Mental Training

[Cakemeister]

There have been many comments on how much this sport relies on mental training but it seems one of the hardest things to quantify. You can fix equipment issues reasonably easily but you can't fix your mind in the same way. Whether it's what you think about before the shooting line, on the shooting line, after you leave the target or anyone else you can't really solve people's mental game by saying 'ah, you need to be thinking about...' and fix their attitude.

Some things seem relatively easy. Humming the same song as you prepare your predraw, or reciting a mantra as you focus on the gold. However, how many people practice positive mental attitude in the same way they may practice draw, aiming or back pressure? I've recently been shooting with a friend at BoA who has a constant not uncommon thought- 'it's that third arrow, I can always get two.' linked with 'Here we go again' when he's off target. What he's doing is reinforcing a negative mental attitude through repeating how he sees his shooting- and not allowing himself to move outside his mental comfort zone. Thus he always shoots to the same level and has a very specific expectation that he is unconsciously underlining through what he percieves as conversation, either with himself or his shooting partner.

One strategy for improving mental attitude is to identify what can start a downward cycle. (It's in the blue..) This can then lead to an immediate mental evaluation process which affects your belief system, your attitude & your thoughts- if you then worry about having to recover points quickly you go through physical changes- heart rate, breathing, muscle tension- or mental changes- worry, dread, frustration etc- which automatically lead to a decrease in performance & more negative reinforcement- so the cycle continues. Sometimes simply knowing that that's what is happening can help change attitude in itself. My coach talks about a 'recovery cycle' through which you identify what's happening and counteract it ('that's one bad arrow- it's gone, I can shoot a 10'). However, there is a culture of wisecracks which help comfort poor shooting ('we've left some space for you to park your
compounds,' 'I'd better not get tested 'cos the drugs aren't working ' etc etc ) which provide a large barrier against our capacity to get better.

So how to change mental attitude? Relaxation training is one strategy- deep breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth. Yoga style, or possibly even meditation. Imagery techniques- visualising a successful shot. Some people even suggest building in additional sensory factors- sun, grass smells, the sound of the arrow hitting the target. Having cue words or positive statements that you can repeat- particularly when your brain goes 'that was **** wasn't it? You need to counteract that.

Can you change your perspective? Archery is allegedly x per cent in the mind. OK- so how many people then do x per cent mental training? When was the last time you spent half an hour training your mind to think positively about your capability? Never? But I bet you'd spend half an hour chucking arrows 50 yards, cos that's real practice... or is it? It's easy to think 'I did that wrong, I did this wrong,' because that culture is commoner in the culture we live in. I think we should spend much more time training ourselves to think 'I did that right, I can do this right.'

Just a few thoughts. Mrs Cakemeister runs a complementary therapy practice so she's really into this stuff. Rubs off. What do you think?

Pete

[greydog]

Couldn't agree more

[Adam]

Me too. Hit the nail on the head.

Adam

[Little Miss Purple]

I'm full of good intentions!!!! However I have been trying to do the 'visualisation' bit recently and not to get drawn into the 'I'm going to be worse as I'm using the clicker' scenario!! I was well on the way to the self fulfilling prophecy at the Yorkshire's where my score was getting lower and lower, I took myself to a corner and gave myself a talking to......what the hell are you playing at...etc. My final dozen arrows were much better.

Keeping focus for a complete round takes some doing, but needs to be overcome if high scores are to be achieved!

Great post! I really need to do more of this stuff. I do visualize quite a lot recently. I remember what a good feels like and think about it when I have nothing best to do.

I feel we need to get to a point in our archery where we feel confident, then we can look back in time of need and reinforce the fact that we can do it.

I feel I have been on a huge learning curve about technical stuff about me and my bow over the last two years. I guess I have this and my technique pretty much sorted now. The next challenge is to sort my head out. I do feel very confident just now, the outdoor season has come about just at the right time.

Good one.

[geoffretired]

Well said, Pete.
I remember being told "it's in the mind", but I was never told what was in the mind. I think many people say it, but don't know what it means, they just pass it on like Chinese whispers. This thread is an exception.
Having suffered a bit with TP for 14 years or so, the thing that strikes me about the rehabilitation process I'm going through is the way the mind is working in a very different way.( Strangely, it required no training.)
Where I would be very tense and talking to myself and getting more worried, I am now thinking NOTHING. There seems to be no space for thoughts.
I have one focus and that is blotting everything out. There is time between shots to remind myself of the focus. Once the shot sequence starts;all thinking stops, I feel that the shot is running its course. Then there's another surprise shot to put in the "Goody" bag.

[GeoffT]

I think it is important to start beginners thinking positively from an early stage. We archer seem to enjoy shooting bad arrows so that we can make some wisecrack or other.

I have been known to suggest to an intermediate archer, when they have shot a bad arrow and are either swearing, laughing or shrugging, that they tell themselves "thats not like me, i'll shoot the next one in the middle as normal". But they usually think I am joking or crackers or both.

[Max]

I think it all boils down to self confidence and self belief. You can dress a mental atitude up in as many fancy words as you like, but in the end, if YOU don't actually believe it, it won't work. It's all very well to say " that was a 7 but my next arrow is going to be a 10", but there is a mile wide chasm between reciting it in your head and actually believing it deep down - after all you might well only have the ability to land one in the 10 ring every half dozen arrows, and your evil inner self knows this only too well (it watches you in practice) - you know it your heart of hearts that you only have a 1 in 6 chance of actually achieving what you are telling yourself you can do.

The problem with self belief is it often takes a long time to grow (how long usually determined by how self confident we are as a personality). It can just as quickly be lost (again more easily if you are less confident about yourself in your overall makeup).

I always get nervous before a competition and stay tense through the first dozen or so. I can recite a mantra to myself that "it does not matter - it's just like practice" but in actuality it does matter, and I can't lie to myself. Not sure how you get that out of your head without the help from some serious mind altering substances.

Ultimately you have to convince your evil inner self that you can shoot as good as you say you can - ultimately that can only be achieved by demonstrating to yourself that this is indeed so. So the answer seems to be Practice, Practice and more Practice.

[Furface]

IMHO, both negative and positive thoughts can get in the way. Cursing myself for an unusually bad shot can take a couple more arrows for the tension instilled to get out of the system. Similarly, "I can do this" usually means I can't. What I strive to achieve is the shot without thought, the "Artless Art", which lets my body's habits take over. When I can, I will hum my meditation tune in my mind (Can't visualise at all) - concentrating on that seems to work.
That said, all this is useless without technique. So sometimes I have to practice, analysing each shot, feeling the good and the bad points, knowing myself. This is impossible without thought. So I do not sing to myself.
It is important to know what is practice, and what is the difference between practice and execution. As a pianist, I practice the left hand, practice the right hand, practice putting them together, and perform; as an archer I practice technique, practice being mental, practice putting the tywo together - and sometimes compete.

[Merlin83b]

Originally Posted by Furface

as an archer I practice [...] being mental

Do you need a straight jacket for that?