How to stop someone quitting?

[TJ Mason]

At a shoot today. a fellow archer (who used to be a clubmate) gave up early because someone else on his target was outshooting him. This despite the fact that he was shooting and scoring well. It's not the first time he's done this.

He's only been shooting for 7 months yet has made exceptional progress and, in all seriousness, could shoot for the national team soon if he keeps going.

It's frustrating to watch someone p*ss it away like this, but I don't know what to say to him to get him to disregard what others are doing and stick at it. Any advice, please?

[Marcus]

I think it needs to be made clear to them that it is very poor sportsmanship to pull out of a shoot because you are losing. The only acceptable reasons IMHO is gear failure, injury and poor weather (sometimes you are up to t, sometimes not)

This person won't survive their first form slump. They need to learn how to lose now and the only way you can do that is be firm with them andlet them know how it looks.

[New Tricks]

Tell him to harden up and stop being a pussy.

Here endeth the lesson.

[Archangel]

Tell him to harden up and stop being a pussy.

Here endeth the lesson.
Too true.

If you start the shoot, you finish it - unless there are exceptional circumstances, like a thunderstorm or serious injury (by which I mean "the bone has pierced through the skin" kind of injury, not "poor ickle archerkins has a boo-boo on his hand").

[Chris]

to learn to win, one must learn to lose first

[2Dogs]

I think it needs to be made clear to them that it is very poor sportsmanship to pull out of a shoot because you are losing

:rofl:

Obviously Adam Richards didn't pass that lesson :)

[New Tricks]

Hehe.

It is something I have noted over the years in archery that there is a distinct lack of heart in many of the participants.

[coach]

He's only been shooting for 7 months yet has made exceptional progress and, in all seriousness, could shoot for the national team soon if he keeps going.

With his attitude , he doesnt deserve to shoot in the team as it sounds like he wouldnt be able to handle the pressure.

[NOCK HUNTER]

Whole heartedly agree with Coach......this is not the type of person you would want on your team :-?

[ozther]

Whole heartedly agree with Coach......this is not the type of person you would want on your team :-?


what, would kind of be like a rower the stops rowing before the finish line in a major race (erm, like the olympics) :lol:


.

[frommy]

Whole heartedly agree with Coach......this is not the type of person you would want on your team :-?


what, would kind of be like a rower the stops rowing before the finish line in a major race (erm, like the olympics) :lol:


.

What a total B/S post, ozther. Would that then, in your opinion, also relate to a marathon runner or triathalon competitor who hits the wall, or a team member of a cycling road race who is dropped off the pelaton?

The question related to an individual who voluntarily pulls out of archery competition when behind in scores, and your reference to the rowing is, in my mind, offensive. You make it sound as if the rower deliberately stopped rowing, which was certainly not the case, unlike the decision of the archer withdrawing from competition that TJ is refering to.

Tim, this person is obviously concentrated on a particular result, which then distracts him from shooting every arrow in the same way. I agree with Marcus, he has a real mental problem to overcome to reach his potential.

Noting it is your Indoor season, perhaps, like me, he cannot handle the extra pressure of indoor. I bloody well hate indoor. You can see every 9, and the other archers 10's or X's, and it can be demoralising. It has been for me in the past, but I have cured the problem - I now do not shoot the indoor rounds. :wink: :o :(

I think he needs to concentrate on shooting every arrow the best he can, and not worry about other archers scores. As said by others, quiting early is a bad sign, and there is definately a mental problem which needs to be overcome.

Brian

[ozther]

what, would kind of be like a rower the stops rowing before the finish line in a major race (erm, like the olympics) :lol:


.

What a total B/S post, ozther.

The question related to an individual who voluntarily pulls out of archery competition when behind in scores, and your reference to the rowing is, in my mind, offensive. You make it sound as if the rower deliberately stopped rowing, which was certainly not the case, unlike the decision of the archer withdrawing from competition that TJ is refering to.



huh.... no offense intended Brian :oops:

my understanding (maybe I'm ill informed, if so I apologise) was the rower in question realised a medal was out of the question (close to the finish line, very close in fact) and quit rowing (voluntarily)..... IIRC that was the talk at the time in the media..... on that understanding (as mentioned, maybe ill informed) I'd have thought it to be similar to an archer withdrawing (stop shooting) when being behind (or beaten) on the score board and not finishing the shoot....... that was the comparison I was inferring.....


At a shoot today. a fellow archer (who used to be a clubmate) gave up early because someone else on his target was outshooting him.



.

[Marcus]

It has been for me in the past, but I have cured the problem - I now do not shoot the indoor rounds.
Sorry Frommy, that's soft also.

Why do we do anything if not to use it to push ourselves beyond our capabilities and strive for improvement. This is the beauty of sport, you have measurable goals you can work towards and achieve, unlike work which is often never ending and repetitive.

(rest not aimed at you frommy, just general observations)
I have noticed in archery just how much people hate to lose. Obviously I hate it too, but what is the point in winning if you didn't lose first?
It reminds me of people who take drugs to make themselves euphoric all the time because they don't want to feel the sad parts of life. Without the bad you can't appreciate the good.

I also can't believe the self delusional arrogance of people who believe they deserve to win everytime when they have not done the hard tough work first. In particular if they only started the sport recently.

[Kuru]

At a shoot today. a fellow archer (who used to be a clubmate) gave up early because someone else on his target was outshooting him. This despite the fact that he was shooting and scoring well. It's not the first time he's done this.

He's only been shooting for 7 months yet has made exceptional progress and, in all seriousness, could shoot for the national team soon if he keeps going.

It's frustrating to watch someone p*ss it away like this, but I don't know what to say to him to get him to disregard what others are doing and stick at it. Any advice, please?

Why is it your problem ? Seriously everyone seems more worried about what others think and do.

[Madeleine Ferris]

The second para of the original post says it all - if an archer makes exceptional progress at first - look out. If anyone is telling him he can make a team so soon at national level - look out.

People cope with pressure differently - or not much at all. I am the first to say finish a shoot, with very few exceptions. If the perceived poor performance is just because you are not shooting well (other than due to illness or whatever) whether that is because of the weather conditions or because you are trying too hard,etc you HAVE to finish it (no one REALLY cares what you shoot anyway, they are too busy with themselves). If you do not finish I believe you become just a little weaker every time you do this (i.e. quit). Instead of lamenting on the poor shooting, he should focus on perhaps even one aspect of your shot. If you do that most of the time then you are a winner no matter what the score is at the end of the day. And if another archer gloats that they have beaten you, so what!! Who cares. If he can't stand not scoring as much as another archer he has a problem mentally. Also, some people think that archery is "easy" so when they find it isn't, especially after an exceptional start, if they are not strong mentally, they will quit, either the shoot and perhaps altogether eventually.

If people are pushed or told they are great too early in their archery career I think it puts pressure on them to perform well - every time. Some people can handle this, and even thrive, but others do not. Perhaps it's in their make up and they won't be able to overcome this but on the other hand some other form of encouragement may do the trick for them and they will be stronger in the end. Everyone is different.

[Milkovitsch]

You make it sound as if the rower deliberately stopped rowing, which was certainly not the case,
Don't mean to change subject, but is that not exactly what she did? I was not in her boat, but did notice that her fellow team mates were extremely pi**ed off at her.
I assume that they train together, know each other very well and share the same experiences etc. So I assume that if they were upset then maybe they had some valid reason? To me it looked as if she deliberately stopped, I did not see anyone holding her. I have trained to exhaustion in my past life, but never saw anyone stop quite like that.

Please explain????

[Eberbachl]

You make it sound as if the rower deliberately stopped rowing, which was certainly not the case,
Don't mean to change subject, but is that not exactly what she did? I was not in her boat, but did notice that her fellow team mates were extremely pi**ed off at her.
I assume that they train together, know each other very well and share the same experiences etc. So I assume that if they were upset then maybe they had some valid reason? To me it looked as if she deliberately stopped, I did not see anyone holding her. I have trained to exhaustion in my past life, but never saw anyone stop quite like that.

Please explain????

Get over it.....none of us know why she stopped rowing. You can speculate as much as you like - but really......she's the only one that knows.

:roll:

[rabbitz]

Firstly, let me apologise for dragging up an old thread.

I believe that the archer in question really needs to step back and assess how an archery contest actually works. First & foremost it is never a case of direct competition. What I mean by this is that unlike a lot of other sports the the actions of each competitor do not affect any other competitor, for example in tennis my play directly affects my opponent. In archery (or shooting, or golf etc) my efforts only influence my results, thus I am only competing against me.

Although new to archery I have shot rifle competively for a long time & I learn't a long time ago to never look at the scores of others in the grade I was shooting. I had to make myself look inwards, and to concentrate on what I was doing. If I bettered my PB or if my final score was at or above my expectation for the day, then I was a winner. It was often the case that someone else had a better score and won the trophy, but there was nothing I could do about that. I still won the battle against myself (and the conditions).

One advantage to thinking this way is that you leave the tournament or club shoot with a positive attitude, which sets you up for better practise which in turn better prepares you for the next tournament. It also removes some of the sources of doubt. Thinking "I can't beat Joe Blow as he is too good" is no longer part of the equation, the thought would then become "I can better my last performance"

The bottom line is that in archery you can only influence your own performance, therefore, you can only truely compete against yourself.

Rabbitz

[ninevalleys]

hey,

back to the origional thingo,

man this kid has nothing to winge about, if he left cause he was geting beaten he has NO idea!!, he should tyr and shoot against guy phillips!, man i haev been againsthim for teh past 2 years, adn you get to realsie that guy aint gunna lose any time soon, so that kid cant complain!, he's got to realise archery is sport where you largest opponent is yourelsf!, the aim i find is to try beat your last score! not against other people. what happened if he noramlly shot 1200, adn one day shot a 1300 but came 2nd or third?, i mean sure he came 2nd, but he still shot 100 points better!

what would he do is he shot a 700, but came 1st?, mean thats liek 500 less, but he won??

thats teh biggest lesson, people (escpecially kids need to learn), i only get pissed when i shoot real good, tehn teh next week shoot like crap, then you just haev to sit down take time out and think what you haev changed. (im still doing that)

cheers NV

[frommy]

Rabbitz,

Excellent post.

Brian

[New Tricks]

rabbitz, great post and great attitude. Probably should be added into an Archery 101 type post somewhere.

Reminds me of when a round finishes and someone asks 'How did you shoot?' They really don't care how, just how much.