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The Viking and I are at the Wind coaching along with Ex-Skydiver and Eagernoskills. Anyone else want to join us? Entry fee is a very modest GBP65 and includes a meal Saturday evening as well. Bargain!

I'll go on the Altcar one!

rox wrote:... Even if you subscribe to Bill Richard's view that wind plotting is merely an exercise in recording historical data, it is still a very valuable skill for elevation. Whether for wind or elevation though, being able to plot in an absolute minimum of time is a very useful skill to have in the toolbox. I'll start most shoots plotting both wind and elevation. Which ones I'm still plotting at the end of the shoot is a different story depending on the situation. When Bill tells you not to bother plotting wind, remember that he is doing so from the perspective of a world class wind coach. Mere mortals (like me) still get value from it, and until you are a world class wind coach you might too.

In my defence, I did say that corrected elevation graphs have their place! Yes, I am (very) opinionated about corrected wind graphs, in that I honestly believe the time spent plotting them is better spent watching the wind and that, in themselves, they are historical data and it is like saying that because the last three days it rained, it will therefore rain today... (Actually, come to think of it, isn't that what weather forecasters do?!)

But seriously, yes there will be days when a wind graph will show you a trend that an less-experienced shooter might not spot, but I would hope that most people will spot an upward/downward trend in wind values and also be able to pick out the extremes and a reasonable guess at the mean by just writing down the corrected wind values, rather than going the whole hog and plotting the graph too... I just feel that you eyes need to be on the conditions as much as possible and not down in your scorebook.

We were discussing this tonight. You take your shot, the frame drops and comes up. You now have around 45 seconds to make a note of your score plus any changes to elevation and windage and if you aimed off, watch the flags and targets around you and settle down for the next shot. Personally I find plotting a graph too much of a distraction on the point however I will on occasion plot the data afterwards if it was a competition. Just to see what I can learn about the range and particular firing point.

ovenpaa wrote:We were discussing this tonight. You take your shot, the frame drops and comes up. You now have around 45 seconds to make a note of your score plus any changes to elevation and windage and if you aimed off, watch the flags and targets around you and settle down for the next shot. Personally I find plotting a graph too much of a distraction on the point however I will on occasion plot the data afterwards if it was a competition. Just to see what I can learn about the range and particular firing point.

True you only have 45 seconds once it's your turn but you should have been plotting, checking, watching the wind etc whilst the others on the point were shooting. Then you would be ready when the target comes up for your shot.

It's like anything else, practice makes perfect & also sorts out the timing issues

Heather

Glad the course went well - I should have come :roll:

I think you're right about the wind plotting - I messed up my last 1000 shoot trying to plot the wind mid shoot - I know practice makes perfect, but there are just too many other things to think about (especially if you don't get enough practice..) ... And there is little point in doing it after the shoot. I do like the elevation plot though - it's good for getting the elevation right asap: at the time (if you can plot and shoot), or for future reference.

During the shoot, I think my time would be better spent watching the wind....I'll try to get on one of these courses in the not too distant furure...