One of the most challenging things I have found about archery is keeping the mind focused on only one task: that of sending the arrow in the bull’s eye. While this is not impossible with proper training and coaching, there are times when you just can’t focus your attention on your shooting form and keep making “silly mistakes” that you would normally not do. These then result in “poor” shots, which create frustration and only elevate the archer’s restlessness. The effect you get is that of a small snowball rolling down the hill. By the time you’re done with the training session, you’ve shot so badly that you even consider giving up archery entirely.
In archery, the secret of an accurate shot lies within good shooting form and a positive mindset. While your shooting form is something you can work on with your coach, at times, what goes on in your head is for you alone to sort out. On the days when an archer shoots well (that is, his level of concentration is high) and scores a personal best, he feels happy. Concentration comes hand in hand with dopamine, a neurotransmitter also called the “pleasure chemical.”
But why then, the next day or two days later, your performance on the archery shooting line is not up to your usual standards, not to mention close to the performance you had a few days ago when not only you shot well, you also felt good about your shooting? On these days, archers say, “they can’t focus,” “they can’t find their form,” or even that “they’re not in the mood.” Now, when you pursue archery with a certain goal in mind (such as making it to the national team squad or qualifying for the Olympics) these are not viable excuses. You can’t just claim that you were not in the zone on the day of the competition!
Maybe one of the most frustrating experiences of both beginner and emerging archers is the lack of consistency and uniformity, when their attention span is too short to create good results. For example, you have to shoot six arrows in four minutes. You shoot the first two arrows in the yellow center but the next four start landing farther and farther away from the bull’s eye. Basically, you know you can shot an arrow in the 10, but you just can’t concentrate on doing it repeatedly.
So, then, how do you regain your concentration, how can you stimulate your body to increase its levels of dopamine and thus shoot at a level that makes you happy?
First of all, you need to analyze the reasons why you can’t concentrate, why you’re restless, why you can’t focus your attention and then mend that problem in such a way that you “feel good” about it.
One of the most common factors of an archer’s loss of focus is lack of sleep. Basically you just feel tired. You find it hard to draw your bow, you feel a slight pain in your shoulders, and you feel exhausted after each shot. Tiredness deprives your body of oxygen, which in turn is needed for the production of dopamine. Not only does your body need more oxygen, but your brain is also deprived of it when aiming. As aiming in archery is done while holding your breath, the feeling of tiredness only increases. With an unsteady hand you tend to aim longer, thus keeping oxygen away from your brain longer, increasing your heart beat and just adding up to the general low state of your body. Also, with the decrease in dopamine you become unhappy and frustrated and, as archery is a “solo discipline,” there’s no one to blame. Thus, you end up blaming yourself for your poor performance, reducing your enthusiasm for the sport and your willingness to try harder.
As we live in a world where we, as amateur athletes, can’t afford to just give up our day jobs and concentrate on training only, it is not a surprise to anyone that sometimes you go to your archery training feeling tired. Maybe the night before you had to finish a report and stayed up late, while in the morning you proofread your report and in the afternoon presented it to your manager. On top of being tired, the stress caused by a workman’s every day life (from traffic jams to demanding bosses to financial expectations) will affect your performance at the archery field. It is in this physical and mental state that you show up at the archery field…
So, what are the things you can do to counter this feeling of tiredness and start returning to your usual performing self? Here are five suggestions on how to find your zone once again.
1) Take a break and do something that makes you relax. By just sitting down and doing nothing you inadvertently think of your bad shooting and increase your anxiety. When I take breaks during archery training I like to play a silly game on my iPhone, something that does not require from both my mind and body anything else than tap some coloured balls on the screen. Listening to music is also a good idea, though on some occasions a song gets stuck in my brain and becomes an additional distraction.
2) Have a tasty snack. I like to have a Mars or Snickers bar when I feel low. They are my favourite sweets and I rarely have them. The taste of caramel and peanuts just pleases my senses, thus raising the levels on dopamine in my body.
3) Move around. Let your body know that it’s time to wake up. In archery we use rubber bands for both warm up and strength training, so it might be a good idea to just take a rubber band and do a few exercises. By doing a few aerobic exercises, your brain also gets an extra kick of oxygen which again can increase your “happiness chemicals.”
4) Have a drink of water. Apart from helping you with rehydration (dehydration being another factor of fatigue and loss of concentration during training), having a drink of cold water (not too cold though) is also refreshing. Electrolyte-rich sport drinks are also something you should consider.
5) Think positive. Some time ago, I made a promise to myself to associate only with positive-thinking people. Thinking positive thoughts and listening to positive people helps lift your confidence and brings you back into your archery mode/zone.
You should do these five recommendations over a period of 15-20 minutes (in any order you like, if possible, even two at a time) and then get back on the shooting line and see if there’s any improvement. If you still feel tired and low, taking the day off might not be such a bad idea either. I assure you that with rest and a positive mindset, you will return to the archery field the following day and feel, once again, like a champion. Your own champ!
