State Team Trials

[Marcus]

The State Team trial start in 2 weeks time with the first even being the target. I'll be shooting in it and it' s a great way to shoot a proper round with other archers. Don't intend to go to the Nationals, but it will force a Men;s Fita out of me.
Hope to see you all there!

[Eberbachl]

Being a :)hunter boy field monkey:) I'm not up to speed with this stuff, is the state trial a qualifier for the nationals?? What sort of rounds etc... I saw in the news section the Sherbrooke field was a state trial also...

[Marcus]

Yeah I'll keep this with small words field monkey. ;) :)
OK the target is a Men's Fita (which you have shot more of than myself this year) and the field is a Fita Field. I think you have to be a member of AV to qulify, however you should be able to at least shoot in the events if you to. I'ld be shocked if they didn't allow it. If the weather is good I plan on shooting a Men's Fita this weekend.
Yeah it's for the state team to go to the Nationals. You can still shoot the Nats if you are not on the team though.
Back in my day you had to shoot 1250 to qualify. Now it's whoever is going to the Nats gets in. In my final year of juniors we had peope on the team who couldn't break 1000. It was a joke really. A small good team is better than a large crap team in my books.
BTW women shoot a Ladies Fita if you are hayley want to shoot some target. We can lend you a stabiliser and sight if you like. :)

[Eberbachl]

cool, if your shooting a men's FITA I'll join you.......dunno about Hayley...she's gone to bed so I can't ask :)

I think I'm buying a kudlacek? genesis 5x long rod from David this weekend....

[Marcus]

Excellent. I'll find out how to get there and it might be easy to share a ride. I live in Ivanhoe which I think is on the way there for you.

With Erika shooting well and you talking about going Freestyle I'm goig to really have to pull my finger out, too much competition now!

[Eberbachl]

mmm I missed that last post and it's a week old now...:( ...oh well, anyway I was thinking about shooting the Wyndham Rebel ABA 2 Day shoot this weekend, but after just putting target sights on today I'm not sure I'll get a chance to get any sight settings before the weekend.

So I think I'll come to the club on Saturday and get some 90,70,50,30 settings etc...and try to shoot this state trial thing on Sunday for a bit of fun - that is if they will let an ABA member shoot.

I don't know if they can process an AV membership that quickly, I'll be joining AV anyway...:eek

So if your going to be at the club on Saturday we'll chat then about Sunday. :D

[Marcus]

OK cool. We'll be down for a little while getting settings. Might shoot a half fita (3 ends eah distance)
I would be shocked if they turned you away, in fact I doubt they would even ask if you are a member yet. **** if you join and tell them you are going to the Nationals you make the team I believe. :)

[Eberbachl]

hehe Yeah, but did'nt you say a couple of posts ago that anyone could make the state team these days :confused:eek:)

[Marcus]

yeah as long as you go to the Nats you are in. My last junior team was full of crap shots, if you went you got on the team, while the Townsville team was small, (about 6 people) but everyone on it was good. Rather have a small good team than a full team with hanger ons.
mmm elitism.

[Eberbachl]

hhhmmm, yeah well, I agree with you on that one, I reckon if you make the state team it should be an achievement in itself...instead of saying something like...

"I really can't shoot to save myself, but they let me on the team 'cause I said I was going to the nationals :)"

It really doesn't mean quite the same as earning a place on the team by shooting well, does it? :eek

BTW, where are the nationals and when are they?

[Marcus]

Absolutely. Also if you put in alot of effort and make the team only to have a guy who has shot for a month also make it while shooting 700 Men's Fitas and only shoots once a month, it takes away the pride you feel for making it. When I first made the state junior team the qualifying score was 1250. They later dropped it to 1100 just to pad the team out. I think to make a team you should be able to at least have a small chance of getting a place. 1100 in U15 boy compound would not have given you a place at a State tournament let alone a nationals.

Oh well, I think the thing to do is if you are going to the Nats and can't shoot 1200 you have no business accepting a spot on the team, give yourself something to work towards.

[Eberbachl]

Thanks for the company at the state trials today Marcus...:)

As far as giving myself something to work towards, today I gave myself a goal of 1300 to work towards...which at the time I tought was probably a bit hopeful...

But I shot 1301 and of course I'm very pleased :D:):D

The interesting thing is that I gave myself something to work towards and that was 1300. I shot 1301 (talk about doing it the hard way!).

I wonder what might have happened If I had set a higher goal of say, 1325???

I might not have shot it, but would I have beaten 1301 in an effort to get closer to my goal ?:confused?

Something to think about :)

Thanks;)

[Marcus]

Yeah no prob, actually glad I went and stuck it out. Not happy with my score, but can't complain.
I think if you set a goal of 1325 you would've struggled. You need a 325 at all distances and a 350 at 30. I doubt you would've tried harder, although I think walking into 30m knowing you needed a 347 for 1300 did improve your form and focus.
There is another trial at Yarra on August 4th. I'll be there for sure going for my GMB score. Hopefully I'll see you there.

[Eberbachl]

mmm yeah, you're probably right, I deifinitely would have struggled :) 1300 was obiously a realistic but good goal for today.

The next trials sounds good, I haven't looked at my calendar yet, but if August 4th is free I'll definitely be there...find out if today was a fluke ;);)

Is the trial at Yarra like today, or is it a tournament also?

[Colin]

Great Shooting Luke, But what did you get marcus?
I am Sure it was not that bad. My pb is only 1240. We did not shoot at the trials, may be next time. I have been in a slump lately shooting some realy bad scores. but may of found problem. A stickey drop down rest seems to of been the cause.

[Marcus]

I shot a 1292 and am really pissed with it. However I was aiming for 1230 as I'm struggling equipment wise right now. My grip broke the day before the event and it was the first time I had shot a Men's Fita in 8 years so I can't complain. Need a new bow, this thing is twitchy as.
Luke got me by 9 dispite a 20 point head start after 90m :mad
Yeah you gotta watch those drop down rests. I shot a Barner for ages but it has been lent out to someone and nothing I've used to replace it has worked very well. It is also about 13 years old and falls apart sometimes. :(

The next Yarra one will be the same as this trial just gone, just a shoot no comp.

[Eberbachl]

Thanks Colin :)

Yarra sounds good Marcus, will we see you there Colin?

I've just spent today down at the club playing with brace heights etc...I've gone from the 7.5 inch fast field brace height I had to 8 5/8...to try and get some of that twitchiness out of the Stratus Plus.

I've definitely lost a heap of speed now, also dropped the poundage to 54lbs...but it seems to be nicer to shoot, reacting much more consistently now. I think I'll go and shoot some indoor tonight and find out if it's much more forgiving.

Speed still should not be too bad for field, I think it's probably dropped from about 302 FPS to about 280 or something by the feel of it. I'll put it through the crono on the weekend.

[Marcus]

I'ld be interested in knowing how much difference that will make to your site gap. You may not even notice. You had better go down and shoot some field with it soon before you forget how. ;)
Yeah you should get a much smoother feel from that setup now. As I said the other day mine in pumping out 225fps so you are still pushng high speed stuff there.

[Eberbachl]

Yeah, it seems pretty nice now, much more forgiving...and still not too slow, at 18m it has only made a fraction of a difference in the sight gap, (which is all it should make:)) but it will be interesting to see the difference at the longer distances...

mmm field...what's that??? haha I'll probably shoot some target on Saturday and field on Sunday I think...I really will forget how:D

[Marcus]

better get there early Sunday to shoot field. Or shoot field Saturday, I want to get there about 10am and shoot some target before the AGM.

[Eberbachl]

Yeah I'll be there early on Sunday probably 8ish or 9ish...;)

[Toxophilite]

Good to see some of your guys down at Sherbrooke for the trials. Did you like the weather conditions at our club? Guess what...that was one of our {*i}windy{i*} days :o

Well done to Luke, good to see someone outside the "big four" clubs knocking off the coveted 1300 ;)

I noticed there were a couple of other interesting scores, noticeble Peter Cave from Moorabbin (1331) and a perfect end from 90m from one of our new club members (1326). A few guys shaking up the big boys :D

Hope a few more of you turn out on Saturday at Yarra. Sick of seeing the same old faces :rolleyes

Good luck for Saturday for those who shoot.
See ya.

[Eberbachl]

Thanks very much for that Toxophilite, I was really pleased with the 1301 (;) I'm Luke ;)), that was my first men's FITA with freestyle unlimited gear (I usually shoot field, and just switched to sights after 3 years of barebow about 6-8 weeks ago.

I really enjoyed shooting at Sherbrooke, the conditions were great, it must be really nice on a still day!:D

Unfortunately I won't be able to shoot at Yarra this Saturday, as I have committed to doing some coaching at our club with our beginners course. (this week is their last week, and they shoot field after three weeks of introductory stuff and target shooting). But I hope to be attending some more target shoots in the near future :)

Well done to your new member with 1326 and perfect 60 at 90m...VERY nice ;)

...and good luck to all those able to shoot at Yarra this weekend.

[Marcus]

What do you mean outside big four clubs? DVA has over 100 members! :cool (ok so our lack of tournament appearances lowers our profile a fair bit. :( )
Who do you consider the top 4 out of interest. I would guess Sherbrooke, Moorabin, Waveley and either Werribee or Yarra for the last spot. Hmm we'll have to change that perception.

Alas I too won't be able to make it, if my new bow arrives I'll be shooting that at the club, if not I won't bother with either my PSE or Super Slam. The Super Slam was put together on Wed. night and grouped very well, except for the having to put the limbs back in place with my knee every 5 ends or so. :rolleyes
Yeah I heard the 60 at 90m, gotta be happy with that. Michael Robinson wasn't it?
Always liked shooting Sherbrooke, rarely windy, always pretty and usually well attended.

DVA has a few shooters who will hopefully be making an appearence in shoots soon, on what we expect, well we'll hold that card close for now. ;)

[Toxophilite]

Hi Marcus,

You asked "what do you mean the big four clubs?", and yet you got it exactly right :D with Yarra being the fourth.

By no means do I mean that they're the best four though, except for Sherbrooke of course ;)

I meant that they're the ones with the most exclusively AA members and/or AA tournament presence. If your talking pure numbers then Lilydale Bowmen would blow everyone out of the water, yet not many AA members (the newer ones at least) have ever heard of them.

About a year ago, Yarra Valley Archers decided to start sending a large contingent of their shooters to tournaments, even if they were new to the sport. It's actually really good to see them all walking around with their bright blue uniforms
:) Really good promotion for their club and great to see new faces.

It'd be great for DVA to make a conscious decision of this nature as I reckon you've got maybe the best set-up in the state - both in terms of facilities and the dual AA/ABA membership. I for one would be a member if I didn't live so bloody far away. In any case, reading some of your forum letters it looks like you're heading in the right direction in that regard.

Good Luck - See you at the tournaments :cool

[Marcus]

It's definitly has to come from a total club mindset. When I left the sport in 93 DVA was one of the strongest clubs and often took out the team events. In fact I think we won 5-6 in a row, would've been more but our own tournament was a teams handicap event and we lost it despite taking out the top 4 places. Go figure.
Back then the top 4 would've been DVA, Werribee, Sherbrooke and Moorabin. Yarra and Waverley had maybe 2-3 shooters each attending. Juniors were huge with at least 8-10 U18 boy compounders alone coming to each event, with U15 just as strong.
Since returning DVA has gotten into a habit of not shooting rounds and not attending tournaments. Our youngest competitive shooter before this year was 40+.
As for size, how many shooters does Lilydale have?
DVA last year had about 100 ABA and 40 AV members, however INHO I don't think that matters too much unless you are getting most of then actually shooting and unless you are building up competitive juniors.
As for best 4, depends on criteria, but I would say DVA and Sherbrooke in the top 2. As for the others the best club I shot at was Chewton Bowmen (I think that's right) if they are still around. Nice facilities there, nice target range.
Best field course goes to Geelong Trophy Bowhunters though. Insane course!

[Eberbachl]

... A couple of months ago Lilydale Bowmen membership was around the 180 mark. All ABA of course. That was a big drop from the 200+ mark they had a while ago. (I think it was closer to 250 at one stage)

[Marcus]

That's huge, I'll have to go down and check em out some day.
I guess they have an indoor and multiple field ranges too

[Eberbachl]

yep...the indoor at Lilydale is pretty good, a bit smaller than ours...I think about 10 shooting positions or something like that.

They also have three permanent ABA/IFAA field courses, with one always set up for ABA practice and one always set up for IFAA.

My only complaint about the courses there is that the IFAA pegs are on the ABA courses, and although they don't have the distances written on them, they are colour coded and the regular Lilydale shooters can tell the ABA distances off the IFAA pegs.

Apart from that, excellent facilities and very nice field courses.

:D