Im Back

Man it has sure been a while since ive posted on here. Ive been keeping busy and shooting well. Here is a quick run-down of what I have done since my last post:

-Shot California state Championships I took 2nd to Brady by 2 points or so 1295ish FITA

-Shot Target Nationals ended up 3rd with a 1310 FITA with a PB at 50 meters of 335

-Shot US Open ended up 4th, had my highest match average ever of 109.3 

-Took a 3 week break after nationals, I visited my family in Florida and New York.

-I put on a seminar at my home town club in Buffalo, New York to 30 people from all over New York State including Long Island and NYC.

-Shot a new PB at 70M at the OTC a couple days ago 346, 115 117 114. 

Now I'm just getting back into the swing of things at the OTC trying to get my strength back from the 3 week break. Im also getting bows set up for the next up and coming indoor season as well as playing with my outdoor setup as this next year should be a 70M only year. 

Thanks for reading

Jake

3/4ths of a Point

So after shooting in Hotlanta for the week before trials and shooting several more PB's during that time and averaging a 1325 FITA, I was mentally prepared for the shoot down for the team. Here was the rundown of what happened the week;

Monday I tuned my bow real quick at 30M, just adjusting my tiller a little bit to get the bare-shaft hitting where it should be. I also shot about 18 arrows at each distance getting sight-marks for the rest of the week.

Tuesday Brady and myself paired up and shot a FITA. I shot a very strong FITA starting off with a PB at 90M, 315 then 332 at 70M 333 at 50M (PB) and a 350 at 30M for a 1330 FITA which in itself was a PB.

Wednesday me and Brady again shot a FITA. Starting with a 296 at 90M 339 at 70M 334 at 50M (PB) and 351 at 30M for a 1320 FITA.

Thursday I shot about 100 arrows at 70M and about 70 at 50M just working on making good shots.

Friday was official practice, I got my sight-marks at every distance on the competition field, which was slightly higher then the practice field.

Saturday was the FITA part of the trials, I opened up with a 319 at 90M (PB) and backed it up with a slightly lower 70M then normal shooting 3 good ends and 3 bad ends I ended up with a 325 for the distance. Next was 50M, I knew I could shoot strong there with my great scores there recently, I popped out a 333 a new PB for in competition. 30M was a struggle for me I think I was trying too hard to shoot well and squeaked out a 343 for a new PB by 30 points! 1320 FITA. That put me in third, one point behind Butch Johnson. Although that rank is good, its not really that important as far as the trials process goes as there was no bonus points for score on the FITA and only .25 points difference in points for the trials.

Sunday was basically for the Team, Round Robins. The day started off slow for me, my scores just weren't there and I was starting to get frustrated with the result of my arrows. I did needed to keep fighting to shoot good shots and ignore where they landed. After 3 matches that were sub-par for my standards. But the last 4 matches I finished rather strong, finishing with a solid 114 match. After the first 4 matches I slipped from 3rd to 5th over 3.5 points from the third spot. After the last 3 matches I knew I still had a chance if I finished strong. I did exactly what I wanted to do, but not quite to the degree that I needed. I ended up .75 points from the team. I only needed to shoot less then a handful of arrows just slightly different to take that third spot and going to worlds. 

I did shoot well and did accomplish a couple goals this week shooting my first 1300 in competition and bettering my Rolling Rank again. Despite not making the team, I am happy with my performance but not yet satisfied with my shooting. Its one of those things that I don't think I will ever be happy as once I am then there will be no progression in my performances.

Thanks for reading.

1 into 3

Well its week one into a 3 week stay away from the OTC in Chula Vista. Stops include New Jersey for the Gold Cup, Atlanta, GA for World Team Trials and a visit to home in Florida. 

Since the last blog post this is what has happened;

-Visited Croatia for the second leg of the World Cup

-Shot several personal bests

-Finished 4th at Texas Shootout

-Finished 5th at Gold Cup

Croatia is a beautiful country near Italy bordering the Mediterranean sea, it served as a beautiful background for the second leg of the Archery World Cup. We shot in the city of Porec' the country reminded me of home, being so luscious and green with bright blue skies. The weather was perfect, no rain a little chilly in the morning but warmed up nicely during the day. I had a great experience and enjoyed my time shooting with the best of the best. One exciting thing that I found out was my world ranking. My ranking was 69th going into the OR's and jumped to 66th after Saturday. This tournament I walked away with an idea of what I have to do to push myself to be the best I can be.  

Next on the list is Texas Shootout that is held in College Station, Texas on the A&M Lacrosse fields next to Mt. Aggie. The weather was usual texas weather with super strong winds topping 30+MPH gusts. On both days of the tournament there was a forecast for rain and 20MPH steady winds with higher gusts. Luckily there was no rain but it was at least 20MPH winds. I ended up ranking 4th shooting a 323 and a 320 (If I remember correctly) for a total of 623 I managed everything well both physically and mentally and kept fighting to shoot better and better. Sunday was the OR, I shot well made it into the final rounds and then luck just wasn't on my side after that. I got beat in the super windy Semi-Finals. My opponent had a few very lucky shots with only 5 seconds left to pull back and release and somehow shooting a 10. Next I shot against 5 time Olympian Butch Johnson in the Bronze Medal finals. During the first end I had another unlucky bout with the wind this time pushing me and my arrow out into the black. I ended up losing by 2 points and taking 4th. I had a great time at this shoot and look forward to next year. 

Gold cup came and went this past weekend. We avoided rain thankfully and had a great shoot as far as weather goes. I ended up ranking 5th, shooting a personal best at 50M, a 332. My Fita ranking was 1285, the first score under 1300. I messed up at 90 and 70 shooting about 30 points or so below my current average. Sunday was the OR's I had a bye the first round and shot 3 matched up into the 1/8th finals where I met Butch Johnson yet again, and losing by 2 points in the final match of the day for me. I had one bad shot that I have almost completely worked out of my shooting routine. So I cant complain with a 5th finish there but I did have a chance of making it into the finals and will get there soon.

Last is the personal bests I have shot in the past month or so. They are;

Fita Personal best in training 1320 

70M personal best in training 342

Double 70M personal best training 668

Double 70M competition 643 (Texas)

30M personal best training 353

50M personal best 332 (NJ)

So things are yet again looking promising I just have to keep at it. This whole next week we are on the field for the World Team Trials preparing for the competition. Wish me luck,

Jake

Long time no Blog

Well its been a long time since I've blogged, so here is what has been happening in my life recently. 

I went to AZ cup in Phoenix a week or so ago. I ended up ranking 7th, finishing OR's 6th and winning both the international and open team rounds. During the FITA I shot a new personal best in competition at 90M with a score of 308, the third highest score on the field. 70M was A 311, 50M 315 and 30M 340. It was not as windy as I figured it would be as the last two years were really windy so that was good. 

The OR's were the next day and I had my best Rolling Rank tournaments since moving out to the training center. I shot a 107, 109, 107 I got nocked out in the 1/4 rounds by the #2 ranked seed, Nesting from Norway. 

On Friday, Brady Ellison, Tyler Domenech and myself shot in the Open Team Round beating all the other teams including another team from the Resident Athlete program taking the cash prize of $120. The three of us also shot in the National Team Round on Easter Sunday against Norway and Great Britain. We were again successful and took the Gold. 

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Me in AZ cup

The next interesting thing that has happened since my last update is that TaxMasters invited myself and a few of my teammates up to Long Beach to see their sponsored GT Race car run in the Speed World Challenge. Their team name was Brass Monkey Racing. The driver ended up piloting the porsche to 7th place during the 50 minute race. 

The track was on the streets of long beach over 2.5 miles long. The cars were turning 1:26 lap times averaging over 70 MPH. In the long front stretch the cars were moving at over 150 MPH. 

From Drop Box

Brass Monkey Racing's Porsche 

Overall everything has been going really well, scores are increasing and I'm having more fun. 

Video from mexican grand prix

I pulled this from youtube, I uploaded my own but it seemed to have disappeared.

I will re-upload my own soon.

Easton Cup and other things

Well last weekend was the Easton Cup. It went pretty well I tried out some different vanes again, Ambo Spiraflex. They are not as forgiving as Spin-Wings but do group well when you shoot great shots. Here is how the weekend went;

Friday was Practice, Saturday was a one-day FITA I shot;

290 at 90M

323 at 70M

311 at 50M

340 at 30M 

1264 Total for FITA

I ended up ranking 4th, one point from third. Then sunday was Round Robins in the morning and a OR round in the afternoon. A combination of the Round Robins and the Fita gave you your final ranking. After the RR's I moved into Third for the OR's. 

The OR's went well I made it to the Semi-Finals and tied with a 108 and shot a 9 to win against the competitor's 4 for the 1 arrow shoot of. This pitted me against my roommate Brady Ellison for the Gold Medal Finals. I executed good shots with slight flaws in the wind but the Ambo Spiraflex were just not up to snuff and prevented me from shooting a good enough score to win, so I ended up with a Silver Medal for the Weekend. 

Since then I have been shooting really well with Spin-Wings again just plugging away. Since switching back I have been averaging into the 330's at 70M so not too shabby.

Today's Training was Or's in the morning and Round Robins in the afternoon. I took 2nd in the Or's and won the Round robins. I averaged a 108.5 for the day shooting 112, 106, 103, 112, 106, 112 for my matches. Which is a little less consistent then I want to be but I was battling with 20+ MPH gusting winds. 

Tuesday we Leave for Arizona Cup which is the first major outdoor tournament in the USA for the outdoor season. 

Well thanks for reading.

Jake

Quick update

Well nothing too exciting has happened lately just the usual training.

Yesterday I shot a 1305 and today I shot Aim-Off gold game and finished in with 57%, my highest thus far. Training is going well although blank bale is getting REALLY boring....

I have found out that I will be going to the Easton Cup in LA this weekend. I will be shooting a FITA on saturday and an OR round on sunday. It should be a good starter to figure out what I need to work on for Arizona Cup. 

Also I will be going to Porec/Croatia in early May for the Second leg of the World Cup. I should be shooting in the team rounds. I think this will be a great event for me. My second major world event, my first being the AIS Invitational.

Well thanks for reading.

Jake