Back behind the bow

With milder temperatures and all, I've been trying out the archery spasmodically for the last few weeks. Last Sunday, temperature and schedule came together and let me drive into the hinterlands for a formal practice.

When I started post-shoulder-surgical PT last fall, I mentioned the archery (of the traditional sort, for the uninitiated) as a priority. My PT was intrigued by the challenge. She and the PTA assessed my progress with that in mind. They noticed, and helped me to correct, a succession of muscle behaviours that were the body's natural reaction to 20-plus years of life with one ruined shoulder. F, the PT, even invented an archery exercise that you won't find in any textbook (yet) to work the muscle sets specific to archery.

This week, I must stop and give her a report. Trying a few ends (six-arrow sets) in the yard isn't quite the same as full-blown drill at 15 to 40 yards, slow-paced but nonstop, for three hours.

I have never shot so well. By the end of the morning it was clear how much the old damage had crept in and interfered with everything I was trying to do. I hope she hasn't patented the exercises, because I want to show them off to the rest of this creaky band.