plateau

[broketooth]

i have mad a post on pow wow that i was primarily a self bow shooter for many yrs got pretty consistant with it . not a  " howard hill" mind you but ok. then i started shooting a recurve within the past couple of yrs with marginal results.started to show some improvement. but recently ive aquired a new selfbow  but the draw weight was increased by 25# @28 . my ald bow was 45# @ 28. for the past 2 weeks ive been shooting the new bow every day. ive made leaps and bounds in my accuracy. ive decided to try shooting a target the size of a playing card at 20 yrds , while using my old target which is 24" square as a backstop.even if i miss the playing card size target i still hit the back stop = no or minimal arrow loss. ive been getting pretty good at this for about a 2 week time. now today i went to a 3d tournement and sucked i lossed or broke most of my 6 arrows, and turned in the worst score ever. has this ever happened to anyone.im pretty diligent about my practice, with keeping in mind that i  train to shoot within a self bow's means. this was a mixed tournement. compound shooters present. some of the targets were more than twenty yrds. am i beating myself up, beating myself or should i take to shooting targets more than 20yrds for better practice.i also dont own any 3d targets .ive also taken big game with my selfbow through the yrs so a 3d tournement shouldn't be any different , right? or did i hit the wall? for now. has this happened to anyone. i feel embarressed

[jhansen]

Okay, anybody out there who hasn't had a bad shooting day please raise your hand.  Hmmm..I don't see any hands.       Don't beat yourself up.  I've been shooting for several years and most of the time I'm happy with my accuracy.  Then there are days when I might as well just go hang the bow back on the rack.  On those bad days the harder I try the worse I get.

As for the range at which you shoot, try longer distances.  I have a personal rule of never taking a shot at a deer beyond 20 yards.  Most of my practice is spent shooting at that range or less but I also go stumpshooting where anything goes in terms of distance.  I've found that shooting at longer distances makes me more accurate close up.  Give it a try.

John

[Orion]

Probably let the target distance and the stress of shooting with others watching get to you.  It happens.  Practicing at longer distances, and shooting more 3-D shoots will help, particularly if you shoot them with other trad folks.  Good luck.

[broketooth]

i do tend to shoot by myself alot.but i wouldn't think that it would end up being an issue when shooting with others.i thought that the more i shoot ,the more confidence in the skill im developing would be there when i shoot with others. im keeping at it though.  thanx for the words of encouragement