Belexes
01-31-2008, 09:58 PM
Hello, I am new here and I was given a task by my mentor to post some of his thoughts on the mental game. I believe he told me he was asked by a man named Don Deere to share his thoughts heere.
I hope these articles will do someone some good here. Here is the first article as written by The Swami.
A Swami’s Thoughts on the Mental Game… Part 1 – FEAR and CONFIDENCE
I thought that I would write some articles on the mental game in archery the way I see it in hopes those who have trouble with tournaments, shoot offs, head to head matches and practice will benefit from it. I hope it helps those who have tried to get better mentally, but haven't gotten where they wanted to be. Maybe my perspective on it will help them understand what and how to go about it. Many of these subjects and techniques may have been written about before. I admittedly haven’t read much on the subject of mental management in sports. I am slightly fascinated by human psychology, so I have read a little of that. This article is my spin on what I have read and observed and learned by trial and error from my own experiences and talking with other archers about their experiences. I wrote this part first because most archers have questions in this area more than any other it would seem.
I am no expert in archery, but I feel that mentally, I handle things pretty well. Mentally, what works in other sports, works in the sport of archery. Being mentally strong has helped me in other sports and helps me in archery.
As we all know, archery is a very mental sport. When all physical fundamentals and form is correct and consistent, then most of the sport is mental. For me it is about 20% physical and 80% mental. For some, the mix might be of different percentages, but that isn’t super important. What is important is that to be the best archer you can be, you have to do well in both areas. Most of us competitive archers want to shoot at the highest level possible, me included.
I am going to break this up into a few categories to make it easier to read and digest. I will talk about how I deal with and see things in each category. I will also give some real world examples I have experienced no matter how embarrassing they are. :)
FEAR
The emotion of Fear to me is the biggest reason that an archer struggles in a tournament even though he/she may shoot better in practice. I have seen some amazing things on a shooting line happen because of Fear. I am sure some of you have too. Removing Fear and replacing it with Confidence is my solution to handle it.
Fear of missing. When you are afraid of missing, it is hard to think of anything else while you are shooting. Fear causes your body to release larger amounts of adrenaline than normal. It can increase your heart rate and muscle tension. It will also make you more likely to flinch. You can get shaky and sometimes it is so bad you can’t keep the arrow on the rest while drawing back. You may even have trouble drawing the bow back all the way. If you let it control you it destroys your confidence and will also carry over to your practice game and scores. It will destroy the confidence you have in yourself. It is a strong emotion and is easier to give into than any other emotion in my opinion.
Fear is an emotional response to impending danger. What is dangerous about missing a shot with your bow? A missed shot only gives you a negative result, not danger. Try not to put your safety and well being on a missed shot. That is what you are doing if you have a fear of missing. Placing your archery performance in the proper perspective is important. Understanding Fear and facing it is the first step to banishing it from your archery game. We all get somewhat nervous no matter what, but it is easier to control that when you have no Fear.
The first thing you have to realize is you are not perfect, no one is. Even the best out there miss. We all make mistakes. We all miss even when everything seems to be going well. Many have the fear of missing because you have it in your head that only perfect scores are acceptable. If you don’t shoot perfect scores in practice, you shouldn’t expect to shoot perfect scores in a tournament. Be realistic with your ability as an archer and know you can’t be perfect all the time. Replace the idea of perfection with “giving each shot your best effort” as the acceptable outcome. Many times giving each shot your best effort will result in perfection. If you miss a shot, you can accept that fact because you did your best even though it resulted in a miss. Giving each shot your best effort is your new expectation. Once the shot missed is accepted, it allows you to put that miss in the past. You can move forward without that miss remaining as a conscious thought during your next shot. You have to be able to put things in the proper perspective.
One thing to remember!! Accepting a missed shot is not the same as liking it! Just because you accept a miss doesn’t mean you have to like it. Accepting and liking something is not the same thing. I don’t like misses, but in order to leave them in the past, I have to accept them and why they happened in the first place. Not doing so will keep me out of the present moment and dwelling on the past moment. In order to give your best effort and remained focused on each shot, you MUST only live in that moment. You can not think ahead to future shots or look back upon past shots. You can’t do this if you don’t accept the outcome of the previous shot whether it is a miss or a great shot. You have to leave the good shots behind as well. Good shots are easier to accept though.
Use a miss to educate yourself during practice. Why did you miss? A missed shot can be a good teaching tool. The goal is to not to miss, but when you do miss, learn from it. Identifying the reasons you miss and fixing them will cause you to miss less overall. Missing less means more confidence in yourself and your abilities.
Missing a shot is nothing to be scared of. Missing a shot is a part of archery just like Death is a part of Life.
CONFIDENCE
When you remove an emotion like Fear, you need to replace it with another emotion as humans are not made to be empty of all emotion. Some people think that to shoot well in a tournament, you need to remove all emotion. I don’t believe that. I don’t think you can function properly trying to shoot like a “dead” person. Fixing the reasons you miss will make you miss less and that again, will give you Confidence. Confidence is what you want to replace Fear with. If you don’t replace Fear with another emotion, Fear will creep back in. So to me, it starts with finding out the reasons why you miss and correct them. This is how I remove Fear.
Fixing the physical reasons you miss doesn’t mean you will never miss again, but it will eliminate many of the causes of missing. Having good fundamentals and a consistent shot with consistent form using properly tuned equipment that fits you is how you begin the process of gaining Confidence. Having more Confidence will fix some of the physical reasons you miss due to Fear. If you shoot with Confidence, you will be more relaxed and calm, which helps you with holding steady and letting your shot go off in the proper timeframe. Your shot will likely go off before your form begins to break down, reducing the amount of misses you have.
When you have Confidence, you look forward to shooting tournaments. You know you will be able to give your best effort and focus on each individual shot at that present moment in time that you are shooting it. You should not think about shooting great scores. When you have Fear, you dread upcoming tournaments and already thinking about missing shots you haven’t made yet. When you get to the tournament with Fear instead of Confidence, you shoot each shot trying not to miss. That is not the way you want to shoot and is not the way to have a good performance.
I hope this post helps someone out there. Next article will be about Focus and shooting amongst other archers. Notice, I didn’t say against other archers. I shall call it Shooting inTraffic.
I hope these articles will do someone some good here. Here is the first article as written by The Swami.
A Swami’s Thoughts on the Mental Game… Part 1 – FEAR and CONFIDENCE
I thought that I would write some articles on the mental game in archery the way I see it in hopes those who have trouble with tournaments, shoot offs, head to head matches and practice will benefit from it. I hope it helps those who have tried to get better mentally, but haven't gotten where they wanted to be. Maybe my perspective on it will help them understand what and how to go about it. Many of these subjects and techniques may have been written about before. I admittedly haven’t read much on the subject of mental management in sports. I am slightly fascinated by human psychology, so I have read a little of that. This article is my spin on what I have read and observed and learned by trial and error from my own experiences and talking with other archers about their experiences. I wrote this part first because most archers have questions in this area more than any other it would seem.
I am no expert in archery, but I feel that mentally, I handle things pretty well. Mentally, what works in other sports, works in the sport of archery. Being mentally strong has helped me in other sports and helps me in archery.
As we all know, archery is a very mental sport. When all physical fundamentals and form is correct and consistent, then most of the sport is mental. For me it is about 20% physical and 80% mental. For some, the mix might be of different percentages, but that isn’t super important. What is important is that to be the best archer you can be, you have to do well in both areas. Most of us competitive archers want to shoot at the highest level possible, me included.
I am going to break this up into a few categories to make it easier to read and digest. I will talk about how I deal with and see things in each category. I will also give some real world examples I have experienced no matter how embarrassing they are. :)
FEAR
The emotion of Fear to me is the biggest reason that an archer struggles in a tournament even though he/she may shoot better in practice. I have seen some amazing things on a shooting line happen because of Fear. I am sure some of you have too. Removing Fear and replacing it with Confidence is my solution to handle it.
Fear of missing. When you are afraid of missing, it is hard to think of anything else while you are shooting. Fear causes your body to release larger amounts of adrenaline than normal. It can increase your heart rate and muscle tension. It will also make you more likely to flinch. You can get shaky and sometimes it is so bad you can’t keep the arrow on the rest while drawing back. You may even have trouble drawing the bow back all the way. If you let it control you it destroys your confidence and will also carry over to your practice game and scores. It will destroy the confidence you have in yourself. It is a strong emotion and is easier to give into than any other emotion in my opinion.
Fear is an emotional response to impending danger. What is dangerous about missing a shot with your bow? A missed shot only gives you a negative result, not danger. Try not to put your safety and well being on a missed shot. That is what you are doing if you have a fear of missing. Placing your archery performance in the proper perspective is important. Understanding Fear and facing it is the first step to banishing it from your archery game. We all get somewhat nervous no matter what, but it is easier to control that when you have no Fear.
The first thing you have to realize is you are not perfect, no one is. Even the best out there miss. We all make mistakes. We all miss even when everything seems to be going well. Many have the fear of missing because you have it in your head that only perfect scores are acceptable. If you don’t shoot perfect scores in practice, you shouldn’t expect to shoot perfect scores in a tournament. Be realistic with your ability as an archer and know you can’t be perfect all the time. Replace the idea of perfection with “giving each shot your best effort” as the acceptable outcome. Many times giving each shot your best effort will result in perfection. If you miss a shot, you can accept that fact because you did your best even though it resulted in a miss. Giving each shot your best effort is your new expectation. Once the shot missed is accepted, it allows you to put that miss in the past. You can move forward without that miss remaining as a conscious thought during your next shot. You have to be able to put things in the proper perspective.
One thing to remember!! Accepting a missed shot is not the same as liking it! Just because you accept a miss doesn’t mean you have to like it. Accepting and liking something is not the same thing. I don’t like misses, but in order to leave them in the past, I have to accept them and why they happened in the first place. Not doing so will keep me out of the present moment and dwelling on the past moment. In order to give your best effort and remained focused on each shot, you MUST only live in that moment. You can not think ahead to future shots or look back upon past shots. You can’t do this if you don’t accept the outcome of the previous shot whether it is a miss or a great shot. You have to leave the good shots behind as well. Good shots are easier to accept though.
Use a miss to educate yourself during practice. Why did you miss? A missed shot can be a good teaching tool. The goal is to not to miss, but when you do miss, learn from it. Identifying the reasons you miss and fixing them will cause you to miss less overall. Missing less means more confidence in yourself and your abilities.
Missing a shot is nothing to be scared of. Missing a shot is a part of archery just like Death is a part of Life.
CONFIDENCE
When you remove an emotion like Fear, you need to replace it with another emotion as humans are not made to be empty of all emotion. Some people think that to shoot well in a tournament, you need to remove all emotion. I don’t believe that. I don’t think you can function properly trying to shoot like a “dead” person. Fixing the reasons you miss will make you miss less and that again, will give you Confidence. Confidence is what you want to replace Fear with. If you don’t replace Fear with another emotion, Fear will creep back in. So to me, it starts with finding out the reasons why you miss and correct them. This is how I remove Fear.
Fixing the physical reasons you miss doesn’t mean you will never miss again, but it will eliminate many of the causes of missing. Having good fundamentals and a consistent shot with consistent form using properly tuned equipment that fits you is how you begin the process of gaining Confidence. Having more Confidence will fix some of the physical reasons you miss due to Fear. If you shoot with Confidence, you will be more relaxed and calm, which helps you with holding steady and letting your shot go off in the proper timeframe. Your shot will likely go off before your form begins to break down, reducing the amount of misses you have.
When you have Confidence, you look forward to shooting tournaments. You know you will be able to give your best effort and focus on each individual shot at that present moment in time that you are shooting it. You should not think about shooting great scores. When you have Fear, you dread upcoming tournaments and already thinking about missing shots you haven’t made yet. When you get to the tournament with Fear instead of Confidence, you shoot each shot trying not to miss. That is not the way you want to shoot and is not the way to have a good performance.
I hope this post helps someone out there. Next article will be about Focus and shooting amongst other archers. Notice, I didn’t say against other archers. I shall call it Shooting inTraffic.