Competition Jitters

[baldmountain]

I was chatting with a few people at the last competition I was at and I was suprised to learn that everyone gets really nervous at a tournament. Even people who have been shooting tournaments forever and even at local tournaments. I was also suprised to see that no one had any idea of how to deal with the nervousness.

How do you deal with competition jitters?

I usual kid around during ends. Chat with people. Generally act goofy. That way when it's time to shoot I haven't been worrying about score, or equipment, or how others are shooting. When I step up to the line I transform from my social self into my serious focused self and concentrate on shooting good arrows.

[stodrette]

Unlike physical sports, there is no true outlet for the stored jitters....

At one time, not that long ago( I can still remember those days :wink: ), before the start of a triathlon I was so nervous I could almost puke.....but when the gun went off, the jitters went away because you had to concentrate on the physical stressors ahead of you for the next 3 hours....

Yes I still get nervous, but I expect to. It means that what I am doing is still important to me. It helps me focus on my shot routine, away from the feeling of nerves...

[Marcus]

Yeah archery is a tough one on jitters. When I played grid iron you would get yourself on the kickoff team and just try and lay someone out. If you got a good hit on someone your were right for the rest of the game. Works in archery too, but sometimes you break arrows after you spear tackle someone into the dirt. :wink:

I just try and get good shots and tell myself if can get through these first few I'll be right. Not as big an issue anymore anyway.

[Flex]

I think shooting Matchplay helps alot.Nothing like shooting one on one.
After that a normal compition shoot is easy jitters wise anyway :wink:

[MerlinApexDylan]

Like we normalise our shooting technique. It's probably best to normalise the nervous feeling that one gets at a tournament. Ways of doing this are imagery, shoot offs between yourself and others taken in a serious manner as if you were shooting for the Gold at the Olympics or some other competition on your goals list.

Even when Im shooting against people in the high performance program at my club I still get nervous, but I've began to learn to get used to it. There is a certain level of arousal that will make you perform better at any given competition. If that level gets to high then you don't perform as well, if it's to low same thing. Finding your level and then practicing it will make you a great shooter under pressure or nervousness.
Dylan

[baldmountain]

Dylan,

Good post. You really are working hard at this, aren't you? :)

I was wondering what techniques people use to regulate how nervous they are. (It sounds like some people like a little adrenelin.) Do you focus on nothing but the shoot? Do you dwell on how you are scoring? Do you hide in a corner between ends? Do you become aloof and unaproachable? I personally find that I have to completely ignore how I'm doing and chat with other people about anything but the shoot between ends. Only when I'm on the line do I focus on shooting each arrow the best that I can. (I do my best to ignore form, equipment, even how I feel, and just focus on the target.)

[MerlinApexDylan]

I have a tendancy to act like a Jackass, especially if my team member are around me and they overly nervous. While I was watching the Alberta winter games team trials. A girl in high performance that I know as well as another girl shooting high performanceErin that I am dating :D were both nervous to a point where it makes a person not perform so well.

So I began to act like a jackass, both seemed to calm down and the other girl Kristen settled down so much that she shot a PB after having a shakey start. They had their minds on shooting, and were probably still nervous. But Kristen wasn't thinking about being nervous which would probably allow the level of nervousness to be regulated. Lanny Bashum says, were ever you are. Be all there. So focus on your shooting when you are shooting, not how nervous you are, or what you ate for breakfast or whats going on at home. Just focus on putting arrows into the 10.

Yes BM, I am very serious about my training right now. I am training to make the Canadian Olympic team and with that goal in mind I have to manage 3 things, physical,mental and technical ability. Then I have to nurture them and make them grow equally. :lol: Like a Babay! But when the baby grows up you no longer have to nuture it, just give it money from time to time. :P Of course a good coach helps.

If people are approachable then I will definitely talk, and talk alot. If at a competition and people seem unaproachable I will just go about my business and generally people settle down around me. You can have an odd affect on people without even talking. If you are in a good mood you can pass that mood on to others. If you work with a team, together if you can connect the energy of your thoughts and feelings, you become much stronger as does your team. You have to believe in that though, for it to work. Just like witching sticks over water. :wink:

We are doing team building exercises in High performance. So that when we travel to shoots together we can be stronger by keeping each other in check, helping each other out.

I probably blab to much. But I like to share sometimes how my coach trains us. So when I medal at the Olympics perhaps people won't see me or my coach as being so crazy. :lol: Well, I'll still probably look crazy. :o

[2Dogs]

Get drunk before you shoot!, works wonders :lol: .........but make sure you listen to Motzart while your doing it :wink:

[Kuru]

Can't say I get the jitters at comps, I've learnt to deal with them in a positive light. Some of my best scores come from comps

[cecile]

Can't say I get the jitters at comps, I've learnt to deal with them in a positive light. Some of my best scores come from comps

Likewise.

Good stress may make you do things better than usual. The problem is to manage it properly so that it inhances your ability to shoot and not the reverse.
A lack of confidence in yourself is the number one reason you get the jitters and shoot not as well in competition as at training. Self-confidence starts when you know exactly what you are capable of, and this is not necessarily "be the best archer of the world"!

[grantwomack]

Personally, I just shoot for the gold. If it goes outside, I don't think about it and go for the gold again. The thing that helps me the most, I think, is that I shoot each arrow as an individual arrow, rather than as ends. That way, if I am nervous, it either happens for every arrow I shoot or none of them at all. Thankfully because I tend to have a naturally easy-going temperment, it is more commonly the latter. And for me, the worst arrows I shoot in a tournament are the very first and the last three. First either goes into the curtain at the back of the hall or into the dirt beside the target. The last three are normally because I have been adding my score the entire way - definitely something I need to stop.

[James Park]

I great deal of work has been done on how well you perform under different stress levels. The research has shown that it is better to be a little stressed than either not stressed or over stressed. The trick then is to:
- Know what stress level you need to shoot the best.
- Know how to measure your stress level.
- Know how to control your stress level to be that optimum.
It is generally accepted that the normal stresses of competing will take your stress level above the optimum, so you will generally need to know how to lower it rather than to raise it. This is usually controlled by how you breath between shots (nice and slow) and by how you relax between shots.
One tricky part of this is that on the practice ground the stress levels will be quite different (lower) than at the tournament, so it is difficult to practice without competing.

[Fozzie Bear]

Hi,
I am lucky enough to have work with me two sport psychs, who help me condition the archers who I coach. There are two sport psychs who have different approaches. On one archer we utilise a self hypnosis drill before a tournament, another drill is concentrating on your breathing and following the cold breath as far down the air paths as possible. It is very interesting, and it is helping. The archers are more relaxed at tournaments and are able to try and controll their anxiety.

[Kuru]

The trick is to see a sports shrink when you shooting good to re enforce that feeling so you are able to draw on it when not shooting so good

[2Dogs]

So the feeling your working on Gareth is Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!..... Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!
.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof! .....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!
.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof! .....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.
....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!. ....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!
.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof! .....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!
.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof! .....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!
.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof! .....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!
.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof! .....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!
.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof!.....Doof! .....
http://www.inthemix.com.au/photos5/albums/030913-pulsargtr/aad.sized.jpg :D:D:D...friends of yours??

[Shirt]

Love those boots.

Bring back certain memories, in fact...

But who'd ever have thought that a farmer would spray his sheep lime green.

:lol: :lol:

[clever_guy]

The more you jitter, and manage that jitter on a regular basis while shooting, the better you will manage jitters in competition...

-CG

[Sweetspot]

There is an interesting article on tournament stress by Jay Barrs in the current issue of the Glade magazine.
Jay suggests you convert your stress into excitement in being at the tournament rather than seeing it as the negative thing of "jitters".
In the same article he talks about how all your senses are heightened and this is why you feel that your form etc are not right when you shoot at tournaments. In actual fact there is nothing wrong with your form as he explains in the article after seeing a video of himself shooting at a tournament.
Interesting read and yes the top shooters, like Jay Barrs, get nervous.

[kae]

Ive always suffered jitters and never been able to do much for myself, but in helping a lass prepare for tournaments etc, we found that breathing exercises help to calm the nerves and prepare you for each shot.
For example a typical shot sequence would be:
Stand ready for the shot, bow in hand, arrows in quiver, breathing normally.
Wait at least 3 seconds before placing arrow in bow.
Breath in whilst lifting bow.
Breath out whilst drawing.
Aim, draw through clicker and release.
Bring bow down and breath normally for a while before picking up next arrow.

It helped her, took her from getting them in the 5ring to 9/10 ring everytime :D :D

Might not help all people, but it certainly helped her.[/list]