Tilly Trotter holds the bow she used to split one arrow with another, an extremely rare feat known as a Robin HoodPosted on 03/29/2008 4:12:30 PM PDT by BGHater
An archer has achieved a one-in-a-million feat of marksmanship after splitting one arrow with another. What makes the shot even more remarkable is that Tilly Trotter is blind.
The 74-year-old grandmother pulled off the shot, known among archers as a "Robin Hood", at a practice session of the Wellington Bowmen in Somerset.
Mrs Trotter, who has been an archer for two years at the invitation of granddaughter Charlotte, said: "The second arrow made such a noise going into the back of previous arrow I thought I had hit the ceiling or done some expensive damage.
"Then I heard people jumping up and down shouting that I'd done a Robin Hood.
"It was a one-in-a-million shot and a bit of a fluke really."
Mrs Trotter, from Uffculme, North Devon, lost most of her sight following a head injury 17 years ago. "I can see movement but I have no central vision," she said.
Her husband, Tony, is crucial to her success, telling her how near her shots are to the target each time she shoots.
"He isn't allowed to tell me to aim left or right before I let loose an arrow," Mrs Trotter said. "I can only make my own adjustments to my aim before I shoot."
She may dismiss the shot as a fluke, but she also won a gold medal at the British Blind Sports National Championship last year.
Peter Jones, a spokesman for the Grand National Archery Society, said: "It's a very rare feat - like getting two holes in one on the same round of golf."
Tilly Trotter holds the bow she used to split one arrow with another, an extremely rare feat known as a Robin Hood
so a blind lady walks into a bar with compound bow and some arrows....
Wonder what the insurance policy costs for a blind archery event?
good for her!!
Why can’t they just tell the story straight. I mean, it is truly a remarkable tale. 74 year old grandma who can barely see, splits an arrow a la’ Robin Hood.
“... so a blind lady walks into a bar with compound bow and some arrows....”
That’s HYSTERICAL! LOL
Anybody that has loosed enough arrows has done the same thing. Now, do it on purpose. Consistantly. I would admire ya...
Yup. And I’ve done it with darts.
"While demonstrating the technque that led to the million-and-one 'robin shot' shot, blind archer Tilly Trotter accidently shot the Telegraph photographer."
Somebody needs to contact Mythbusters.
They just disproved this a while back and said it was impossible.
That is the first thing I thought of, as well!
Baaah, Kim JOng Il does this every time.
The Mythbusters episode concerned splitting another arrow from knock to point. They were able to hit them on the knock, but the shafts blew out the side.
I think it was probably due to the way that modern dowels are produced, by mechanical lathe. This means that the grain is not continuous. In medieval times, the shafts would have been split from a log into thin sticks with a froe along the grain. They would then be warmed and run through a series of round holes in a metal plate until they were the right diameter and straight, which would have made the grain run the full length of the shaft.
I thought Mythbusters said this couldn’t be done. If THEY say it, then it’s true!!
Maybe I’m remembering it wrong.
I suspect your aluminum and carbon fiber arrows are quite a bit stiffer than the average wood shaft. My wife purchased a bunch of aluminum arrow shafts to build Yagi antennas for her radio receiver. The receiver is used to track her birds of prey when hunting. There's still a small supply of shafts somewhere in the basement.
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