Whats your Goal for 2006?

[Medoc]

Well its new year and I have been asked by my coach to identify and commit to paper my shooting goals for this year, and I have to say its proving harder than I thought.

Do I set soft objectives that I know I will achieve or do I give myself targets that I may not get to? on the one hand I would feel great but I would know it was a low target or on the other I may not reach the goal but if I improve all year and just miss then maybe I would have a greater sense of satesfaction.

Has anyone else done this? comments welcome, oh and bye the way I have set my main goal which is MB.

[Marcus26]

Score based goals are dangerous. They distract you from what it takes to reach them.

My goals are to:
Get my shoulders aligned more consistantly
Improve my competition game
Get better at using my release aid

now all my training works towards these things and what I need to do to do them better.

These things cost me points. If I can eliminate them my scores will improve. I have no idea how high, but we will have to wait and see. I will know when I get them right.

None of my students have score based goals, just form based goals.

[Max]

Marcus - you raise a very interesting point there. I must admit, I had not thought about form based goals, but they are certainly a lot more constructive than betting everything on achieving a certain score. How do you quantify success - is this something you feel through experience, or is it closely linked to input from your coach?

My goal is MB, however the way the winter season is going, by goal is NOT to take a chainsaw to my bow and chop it up into very small bits and then take up fishing or golf or anything but archery!

[Tarkwin]

My stated goals have been (and still are)

a 525 Portsmouth by 31/1/06
a 540 P'mouth by the end of indoor season
a 300 frostbite this year

I have never scored an outdoor round so have no idea where I currently stand.

a better target would be to perform a consistent, repeatable stance, draw and anchor. From this will come the scores that I am looking for.

T.

[Marcus26]

My coach works hard on making me believe I can shoot high scores. My form is good, it's mostly in my head. We spend more time on getting me use to shooting high scores so it's easier to do so. I can do it in practise with ease, but think too much in competition. (I have won big shoots, but not as many as I should. For example I realised a few years ago I was leading the National Indoor, finished 14th. Should not have happened)

If you look at good shooters they expect to shoot high scores, they do talk them selves out of it.

I had one guy I coached who was obsessed with shooting 1230. He spent a year fixated on it and failed. He felt the changes I wanted him to make would take too long for him to reach his goal. I could not convince him that if he shot good shots 1230 would be easy. One year to the day he said "you were right, I will do what you say" and 3 months later shot well over that 1230 mark. Had he concentrated on form instead of score he would have been happier.

BTW Medoc, regarding soft goals when goal setting you must set long and short term goals.
Short term are achievable if you do things correctly. For example:
"I am shooting 1280 now but I am not shooting well at 90m. If I work on improving my 90m range I can get to 1305"
Now 2 things there. Isolate what is stopping you reaching a score and concentrate on it (now your training has focus) and secondly set a score that is not a round number. 1300 is a terrible goal because it leads to 1298s. Best off aiming above it.

Now long term goals should be things that will happen if your short term goals are met. It may be to represent your country. You may be shooting 1100's, but that's OK, because a long term goal should not be reachable within 3-5 years. You may achieve it, but you shouldn't bet on it.
Now long term should effect short term, so if you want to represent the UK you wuld need to
Shoot 1350+
Do it consistantly
Shoot well in competition

so make your short term goals aimed at improving all of those. That way you have direction and focus without time limits.

[Medoc]

That is a good obsevation Marcus, I do obvously want to practice the best form, however this is difficult to measure by yourself, I have found that I can concentrate on the areas I have been asked to, but it needs my coach or a camcorder to have a objective view of my form.

I agree that identification of "blockers" to reach goals is key, in most archers the culprit is six inches between the ears, I am fortunate (or not) to soot with Big D, a member on this forum, who is one of the best shots in northern England, and I believe his main advantage over me is his ability to manage his mind whilst shooting, your point that most people talk themselves out of situations is extremely valid when I look at my situation, if I were to look at my best long and short metric I would achieve 1330 FITA, this is why I have been working on visualisation and awareness and control of expectation.

I think the main point that I am making is that working with 3rd party, whether its a coach or someone who you trust is the way to go, it can be difficult to self analise and an objective point of view will help you achieve your goals.

Medoc, the way you are shooting just now, MB is a very easy goal. Apparently you only have to shoot THREE comps record status, all FITA or two FITA and one York. You will have it by the end of May/June. If not I will eat all my chainsawed bits of bow!

[morphymick]

Get my anchor correct and consistent.
Correct use of back muscles through the clicker.
Finish in the top three of any competition with four or more competitors in the same bow category.
1st Class this outdoor season.
Really long term, MB in next two outdoor seasons.

Mick

[Little Miss Purple]

I would like to reach MB this outdoor season and similar to with MM, I would like to win a medal in the remainder of the indoor season.

I'd also like to get my assignments done more than a couple of days before the due date!!!!

I'd also like to go to France if we could organise the AIUK tournament!!