The Archery Range(Averielle)

[Averielle]

Dianara
2nd cycle
The Month of Optia

Averielle followed Tev out to the Archery Range, her cloak swung around her feet. She wondered if its slight motion would cause problems in further training, Oh well, she thought, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. As they stepped outside the bright light stunned her briefly. As she recovered she shook her head, causing her braid to move across her back.

At the range she noted that there were several targets set up, at what she would guess was 50, 100, 150, and 200 feet. The grass blew at her feet as she waited for Tev's instructions.

[Tev]

Tev waited until Averielle seemed ready. "Listen carefully. I want you to understand this and ask me any questions that you might have before you start.


"Take your stance. Face your target, set your left foot perpendicular to a line going to the target. Set your right foot at a 45 degree angle. If you find this comfortable and if it works for you, take that exact stance every time.

"Next, nock your arrow. Take out your arrow. Nock it carefully on the string with the **** vane in the right direction. Make sure it snaps onto the string with a click. If it does not, it is an indication that something is wrong. The nock may be cracked. Take another arrow if it doesn't fit right.

"Take your grip of the Bow with your fingers. Let the bow hang. Flop your hand into the grip. Your grip is an important element in your set up. Roll three fingers under, flop your hand into the grip and gently lay it onto the side of the bow. When you draw the bow back you should hold slightly above the target. This allows gravity to help bring the sight into the center. Once the bow is drawn, anchor and line up.

"Bend the bow arm. The theory behind the bent arm is that a bent arm is stronger and more stable especially in the wind. There is one more thing with the bent arm. With your bow at full draw your arm is compressed towards your body. When you let go of the string, the arm decompresses and stretches out a little moving your hand towards the target slightly. A straight arm is also compressed, but on release it often seems like there is a tendency for the hand to move sideways rather than towards the target.

"Aim. Bring the aim into the center of the target. Once you are in the middle stop looking at the target and concentrate on the Bullseye. Then you compensate for distance and wind. Then you should be ready to shoot.

"Release. Let go of the string when your aim is steady.

"Follow through. After the shot goes off stay still with a really long follow through. The object of this long follow through is to not obstruct the bow as it shoots the arrow all by itself. No matter where the aim was when the arrow was fired, no matter how badly you executed the shot, just stand still. Don't blink, don't look to see how bad it hit and certainly don't curse or slam down your bow, because no matter how bad the shot was it would have been worse if you did any of those other things and it would upset your peace of mind and probably affect the next few shots.

"After that, relax and pick up an arrow for the next shot.

"Now before you start with the 50 foot target, do you have any questions?"

[Averielle]

Averielle took in every word Tev said, knowing that these few lessons would stay with her wherever she would go in the future. Before she began the process of drawing the bow she asked a quick question, ”I have heard people speak of recurve bows. Is the one I carry now a recurve?” She listened to Tev’s answer, appreciating the new information. Then she moved on to attempt what Tev had shown her.

Averielle walked purposefully up to the first target. She faced it, taking a breath and allowing what she needed to do sink in. Then she firmly set her left foot forward, bending the knee slightly as she did so. Felling comfortable she put her right foot behind her left one and set it around 45 degrees. She stood there, feeling her stance and knew immediately that something was not right. Thinking about it she moved her right foot about 5 inches out, away from the center of her body. This was better, but she now felt some twist in her right knee, so she turned it out somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees. Enjoying this stance Averielle sunk into her knees a couple of times just to insure she had it right.

Next she reached into her quiver and pulled out an arrow. Making sure that she gripped the bow evenly with her left had she nocked the arrow. There was a decisive click. That was simple, she thought. Every thing she had done before this required several attempts, this was the first time she accomplished her task easily. But she was sure that this was right.

Averielle's bow had an arrow rest, so she let the front end of the shaft sit on that. On rear end, behind the fletching she used her index finger above the arrow and two other fingers below it. She gripped the string in these fingers, but she made sure not to grab the arrow.

Next she moved onto her bow hand. She grasped the bow firmly, not tightly. Her thumb wrapped around the back of the grip, while her fingers were in front. Most importantly the bow fit in the V made by her palm, so it was her hand holding it not weak fingers.

Then she focused her attention on her bow arm. First she held it loose, and then she activated the muscles. Making sure not to lock her elbow she use her whole arm not just bones to keep the bow in place. Then she picked the bow up from its position facing the floor, so it was pointed towards the target in the pre-draw position that she had seen Tev use earlier.

Using the muscles in her back Averielle pulled the string to her face, so much so that her hand was almost at her chin. This was a considerable feat; she was using a great amount of energy to hold it there.

As she was struggling Averielle realized that Tev had actually pulled his hand back all the way to his face. With strength that she did not know that she had Averielle pulled her hand back until her jaw touched her index finger, and the string touched her chin. She used this "anchor" like position to take a couple seconds to aim.

Aiming almost and inch above the center of the target Averielle began to feel real strain on the muscles she was unused to using. Knowing that she was about to loose her grip on the arrow she let go on purpose. She tried to let all three fingers slip off the string simultaneously, but her middle finger came off a fraction of a second after the others she did not notice. The tension she had previously held the string with pulled her hand back so that it was almost at her nose. She remained as she was until the arrow had completely left the bow. Then she allowed the hand holding the bow to fall to her side. And she released the breath that she had been holding.

[Tev]

When Averielle asked about the Recurve Bow, Tev replied, "The Bow that you carry now is not a Recurve Bow. You will use a Recurve Bow in your later training."

Tev was pleased to see that she adjusted her stance to find one that was comfortable. That was certainly good to see in a beginner. She seemed to be doing very well.

The arrow travelled to the target on a sure path. The arrow struck the target slightly below the Bullseye. Tev commented, "That was excellent. See what you can do with another shot at the same target."

[Averielle]

Averielle nodded and looked to see where her arrow had made contact with the target. She was happy that it had hit the target at all, she was much more excited that it had hit so near the center. She pushed down these emotions and cleared her mind, focusing on the task in front of her. Noting that the arrow was too low she determined that if she aimed slightly higher it would be more likely to hit the center.

With this in mind she began to repeat the earlier 10 steps she had followed. First her stance, then she attempted to nock the arrow. However this time there was no satisfying click. Taking the arrow she had been attempting to use she stuck it point first in the ground to her side. Then she started again. Stance, nock (click), arrow hand, bow hand, pre-draw, draw, anchor (less painful), aim (higher), release, follow through. When she finished it was evident that this process had taken less time then her last attempt.

[Tev]

She did everything just right on the next shot. He was particularly glad to see her set the bad arrow aside. The shot was on it's way much quicker this time. It flew true and landed inside the Bullseye.

Tev commented, "You are doing very well. It seems that you have a natural flair with the Bow. You did say that you have not used the Bow before, didn't you? You seem to shoot quite well. In fact, for a beginner, you are doing an excellent job of it. Take two more shots at the same target and let's see if you can keep on doing as well."

[Averielle]

Averielle nodded solemnly in response to Tev's compliments, but inside she was jumping with joy. Silently reminding herself to calm down she turned to answer Tev's questions, "It's true that I have never used a bow."

Averielle adjusted her stance and was about to nock the arrow when it occurred to her that she had seen other archers place their arrows in the ground for easy access. She bent to place the arrow slightly to the right of her, making sure that she did not force the arrow into the ground and harm it in any way. While doing this she considered her next shot, she knew that she would have to line up her shot the same way she did last time. Remembering how it had felt to hold the bow she drew a new arrow and repeated the steps she had set up for herself. After releasing the arrow she waited until she heard the thump of it hitting the target and she started again. This time when she heard the arrow making contact with the target she dropped her bow to her side and checked to see where her last two arrows had landed.

[Tev]

The first arrow landed in the Bullseye. The second arrow did as well. Tev was impressed with the continued accuracy.

"Well there is no doubt that you have mastered the 50 foot target. That was very well done. Now I want you shift to the 100 foot target. Let's see how well you do with that one. Before you start, I would like hear from you about just what you will do differently at the longer range. Be sure to mention all factors that matter and just how you will handle each one of them."

[Averielle]

Averielle was very pleased when she saw both of her arrows fly true into the center of the target. After Tev advanced her to the next level she took several moments to figure out what she was going to do. Finally deciding on a plan of action she said, "Even when aiming at a further target most things must stay the same. I have to find the same comfortable and stable stance, the arrow must be nocked and the bow and arrow hands must be placed right. But because of the longer distance more power must be added. I could pull the string back further, but there is not much more room, perhaps I could push the bow lightly further from by body. Also I could aim slightly higher as to let the arrow drop more before it hits its target." Averielle almost finished there, when she noticed the grass swaying beneath her feet. "Because the arrow is in the air longer there is more chance for the wind to blow it off course," she said. "But the increase of power should help some of that. Also I could aim slightly towards the side from which the wind is blowing." Not immediately being able to think of any thing else she paused and waited for Tev's opinion on her assessment.

[Tev]

Tev was pleased with Averielle's assessment of the situation. "You are certainly correct when you say that most things must stay the same. Whenever you have time to assume the same comfortable and stable stance, by all means do so. Even if you cannot take the stance, the closer you get to it, the better off you are. The positioning of the hands is equally important. When you get accustomed to doing it the right way, you will come close to it even when you do not have time to think about it.

"Holding the Bow a tad further from your body so you can pull back further might be the best way to go. That way we will notice it's effect alone on the shot. Of course you should always compensate for the wind. Be sure to check for any sign of wind at the target itself. If need be we can add elevation on your next shot. There will be plenty of time to put it all together before we are done.

"Take your shot now, slow and easy".

[Averielle]

Averielle stood in front of the target. Before beginning she thought out loud, "I believe I shall add power to the string as well as aim slightly higher." In her mind she figured that she would only aim the smallest bit higher, so she could gage how much the arrow dipped on its elongated journey with more power. To begin her shot she followed the first several steps exactly the same way she had in the past. However when she got to her "anchor" position she extended her bow arm away from her face. Then, seconds before she released she tilted her aim a little more then an inch above the target. Making sure the release was smooth she let the string roll off the three fingers that held it in place. After she was sure that the arrow had left the bow completely she allowed the tension in her arm to relax and she checked to see if the arrow had dropped lower on the target, or had reached the target at all.

[Tev]

Tev nodded when Averielle said that she would add power to the string as well as aim slightly higher. Her position seemed proper enough and the release was smooth as well. Quite properly she maintained her position long enough to ensure that she did not affect the flight of the arrow. He was pleased with her "follow through". The arrow travelled straight and true.

He said, "Congratulations", as the arrow impacted dead center in the Bulls Eye. He then added, "Do it one more time just to show that you are in control".

[Averielle]

Averielle was very happy that her arrow flew so well. She repeated the same steps over. Making sure her stance was correct she drew up the bow, adding the same amount of pressure that she had last time and picking the same point to aim at. Confident that her shot was lined up correctly she let it go. Remembering her follow through she held her position untill she was positive that the arrow was away.

[Tev]

A young female Half-Elf exited the Ranger Hall and walked over to Averielle and Tev. She nodded to Tev and then smiled at Averielle, "Serale, I am Gemini, a Ranger. How have things been progressing for you? Are you settled in adequately and comfortably?

"My parents are at the Narim Ranger Hall as well. My father is Taurus and my mother is Virgo.

"I help out with the training, particularly Archery. If you do not mind, I will take over your training. Are you comfortable with your Archery training thus far?"

[Averielle]

Averielle

Averielle looked up from her shot to see that she had once again hit the target in its center. Instead of spending time thinking about her luck she turned to the new comer. Listening to her greeting she was most surprised to hear that Tev would not be finishing out her training. However she assumed that these people knew what was best for her, and she greeting the half-elf kindly, "Serale. I am most happy with the progress I have made so far, and I very much wish to continue my training." She spoke the truth, Averielle was almost jumping out of her boots with this delay, she really wanted to speed along.