by Rob | February 8th, 2011
Shooting indoors at the moment is – for me – a slightly disconcerting experience. It’s disconcerting, because we shoot in a school gym that, like most school gyms, is constructed of solid brick walls. Of course, we don’t put a net up; first of all we don’t have one, and there isn’t really the space. So we shoot at regular bosses, with two 60cm faces packed onto each. Needless to say, if you miss on the wrong side of the target face it’s pretty unhealthy for your arrow.
Now, I’m not in the habit of missing the target (at least I try not to be). But even though I make no conscious effort to aim differently to how I would normally, a funny thing happens. If I shoot at the left hand target, any stray arrows stray to the right. And when I shoot at the right hand target, I stray to the left!
Perhaps this fear of missing that subconsciously is affecting my aiming is irrational. Perhaps it’s well berthed in the experience of breaking too many arrows. My advice – is that if you are going to shoot indoors, please don’t put yourself through it! Olympic recurve and compound archers may tell you it ‘focuses your mind’ or some similar rubbish. Personally all it does for me is disrupt my shooting and cause me unnecessary expense.
Where possible, try to set your indoor range up so that if you miss on any side of the target, it isn’t likely to damage your arrows. It’ll benefit your shooting, your state of mind, and probably your wallet!
Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? I’d like to know what you think.
