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John's Journal... Entry 160, Day 3

THE DISTANCE TO SUCCESS

Stepps' Methods For Judging Distance

EDITOR'S NOTE: Many hunters prepare for hunting season by shooting 3D archery. Several critical elements will help you win 3-D archery tournaments, including your bow's ability to perform flawlessly, skill at holding the bow steady through the shot, control over your nerves and emotions in the face of high-pressure competition and the ability to judge your distance from the target. 3-D tournament archers often find judging distance the one chink in their armor. Misreading the distance even by 1/2 to 1 yard can determine whether you hit the 12 ring or the 8 ring. Most of the nation's best 3-D archers utilize more than one technique to judge distance to a target. Here are some of their secrets.

In 1997 David Stepps of Phoenix, Arizona, has won the ASA Shooter-Of-The-Year award, the Metropolis ASA Championship, the South Carolina ASA Championship and finished in the top four in numerous ASA tournaments. He also has won the IBO National Championship and the IBO World Championship in the past.

"When I step up to a line and first look at a target, a distance will immediately pop into my head based on my knowledge of that particular target and the number of times I've shot that target," Stepps commented. "Then I judge the distance on the ground in 10-yard increments. Once I get the yardage from me to the target, then I judge the yardage in 10-yard increments from the target back to where I'm standing. Most often the distance from me to the target and the distance to the target back to where I'm standing will be within a yard or two of each other.

"If I'm really having a good day of judging distance, my first impression, the yardage to the target and the yardage away from the target all will give me the same number or numbers very close to each other. If the numbers are different, then I'll average the three numbers and shoot the averaged distance. On my first impression, I'm usually accurate to within 2 or 3 yards. When I judge the distance to and from the target, I generally can judge within a yard of the actual distance. In most tournaments, to shoot in the top 10, you have to be able to judge within a yard of every target on the course."

TOMORROW: USING A RANGE FINDER TO JUDGE DISTANCE

 

 

Check back each day this week for more THE DISTANCE TO SUCCESS ...

Day 1 - Judging Distance
Day 2 - Study Target Size
Day 3 - Stepps' Methods For Judging Distance
Day 4 - Using A Range Finder To Judge Distance
Day 5 - Use Multiple Systems To Determine Distance


John's Journal