Those of you who attended the free seminar during the NFAA indoor at Beaver Creek will remember Scott for his “Lucky Underwear”!

 Practice for Improvement

I often get asked the question, “What can I do to improve my archery skills”?  The quick answer is the same every time, practice.  If you talk to any of the top archers you will find they all have one thing in common, they wear lucky underwear.  Just kidding!! They train like serious athletes.  Does that mean that you should go to the range everyday and shoot a zillion arrows?  Not in my opinion.  I am convinced that your ability as an archer improves when you train the right way at the right time.  Confused yet? 

Everyone has heard the term, “learning curve”.  Here is an example where it really is a learning curve or more accurately a practice curve.  At the left of the practice curve is “Form”.  At the right end of the practice curve is “Mental”.  

In the beginning I believe archery is 90% form and 10% mental.  Use percentages to help direct your training.  Until you have developed your proper form, concentrating on form is where you should be spending 90% your time practicing. 

·       Is your form repeatable?  That is the key to successful form. 

·       Is your form conducive to shooting consistently high scores? Another way to ask that question, is your form getting you the scores you are trying to achieve?  If not, get some help from a qualified coach and be committed to making a change even though it may negatively affect your scores in the short term.

·       Is your form engrained into your subconscious?  Your brain can only think about one thing at a time.  In your shot routine, after you set-up, draw, anchor and commit to your shot, your only thought should be aim, aim, aim, aim……. if you have to think about hand placement or where your shoulder is anytime after you have committed to your shot, your concentration on aiming is negatively affected and your shot will suffer.  The mechanical part of your shot needs to be performed from your subconscious.

·       Can you maintain your form (correctly) for an entire round?  If not, condition yourself through shooting and exercise to prevent your form from breaking down because of poor conditioning.  Here is a tip for you macho guys, lower your bow poundage if you are fatiguing and just lie to your buddies about how much weight you are drawing!!  

Once you have developed a winning form, you will be at the top or middle of the practice curve. Here is where the game becomes 50% form and 50% mental and you need to adjust your training accordingly.

·       Is your winning form engrained into your subconscious?

·       Are you confident that you will shoot to the best of your ability?  Another way to ask that question is “Am I repeating my practice scores at tournaments”?  Think about that for a minute.  If you can shoot a 300 on an NFAA blue and white face target every time in practice, but you can’t shoot it at a tournament, where is the problem?  It is all mental.

·       Are you able to shoot one arrow at a time and not dwell on the consequences of one arrow?  Dwelling on a bad shot is a great way to guarantee another bad shot.  Remember the good shots, what you felt, how you felt, what you saw, etc. That is a great way to guarantee another good shot. 

·       Can you visualize yourself standing on the podium accepting the first place trophy….and believe that you can do it? 

There are a few good books that deal specifically with the mental side of competition and training the mental side is just as important as form and probably more difficult to train.  I would recommend Lanny Basham’s book, “With Winning in Mind”.  Lanny’s book is by far the most popular mental training tool for archers.  I would also recommend a book by Ken Baum, “The Mental Edge”.  Visualization is an effect training tool, just ask Rick Rugroden. Rick is one of the best archers in the State and when an injury prevented him from physically shooting he was visualizing shooting in his head and the results speak for themselves.  I know another archer that put “X”s and positive performance statements up all over his house.  Don’t overlook the importance of mental training or you will never achieve your full potential.

As you move farther to the right of the practice curve, the game becomes 90% mental and 10% form.  Does that mean meditating under a waterfall with Yanni playing in the background is more important than shooting?  Yanni…..boy I hope not.  Shooting will go along way to building your confidence, mental.  It will further engrain your form so after you commit to the shot you can fully concentrate on aiming, mental.  It will help to further the feeling and the visualization of the perfect shot, mental. 

Please keep in mind I am no expert. This is just my personal observation and opinion. Hopefully it makes some sense and if you learned just one thing, it was worth everything you paid for it!!  The most important thing to keep in mind is to have fun.  Winning a trophy or tournament will not dramatically change your life but the friendships you make along the way will. 

Best of luck,

Scott Gjesdahl

NFAA Pro