Kennesaw Archery Club

July Newsletter

2004 JOAD Nationals

The JOAD Nationals were held in Conyers, GA July 8-11. Over 275 archers competed over the four day tournament and were cheered on by family and friends. Both the weather and the competition were hot!

The clubs from the Georgia Archery Association (GAA) hosted the competition and the Rockdale County Parks and Recreation Department provided the facility at the Earl O'Neal Soccer Complex on Old Covington Rd.

Volunteers arrived on Wednesday and began setting up the targets, tents and scoreboards. By Wednesday night, everything was ready. However, Mother Nature had other ideas and sent along a violent thunderstorm that had high winds, rain and lightning. The storm knocked out power in the area for over an hour that evening. We arrived at the field on Thursday to find the targets down and tents and shelters ripped from theitr staked positions and deposited over a hundered yards away in the parking lot and the trees. Everyone pitched in and were were back on track in just a couple of hours. After that, Mother Nature calmed down and cooperated pretty well, but left us with some hot and sticky days as a reminder of who was in charge. (just lilke at home!)

Kudos to Greg Johnsen of the Kennesaw club. He shot fifty points over his best ever score! The Nationals are a great time to do that! He advanced in the Olympic Round on Sunday and missed the quarter finals by only one point in a sudden death shoot off of one arrow! Great job, Greg! Just wait 'til next year, huh?

Thanks go to the Kennesaw volunteers who helped with the tournament. Jefflyne Potter helped on Thursday with registration and check-in. Carri Edwards came and brought her neighbor Sarah. They also helped with registration as well as staffing the leader boards on Friday and Saturday and a host of other jobs.
Eric and I built the 88 target stands needed for the tournament with the help of his neighbor. Only took us four days. We also staffed one of the leader boards during the competition and helped take down equipment at the end. Don Edwards was also there on Saturday and Sunday (doing whatever Carri told him to!).

All in all, it was a successful tournament with some very close scores and great competition. If you missed it, you missed a good time. You can still join in the fun this weekend, though. The Georgia Games will be held at the same location this Saturday. Hope to see you there.

2005 United States Intercollegiate Archery Championships (USIAC)

For those of you who didn't get a chance to volunteer for the JOAD Nationals, don't fret. Pat Madison and the Georgia College & State University Archery Team have won the bid to host the USIAC tournament next year in Millidgeville, GA at the GC&SU campus. This competition pits the collegiate teams from all over USA for the national championships. This year it was attended by approximately 160 of the best student archers in the nation. Contact Pat through the GAA website (www.gaarchery.org) to sign up now for your volunteer assignment!

Georgia College & State University 2004 JOAD Camp

Pat Madison, his son Mike, Eric Cero and I hosted the first of what we hope will be an annual tradition at the GC&SU campus...a three day JOAD camp for archers age 12 to 18. We had archers from Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina. We were assisted by GC&SU Archery team members Katie Rann and Ben (again, I'm bad with last names!). We worked with ten archers over three days and had a great time. Since we had enough coaches to really give personalized instruction, good progress was made with everyone. The students had a great time (especially with the X-Box Mike provided in the evenings). We hope to do it again next year.

Shooting Tip

One of the things we noticed in the JOAD camp we hosted was that almost everyone of the students were what we called "arm shooters". This term means the archer is not using the proper muscle groups to draw and shoot the arrow so that it results in a good storng release and follow through. To demonstrate the proper method to the students, we had them try a device called a "Form Master". It consists of a cord that attaches to the bowstring right under the arrow which is then attached to two straps that form two loops. The hand goes through the two loops and they slide up the drawing arm to the elbow. The loops are then placed on either side of the elbow when slightly bent, with the cord having just a short amount of slack. The archer draws the string with the shooting hand as usual. Upon executing the release, if the archer is using the proper back muscle groups to do the drawing, the string starts forward, but is caught by the loops around the elbow and the cord attached to the string. Done properly, the arrow will stay on the rest because the string doesn't fly forward because the stronger back muscles have the release going back to the follow through. However, if the archer is an arm shooter, it's impossible to hold the string from going forward and the arrow flies about ten feet as a result of the elbow flying forward after the release because the arm is attached to the string by the cord. If you want to see some really suprised looks on shooter's faces, just try this! Everyone thinks they are not arm shooters, but this device will show them the truth.

I highly reccomend this device as a training aid. It will definitely teach you the proper method of drawing with the back muscles. One can be had for abot $60 from Lancaster Archery Supply. (www.lancasterarcherysupply.com) 1-800-829-7408. Try it and embarass yourself and your friends, you'll be the life of the party!

Good Shooting,

Jim White












			July Newsletter 2004 JOAD Nationals The JOAD Nationals were held in Conyers, GA July 8-11. Over 275 archers competed over the four day tournament and were cheered on by family and friends. Both the weather and the competition were hot! The clubs from the Georgia Archery Association (GAA) hosted the competition and the Rockdale County Parks and Recreation Department provided the facility at the Earl O'Neal Soccer Complex on Old Covington Rd. Volunteers arrived on Wednesday and began setting up the targets, tents and scoreboards. By Wednesday night, everything was ready. However, Mother Nature had other ideas and sent along a violent thunderstorm that had high winds, rain and lightning. The storm knocked out power in the area for over an hour that evening. We arrived at the field on Thursday to find the targets down and tents and shelters ripped from theitr staked positions and deposited over a hundered yards away in the parking lot and the trees. Everyone pitched in and were were back on track in just a couple of hours. After that, Mother Nature calmed down and cooperated pretty well, but left us with some hot and sticky days as a reminder of who was in charge. (just lilke at home!) Kudos to Greg Johnsen of the Kennesaw club. He shot fifty points over his best ever score! The Nationals are a great time to do that! He advanced in the Olympic Round on Sunday and missed the quarter finals by only one point in a sudden death shoot off of one arrow! Great job, Greg! Just wait 'til next year, huh? Thanks go to the Kennesaw volunteers who helped with the tournament. Jefflyne Potter helped on Thursday with registration and check-in. Carri Edwards came and brought her neighbor Sarah. They also helped with registration as well as staffing the leader boards on Friday and Saturday and a host of other jobs. Eric and I built the 88 target stands needed for the tournament with the help of his neighbor. Only took us four days. We also staffed one of the leader boards during the competition and helped take down equipment at the end. Don Edwards was also there on Saturday and Sunday (doing whatever Carri told him to!). All in all, it was a successful tournament with some very close scores and great competition. If you missed it, you missed a good time. You can still join in the fun this weekend, though. The Georgia Games will be held at the same location this Saturday. Hope to see you there. 2005 United States Intercollegiate Archery Championships (USIAC) For those of you who didn't get a chance to volunteer for the JOAD Nationals, don't fret. Pat Madison and the Georgia College & State University Archery Team have won the bid to host the USIAC tournament next year in Millidgeville, GA at the GC&SU campus. This competition pits the collegiate teams from all over USA for the national championships. This year it was attended by approximately 160 of the best student archers in the nation. Contact Pat through the GAA website (www.gaarchery.org) to sign up now for your volunteer assignment! Georgia College & State University 2004 JOAD Camp Pat Madison, his son Mike, Eric Cero and I hosted the first of what we hope will be an annual tradition at the GC&SU campus...a three day JOAD camp for archers age 12 to 18. We had archers from Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina. We were assisted by GC&SU Archery team members Katie Rann and Ben (again, I'm bad with last names!). We worked with ten archers over three days and had a great time. Since we had enough coaches to really give personalized instruction, good progress was made with everyone. The students had a great time (especially with the X-Box Mike provided in the evenings). We hope to do it again next year. Shooting Tip One of the things we noticed in the JOAD camp we hosted was that almost everyone of the students were what we called "arm shooters". This term means the archer is not using the proper muscle groups to draw and shoot the arrow so that it results in a good storng release and follow through. To demonstrate the proper method to the students, we had them try a device called a "Form Master". It consists of a cord that attaches to the bowstring right under the arrow which is then attached to two straps that form two loops. The hand goes through the two loops and they slide up the drawing arm to the elbow. The loops are then placed on either side of the elbow when slightly bent, with the cord having just a short amount of slack. The archer draws the string with the shooting hand as usual. Upon executing the release, if the archer is using the proper back muscle groups to do the drawing, the string starts forward, but is caught by the loops around the elbow and the cord attached to the string. Done properly, the arrow will stay on the rest because the string doesn't fly forward because the stronger back muscles have the release going back to the follow through. However, if the archer is an arm shooter, it's impossible to hold the string from going forward and the arrow flies about ten feet as a result of the elbow flying forward after the release because the arm is attached to the string by the cord. If you want to see some really suprised looks on shooter's faces, just try this! Everyone thinks they are not arm shooters, but this device will show them the truth. I highly reccomend this device as a training aid. It will definitely teach you the proper method of drawing with the back muscles. One can be had for abot $60 from Lancaster Archery Supply. (www.lancasterarcherysupply.com) 1-800-829-7408. Try it and embarass yourself and your friends, you'll be the life of the party! Good Shooting, Jim White