Gaining Confidence

"Something to Think About "

by Jake Veit

Something to think about if you have a lot or need a lot of experience in tournament archery. You know the scores needed to excel at the national level of competition. This is not about practice, if you do not have tournament experience you need to get it.

What do you feel you need to improve?
Not from your practice but from your tournament experience!

Do you maintain and tune your equipment?
Building confidence is in knowing your equipment personally!

Do you know your equipment set up?
When you feel confident with the performance of your equipment setup, write everything down (do not just memorize it)!

Do you think there is a secret to shooting better?
All new archerās grab at anything they think will help them improve their performance. Try it if you like it, do not try it if you donāt; the secret is hard work and more hard work!

Do you use any relaxation techniques?
If you do not have butterflies or get anxious there is no need to shoot in tournaments. This is the challenge under tournament conditions to perform at your best. Deep breathing is just one way!

Do you use any visualization techniques?
This is used to ignore the distractions of tournament conditions. You must practice all techniques in tournaments to gain full control!

Do you use self-talk?
You have to be positive in every aspect of your effort at archery. Never tell yourself not to do something; the subconscious mind does not comprehend negative! Do not shoot a bad shoot, donāt do that again. Give yourself something positive to think about. Aim and pull, follow-through or finish the shot, keep aiming or shoot through the target; each step in your shoot sequence must be practiced and put together with perfect timing.

Do you exercise? And what do you do?
Not just shooting your bow, although it is the best. Physical conditioning is both exercise and nutrition. Cardiovascular and starching exercises are needed!

How much do you practice?

What do you practice on?

How much can you practice?
Timing and execution of one good shot is what you're after. You must start and finish every shot. You can practice too much; you must find the timing that brings you to peak performance.

What do you want out of archery?
Every beginner looks forward to that first trophy. We think it validates our effort, but it is the effort itself that counts. We must learn to do the best that we can and not worry about things we have no control over. Are you willing to put in the extra time needed without any guarantee of winning, just improving our shooting performance? You can shot your best score in a tournament and lose. All that means is someone shot a better score for that tournament.

Are you willing to travel to the major tournaments to participate and learn?

Most archers never go to an archery tournament. They do not feel their shooting is good enough, what every good shooting is. If you lose the tournament your not good enough! If you shoot and lose, you quit. No! You shoot and lose and learn, never quit. You cannot create tournament conditions in the best practice session at home.

If you enjoy shooting the bow & arrow, please shoot because you like it; not for what you can win. Most people that bike or swim never go to a tournament, it is just something to do. I feel we would have more archers if we just joined a local archery club and shot for the fun of it. You do not have to go to tournament, only if we wish to improve our shooting skills and accept the challenge. To improve, you must practice to improve shooting and consistent control that can be reproduced under tournament conditions. You must know yourself and your equipment to promote your confidence to execute a consistent shot and consistent shooting; one arrow at a time for as long as you have to, every arrow in a tournament counts forever.