
'Invade London' was a focus group initiated by youtube to show themed content over the duration of the Olympics. And my channel was chosen as archery is an Olympic sport. A number of the archers featured were at the Olympics, including the Aussie lass in the final vid and the Mexican girls in the first two vids.
My videos featured people/friends we all know from the World Cup circuit. Martin and Reo for example are huge names in target Compound. The Canadian team are big characters on the field and great archers etc I was trying to give a little feel for the people that make up our world. It's not easy to explain to people that this is our whole world, our friends and our family. The announcer on the first two vids is George Tekmichov, designer of the x10 arrow and voice of international archery...we always miss that voice when he's not there.
Fascinating stuff seeing how other creators approach youtube and their respective audiences. And what goes viral and what totally tanks. Even seeing it is sometimes still totally mystifying.Big thanks to Youtube for the project and big thanks to the folks who helped out. Martin, Sherry, Duncan and everyone who stood in front of the camera (not as easy as it looks) :)Those of us with real jobs find it very hard to train enough as is without extra projects on the side. It's been a long, sleep deprived 6 weeks and my treadmill has been much neglected as a result of too much travel and too much youtube stuff. So last night I settled in on the treadmill with Terminator: the Sarah Conner Chronicles on the iPAD and hopefully life will be a little quieter from now on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_c7ZGCThYs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcXYzLvOao8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm-ncrYWDsM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo9SWS8dF0w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT0g9V2fdFg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNOaQJgN0uE
And tonight we'll see if the draw length adjustment is a true fix or just beginners luck again :)
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The mysterious paper tear...
Now I would generally caution compounders about paper tuning. Too many archers think it will show arrow spine/rest issues, but don't realise it will also show nasty bow hand habits which can obscure results. And a bad paper tear can still come from a bow that groups. So not the be all and end all of tuning.
But in HD video we could see a really nasty arrow flight that we couldn't tune out of the bow. So took it inside and shot through paper to see what we could see. Tuned for bullet holes... Had it down to a 2cm tear, but could see a bit of variation in nock position... ie left, right and or high with no consistency. And every few arrows a 3inch horizontal, nock right tear that neither myself or Martin could repeat on purpose even massively torquing the bow in either direction.
We filed half the cable guard out (don't do this at home folks, I am not recommending it as it is messing with factory spec and there's a high risk of breaking something or your self) and managed to improve the arrow flight and lessen the weird tear, but it was still at least 2 inches.
So we put it down to archer error and I started putting a lot of arrows through paper to see if we could tune me instead of the bow and get some consistency. 600 arrows (over a week) later and no improvement and no real idea where the shot came from. On Monday night I was feeling a little cramped in the draw and more than a little pissed off with the whole thing. So lengthened the D-loop a little in sheer desperation and low and behold...bullet holes. 36 arrows and not a single bad shot.
So lesson learned. Paper tune is not totally useless... it can show you a thing or two... and total wow I never realised just how much bad draw length can queer the shot. And I gotta start listening to myself when I'm not comfy!
So Mr Damsbo has gone home :( and now we start planning for either Berlin or the F2F... not sure which yet. But the bow is at least tuned for paper and I'm slowly getting arrow count up again. Now maybe we can start worrying about score again :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo9SWS8dF0w
Now I would generally caution compounders about paper tuning. Too many archers think it will show arrow spine/rest issues, but don't realise it will also show nasty bow hand habits which can obscure results. And a bad paper tear can still come from a bow that groups. So not the be all and end all of tuning.
But in HD video we could see a really nasty arrow flight that we couldn't tune out of the bow. So took it inside and shot through paper to see what we could see. Tuned for bullet holes... Had it down to a 2cm tear, but could see a bit of variation in nock position... ie left, right and or high with no consistency. And every few arrows a 3inch horizontal, nock right tear that neither myself or Martin could repeat on purpose even massively torquing the bow in either direction.
We filed half the cable guard out (don't do this at home folks, I am not recommending it as it is messing with factory spec and there's a high risk of breaking something or your self) and managed to improve the arrow flight and lessen the weird tear, but it was still at least 2 inches.
So we put it down to archer error and I started putting a lot of arrows through paper to see if we could tune me instead of the bow and get some consistency. 600 arrows (over a week) later and no improvement and no real idea where the shot came from. On Monday night I was feeling a little cramped in the draw and more than a little pissed off with the whole thing. So lengthened the D-loop a little in sheer desperation and low and behold...bullet holes. 36 arrows and not a single bad shot.
So lesson learned. Paper tune is not totally useless... it can show you a thing or two... and total wow I never realised just how much bad draw length can queer the shot. And I gotta start listening to myself when I'm not comfy!
So Mr Damsbo has gone home :( and now we start planning for either Berlin or the F2F... not sure which yet. But the bow is at least tuned for paper and I'm slowly getting arrow count up again. Now maybe we can start worrying about score again :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo9SWS8dF0w
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Beginners luck?...
So forever and a day my elbow has been high and I've fought with getting comfortable on draw length. So spat the dummy this week and made a big change in draw to see if I can just make it work. Added half an inch in total and am currently feeling really good with the new draw length and anchor. All the lines look much improved and my bow shoulder isn't hitching and I'm not catching my arm every shot. So now everyone cross fingers that it's not just beginners luck (that luck that makes every new piece of kit awesome for a week) and that i never need to have this conversation with my bow or body again :D
Also just ordered a treadmill for home. My broken body prevents running and winter makes long walks somewhat uncomfortable... so bring on the tready! Need to get my cardio back up, I'm going stir crazy. So Erika is a happy camper this week. And feeling super positive about the world.
Mr Martin Damsbo arrives in 16 days for his first visit to Australia.... not that we're counting... So I can run all the changes past the expert when he gets here :) and of course introduce another Danish boy to Australia. Looking at the current flirts on the international archery line, we're all following in Mary's footsteps :)
Also just ordered a treadmill for home. My broken body prevents running and winter makes long walks somewhat uncomfortable... so bring on the tready! Need to get my cardio back up, I'm going stir crazy. So Erika is a happy camper this week. And feeling super positive about the world.
Mr Martin Damsbo arrives in 16 days for his first visit to Australia.... not that we're counting... So I can run all the changes past the expert when he gets here :) and of course introduce another Danish boy to Australia. Looking at the current flirts on the international archery line, we're all following in Mary's footsteps :)
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
You might be thinking that an archer would be totally buff and awesome at pushups.... but reality is archery uses more back muscle and not so much arm... so me and push ups are not friends. But now after 6 weeks of Barre and pushups every class I can do a whole 20 push ups instead of just half of one :) yay me :)
I've been adjusting my draw length bit by bit for some weeks. So new vids are all me looking at draw length. I've been adding a twist every week to the cables. Feeling less cramped, but the draw weight has been edging up with the draw so had to take a turn off the limbs. So aim is floating a bit and feeling like a retarded toaster on crack.... but all the push ups and sit ups I've been doing on my Saturdays are making my abs and arms sore as on Sundays and I think that's as much an issue as anything...but loving Barre class...and the accuracy is settling again. Now I just need to be home long enough to practice... life would be simpler if hotels didn't freak about shooting in their hallways.
The indoor nationals is coming up so really want to drag out my recurve. It's tradition don't ya know :) Lets see if I can tune her up and look somewhat competent with no practice :D
My brains have officially rotted with my nephew's discovery of Thomas the tank engine... I can hear it ringing in my ears... Until now blissfully ignorant... I'm now know about Thomas, Gordon, Den, Salty, Annie, Clarabelle, Rheneas, the isle of Sodor..... and a host of others my two yr old nephew insists on telling me all about. One desperately hopes he discovers archery ASAP and the impending child is a niece so I never need to hear the Thomas theme song again.
The indoor nationals is coming up so really want to drag out my recurve. It's tradition don't ya know :) Lets see if I can tune her up and look somewhat competent with no practice :D
My brains have officially rotted with my nephew's discovery of Thomas the tank engine... I can hear it ringing in my ears... Until now blissfully ignorant... I'm now know about Thomas, Gordon, Den, Salty, Annie, Clarabelle, Rheneas, the isle of Sodor..... and a host of others my two yr old nephew insists on telling me all about. One desperately hopes he discovers archery ASAP and the impending child is a niece so I never need to hear the Thomas theme song again.
Been chatting with a fellow youtuber about hits and content. He thinks I should talk about things other than archery on my vids. Is it nerdy to admit outside of work there isn't much besides archery? My boyfriend is an archer, his ex is an archer, my ex is an archer, his mum is an archer, my parents are archers, our friends are archers.... We do kind of live and breathe it.
But open to ideas folks :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFucvp2SuBc
But open to ideas folks :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFucvp2SuBc
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