MB Archer Training Plan

[bkupris]

Thanks for that info Yorker

[buzz lite beer]

The number one coaching aid you can give to your pupil (subject) to improve to any level, get them to break the shot down in order they do it so that each individual component can be visualised as vividly as possible at a later date or place so they can eventually re run the entire shot sequence in their heads or just a little aspect of it they may have concerns with whenever they have a bit of spare time on their hands.

[clickerati]

Originally Posted by buzz lite beer

The number one coaching aid you can give to your pupil (subject) to improve to any level, get them to break the shot down in order they do it so that each individual component can be visualised as vividly as possible at a later date or place so they can eventually re run the entire shot sequence in their heads or just a little aspect of it they may have concerns with.

have i heard this before or is it deja vu???

it is actually very good advise

[bkupris]

Originally Posted by buzz lite beer

The number one coaching aid you can give to your pupil (subject) to improve to any level, get them to break the shot down in order they do it so that each individual component can be visualised as vividly as possible at a later date or place so they can eventually re run the entire shot sequence in their heads or just a little aspect of it they may have concerns with whenever they have a bit of spare time on their hands.

buzz

Yeah definitely, thanks

[SLOWHAND]

Whilst I fully agree that a healthy lifestyle (exercise and diet) is a good thing I dont think that it has a huge effect on your archery performance. Look at the pro Darts Players, what these boys do however is spend an awful lot of time each day and every day practicing.

I am well over fifty and sad to say the only exercise I can manage these days is taking the dog for a walk. I do take some care with my diet but not excessively so. I have also been known to have a little drink (but only when the day ends with a Y). This may imply that I am not commited or serious about my sport but nothing could be further from the truth. I've made MB each year from my first full season, last year I changed from Recurve to Compound and was two points off making GMB.

What I do is spend as much time as I can practising, typically three or four times a week in the indoor season and four or five times a week outdoors. My pratice sessions are highly structured, not just shooting as many arrows as I can in the time. Sometimes I will work on a specific aspect of my form, other times I will work on tuning or the equipment but most of the time I try to make my practice sessions as near as I can to shooting under tournament conditions. Indoors that means shooting three carefull, well controlled arrows each end, not four or six as others at the club do. I always record my scores and even shooting three each end it's quite possible to shoot five dozen (a full Portsmouth or 18m FITA) on a two hour club night. The other thing that is essential is to be thoroughly prepared for the tournament. Every piece of kit that you are going to use has to be right, not just the bow and the arrows but your clothing, footware, food, drinks etc. Leave absolutely nothing to chance and try to prepare for every eventuality.

If I'm shooting a tournament, I'll make sure that on the week before it, I shoot each distance to check my sight marks are right and have not changed. I will never ever use anything in a tournament that I haven't used and tested at least once before in practice, this includes fletchings, clothing and footware. Never make any chages to the bow's set up before a tournament. A couple of days before the shoot I will thoroughly check the bow (and stabilisation, sight, string etc.), making sure that everything is ok (are all of the bolts tight). I will also clean and examine each arrow carefully, replacing any suspect nocks or fletchings (dont forget to shoot them at lest once before the big day).

Practice, preparation and planning are vital.

[bkupris]

Slowhand

Very helpful, thanks

Brian

[andrew.paterson]

Originally Posted by SLOWHAND

Whilst I fully agree that a healthy lifestyle (exercise and diet) is a good thing I dont think that it has a huge effect on your archery performance. Look at the pro Darts Players, what these boys do however is spend an awful lot of time each day and every day practicing.

Natural talent is a great thing, and a lot of top competitors do have this advantage. Lots of practice also fine tunes the particular sport you compete at as well. However, just doing the same thing over and over again with high forces places huge demands on the muscular and skeletal structure. Darts does not really have this issue, so the competitors can get away with being a little less worried about long term damage.

Most sports now highly recommend doing alternative training to ensure that the whole body can cope and prevent damage by just a small subset of the structure being used for your particular sport. Many top golfers, racing drivers spend a lot of their off-season getting their bodies into shape. This does have some performance assistance, but also it helps to get the body back into a more natural equilibrium.

Alternative training doesn't have to be a chore. Go hill walking for a couple of hours or go swimming both ideal on a wet and windy day when you can't get out and practice, but the body should be challenged in different ways.

I must admit that I do 'enjoy' gym work, and am currently doing 3 x 2 1/2 hour sessions a week (CV, core, and weights), but during the shooting season this will drop down to 2 x 1 1/2 sessions (CV and core).

[SLOWHAND]

Brian, one other thing I forgot to mention, I see from your setup that you are shooting different types of bow.

You know what I'm going to say dont you. Yes it is possible for truly gifted and commited archers like Erika to shoot two disciplines to the highest level but for the other 99.999...%? You will never reach your full potential unless you concentrate on one type of bow. I bought a compound just over a year ago and thought that I could shoot both, I spent about four months doing this. My recurve scores plummeted by about ten points indoors on average. It's not so much that shooting one style makes you a worse shot in the other BUT your practice time is spread thinner and your commitment is less. OK, as a special treat, perhaps once a month dig the trad bow out and have a blast but any more than this and it will have a detrimental effect on the recurve.

Depends what you want from you archery and what your goals are. If you really want to be the best you can be with a recurve, gain MB and get on the rankings list, then I suggest you dont touch or even think about the trad bow for the next year or so at least. If you do you will never know just how good you could have been.

[bkupris]

Thanks Andrew

That's one of the things I am looking at. For those that are on a structured training plan i.e. November-September to prepare for and compete in the summer, are they concentrating on fitness and shooting in different percentages throughout the cycle? Maybe some are not interested in the fitness aspect much? The training plans I have looked at all address this issue of phasing. Just wondering what's really happening on the ground?

[bkupris]

Slowhand

I agree totally. This is not for my personal shooting. I am researching for info I can implement when I am coaching archers that are seriously trying to improve to Bowman, possibly MB level