Get over it

[Tarkwin]

I have been obsessed with improving my Portsmouth PB, I was desparately chasing 540 by the close of the indoor season. Over recent weeks I have become more and more frustrated with myself as I have failed to come close to matching my PB (519) let alone beat it.

As my frustration increased my shooting grew worse - as I cursed and huffed. I wasn't shooting well or enjoying myself and probably annoying those on the line with me. Chasing points was not doing me any good.

I decided that tonight was going to be different. Rather than pinning a crisp new face on the boss, I took the shot up face off, turned it over, pinned it back on and drew a big black cross in the middle(ish). This caused much merriment amongst the other members.

The evening was spent shooting at the cross, using that purely as a reference point. It wasn't until close to the end of the evening that I adjusted my sight to move the groups towards the point of aim.

I started out shooting sizeable groups - just as I have been every other week recently. These quite quickly shrank and by the end of the night most of my groups were small enough to easily fit inside the inner 10 of a 60cm face. Some were small enough that all 3 arrows were in contact (X7 1914's).

This is arguably the best I've shot ever let alone recently. There were one or two ends where things went wrong...one where I was given some advice over my loose ( I was letting my hand drop to my chest), When I started thinking about it I was giving less concentration to the aim and the groups opened up again. My last six were poor too, I was starting to get sore at the base of my back, there was no reason to continue, I wasn't shooting for scores, but did...and that was running through my mind at the time.

I am a happy bunny tonight....and will do the same again next week...I won't do it too often as I don't want to end up fearful of a face, but knowing I CAN group has given me a huge confidence boost.

Thanks for listening..

T.

[Wrexham Exile]

just stick with what you know and build on the rest,

technique first and the scores will soon follow

well done and good luck

Al

[Little Miss Purple]

I agree! I too get caught up in the scoring game but have found if you go without hopes of high scores you are more likely to achieve them!

[PaulT]

I'll second (third?) DMU and LMP there. The one way to guarantee not achieving your score goals is by chasing them everytime you shoot. Keep shooting well whether at a target face or not and the scores will follow.

[Rik]

The trouble with chasing a score is that you can get caught up in a "what do I need to do to get there?" head-game.
That's not good. You start fiddling, trying to find "the fix" which will make it all work, and enter a downward spiral...
There's a subtler variant on this which is; "what do i need to do to fix my form?". That can be equally destructive.

[PaulT]

Originally Posted by Rik

The trouble with chasing a score is that you can get caught up in a "what do I need to do to get there?" head-game.
That's not good. You start fiddling, trying to find "the fix" which will make it all work, and enter a downward spiral...
There's a subtler variant on this which is; "what do i need to do to fix my form?". That can be equally destructive.

Agreed, although form can always be improved, but this should be kept completely separate from thoughts of scores and pbs. For example I have recently made a potentially improving form adjustment safe in the knowledge that my next comp is in May.

[Small Monkey]

I had the same problem last year - I was shooting some really good scores at the beginning of the season, but became so fixated on having to do that well every time, that everything spiralled downhill. I never have this problem outdoors, I find it a lot easier to relax. So, I decided to not compete indoors this year. I'm going along to a few competitions towards the end of the season, just for fun, but I've been concentrating on changing things with form and equipment, and as such, have enjoyed indoor archery more than I have for years!

[Radar_UK]

Glad to hear it Tarkwin - I've been going through a smiliar scenario where my scores rose, peaked and then dropped and I've been struggling to get back up there again and spending more time 'fretting' about it !

Think I will try the same thing and see how I get on

[Rik]

Originally Posted by PaulT

Agreed, although form can always be improved, but this should be kept completely separate from thoughts of scores and pbs. For example I have recently made a potentially improving form adjustment safe in the knowledge that my next comp is in May.

That's kind of my point. Typical symptoms are the constant fiddling with form, with no effort made to shoot the form they have... My usual advice for anyone attempting a form change is to make it, shoot it for a few months and see how it works out.

Making form changes typically involves a period of flux, during which results can be erratic. Some people get stuck in the flux - they try and "fix" their way out of it, when what they ought to be doing is shooting instead of fixing.

[cliveanne]

Good to hear about reference points on the target, as opposed to scoring. This is something I have been trying to get across to some of the improvers (Usualy the under 15's), If you aint scoring, what else is there to do other than get the groups, or at least, try to