I have a lot to say about IATC (well, at least one post that I’ll stretch out to three, because content is queen), but one of the most revelatory lessons I gained happened the day before I participated in Round 2.
See, I’ve been away on vacation, dear reader. That’s why I haven’t written any posts for about two weeks. I’m sorry for the heartbreak it must have caused all dozens of you. But while I was trying to catch little lambs and scaling Icelandic fjords like Samwise himself, my dear sweet friend/brother/father Chapman was continuing to hone his craft. Hone, and learn.
We had just arrived at the Stockyards in Toronto when he explained to me that something changed for him—specifically, for his throw. You see, he realized that he’d spent a long time throwing with a focus on the line to the bullseye/clutch. That is to say, he was throwing with the thought of the end point in mind. Which, honestly, makes a lot of sense.
But he told me, just before we started practicing, that he was now thinking about the arc of his throw instead.
Lemme try to explain it again in a different way. Maybe with some top-level image work by yours truly:
So, basically, instead of trying to nail the target with a throw that is attempting to go in as straight a line as possible, Chapman starting imagining and throwing with the arch in mind. Essentially, thinking “where do I need this axe to rise and fall in order to hit the bullseye/clutch in a way that works best.” When he changed his thinking to this, he started landing more premier clutches and easier, cleaner bulls.
So I went ahead and started trying to think of my throws in the same way. Instead of imagining the line of my throw as, you know, a line; I imagined the arc of my throw and how I’d have to do the throwing in order to make that imagined arc real.
And, friend-o, it worked. I managed to more consistently get premier clutches (or, if I’m being honest with you, clutches in general), and I got bulls like it was a walk in a bull park where all the bullseyes are just coming right up to you, taking fresh wood chips from your hands.
This might be something that people who are very good just understand about axe throwing, but I didn’t understand it at all, and nobody explained it to me until Chapman. So now I’m explaining it to you.
Like I think I said before (I’m writing this in a car as we drive back from Toronto to Lancaster), the method of considering the arc over the straight line was one of revelation, and I’m very hopeful it can help someone out there get just that much better at the game.
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