how do you regain your confidence?

[clickerati]

After another poor performance at Bronte this weekend, I'm suffering a huge lack of confidence. I'm rock bottom right now, so I know the only way is up, but I'm struggling to figure out how to do that.

Has anyone else ever been through this and can you share what you did to improve your confidence?

[steve58]

Just had a similar problem myself, so and sympathy.

Only thing I can think of is to look back at previous scores, remind myself I have done it before so I know I have the ability, and get myself back up the field and practice.

Oh, and it's no good just telling yourself to get over it, that's part of it, but I find difficulty moving past these things until I've had a proper strop about them.

Sorry, neither original nor very helpful! I didn't feel too upset yesterday, but it's really started to rankle today and nobody around really understands!

[FlightyRachel]

I think you need to be careful what you call a crisis/slump in form/whatever.. in case you talk yourself into one. I've not been on here a while, and the last time I was here you were doing really well, shooting 1st class scores and winning a medal! One bad shoot is nowt to worry about, is it? Particularly after a long journey etc.

In more general terms, I had a bad time about 18 months ago, after I'd made that real leap in progress you do as a keen beginner, and then I sort of faltered and stopped! I got really fed up with feeling bad about something that was meant to be fun, so I got my longbow and went field shooting for a few weeks. I found it really helped, and I know other people at my club who have similarly done a different kind of archery for a bit, just to take the pressure off and get a bit of perspective.

I'm not really shooting at all now, as I tried shooting pregnant and didn't like it much! I did start aquanatal this week though!

[pHz]

as my clubmates and regulars in the C & Q know all to well im (hopefully) at the tail end of something similar leigh - was shooting fairly comfortable 1st class scores then all of a sudden (without knowingly changing anything) i was missing 1 or 2 arrows an end even at 60 yards !

ive had a month or more of that sort of dire form now (to the point of retiring from a competition and leaving club days early) and have spent the whole time trying to pick apart what was going wrong (unfortunately without access to a coach) and my advice based on my own PERSONAL experience - bearing in mind im not a coach but just an archer of similar level to yourself - would be -

- be stubborn about this and dont let this ####### sport beat you !

- DONT change anything kit-wise unless its obviously broken (i did since i leapt to conclusions and THOUGHT it was the cause of my issues but all it did was set me back another week or so)

- if you have a coach / respected experienced archer ask them to watch you VERY carefully to see if they can see anything 'odd' - if no coach then its the route i took with lots of self-analysis video from lots of angles and then work on ONE small thing each session (or series of sessions - ie one session or more focussing purely on bow hand position / relaxation then one or more sessions focussing purely on the front shoulder etc) until youre as sure as you can be that its not that bit causing you problems - write yourself a 'hitlist' of things to troubleshoot

- if you cant feel anything obviously wrong then be prepared for it to be something relatively small and hard to pinpoint but with a big knock-on effect

- keep a written log / journal of the things youre working on each session so you can backtrack if necessary

- only keep going each session if things are staying level or improving (i know its frowned on by some but i always practice using a target face and as soon as my groups / positioning starts to deteriorate i stop even if i havent achieved what i wanted to) - its pointless practicing shooting worse

going through this process (and using books / youtube and the new archeryGB DVD as a reference in lieu of a coach) i an fairly confident i now what happened to me and so what i need to focus on in the immediate future - i shot an albion saturday and scored 150+ BELOW my handicap-based target and missed 13 times (including some at 60 yards) - saturday night i reviewed some more video and spotted something id missed previously - shot again sunday with a focus on the identified area and put in some practice scores at 80 yards that would have seen me in the top 3 the day before and then shot a few ends at 90 metres for the first time 'seriously' and not only had no misses but was hitting scores that (on rough and ready calculation of a FITA round) would be 4 or 5 handicap points better than my current one and i havent shot within 4 points of that for 2 months

ramble over - i guess the basic advice is DONT GIVE UP

(caveat again - this is just my experience and YMMV)

slainte rob

[BeardedBowman]

cuddle a Judge before, during and after the shoot.....

[Trunkles]

I shot well on Wednesday and got a new PB, then on Sunday at Notts shot worse on a lovely day than I did at Wetherby in a downpour. Like pHZ multiple arrows per end zooming off with a mind of their own into the green. Stuff it, I will get it right one of these days. I enjoy archery so in the words of the song I'll pick myself up dust myself off and start all over again.

[Dougal]

Originally Posted by Trunkles

I shot well on Wednesday and got a new PB, then on Sunday at Notts shot worse on a lovely day than I did at Wetherby in a downpour. Like pHZ multiple arrows per end zooming off with a mind of their own into the green. Stuff it, I will get it right one of these days. I enjoy archery so in the words of the song I'll pick myself up dust myself off and start all over again.

How often does that happen? I bet every archer on here has had days like that.I think its down to a subconscious false belief that one good practice session will make the difference, and God knows I've been guilty of that many times.

Back to the question, Florence had a similar crisis, and re-evalueated what she wanted from shooting, and it turned out to be ENJOYMENT.So scores were disregarded, and we set different targets for each comp.She began to enjoy the day out again, hit most of her targets and the scores have crept back up.
I know that when she sees this thread, she'll be in touch Clicki, cos you helped her when she needed it.Remember why you love this crazy sport of ours, and go out next time resolved to enjoy it, whatever the score will be at the end.

My tuppenceworth........

[mk1]

Just keep going, another good patch will come along, followed by another bad patch, followed by another good patch ... well you get the idea

[Snarkhunter]

Clicki, you have my complete sympathy and, like every other archer, I have experienced the same (shot a first class score on New Year's Day, didn't shoot another until the last day of May this year!).

If I might presume to quote a countryman of yours - Abraham Lincoln - as a source of wise advice:

"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away."

Just go out and enjoy shooting: the company, the fresh air, even the rain!

And good luck in the Surreys.

[speed]

I always look at the bad rounds as positive because if you didn't shoot some bad rounds when you shoot an absolute blinder you just don't appreciate it the same. It just wouldn't provide that WOW !! factor if you always shot well.

So to sum up find a possitive about every negative then forget the negative bit.

If nothing else when you are shooting badly and have a big grin on your face everyone else will think you are ready for that padded cell.

So just have fun and enjoy your shooting and any scores or classifications are a bonus and does it really matter if you get them this year or next ?