The Pep Talk Worked :)

[Witchie Poo Cat]

Hi Guys

Well today was my first day shooting since you all gave me my much needed pep talk.

I changed my focus completely and what a difference it made, both in terms of performance as well as psychologically. Instead of going with the intention of hitting gold and rating myself on that, I went with the intention of working on my form - identifying the weaknesses and working on them.

I started at 2pm and by 5pm I could see a marked improvement in my groupings. I even gave hubby a wee bit of a pointer about his anchoring which resulted in him hitting gold more often so that was a boost for me as well!

All in all a good days shooting, I achieved my aims for the day and even scored a few golds without even thinking about it.

Now, lets just see if I can do the same tomorrow in my 2nd last archery lesson, thats the real test!

Thanks guys, the advice is working, much appreciated

Witchie Poo Cat

[Mufti]

I'll let you in on a little secret . . .

All you ever need to do is keep good form, the rest will look after itself.

[Thunk]

I knew it would!

[GreenSteve]

N1 WPC
think i could do with a serious pepping up myself now
finally got out to the range this weekend to shoot after 2 weeks without
and i`ve completely lost my form i was knocking on the door for my 1st bowman score
shoot 2 rounds this weekend and both weren`t even 1st class

[Witchie Poo Cat]

Originally Posted by GreenSteve

N1 WPC
think i could do with a serious pepping up myself now
finally got out to the range this weekend to shoot after 2 weeks without
and i`ve completely lost my form i was knocking on the door for my 1st bowman score
shoot 2 rounds this weekend and both weren`t even 1st class

Sorry to hear that GreenSteve. Dont be too hard on yourself. Even when you miss going to the gym for a week you can feel the difference when you go back so missing archery for 2 weeks is bound to have an affect.

To quote a line from a movie..."free your mind" !! thats what I did and it seemed to work for me!

[geoffretired]

WPC Glad you got back to form. I like your enthusiasm. Does it decant into bottles?
I think your comment on "Focus" is very important. I don't want this to sound over-serious but having a specific focus, means at the end of the session you can measure your success. With no focus , there is nothing to measure. This can result in a feeling of "No success" That's bad news. I sometimes see archers out shooting and at the end all they have done, is reinforce their feelings of disappointment. If they just came out to shoot and enjoy the fresh air with friends, they didn't succeed in that either. It shows in the long faces.
To end on a happier note; you had a focus and came away happy. Great news!
And it seems there is a new coach in the making too.
I feel a PEP talk coming on.
Yes, my matrimonial advisor is here to tell me the dishes need a wash.

[Little Miss Purple]

well done wpc

As said before it is important to go home with a positive from the days' shooting. I got into a hole through this season when my technique went out of the window and nothing I did pleased me, it was only others at the club supporting me that made me realise that some things had improved (Neil is convinced I bought my loose from ebay as I didn't have one before!!). Focus and mental attitude is very important.

[Witchie Poo Cat]

Originally Posted by geoffretired

WPC Glad you got back to form. I like your enthusiasm. Does it decant into bottles?

I feel a PEP talk coming on.
Yes, my matrimonial advisor is here to tell me the dishes need a wash.

Geoff - your posts always make me smile

I think your comment on "Focus" is very important. I don't want this to sound over-serious but having a specific focus, means at the end of the session you can measure your success. With no focus , there is nothing to measure. This can result in a feeling of "No success" That's bad news. I sometimes see archers out shooting and at the end all they have done, is reinforce their feelings of disappointment. If they just came out to shoot and enjoy the fresh air with friends, they didn't succeed in that either. It shows in the long faces.
To end on a happier note; you had a focus and came away happy. Great news!
And it seems there is a new coach in the making too.

You hit the nail on the head with that. Last time I shot, on Thursday, my aim was to get my arrows in the gold. Since that only happened a couple of times throughout the couple of hours I was there I was gutted. This time my aim was to correct parts of my form that were poor. I did that and came away feeling such a sense of achievement that I had managed to slot a couple more things into place. The fact I got a few in the gold was incidental since that wasnt my aim, but still a great feeling!

Im now trying to pass this advice onto my hubby. He goes with the aim of getting them all in the gold - which is great once you know your form is good as that really is the ultimate goal! However, his form isnt great but he is resistant to change! lol I think he thinks "im getting them in the gold why change anything?" Time will tell, once we start moving the targets back further and further he will be forced into it. Also, its me who is the asker of many questions and therefore I gain lots of valuable knowledge in a short space of time. I think he is a little shy about asking members he doesnt know very well and so isnt gaining the benefit of their experience (sorry hubby if you read this but you know its true )

Ah well, thats what makes us all unique, we all have our own wee ways!

LMP - I bet you are glad you worked through your bad patch as you seem to have come out the other side of it a much better and wiser archer! I think we all need a good talking to sometimes to help us out of a rut so we can make the best of ourselves

[geoffretired]

WPC. Iron out the problems and the golds will start to happen.
Wanting golds is fine. Using your technique, as well as you can, in the hopes that more golds will result, is also fine.
Trying to make golds when the technique doesn't warrant golds yet, often leads to a technique that is stifled, if you see what I mean.
I think you are doing the right thing.
I still have wrinkles to iron out. Laughter lines or worry lines? Surgery or cream?
Coffee with milk or cream? Cream