USM Archery Club

USM Archery Invitation 2010/2011 (5-6 January 2011)

2011-01-21T14:26:00.003+08:00

Archery Club Commitee 2010/2011

2010-08-11T23:22:00.000+08:00

USM ARCHERY CLUB 2010/11 COMMITEE

PRESIDENT: YUHAIZAM YAHAYA 0197362413

VIDE PRESIDENT: AIDIL SYAHEED B ZAKARIA 0177394757

SECRETARY: CHEONG HON FUI 0165182865

TREASURER: TAN YI NIAN 0124146825

MEN’S CAPTAIN: AARON LIM 0174171179

WOMEN’S CAPTAIN: BEH MAY TING 0164646496

QUARTER MASTERS: GAN SIK HONG 0103771929

HEE WAN SHEN 0169689136

NIK NUR IZZATI BT MUHAMAD 0134886685

New Intake 2010/2011

2010-07-27T01:24:00.001+08:00

INTAKE OF NEW MEMBERS WILL BE HELD AT FOYER DK FROM WEDNESDAY TILL FRIDAY (28-30th july 2010)
Fees will be RM 30 for a year membership

NEWS-Archer Zaki wins gold in New Delhi

2010-03-13T12:45:00.001+08:00

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian archers completed a Commonwealth Games test event at the newly-built Yamuna Sports Complex in New Delhi yesterday with a medal haul of 1-3-1.

Compound archer Mohd Zaki Mahazan delivered the gold, beating India’s Chungda Sherpa 7-3. He combined with Lang Hong Keong and Mohd Khairuddin Asah to take the team silver, losing 232-239 to England.

The other two silver medals were won by the men’s and women’s recurve teams.

Cheng Chu Sian, Fazli Hisyam Fauzi and Arif Farhan Ibrahim Putra were denied the men’s team gold by India, losing 211-218 in the final. The women’s team of S. Anbarasi, Noor Aziera Taip and Beatric Wong Zhia also failed to get the better of the hosts, losing 190-204.

The women’s compound trio of Nor Rizah Ishak, Nor Hayati Al-Madihah Hashim and Nur Hidayah Abdul Latip defeated Scotland 217-209 in the shoot for the bronze after a defeat by England in the semi-finals.

In the men’s individual recurve, Olympian Chu Sian was beaten 0-6 by India’s Tarundeep Rai 0-6 in the semi-finals and he lost 4-6 to another Indian, Rahul Banerjee, in the shoot for the bronze.

The Malaysian archers were among the competitors from 10 countries who competed in the event to test the preparedness of the organisers and the facilities for the sport ahead of the Commonwealth Games in October.

http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2010/3/13/sports/5856280&sec=sports

Upcoming Event - UUM Open 2010

2010-03-13T12:02:00.002+08:00

KEJOHANAN MEMANAH TERBUKA UNIVERSITI UTARA MALAYSIA 2010

Penganjur : Kelab Memanah UUM

Tarikh : 31 Mac – 4 April 2010

Tempat Pertandingan : Padang Memanah Kompleks Sukan Universiti Utara Malaysia

Jadual Pertandingan :

31 Mac 2010 Pendaftaran/ Mesyuarat Pengurus Latihan Rasmi/
(Rabu) Pemeriksaan Peralatan

1 April 2010 Pusingan Kelayakan ( Single FITA )
(Khamis)

2 April 2010 Pusingan Kelayakan ( Single FITA )
(Jumaat)

3 April 2010 Pusingan Kalah Mati ( Elimation ) Berpasukan
(Sabtu) Dan Pasukan Campuran

4 April 2010 Pusingan Kalah Mati ( Elimation ) Individu
(Ahad)

Kategori : RECURVE/ COMPOUND TERBUKA

Kelayakan Peserta : Perseorangan/ Berpasukan ( Semua Kategori )

Tarikh Tutup : 1 Mac 2010

Hadiah : Perseorangan Keseluruhan ( Johan, N/ Johan dan Ketiga )

Perseorangan Pusingan Olimpik ( Johan, N/ Johan dan Ketiga )

Berpasukan Dan Berpasukan Campuran Pusingan Olimpik
( Johan, N/ Johan dan Ketiga )

Penginapan : Penginapan bagi pasukan atlet adalah diurus oleh pengurus
pasukan masing-masing. Sila tempah secepat mungkin.

PENGINAPAN NO TELEFON
UNIVERSITY INN (dalam Kampus UUM) 04-9244545
EDC,UUM 04-9288888
T – Hotel ( Changlun) 04-9248888/04-9244888

Makan Tengahari : Disediakan oleh pihak penganjur semasa kejohanan

Yuran Pendaftaran : RM50.00 (Kategori Recurve)
RM55.00 (Kategori Compound)

Untuk Pendaftaran : Puvaneswaran a/l Muniandi
No Tel : 012-534 1853
No Faks : 04-928 3245/ 04-928 5924
Email : puvan63@yahoo.com

Untuk Pendaftaran : Angie Ng Hui Ee
No Tel : 014-9052156 / 016-6265560
Email : ng_angie_ee@yahoo.com
RM20.00 (Pengawai/ Pengurus/ Jurulatih)

MASUM 2010 - UPM

2010-03-13T11:48:00.004+08:00

Outdoor World Championships 2009 - Ulsan ( Videos )

2009-10-03T05:50:00.002+08:00

Uncut Match of the 2009 Outdoor World Championships in Ulsan (KOR). Compound Women Team Gold KOR vs RUS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4e4FW8x3MM&feature=PlayList&p=8769972A4B1189FE&index=2

Uncut Match of the 2009 Outdoor World Championships in Ulsan (KOR). Compound Men Team Gold USA vs RUS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ylnzfyUJE&feature=PlayList&p=8769972A4B1189FE&index=4

Uncut Match of the 2009 Outdoor World Championships in Ulsan (KOR). Recurve Women Team Gold / KOR vs JPN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azlbNmKd0Bg&feature=PlayList&p=8769972A4B1189FE&index=6

Uncut Match of the 2009 Outdoor World Championships in Ulsan (KOR). Recurve Men Team Gold / KOR vs FRA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqYQyMVrnAg&feature=PlayList&p=8769972A4B1189FE&index=8

Upcoming Event

2009-10-03T05:16:00.004+08:00

KEJOHANAN MEMANAH KEBANGSAAN SIRKIT KE-3 & KARNIVAL PELAPIS KEBANGSAAN KE-2 2009

21-25 October 2009

Melaka

Just For Fun

2009-10-02T04:02:00.001+08:00

Guys I know there have not been any updates lately but this is one fun archery game for you all to have fun with if you are bored .

http://www.freeonlinegames.com/shooting-games/hit-the-jackpot.html

Have fun

Attention

2009-09-04T22:30:00.004+08:00

Attention to all members of USM Archery Club...................

We will be having a coach ( Ms. Shamani ) to guide us starting from next week 7th September 2009.

The coach will be there every MONDAY and THURSDAY 5 till 7 pm.

Do not worry about the students from ko-k as they have been assigned to a new venue.

By the way this is Ms Shamani

Thanks

News

2009-08-09T03:56:00.001+08:00

http://pelapisfuturechampions.blogspot.com/2009/07/usm-archery-invitation.html

Check out this link for an article on USM Invitation 2009

Announcement: New Member Recruitment Updated for 'non-USM-ers'

2009-07-24T21:54:00.004+08:00

We're delighted to tell you that we've begun our new member recruitment for this new semester.
Registration date: 24 July - 31 July 2009
Membership Fees: RM 30 per year
Membership Renewal : RM 10 per year

Upon Registration, new members are required to attend two clinics when which they'll be taught about some history, "How-to's", and important matters regarding archery.
A one-year membership card will be given and by using the card, members can rent bows and arrows F.O.C. from the sport utilities store at the minden field and train anytime from Monday to Friday (9.00am - 7.00 PM),
with exception of 5.00PM-7.00PM of Monday and Thursday as those are co-curriculum days.

For those who are interested, kindly contact the contact persons of USM Archery Club for more information.

Simon 012 550 0499
Pei Ling 014 905 2898/ 012 517 0158
Aaron 017 417 1179
Darrel 017 422 2068

Do spread the news and have fun!!!

*Updates*

For readers' information, these membership are for students and staffs in Universiti Sains Malaysia.

However, those who're neither usm students or staffs are welcome to contact the Penang Sport Association (Majlis Sukan Negeri) for info on coaching and training sessions/courses.
Contact information as followed:

Jaffery Low Wei Loon (Coach)
012 401 3428

Thank you

USM Archery Invitation 2009

2009-07-18T18:06:00.007+08:00

USM Invitation 2009 Results!

2009-07-15T13:11:00.009+08:00

The result of USM Invitation 2009 is as displayed below.
Events held were
Recurve Double 70m for Men and Ladies (Women)
Compound Double 70m mix
Individual Olympic for Recurve and Compound - Men and Ladies
Individual Olympic for Compound mix
Team Olympic for Recurve and Compound mix

*Please click picture for better view

For Double 70:~~

Double 70 Recurve Teams Ranking

Double 70 Recurve Individual Ranking (Men and Ladies)

Double 70 Recurve Individual Ranking (Ladies)

Double 70 Recurve Individual Ranking (Men)

Double 70 Compound Individual Ranking (Mix)

Double 70 Compound Team Ranking (Mix)

For Individual Olympics :~~

Recurve Individual Olympic Men Page 1
Recurve Individual Olympic Men Page 2
Recurve Individual Olympic Ladies
Compound Individual Olympic Mix Page 1
Compound Individual Olympic Mix Page 2

For Team Olympic Events: ~~

Recurve Team Olympic Mix
Compound Team Recurve Mix

USM Archery Club hereby congratulates those who have won their medals during this competition, A big "well done" we'd like to say to the USM compound team who've won a gold in this competition. Also, we wish to say "great job and keep going" to those who have achieved their personal goal in this competition and "don't give up" to those who might have failed to reach their target scores.

Thanks again to USM Archery Club committee for the success of this event and once again, we beg for forgiveness to those who have attended, for any mistakes and disatisfactions caused during the event. We hope to hold more of this kind of event in the coming future.

P/S Pictures will be uploaded as soon as they're collected and compiled. thank you for your patience.

USM Invitation 2009 Ends

2009-07-11T22:37:00.001+08:00

The USM Invitation Archery Competition hosted by USM Archery Club has at last ended with success. Though there had been a few technical and management problems, the USM Archery Club committees have managed to pull the competition off while keeping up with the scheduled events, thanks to the assistance provided by various personnels.

Score results and pictures will be uploaded as soon as possible.

Club T-Shirt

2009-06-21T18:03:00.000+08:00

Attention

Our club latest tshirt will be on sale starting from the new sem

Colour : Sky blue
Printing : Grey
Price : RM 18

Front

Back

Announcement: USM Invitation 2009 Archery Competition

2009-06-19T21:35:00.000+08:00

USM archery Club is going to host an Archery Competition in USM called "USM Invitation 2009"

The Schedule of the Competition is as followed:

10th July 2009 (Friday)

0830-1200
Official Practice
Managers' Meeting
Tackle Inspection

1500-1800
Double 70m (All : Recurve - Men, Women; Compound - Men, Women)

11th July 2009 (Saturday)

0830-1230
Individual Olympic Rounds (All)

1500-1800
Team Olympic Rounds (All)

Teams Invited: -
USM
UiTM
Penang MSN
Penang MSSPP

Other info will be updated as soon as possible.

Lessons In Life

2009-06-14T22:39:00.000+08:00

Lesson 1:
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'
'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'
Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 2:
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'
The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 3 :
A turkey was chatting with a bull.

'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'
'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:
Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..

Grasping of Bow (How to fix?)

2009-06-14T01:30:00.000+08:00

Habit of Grabbing a bow upon release can be a real problem when an archer shift from shooting an wooden bow without sling into shooting recurve, without any proper guidance or by self learning. Somehow when something becomes a habit, it is quite hard to change it back. It requires determination and re-adaptation of muscles of our body and re-discovery the feeling of shooting.

So, ever wonder if there's anyway to change it back quick?

Possible cures for grasping

By grasping the bow during or after the shot, the level of accuracy of the shot diminishes. It is evident that you should try and avoid this as much as possible.

It is very easy to see if an archer grasps the bow. An automatic grasping response takes place almost immediately when executing the shot. Another mistake is that an archer grips the bow as tightly as possible, so, that the fingers are tense and the knuckles of the bow hand turn white. Also, a bow hand forced to be open with stretched fingers is also less desirable because of the reduced control over it.These methods require extra muscle control that makes the shot harder to be reproduced.

The most simple solution for these mistakes is to isolate the error and work at it. It is best to focus on consciously letting the bow jump out of your hand (using a sling, of course!) and pay no attention to anything else. In this way you can become aware of what exactly happens with the bow when the arrow is released and get used to the reaction.

The best way to do this to draw the bow only a few inches (not more than 2 inches) without an arrow, but with sling, and letting the string go. Look and feel how the bow leaves your hand and what movement takes place here. When you are familiar with this movement, start shooting while concentrating on letting the bow jump out of your hand. In the beginning this is hard. Convince yourself that the bow is firmly attached to your arm and that there is no way it can fall. It also does not hurt to try and use a different type of sling, preferably a a wrist or finger sling.

Finally, there are a two less orthodox ways of curing grasping that are too interesting not to mention.

A Korean coach says that an archer cannot get the right feeling of the bow leaving the hand when he or she uses a sling. His method of teaching how to use a sling is therefore the following:

The archer shoots without a sling and keeps the bow hand open and relaxed. After the shot, he just lets go of the bow. The coach lies in front of the archer and catches the bow. In this way, the archer should get the right feeling of the bow leaving the hand without being afraid to let go.

A very drastic measure to prevent grasping is using drawing-pins. Use adhesive tape to attach the pins to the handle on places where the hand grasps the bow. The points should point outwards. Now it becomes very painful to grasp the bow. This method should definitely only be used as a last resort.

So, happy changing!

Basic yet Of the Utmost Importance - Bow Arm (Grip) - Part 2

2009-06-08T09:32:00.000+08:00

In the previous part of discussion about bow arm (focused more on grip), we've discussed about the placement of our hand on a grip and the better or biomechanically more efficient way of "holding" a bow.

Today we're going to discuss about different type of wrist position and their advantages and disadvantages.

Low Wrist

The first, and perhaps the most common among the novices are the low wrist position. Check figure 6.

This wrist position is the easiest way to relax the wrist and the fleshy ball of our hand makes full contact with the grip. The wrist is held lower than the hand. In this way, the wrist and the rest of the hand can relax completely. A way to check if the hand is fully relaxed, is to ask another archer to feel the fingers of your bow hand while you are at full draw. It should be easy to bend the fingers.

Advantage : you can fully relax your wrist and you don't need much wrist strength.

Disadvantage : grasping can occur more easily when the hand is not fully relaxed. The larger contact area also tends to promote bow-torsion if the hand is placed off-axis. See also figure 4.

The off axis here actually means that our hand is not placed like as shown in the figure. To put our hand on the correct axis is that, try to imagine a straight line extending out of the right end of the wrist when full draw or when you're gripping the bow and to make sure that straight line actually go through the CENTRE of the grip of the bow.

Straight Wrist

Another way to place our hand on the grip is the straight wrist. See figure 7.

Now the wrist is at the same level as the hand. Pressure is applied on the area between thumb and index finger. Again, hand and wrist should be as relaxed as possible. It is easier to feel an error in the hand placement with the straight wrist.

Advantage : This position is fairly consistent

Disadvantage: Requires more strength than the low wrist position and so it is a little harder to maintain over long periods of shooting. The pressure between thumb and index finger pulls them together, closing the hand, and can lead to grasping.

Grasping of a bow, for most archers, can cause a lot of problem, but that doesn't mean that you cannot grab a bow when shooting to achieve high scores, provided that you have a very stable hand, perhaps. Well, some archers can still do very well to shoot without sling and grasping the bow, some won the Olympic shooting that way, one Example is the 2008 Olympic Men's Recurve Gold Medalist, and 2008 Archery World Cup Men's Recurve Olympic Round Silver Medalist. Still, archers are more advised to not grab their bow and some may still have problems of habitual grabbing the bow during release. We'll come to that later.

Now,

High Wrist

The last position to be discussed is the high wrist, see figure 8. Now the wrist is held higher than the hand. The hand only makes contact with a small area of the grip. Relaxed hand and wrist are essential, as usual.

Advantage : small contact area. The chances of torsion and of grasping reduce to a minimum in this way. With the high wrist position the chance of disturbing arrow flight is minimal.

Disadvantage : This position requires a large amount of wrist strength and is difficult to maintain over longer periods of shooting, e.g. a FITA Star. When tired, the hand quickly drops to a straight or low wrist.

Final remarks

The previous remarks should give a starting point as to what hand position to choose. Always bear in mind that the best position is the one that suits the build of the individual archer best. Pay specific attention to the amount of movement of the wrist.
It is also worthwhile to see how your stabilisers are set up and how they work with the sling. Usually, a well stabilised bow will jump forward from your hand and rotate only after this has happened. Make sure that there is enough space for this between bowgrip and hand. Not too much or otherwise the bow will slip through your hand and end up dangling from your sight. A space of about one centimetre (a little less than half an inch) is usually sufficient.
It is necessary to experiment with different hand positions. There are different types grips available worth trying.
Remember to always keep the bow hand as relaxed as possible and do this in the easiest and most simple way possible.

MASUM 2009 , UUM Kedah

2009-06-02T01:48:00.000+08:00

Basic yet Of the Utmost Importance - Bow Arm (Grip) - Part 1

2009-05-28T13:20:00.000+08:00

Bow hand position is an area which is somehow, criminally neglected in the coaching literature. Hand position is the only interface between archer and bow and therefore vital to get right. Poor hand position is the root cause of most technical failures and so can not be overstated...

THE BEGINNING AND THE END

The bow hand is the first body part to touch the bow as you set up for the shot and it’s the last body part touching the bow as the arrow crosses the arrow rest on its way to the target. This makes bow hand placement on the bow’s grip section extremely important. You have to do this form element correctly through most of your form steps if you’re going to be happy in archery.

So, what is the basis of a good hand position?

If you've asked most of the experienced archers, either recurve or compound archers about their grip, most of them will tell you or give you instructions on how to relax your hand and improve your archery result by using the grip as shown below (right) by switching from the grip which most beginners would use which is the left one.

So, how is it done? and why should we use this grip and what are the types of grips with their disadvantages and advantages? Let's discuss about all these.

Relaxation

As stated earlier, it is essential to keep the bow hand as relaxed as possible during and after the shot. Every movement while the arrow is still on the bow will result in a large deviation on the target, especially on longer distances.

A bow hand that grips the bow firmly will tend to move more during the shot than a relaxed hand because of the required extra muscle control. On the other hand, if you force your hand to be open by stretching fingers, this also will mean that more muscle control is necessary. Both styles are impossible to maintain over longer periods of shooting because it is impossible to use the same muscles in exactly the same way every time.

We can see that it is very important to maintain a relaxed bow hand throughout the execution of the shot.

When relaxing a hand, the fingers should be curved, not straight. Just try laying the back of your hand on the table and relaxing it. You will see it right away. It is normal that fingers are curved while holding the bow. This does not necessarily mean that they grasp the bow. When your hand positioning is correct, one or two fingers will not touch the bow. You can probably bend your little finger and ring finger without touching the bow. See also figures 2 and 3.
Holding the bow is here not really the right word. The bow should more or less 'rest against' the hand when it has come to a full draw or during the drawing, without gripping the bow.

So we shall start with:

Hand placement

General remarks

There are several ways to place the bow hand on the bow and keeping it as relaxed as possible.

With every placement you should keep the centerline of the bow in the same line with that of the hand, see figure 4. This is the best way to transfer force from the bow to the arm. In this way you use as much of your bone structure and eliminate the need for extra muscle control.
It is important that the bow is held exactly in the middle, that pressure is not exerted sideways. In this way the arrow, and after that the bow, will only move forward after release, giving the best possible arrow flight.

Finding the right placement: The Touch pad

The lifeline that runs down the palm of your hand separates your hand into two regions for the purpose of archery, the “inbounds” and the “out-of-bounds”. The thumb pad portion, called the thenar eminence, is the in-bounds portion while the other pad on the little- finger side of the lifeline, the hypothenar eminence, is the out-of bounds region. The thumb pad and only this pad should be touched to the grip area of the bow handle. If any other part touches the handle then side torque to the handle may, and usually does, occur.

It is also important not to try and hold your hand parallel to the handle but under an angle, of 45 degrees to a vertical line. This is the most natural position and thus is the best way to relax the hand. A way to experiment with this is the following:

Assume your shooting stance, without bow. Relax the bow hand and, with the tip of your index finger, touch the tip of your thumb. With a relaxed hand, the remaining fingers will also be slightly curved. The fingers should behave as they were handling something very delicate. Bend your index finger and ring finger a little more, until both fingertips touch the palm of your hand. Tilt your hand up and towards you and stretch the index finger a little. Now ask a fellow archer to push a bow into your hand. If this went right, the bow will now press on the inside of the ball of your thumb, see figure 5. Your knuckles will make an angle of about 45 degrees with the bow. Little finger and ring finger should be between hand and bow. Try and shoot some arrows in this way and observe the bow's reaction.

or more experienced archers, who have a fairly consistent release, the following method could be of help in finding the best hand position.

Shoot a few arrows without stabilisation and observe how the bow leaves your hand. You probably cannot prevent the bow from tilting backwards towards your head. What you should be able to prevent through your hand placement is left or right rotation of the bow.

To get an idea of what can go wrong, try and apply pressure on the left side of the grip. Do this by bending your bow hand to the right, your wrist is now left of the bow. ( for a right-handed archer). This results in the string hitting your armguard and the arrow hitting the target more to the right. Try the same for the other side of the grip, apply more pressure on the right side of the grip. This is not easy for a right-handed archer. You can do this by reaching towards the target with your thumb. The bow will rotate anticlockwise after the shot and perhaps the bow arm will move sideways to the left.

After experiencing these two extremes, try and find the golden mean between them, the ideal case being that the bow does not rotate either with or without stabilisation. After you are done, ask a fellow archer to watch if the tip of your stabiliser and if the bow travels in a straight line forward or not.

It is emphasised that this method will only give good results for archers that have a good release, i.e. a release that does not make the bow rotate.

EXERCISE:

BOW HAND PLACEMENT ROUTINE

Here’s a set of steps for getting the bow hand placed correctly.
1. Pen-mark the lower inch of the lifeline in the bow hand as atouch-point reference.
2.Touch the pen-mark to the left edge (for right-handers) of the bow grip section.
3. Relax all fingers and the thumb so they are limp.
4. Slide the bow hand upward until the index knuckle and thumb lightly touch the arrow shelf *naturally.
5. Allow the thumb pad to lightly roll onto the bow grip.
6. Do not pressure the bow hand onto the grip.
7. Hold the bow hand in the proper position throughout the raising of the bow to the target level.
8. During the draw, the bow will pressure into the bow hand at the target and aiming level yielding optimum bow hand consistency.

Annual General Meeting 2009 (31st March 2009)

2009-04-02T01:58:00.000+08:00

The annual General Meeting 2009 has been held at DK U on the 31st March 2009.
The Objective of the Meeting generally is to discuss and for the election of president and council officers of the Archery Club.

The New Elected Members of Council and Authority 2009/2010 are as followed: -

Captain (Men Archery Team) - Aaron Lim Soon Liang
Captain (Women Archery Team) - Lau Pei Ling

President : Simon Lim
Vice President : Ammar bin Ibrahim

Secretary : Ling Jem Shan

Treasurer : Lau Pei Ling

Q/Master :
Nurul Fatiha binti Muah
Tan Jun Chao
Leng Yin On

Publicity (IT) : Ling Jem Shan

Members of Authority(AJK) :
Afwa binti Roslan
Lee Boon Pin

If anyone would wish to join the archery club in next semester, kindly look forward for announcement about the time and date of our roadshow and booth set-up for registration and enquiries next semester. Thank You!

SUKAD 2009

2009-03-11T00:31:00.000+08:00

Congratulation to the winners of SUKAD 2009 both men's and women's team.

Archery Warm Up and Exercise : For Better Shooting and Less Possibility to Get Injured

2009-01-06T14:27:00.000+08:00

In all kind of sports, warm up exercises are always regarded and proven to be an important step before engage in their respective sports.

Reasons of doing warm up exercises before sports are:

Decrease risk of injury
Enable full development of opposing muscle groups
Increase mobility, which is why sometimes we feel we shoot better when our body starts to heat up after some time as we started.
Improve blood circulation by allowing free flow of blood through relaxed muscles of body
Improve relaxation and decrease stress during the sport

Note: As part of a total body warm-up it is important to ensure that muscles are warm before they are stretched, because a sudden extension of a "cold" muscle sometimes can cause strains and tears.

To warm up your muscles, we can jog slowly or walk briskly on the spot or around the area for a few minutes before doing the following stretching exercises:

	To loosen upper arm and chest muscles. Interlock the fingers with palms out. Extend arms above head, keeping fingers locked. Stretch upwards and hold for 10 seconds.
	To loosen back muscles. Cross arms in front of chest and place hands around shoulders. Slowly stretch hands towards middle of back as far as possible. Hold for 10 seconds.
	To loosen chest, top of shoulder and lower arm muscles. Bend one arm over head and down back, bend other arm around and up back. Grasp finger tips and hold for 10 seconds, then reverse arm positions and hold for 10 seconds. Keep backbone vertical during this exercise.
	To loosen shoulders and back muscles. Lock fingers together, extend arms and twist slowly as far as possible to the right and hold for 10 seconds. Then twist slowly to the left and hold for 10 seconds. CAUTION: Do not twist suddenly as it may damage backbone joints.
	Shrug: To loosen neck and upper shoulder muscles. From a normal standing position with arms at sides, raise up both shoulders towards neck as high as possible, then move shoulders forward, then move shoulders back. Do this for about 10 seconds.
	To loosen back and shoulder muscles. Use a length of spear gun rubber or rubber tubing, grasp each end, raise arms to shoulder height and extend arms, keeping elbows straight, outwards and backwards by squeezing shoulder blades together. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat about 6 times.
	To loosen shoulder muscles. Use a length of spear gun rubber or rubber tubing, grasp each end, raise one arm above head and the other arm level with shoulder. Pull down with arm and hold for 10 seconds. Repeat about 6 times. Swap arm positions and repeat exercise.
	To loosen chest and shoulder muscles. Use a length of spear gun rubber or rubber tubing, grasp each end behind back, hold arms at shoulder level, then swing arms forwards to stretch rubber. hold for 10 seconds. Repeat about 6 times.
	To loosen shooting muscles. Use a length of spear gun rubber or rubber tubing tied in a loop, imitate the shooting draw. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat about 6 times. Repeat exercise with opposite hands to balance muscle development.

Note:
When performing these exercises, do not hold your breath at any stage, as it may cause dizziness.
As you do each exercise the muscles will require more oxygen, so your breathing and heart rate will increase and be careful, do not overstretch.

Source : http://www.centenaryarchers.gil.com.au

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T23:04:00.000+08:00

USM Archery Club wishes all archers and visitors of the blog a Year 2009 filled with wisdom, health, Joy, prosperity, and enlightening insights! Wish fellow competition archers a New Year full of success despite the coming New Challenges!

Not enough strength to pull your bow? Let's SPT!

2008-12-30T15:30:00.000+08:00

Here're some helpful specific exercises that help to increase your strength, endurance, flexibility and improve your structures which are highly required for obtaining high performance in the aspect of consistencies and accuracy during archery trainings / competitions.

SPT stands for Specific Physical Training and it was purposely developed to increase Endurance, Power/Strength and Flexibility through archery specific muscle exercises using archery equipment. There are four specific SPT exercises as detailed below:~

SPT 1 - Endurance

The bow is drawn in the normal manner, using correct technique, but without an arrow (Note: Make sure you do not release your string as doing this may cause injuries to yourself if the bow limbs break) ; hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. The rest time, between each repetition, should be double the "Hold Time"; e.g. hold for 35 seconds then rest time will be double this or 70 seconds. After 10 repetitions take 2 minutes rest and repeat - Duration 30 minutes.

This exercise must be done with proper form, incorporating aiming, otherwise bow will move all over place when fatigue starts to set in.

Note: When the archer can hold for more than 45 seconds, some rubber bands can be introduced slipped over the limbs to increase draw weight by about 2 - 3 lbs. Alternatively a heavier bow can be used.

SPT 2 - Power / Strength

Draw from the Set-Up to the Holding position; Holding must include Transfer and Loading like in a normal shot. Hold for 3 - 5 seconds and let down, but only as far down as the Set-up, then draw straight back to the anchor position and, again, include Transfer and Loading. Do this 5 -12 times for 3 - 5 sets, depending on current strength. Rest period between sets 3 - 5 minutes - Ensure that proper alignment and form is maintained - Duration 30 minutes.

SPT 3 - Flexibility

This exercise is done with an arrow in the bow and for safety reasons close up in front of a target butt. Draw the bow in the normal manner and attain the normal Holding position, followed by a ten second continuous expansion at normal expansion speed. The objective is to draw 1 - 1.5cm (~3/8" - 5/8") past the clicker, without any change in posture. Do 5 sets of 6 repetitions and take a rest of 30secs between each repetition and 2 minutes rest between each set.

SPT 4 - Structure

This exercise is more an exercise to give the archer the feeling for the position where both the shoulders should be. From time to time I use this exercise for this purpose, i.e. when an archer has problems attaining the correct shoulder positions. This SPT 4 is also good for warm up purposes, including before the start of competition.

These SPT exercises are carried out by elite archers religiously, 5 days a week for 1 full hour.

** Don't have a bow for yourself? You can actually use an exercise band instead. Any exercise band such as Thera-band that can be bought at hospitals or stores are good alternatives to practice on your own during holidays or when the USM sport storage office is not open.
Or you can even make your own exercise band by using old inner tube of bicycle or motorcycle tyres!

Just cut the inner tube into stripes of around 1 - 1.5 inches wide and tie them up!

Happy Training! :)

Source: KSL International Archery

TARGET PANIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-28T21:49:00.000+08:00

What is Target Panic?

Describing or defining target panic usually causes us to focus on the symptoms of the disorder. These symptoms can be manifested with slight variations given individual archers. These symptoms do have one thing in common: There is a premature release - or the strong desire for a premature release - of the arrow. This premature release - or desire for a premature release - occurs first, before the bow can be positioned to bring the arrow fully onto the target, or second, before the anchor can be fully achieved. It is also possible that an individual archer can experience the premature release - or the desire for a premature release - before both the target and anchor can be fully achieved depending on the timing between the full anchor and target acquisition. So then . . . you release too soon or you lock-in and find it impossible to bring the arrow onto the target because your mind wants to release the arrow. The specific way in which target panic manifests itself is highly dependent on the individuals form and equipment, yet, the premature release is at the core of the problem.

What Causes Target Panic?

I was impressed by a few things the other day when I did a search for "target panic" on the Internet. First, I was impressed by the number of web sites that discuss the issue of target panic. I was also impressed by the fact that no one seemed to know exactly what causes target panic in the first place. Of course, that didn't stop them from coming up with their subject common sense explanations of the cause like "being over bowed" (actually it can be a contributor) or "faulty concentration" (whatever that means) to my favorite "an inherent fear of failure" (that one really made me laugh!). I'm surprised no one mentioned that it was likely caused by a "chemical imbalance!" Finally, I was impressed by the fact that even though no one really knew what causes target panic, most of the techniques and advice offered on these pages was scientifically sound and would likely help someone suffering from target panic. This is likely because they are founded on the "what worked for me" principle of personal experience. Of course this poses a question. Do we really need to know the cause of target panic to formulate a cure? Sigmund Freud believed that in order to cure something you must have insights into the unconscious motivational conflicts that cause it. That was 100 years ago and we know better than that now. It really is not necessary to understand how target panic is learned to overcome it. If you don't understand the following information, you can still use the techniques discussed to overcome target panic effectively. For those formulating the techniques to cure target panic a thorough understanding of the cause is necessary. Additionally, many of you inquisitive types will appreciate an understanding of the learning that leads to target panic and thus allows us to formulate effective strategies to remedy it.

The Real Cause of Target Panic: "Classical Conditioning"

As a psychologist I naturally look to classical conditioning, also called respondent learning, as the culprit of target panic. There are many other disorders with very similar characteristics that are understood, explained and remedied effectively by working from a classical conditioning perspective. Phobias and panic attacks are two that quickly come to mind. Let's briefly visit the original experiment performed by the Russian Psychophysicist, Ivan Pavlov, that brought us to an understanding of this method of learning. Pavlov experimented with dogs and discovered that he could elicit salivation (the response - R) by a tone (conditioned stimulus - CS - neutral stimulus that does not cause salivation) by pairing the tone with meat powder (unconditional stimulus - UCS - that always causes salivation). Pavlov presented these stimuli in a specific order beginning with the tone and quickly following with the meat powder that always caused the dogs to salivate. The process description of classical conditioning is CS > UCS > R. The dogs quickly learned to associate the tone (CS) with the meat powder (UCS) and would begin salivating (R) when the tone (CS) sounded. So, once the association has been made the tone caused salivation or CS > R. The "Law of Contiguity" states that "any two stimuli paired this way (CS > UCS) in time and space will come to be seen as classically associated." Humans and animals alike learn through association. Of course, humans can overcome this learning through analysis and insight that leads to action designed to eradicate the learning that occurred. A few varied examples of classical conditioning will be helpful.

"Outdoorsy" Examples of Classical Conditioning

Example #1: If you have ever trained a retriever for hunting or your pet at obedience class you have used the techniques of classical conditioning. If you want the dog to sit (this is the response - R) you must present a stimuli that always causes this response to occur. Typically, we physically put the dog into a sitting position by pulling rearward on the leash and pushing down on his hind quarters till he is in the sitting position. This action (the unconditioned stimulus - UCS) always leads to the response of sitting (R). Of course we want the dog to actually sit on the verbal command "sit" (this becomes the Conditioned Stimulus - CS) that will be associated with the (UCS) to elicit the (R). So we say "sit dog" (CS) followed by pulling back and pushing the dog (UCS) into the sitting position (R). Within a short period of time the dog begins to sit as soon as we give the verbal command and learning has occurred or CS > R.

Example #2: I recall an eventful trip to the field to set up my tree stand and do some serious scouting and stump shooting. That sentence makes it sound kind of like I was scouting stumps! Oh, well - on with my story. I strapped the tree stand on my back and grabbed my bow and walked into the barn that I always passed through to get to the pasture that would ultimately take me to the "whitetail forest." I rolled the rear door of the barn closed and proceeded to walk toward the far end of the pasture. There was only one place that I could safely enter the whitetail forest from this pasture due to the three-strand electric fence that the farmer always kept set to "stun!" He did this to keep the Limousine cattle confined to their yard. A small stump offered enough altitude to safely negotiate the fence after placing my bow and the tree stand safely over first. It was always a careful and deliberate maneuver and to this point in my life I had engaged in it dozens of times safely. This day, however, was going to be different! About half way across the pasture I noticed some restless cow sounds back toward the barn. As I casually turned, I could see that a brand-new calf was among them and coming toward me at a moderate pace. At first I thought "look, a cute new calf" which was quickly replaced by "get out of here" as the mother made it clear that she saw me as a threat to her new calf. Twenty yards away a newborn calf trotted toward me and forty yards behind her was a ticked of mom quickly picking up steam. I yelled for her to stop and made an aggressive move toward her (and also toward the calf I realize now) that caused her to pick up speed. I glanced ahead toward the climbing stump and back at my attacker. I realized I never would make it and would have to go over the fence at another location. I quickly formulated a plan - run to the side of the pasture - leave the stand on my back - toss over the bow - grab the top strand of the fence with both hands and get over as quickly as possible to reduce the duration of the pain! That's exactly what I did too - with one addition - I screamed out in pain all the way over. Once safely on the other side I shook my hands and took a quick mental inventory to make sure everything was all right from head to toe. I'd made it with no detectable damage and was resolved to take the long way back to the truck. As I picked up my bow, I heard the back door of the barn roll open. I straightened up to see the farmer standing in the doorway. "I see you made it across the fence" he said. "Yea!" I yelled back. "Well, I was just coming to tell you I haven't had the fence on all day and you could cross it anywhere." After a little more small talk he closed the barn door and I touched the fence - quickly - to see if what he said was true. Indeed it was. The fence was OFF. I guess the yelling part wasn't necessary after all! No, I'm not a wimp as some of you are no doubt thinking, just the victim of classical conditioning. In this case the yelling (R) is always caused by the stun of electricity (UCS) which is preceded by touching the fence (CS). So. . . . you touch the fence > get stunned > yell out in pain! Once learning occurs (and with a noxious UCS like electricity it only takes one pairing for learning to occur) you remove "the get stunned part" and the touching of the fence leads directly to yelling out in pain! Reflecting back now I don't think I really yelled. It was more like a whimper. Actually, more like a macho kind of controlled whimper. Well, on with the next example.

Example #3: People who shoot magnum handguns often develop what is called a "flinch" where they seem to jerk the gun when pulling the trigger thereby causing them to miss the target. If we were to put some dummy loads (loads that will not fire) in the gun without the shooter knowing, we would see the shooter pull the trigger followed by a display of the typical recoil movement associated with the firing of a magnum round. If we break the process of shooting a handgun down into its classical conditioning components, it is easy to understand why this occurs. First, ask yourself this question. In a normal shooting sequence of one shot what is the response (R)? This has to be the natural recoil (R) that occurs that causes the hand to move up and back as the gun kicks. Okay then, what is the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that always leads to that response? This would be the ignition of the magnum cartridge that causes the projectile to move in one direction and the gun in the other (recoil) which is the response (R). Pulling the trigger is not an unconditioned stimulus because with no ignition of the cartridge there is no recoil. Every time a cartridge ignites (UCS) recoil (R) is present! What is the conditioned stimulus (CS) that precedes the ignition of the cartridge and does not by itself cause a recoil response (R)? That would be pulling the trigger. If you pull the trigger on an unloaded gun (dry firing) it will not elicit a recoil response. It is only when the (CS) pulling the trigger is paired with a (UCS) ignition of the cartridge that conditioning occurs through the pairing of the CS and the UCS. Once learning has occurred, pulling the trigger will cause recoil movement without ignition of the magnum round or CS > R. While flinching is often referred to as target panic for hand gunners, a more appropriate name might be recoil panic! Now that we can see how classical conditioning works, we can apply the principles to archery.

Target Panic in Archery

Let's take a look at how target panic is learned through classical conditioning for the archer. In archery, target panic is seen as a premature release. So, the release is the response (R). Now we need to determine what the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is that always causes this response (R) to take place? In archery, we release (R) when we acquire the target (UCS). Acquisition of the target is that point in the process when we feel the arrow is properly aligned to hit the target and the mind gives the command to release. Now we ask what it is that comes just before (CS) the target is acquired (UCS) and the arrow is released (R)? There are actually two possible scenarios we should look at here.

Scenario #1 - We draw and anchor - begin to move toward the target (CS) - acquire the target (UCS) - release (R). So the neutral stimulus that is now causing the response of release is moving toward the target! Aha! The premature release we've been talking about. Once learning occurs, moving toward the target (CS) causes the release (R) of the arrow or (CS) > (R). This scenario likely covers most compound shooters and some traditional archers.

Scenario #2 - In this scenario we don't draw and anchor. Some shooters, especially those who use traditional equipment, are quicker and more fluid at acquiring the target. In this scenario we draw and begin the process of anchoring which we time so that full anchor is achieved as the target is acquired. This causes a perceptual change in the symptoms even though the cause is the same. This type of archer experiences the premature release occurring not only before the target can be acquired, but also before the anchor can be fully achieved. This is due to the fact that target acquisition and a full anchor occur simultaneously.

Formulating Techniques to Cure Target Panic

Remember that I said that you don't have to understand target panic to effectively cure it. Many of you will be interested to know how we go about formulating effective techniques based on classical conditioning. If we examine psychological disorders where classical conditioning is implicated we discover that the effective techniques used to deal with these disorders fall into two categories. Some of the techniques follow the principles of "systematic desensitization" and the others rely on the principles of "thought stopping." Let's examine these two categories in more detail.

Systematic Desensitization is a process that allows us to gradually overcome a learned behavior by challenging it with a conscious, controlled behavior. Let me give you an example of systematic desensitization that you can easily identify with. The first time a child rides a roller coaster they are terrified. Each subsequent ride on the same roller coaster dissipates the fear to the point that they have to find a bigger roller coaster in the park to get the adrenaline flowing again. The ride didn't go slower or have fewer twists, turns and loops on subsequent rides. What happened was that their perception changed because the fear while being on the ride (CS) was paired with getting off the ride safely (UCS) and becoming relaxed (R). If the ride is paired over and over again with relaxation it will lose its power to frighten.

Thought Stopping is very similar to systematic desensitization in that we consciously introduce a stimulus so that the response cannot occur in its typical way. Let's say that you have an obsessive thought that keeps going through your mind over and over. If I shock you with a cattle prod the obsessive thought will be pushed from your mind. The cattle prod shock (UCS) always leads to a different response. By pairing it with the obsessive thought (CS) learning will occur and within a few trials the obsessive thought will clear itself from your mind.

The following techniques are based on these two therapeutic principles and will work if applied consistently. Remember the Law of Contiguity states that "any two stimuli paired this way in time and space will come to be seen as classically associated."

In order to overcome the associations created by classical conditioning that causes target panic we must create new associations. The following techniques have been proven to be effective and will work to accomplish this only if you consistently follow them.

The "Button" technique should be used every time you shoot and the "Imagery" technique should be used when you are not shooting. This is true regardless of whether or not you suffer from target panic.

You can use both of the other techniques, "Shooting Blind" and "Multiple Target Acquisition," or choose the one you are most comfortable with to treat your target panic.

The "Button" Technique

Before we get onto the other techniques, I want to mention another technique that is founded in classical conditioning and stimulus confusion. One of the best ways to avoid target panic to begin with, or counter target panic that has been learned, is to apply the button technique discussed in chapter 4 of Instinctive Archery Insights. This technique has generated more excitement among archers than I ever could have imagined. Not only does it end target panic and stimulus confusion, it actually allows you to become much more accurate at all distances. This concept is dealt with in a complete chapter in the book and actually addresses additional problems beyond target panic. If you have the book start using the "button" technique (even with the following additional techniques) and you will be amazed at the overall improvement of your shooting.

Shooting Blind Technique

This technique works well to help the mind to relearn that "release" is associated with "target acquisition" by creating new associations. Choose a large target area such as a grassy hill side or large hay roll. Face the hill side or hay roll and close your eyes. Now draw, come to anchor and with your eyes remaining closed imagine a target in front of you and arrow aligning with the bulls-eye and then release and follow through. Continue this with the eyes closed from draw to follow through. You might also draw, come to the anchor and move the bow around as if you are passing through the bulls-eye two or more times before you release and follow through. Make sure your eyes are closed through the whole process. Since there is no visual "acquisition of the target" going on you are creating new and healthy associations. After four or more blind shots open your eyes and shoot some arrows at a very specific target on the hillside or hay roll. As soon as you begin to feel panic returning, repeat the shooting blind technique for a number of additional trials.

Multiple Target Acquisition Technique

Step 1: Choose a target with some kind of bulls-eye. This may be a formal archery target or a clump of grass. Tell yourself that you are going to acquire the bulls-eye two or more times and not release. You draw - come onto the bulls-eye - acquire the bulls-eye - move slightly away from the bulls-eye - move toward and acquire the bulls-eye - lower and relax your draw. Vary the number of times you acquire the bulls-eye before you lower and relax your draw. This will effectively create new associations with the moving toward the target stage that usually results in release. Repeat this step three or four times and then go to step two.

Step 2: In this step you will follow the same process only instead of lowering and relaxing your draw you will release and follow through. Tell yourself how many times you will acquire the bulls-eye before you begin and release on the appropriate count. Go back to Step one periodically and/or the shooting blind technique to vary the new associations.

Imagery Technique

For many this will appear to be the least effective technique, yet, it is likely the most effective technique to learn correct associations and cure target panic (and improve overall shooting performance). I'll have a chapter on this if I ever get around to doing a revision on my book. First let me say that when you use imagery your body actually is getting into the act and learning as if you were practicing. When you imagine yourself shooting a bow through all the stages with a perfect release - that arrow hitting the bull - and a follow through your muscles actually respond at a very low level and develop muscle memory associated with correct imagery. These low level responses are called ideo-motor responses and research has demonstrated that practice through imagery is almost as effective as the real thing. For a person suffering from target panic it is more effective than the real thing because you actually going through the process correctly and releasing the arrow at the appropriate time with imagery as compared to the real thing where your target panic kicks in. The neat thing about using this technique is that you can practice anywhere you can close your eyes and reinforce the correct associations. Give it a try and you will be a believer.

http://www.texasarchery.org/Documents/TargetPanic/TargPan.html

Jay Kidwell, Ph.D.

UPCOMING EVENT

2008-12-17T16:35:00.000+08:00

UUM Open 8 - 12 april 2009

9/4/2009 - 90m + 70m and 70m +60m
10/4/2009 - 50m + 30m
11/4 - Individual Olympic
12/4 - Team Olympic

Fee Recurve RM50, Compound RM55

Note :
Recently, after the ATM open tournament has ended, the archery team which came all the way from Indonesia, had been robbed from them ALL their passports, USD 7,000, RM2,500, and some other items

Just Some Old Pics- USM Invitation 2006

2008-12-16T23:38:00.000+08:00

Know anyone from the pictures ?

MASUM 2008 , UMS

2008-12-15T01:20:00.000+08:00

SUKAD 2008

2008-12-15T01:05:00.001+08:00

About USM Archery Club

2008-12-15T00:49:00.000+08:00

Be a member today !!! Members are allowed to borrow equipment ( 1 wooden bow + 3 aluminium arrows ). Valid for one year

Equipments can be borrowed from monday to friday from 9am - 7pm except on public holidays.
Currently coach are only available on friday 5-7 pm

By the way we are now selling fingertabs and armguards

armguard -rm10

fingertab - rm 20