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I've been practicing with the atlatl for the last two months, more and more regularly as the weather has improved. I still haven't found a practice location beyond the backyard, so I've had to be very careful. No darts lost yet.
My accuracy is still horrible, but I haven't really been focusing on that. I'm developing a sense for the kinematics of a good throw, and until I get that down it's fairly pointless to fine tune anything. Over the last 2 weeks I think I've finally settled into a good stance and initial arm position. The later has been particularly tricky and obviously key to the entire process. Learning physical skills like this is always a process of starting off where everything feels awkward, and the results you get are completely random. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, with no obvious difference in what you did. But as you keep at it, you get a feel the subtleties of the movement. You learn to feel what is good and what is bad -- they become inextricably linked to a sense of gracefulness. You want to move that way not because it gives the best results, but because it feels right. It feels smooth. Elegant. Pretty. As I cock my arm back for a throw, it now feels like it is locking into a groove.
Today several of the small improvements I've been seeing came together for an overall level-up. There is a lot of very tricky timing inside of a throw, and I've had to be careful not to put too much power into the strokes because of the space limitation. For shorter distances, the dart should fly straight to the target in order to deliver the most power. But I frequently mess up the timing some, which can result in a higher trajectory. Too much power could put it well over the fence, so I've tended towards slightly anemic throws. Towards the end of my practice session, I started to feel the timing groove. It suddenly felt very right to add a lot more power through the middle of the stroke. The result: darts leaping (literally!) off the end of the atlatl in flat, powerful arcs. I started to land them around my nominal target without high, arcing trajectories, which I don't think I had ever managed before. So, woot. If indeed this was a new skill plateau, I should be able to start working on real accuracy next.
My accuracy is still horrible, but I haven't really been focusing on that. I'm developing a sense for the kinematics of a good throw, and until I get that down it's fairly pointless to fine tune anything. Over the last 2 weeks I think I've finally settled into a good stance and initial arm position. The later has been particularly tricky and obviously key to the entire process. Learning physical skills like this is always a process of starting off where everything feels awkward, and the results you get are completely random. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, with no obvious difference in what you did. But as you keep at it, you get a feel the subtleties of the movement. You learn to feel what is good and what is bad -- they become inextricably linked to a sense of gracefulness. You want to move that way not because it gives the best results, but because it feels right. It feels smooth. Elegant. Pretty. As I cock my arm back for a throw, it now feels like it is locking into a groove.
Today several of the small improvements I've been seeing came together for an overall level-up. There is a lot of very tricky timing inside of a throw, and I've had to be careful not to put too much power into the strokes because of the space limitation. For shorter distances, the dart should fly straight to the target in order to deliver the most power. But I frequently mess up the timing some, which can result in a higher trajectory. Too much power could put it well over the fence, so I've tended towards slightly anemic throws. Towards the end of my practice session, I started to feel the timing groove. It suddenly felt very right to add a lot more power through the middle of the stroke. The result: darts leaping (literally!) off the end of the atlatl in flat, powerful arcs. I started to land them around my nominal target without high, arcing trajectories, which I don't think I had ever managed before. So, woot. If indeed this was a new skill plateau, I should be able to start working on real accuracy next.
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http://www.instructables.com/ex/i/8D6BAACA0347102985CB001143E7E506/?ALLSTEPS
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a funny thing
the ketchup bottle
first none'll come
and the a lot'll
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http://p081.ezboard.com/bpaleoplanet69529