The Story of the Placebo(w)

I wanted to bring you up here. This is a target and a bow that sits above my range and it's a reminder for me. It's a constant reminder and it's an awesome story as well. This is the Placebo and so the very first time that I went to Hoyt and I tried a Hoyt, I met Zach Kurtzall and Darren Cooper at Easton in the back range to try Hoyts for the first time and I really didn't know what to expect. I had shot some of my buddies that I competed with and everything like that but they built me two bows. This is the first one and this was a bow that was a Pro Elite which I thought I had but they had 3,500 limbs on there and those are small spiral cams so it was quite the concoction and they gave me one other bow as well that was built a little bit different which ended up being the one I was going with but we went to Easton and it was a pretty nice day. We went out and I kind of just grabbed a new target and said I've got to shoot a full FITA and just see what I can do with these. So this is actually a full FITA that I shot. I recorded, it was a six mile an hour wind at the Salt Lake City Airport that day but this is actually the best full FITA at around 30, 50, 70, 90 meters I had ever shot in practice. I couldn't believe it. It was mind blowing to actually shoot 1428 at the center and with this brand new bow. I thought holy cow, it's gonna change my career forever. The reality is I never shot this bow in competition. Never did. The truth is when I was out on my own and I really wanted to be with Hoyt and I wanted a bow to work so well that I got this thing and quite frankly I just feel like I made it happen. I made this happen because the truth is I got home with this bow, mega brace I built for a super tall guy and the truth is once I got home and I started just putting time behind it and shooting it and shooting it, I actually was not as good with it as I wanted to be and I ended up switching to another model that just suited my technique and suited my skill set better and this is such an important thing because if you look at some of the top archers out there, you'll notice that certain ones that are at an elite level and who are honestly just an archer of their own, they have their own technique and their own mold and their own bow build that suits them. You'll recognize that they're doing this because that's what fits them. It's not just them trying to fit this mold which is honestly what happened with me with this. I just made something work that we really thought would work but the reality is it didn't suit my technique and once I started to put it into practice with some personal pressure on and just kind of going through the rounds and going through some weather and going through some wind, just ended up not being the bow for me and I have it here as a reminder to that because it's like this was the best bow I had ever shot in my life for about two hours and after that, I changed it up and when I look at some of the great archers out there, I'm gonna mention Chris White from England. Chris was an archer that shot such a different type of setup compared to everyone else. He was into the short and fast when no one was and he was the best there was with that and I love that. So when you look at archery equipment, don't be afraid to try the one that you think is gonna suit you but go with what does suit you and don't be the person that's just constantly changing so that your scores are good without putting in the pressure and the practice because those were the two things that were the deciding factor for me with this was how I shot once I had pressure on me and tension on me and how I could practice with it during the long term. So a placebo is positive at times but it can also be negative at times so don't tinker too much and don't be afraid to go with really what works for you and allows you to be best in the stand, in the blind, in the tournament and when the pressure is on because that's what matters most. Shoots what's forgiving for you and put in the time behind that sucker.