Sports psychology- Do We Really Believe?

[Robert de Bondt]

I am really surprised in the apparent lack of interest on the Archery Psychology thread.
I think one would expect most serious sports persons to really believe in sports psychology. But then again I suppose it is so much easier to go and shoot hundreds of arrows then to do 20 min a day of mental exercises.
And what more fun is ithere than to get the latest gear to improve our performance :roll:

There is some great stuff on the internet and some great books around.
One excellent site with some outstanding articles is

http://www.enhanced-performance.com/nideffer/articles/articles.html.

Another excellent book, which was produced in Association with the Australian Olympic Committee is

[Marcus]

I don't know about interest, this section has done very well.

I'm actually not a huge user of setting mental training times. Instead I use time which I would otherwise be thinking of other things. For example I will shoot while driving, sitting at the bank, waiting at the super market etc etc.
But then how much use is visualisation if everything else is broken? Are you in fact metally practising poor technique?
Are the Elite top athletes actually in a position to tell you and me how to approach our game? I don't think so.

Much of how elite athletes approach their game is different to how non-elite do. For example when Clint steps to the line at 90m he has zero doubt he will hit the 10. My confidence is not high right now, so when I step up I feel pretty good about hitting the gold, but expect some 8's in there. Other shooters may be happy to get all reds. But this effects how we all must train for an event and how we react to certain situations.

Perhaps someone has a solution to this? But I don't think visualising shooting 144 10's when you shoot 1100 FITAs is the answer.

[Harald]

According to Lanny Bassham it's difficult to shoot better than your self image alouds you to.
One way to rise your self image and your own expectation is by visualising good shots which again will allow you (it will be like) you to shoot very good. Off course this must be balanced in with a lot of form training where you program your brains neurons (subconcious mind)
to automatically do the right thing. and your conscious mind should have a chech list or routine to go thru when firing the shot.

I think it's all pretty mental so no wonders there are some crazy bowshooters out there.... :D :D :D

[James Park]

I agree with Harald: if you have a self-image that "you can get 320 at 70M", and you start off with 58+54+57= 169 for the first three ends, you are bound to get 51+48+53 for the next three ends (or thereabouts). (Has this ever happened to you?) That is, average archers let their brains get in the way. Just the same as if we have a target of getting 1300 (or 1200, or 1100, etc).
That is: we need to get our brains into gear about thinking the correct things, for the correct reasons, otherwise we will not do as well as we possibly could.

[Ozzy]

There is certainly one aspect of archery where self image can assist.
- Target Panic.
This common archery problem is all in the archer's mind, so self image, visualisation & self confidence in shooting the arrow is the only way to prevent or cure . :-?
It responds to a more aggressive & confident approach to the shot. :wink:

[Robert de Bondt]

John Crampton, one of Australia

[Flame]

. Other shooters may be happy to get all reds. .

If I hit the Target then everything else is a bonus :D

[Clare Barnes]

If I hit the Target then everything else is a bonus :D

Raising yourself to longbow standards these days I gather? :-?

[CW]

If I hit the Target then everything else is a bonus :D

Raising yourself to longbow standards these days I gather? :-?

Getting ready to join you :D

Flame

[Peter King]

I am a believer inasmuch as I agree with Robert, Harald and Jim in the recent posts. Mental management is just a part, but a necessary part, of shooting well, particularly under competitive conditions.

If there is a reluctance to take up mental training, it might be useful to question what is missing without it:

If archers buy the best gear, tune it well, shoot hundreds of arrows a week, work on their form obsessively and shoot top scores at times at their club, what else is left when it comes to competition? Surely not equipment, practised form and other physical factors.

Also who has not felt the problem of getting a shot to go through the clicker or to get the damned release aid to go off, and the erratic shots that occur when we lose concentration, all under pressure. We know they are not just physical factors.

Whilst the current emphasis is quite rightly on coaching physical form, surely we will see benefits in working on the mental game in future. It is not easy; we will need coaches to help us with both.

[clever_guy]

"Perhaps someone has a solution to this? But I don't think visualising shooting 144 10's when you shoot 1100 FITAs is the answer."

I think there is a difference between visualization and wishful thinking...

;)

I believe effective visualization requires you to "re-create" in you mind the most realistic optimal shot resulting in a 10(x). This means that you have to incorporate the actual "feel" of your best arrow - so you have to first spend some time when shooting identifying the feel of you best arrow. One oft the best ways to do this is to carry a shooting journal - and when you get a great feeling shot, stop, write down what it feels like in detail, then try to recreate the exact physical feeling in your mind, including the arousal level. then go back to shooting and try to shoot another great shot. The more you work at it the better you can identify and later "recreate" those great shots. The feel of great shots changes over time as you change your shots sequence, and become better - so it is something that evolves in it's process.

Maybe you are better than me at it Marcus, but when I effectively visualize, it demands all my attention. Sitting or standing in a quiet dark room while recreating a great shot is the most effective way I have found. Druing some training sessions I try to recreate a perfect shot in my mind before each arrow - and it is very mentally taxing.

-CG

[stodrette]

Here are some questions:
How many of you let the result of the prior shot influence the the next shot?

Do you you place more importance on a shot at the Nationals than the ones in practice at your home range?

In order to "succeed", the shot must be perfect in form, not that the result is an "X". Mental training teaches you to give equal importance to every shot, to stay at the shooting line and be confident that good form leads to good scores. Mental training teaches you to get into that "place" no matter where you may be- physically, whether at home or at the Olympics....

[clever_guy]

"How many of you let the result of the prior shot influence the the next shot?" - "Do you you place more importance on a shot at the Nationals than the ones in practice at your home range?"

I would say: Should we - no. Do we - yes.

Part of being human. I think some people naturally manage pressure and concentration on the task at hand (the shot) better, others learn to manage it to a varying extent. Others never overcome it. That's why we get the seporation in the competition field.

-CG

[M.Ross]

Like what clever guy said. We do tend to place more importance on that one big olympic gold shot. We just need to treat all of those practice sessions like were shooting in a stadium for the world title. Then when we do that olympic shot it is just the same as practice. Yet it is still hard for me to treat every shot like an olympic shot.

To answer your question. No if I shoot a 58 I tend to back it up with a 54. I try to just aim for 56's, and treat a 57 or 60 like bonus points.

[James Park]

I have sometimes had a competition where I finished second or third by just a few points away from a win (for example the State Target this year I finished 3rd just 10 points behind 1st after two FITA's). Then, if I think back where I lost points I can find one or two ends where I was plain careless (for example, in that State Target event I started off with a mid 40's for the first end on day one and another mid 40'd for the first end at 70M, both from being particularly careless). If I had shot every shot just as well as I can and as well as I normally do I would have easily scored more and probably won easily.
Having done this a few times I know it is just plain dumb, but am bound to do it again, and I am certain others have done it as well. The trick is to shoot every single arrow as well as you can, and to shoot every single arrow as an individual, not letting things like average end expectations get in the way.

[Flame]

Sound advice Jim

I think we all think we can make up the points when we get to the shorter
distances so get a bit slack at the longer distances.

Bad shots we make at 90 we would not do at 30. :D

[James Park]

Just a further comment on the State target this year:
Aside from my lousy first end at 90M (a low 40, which is at least 10 lower than I almost always get for any end at 90M, I had a brain fade at 70M.
I was getting my peep sight hit my cable and starting to wear away strands (not good). I figured that if I swapped my cable and string swap-over from top to bottom I would get a little more clearance and avoid the problem, so I changed this just before the first end at 70M. I figured my sight setting would be identical, so no problem.
However:
My sight setting was not the same and I started 70M with two low blues and a mid 40 for the first end. For the second end I swapped back (and lost a few more points).
So:
Easily gave away 10 points (at least) through stupidness in the first end at 90M.
Easily gave away 15 points (at least) through stupidness in the first two ends at 70M.
Lost 1st place by about 10 points over the two FITAs.
Hence:
But for stupidness, I could have won, and having done it within the first eight ends of 48 ends I was never going to catch up.
Moral:
It should be very easy to avoid such disasters, but somehow we let them spoil otherwise potentially good scores.

Another example of my stupidness:
In the Nationals in Sydney in 1994 (shooting inner 10 at that time) I averaged well over 50 for the practice ends at 90M, and had been shooting particularly well in the months before).
As I came to shoot my first scoring arrow I noticed that my bottom nocking point (a metal crimp on type) had disappeared. I thought it could not possibly matter and did not claim an equipment failure. My first three arrows hit the target number (which happened to be 47). I scored less than 20 for that end and less than 30 for the next end. I fixed the nocking point and averaged mid 50's for the next few ends. In that FITA I broke the Nationals record for 30M. In the second FITA I broke the 90M record and the FITA record.
I finished 10th, less than 40 points behind Phillip Tremelling who won.
Again, stupidness at the start of the event cost me a lot.

As Flame noted, we all have probably done it, and it is almost always impossible to catch up after we have done it, even if we break records.
In both the above examples I had avoidable problems that should simply never happen. Having shot in many big tournaments over many years you would think that an archer would learn to avoid them! However, I have seen archers just as experienced as me do the same (or worse).
Some lessons:
First, we need to avoid these brain fades (and they are almost always avoidable if we think a little bit more carefully).
Second, we need to remember that even if we have a disaster, we should not give up (others have them as well).
Third, the best approach is to simply shoot every arrow as well as we can, and as an individual shot.

[Flame]

Second, we need to remember that even if we have a disaster, we should not give up (others have them as well).

I think this is a very good point.

You may not catch up and win but it makes you deal with the situation and by doing so I think make you a better archer.

You see alot of people pull out of events if they get behind (either because they are not shooting well or they didn't check their equipment before the event and it is not performing as they would like) because they can't win.

The people who can deal with these situations and keep shooting will be the winners as this sort of thing always happens in a big event and those who can deal with it the best will win. :D

[derekm]

The people who can deal with these situations and keep shooting will be the winners as this sort of thing always happens in a big event and those who can deal with it the best will win.
but the best way to deal with some problems is stop the competition and then go and fix it. Sometimes you can use the competition just as session with a target. But for others it may be best to stop the damage to your ego and go and address the probem immediately e.g. You identify a loss feel for the shot. The repair is to shoot eyes closed into a blank bale- Not advisable at a competition.

Not a defeat but a tactical retreat.
There are times to stand your ground and laugh at fate and those when those when a withdrawal, a regrouping, and a renewed assault best serve the cause.

[Marcus]

I think too that sometimes it makes you shoot better
One year at the State Short Range me and another guy were mouthing off before the shoot. My first end, a 48. Humiliation at it's best. Knuckled down and dropped 6 points over the next 4 ends and ended with a state record (since broken).
Had I given up I would not have won that day.

Also you never know what would happen later in the day. I was ready to quit 3D part way through Saturday and then had a blinder on day 2. Made me glad I did not quit.

Second, we need to remember that even if we have a disaster, we should not give up (others have them as well).

I think this is a very good point.

You may not catch up and win but it makes you deal with the situation and by doing so I think make you a better archer.

You see alot of people pull out of events if they get behind (either because they are not shooting well or they didn't check their equipment before the event and it is not performing as they would like) because they can't win.

The people who can deal with these situations and keep shooting will be the winners as this sort of thing always happens in a big event and those who can deal with it the best will win. :D