Guitar & Archery
July 30th 2007 -
I’ve been playing a lot of classical guitar lately, as a really enjoyable procrastination activity. Over the past three or four weeks I’ve been gradually driving up the speed at which I can play tremolo (rapid repetition of a single note) with satisfying results, such that I can now start to play a piece I once thought completely impossible for me. Having said that, it’s still a long, long way from being any good. My target is approximately three to four times faster than I can currently do, which at the moment seems impossible, except that I’ve heard it done.
The really tricky bit is just how much my arm and back tense up when I try to play quickly. I have to keep stopping, untense, reduce the speed, and play again concentrating on keeping relaxed. As soon as I concentrate on something else, back it comes.
Still, I’m definitely at peak form at the moment. I’ve never been able to play guitar better than I can now, and that feels good. In archery, by contrast, my strength is down from peak, and although I did some exercises on Saturday and went to Olympic park on Sunday I was still unable to shoot for very long, or with great accuracy. This is the period in which historically I’ve abandoned an activity, but I really enjoyed the archery on Sunday even though I couldn’t shoot for long. I’m fine with reduced intensity and lesser scores; I’m still getting enough enjoyment out of archery to keep doing it, although I’m increasingly reluctant to drive all the way to Olympic Park *just* for archery. But Jon & Kate our out in that direction, and so is Jade, so not too much problem there.
winstoninabox Says:
July 30th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Stick with the archery. At the age you’re becoming it will soon be one of the few sports you’ll be competitive in at the Olympics!