Musings

31 March 2009 - A new blog category

Now playing:  The Universal - Blur

I wasn’t quite sure where to put these particular blog entries, so I’ve decided to create a new category called Musings, and jot down my random thoughts as I have them. So they may be about form, scores, shoots, style, equipment, or just general ramblings really. Just an area to write down my own thoughts and ideas, that don't fall into any of the main categories.

So to start with, I’ll kick things off with a general ramble. I’ve been shooting a lot lately (3-4 times a week, and usually 80-100 arrows each session) but it’s been nearly all indoors. When the weather allowed, I did shoot 60 yards with my fat indoor arrows and they went well, but I’m really itching to get shooting some proper distances now. The Lilleshall FITA Star is now only a month away and I’ve done no tuning with my new button, and I’ve lowered my sight track to make getting 90m a little easier, so I’ve got no sight marks, and my carbon arrows are all sitting in their box whispering to me “shoot me, shoot me!”

So once the county match is over (this weekend) I’m going to be looking for the first opportunity I can get to spend some time at the field tuning and getting sight marks for all the distances. I suspect that’ll take me a good few hours too, so I’m hoping for some good weather!

Talking of shooting outdoors, and FITAs and stuff, it’s got me to wondering about my mental approach to the sport lately too. I’ve had a great indoor season – I’ve shaved 6 points off my handicap, set new PB’s for every indoor round there is, and I’m also regularly hitting the 320 mark for Frostbites (in freezing conditions, and with indoor arrows too!) So taking these aspects in isolation - I’ve got an indoor handicap of 29 now, which is borderline Master Bowman territory if I were to shoot to that level outdoors. I’ve been shooting to a 33 handicap for the Frostbites this winter, which is about halfway between Bowman and MB, and my confidence is very high at the moment. All of which should indicate that the potential for attaining Bowman class this year has to be far higher than it was this time last year, and my potential for actually achieving it should be even higher.

And this is where the psychology of the sport takes over. . .

When I'm on the shooting line indoors, I just KNOW that the arrow is going into the gold. I’ve not achieved the magical 60 dozen just yet, but I’ve hit loads of 59’s now, and my 50 (for 10 arrows) at the Spelthorne Worcester was particularly pleasing. My confidence is usually very high on the line, and I get a great buzz from watching my arrows clatter against each other in the 10 ring.

However, when I’m walking TO the line, with my bow in hand, I so often think to myself “can I repeat my previous scores?” or “can I achieve my potential this end?”  I know that I can do it, I’ve done it on dozens of occasions before, so why does self doubt, or a lack of belief start to kick in at that point? How does one overcome the feeling of “how long can this good score last?” The thought tends not to last very long, and invariably it is a good end (my scores speak for themselves), but is it arrogant to assume that I’m going to do well? Boxers step into the ring BELIEVING that they’re going to win their bout (with some arrogance), footballers believe that they too will defeat their opposition, but with a sport like archery there isn’t really an opponent to beat (unless we’re talking about H2H, which perhaps I’ll cover later in the year) so the only person we are looking to beat is ourselves, ultimately with the goal of achieving either a new PB, or a certain score, or a better classification. So is it anxiety that prohibits our performance?  Is it self doubt that restricts us from achieving our full potential?

I’m no psychologist, but I’d love to know more about the mental approach to archery, and I’m keen to learn how to stop thinking to myself “I’ve done this before, so I know I can do it again”.  I just need to get onto the line and plant my arrows into the 10 ring!