August 2020

ARCHERS OF WARRNAMBOOL NEWSLETTER #6

Welcome to the AoW’s August newsletter.

With the new financial year, AoW club fees fall due, and members are asked to get their fees paid as soon as possible. There are many projects on the club’s planning agenda which aim to improve our facilities, and to fund these projects we rely heavily on fees.

We are happy to welcome our newest club members this month – Connor Barbary, and Belinda Simms and her family, Jazper and Izabell. It’s great to see you at the club! Please make them welcome.

Archers of Warrnambool is fortunate at this time that shooting is still permitted – with the “second wave” of Covid19 across greater Melbourne and as far west as Colac-Otway, no clubs in those areas are able to shoot, and it may be that our club, too, will have to cease operations in the near future. To that end, we all need to be mindful that when we are at the club we practice social distancing (1.5 m distance between individuals) and not to handle the equipment/arrows of another shooter. You’ll find hand sanitiser at the club, which you are encouraged to use. Masks are required to be worn at all times EXCEPT whilst shooters are on the shooting line. Everyone at the club – shooters, parents, friends & children – are requested to bring your mask and use it. People who choose not to wear a mask will be asked to leave, since they will be jeopardising our access to the ranges and our ability to continue archery at this time.

Enjoy the newsletter this month. Thanks to contributors; if you have a suggestion or a piece for the next edition, please let us know!

Editor

MEMBER PROFILE: DAVE REID

Born in Warrnambool, AoW Club Captain Dave has moved around a lot, living in many places along Australia’s east coast (Surfers Paradise, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Geelong) as well as overseas (Thailand & the Philippines). He has also lived in Perth for some time. Now he is settled in North Warrnambool.

As a former gridiron player (American football), he was encouraged to start archery when he and a mate both decided to retire from gridiron and take up an alternate sport back in 2002. Since then he has had several breaks, but has been regularly shooting at Warrnambool since 2017.

Dave’s sole focus is archery – he has no time to devote to other hobbies. He is a skilled compound shooter, whose best indoor score is 300 (with 14 X’s) at 18 metres shooting at a WA Vertical 3 Spot (“traffic lights”) target.

Dave is fanatical about his Mathews bows and uses several different Mathews Compounds, depending on whether he is shooting indoors, outdoors, field, 3D or hunting. Notably he uses a Mathews MR8 Monster, and a Chill-R (for hunting) and is currently waiting for a new bow – a Mathews TRX. His arrows, too, depend on the situation – For field, indoor or 3D he uses Carbon Express Tank 23D, for outdoor target his go to arrows are Carbon Express Nanopro RZ and he uses Carbon Express Pile Driver DS for hunting.

His greatest achievement in archery is in placing 5^th at the 3D event at the 2005 National Championships at Diamond Valley. As a younger man, he also won a national title at Ten Pin Bowling, and was selected to play for Victoria three years in a row as the starting center in Gridiron. Clearly Dave is an all-round sportsman!

Dave’s favourite movie is Thor Ragnarok (Marvel), and favourite superhero is Thor.

His favourite music is David Bowie, and other classic rock from the ‘80’s.

No doubt from his time in Thailand, his favourite dish is Yam Pla Dook Foo (catfish salad), and favourite holiday destination is Ao-Nang (near Krabi).

Dave is a regular at the club, putting in as much time and effort behind the scenes to improve conditions for all members as he does in practicing. As well he is happy to share his expertise with other members for their improvement. AoW is lucky to have such a dedicated and supportive Club Captain. Thanks Dave!

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Our next AGM for the club will be held at 3pm on Saturday, 5^th September, at the clubhouse.
We hope that as many members as possible can attend the AGM.

AoW FEES – 2020-2021

A reminder that club fees for 2020-21 are now due.

Members are requested to pay their fees as soon as possible. Online payments are accepted.
Current financial members will receive some fee relief this year, with a 25% discount on fees to compensate for the time-out during the three month Covid19 shut down.

For those who are not financial (ie. have not paid their club fees) by the end of August, they will be asked to pay a range fee of $10 each time they come to the club to shoot.

You may be asked by a committee member to show your current membership card, and to show evidence of your insurance cover (Archery Australia, 3DAAA, ABA etc) whilst you are at the club. Please have these handy when you arrive.

Casual members are also reminded that a $10 range fee is payable each time you use the club facilities.

SPONSORS

Our club has been fortunate to have received substantial support this year from several local businesses, as below:

Lake Gillear Lime – donated the sand base for our indoor range
Warrnambool Bowling Club – donated the carpet that covers the indoor arena
Bunnings – donated timber for our target butts

A big thanks is extended to those local businesses, whose support has enabled our facilities to develop and improve.

THE WARM-UP

As with every sport, serious archers spend a few minutes prior to beginning shooting in warming up. Archery uses many large muscle groups in the body – the back, arms, legs, and neck and shoulders. A short warm up that activates these muscle groups before starting may avoid fatigue and injury during a session.

The warm-up need not be too long, but your performance (scores) are likely to be improved if your muscles are supple and flexible.

There are many U-tube clips that will show you the exercises the top archery athletes use to warm up before they shoot.

TUNING YOUR RECURVE BOW

Peter Hill has an active interest in tuning recurve bows, and Club members who use recurve bows have been offered an opportunity to work with him to properly tune their bows. Tuning is especially important for those wanting to shoot at 30 metres and beyond.

Tuning will cover the use of a Bow Square to achieve correct nocking point and brace height, limb alignment, tillage (poundage), centreshot, bareshaft tuning for correct arrow spine, pressure button spring weight, the possible use of a clicker, and using a kisser button to assist in finding a strong anchor point. Full tuning may take several sessions.

Some members have already taken advantage of his expertise, and are grateful for the adjustments he has been able to make.

Peter is available on Saturday mornings (11am – 1pm) to check your bow’s settings. Thanks, Peter, for providing expert assistance.

Here is a second installment from member Peter’s booklet – this month on the nocking point.

NOCKING POINT

Correct nocking point will mean your arrows will leave the bow at the right angle for arrows to hit the target accurately. The nocking point should initially set 1/4”to ½” above your horizontal bracing height.