Practice/Tournament Scores

[SteveFSA]

I'm curious how many here on AF can regularly shoot their practice scores (or better) in a tournament?

Usually, a week before a tournament I score a few practice rounds at 90m, 70m and 50m. So far my tournament score at 90m is usually 10-20 points lower than my practice score (even if the conditions are very good). My 70m scores are just a few points lower and my 50m is as good or even better than my practice score.

I know some of this can be attributed to nerves, as 90m is always shot first, but after the first end I usually feel fine.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[clever_guy]

A 20 point dip in FITA 1440 is about right for the average competitive archer, it is just anxiety. Very few athletes in any sport match their personal bests in practice with what they shoot in a competition. The only real way to reduce the difference between competition scores and practice scores is to either; train in a way where overall volume of shooting and highest concentration/arousal levels peaks with the date of the tourney, or increase the number of tourneys you shoot. Peak training takes a considerable amount of work and time to get right, it would be hard to do well unless you were a near full-time archer and had the benifit of being in a high-performance program. The best an average archer (which most of us are) can do is use a journal to plan, record, and plot and try to recognize patterns in shooting performance and then try to replicate those patterns with upcoming tourneys..

-CG

[James Park]

Given equal weather conditions (which is rarely the case), my tournament scores are about the same as or a little higher than my practice scores. Over many years I have learnt to use the pressure of the tournament to push my performance up rather than down, and regard this as an important skill. Having put quite a bit of effort in to understanding this area, both as an archer and as a coach, I see it as a skill that can be leant.
My personal best in practice is higher than for tournaments simply because I practice on a very good ground (Sherbrooke), shoot more in practice than in tournaments, and inevitably get the best weather in practice. For example, I do get a reasonable number of days at Sherbrooke where there is simply no drift.

[Marcus]

In most cases my practise scores are higher, however in many cases this year it has been the other way. On one weekend I shot 299 and 298 at 90m on Saturday then 313 at a comp on Sunday.
I think it's dependant on how much pressure I put myself under at the time.

[CMB50]

I've found that i have set most of my PB's during competition and where i havn't, i have been shooting around the same as i do in practise.

I seem to just draw on the abilities of the archers around me and try to step up to the next level rather that being intimidated by it all. Thats the new philosophy anyway. :D

[SteveFSA]

Thanks guys, you have given me something to think over. I guess I'll stop beating myself up over this. :roll:

I would love to shoot a FITA comp every weekend, that would probably cure the anxiety; problem is we just don't have that many of them locally.

Thanks again.

[2Dogs]

I think it's just the numbers game......I shoot more Practice rounds then Comps.

But my PB Practice scores are about 20 points better then my PB Comp Scores.

I put it down to choking :D

[Axilla]

I put it down to choking :D

CG recommends spitting, not swallowing, to avoid choking.

[clever_guy]

"CG recommends spitting, not swallowing, to avoid choking."

You do realize this is the Archery Psychology section, not the lame-ass poetry area right Axilla, wouldn't want you to get out of your depth..

8) :lol: :lol:

-CG

[James Park]

I think that one of the key points is learning how to use the normal tensions of a tournament to increase your scores. This is a well known area of sports psychology and can be practiced.
If you do not practice it, then it is highly likely that these tensions will actually reduce your performance (and I see that happen frequently).
So: if your tournament scores are indeed below your practice scores (given equal weather conditions), I would strongly suspect that you could gain substantially from some specific know-how and coaching in the ways to deal with pressure and to use it to advantage.
The fact that archers get nervous in tournaments is a good thing, and used correctly is a real benefit. Used incorrectly or ignored, it is a very real negative.

[Eberbachl]

I'd love to hear more on this sometime Jim. It would be great to learn how to use nervous energy as your friend :D

[Harald]

Guess, just by realizing the fact that pressure, adrenaline is performance
increasing stuff and not something to fear or avoid is a great step in the right direction...Keep remebering it, and let flow....
Also important: when it counts most and high performance level is
required, you should relax, don't give a ****, and just let your shots
happen by themselves. Your subconscious and "toptrained?" neurons will do a much better job of it, than your conscious nervous wreck :D :D :D

[clever_guy]

"If you do not practice it, then it is highly likely that these tensions will actually reduce your performance (and I see that happen frequently)."

Training under stress conditions is a given as well as good coaching, and tourney stress does help to increase arousal levels which can give a performance boost. The more you train under stress conditions the more you can "control" or direct that performance boost.

However, with that being said, there is still the issue of why high-level archers will give less than optimal performances in tourney conditions rather than in practice. Now if we want to talk about optimal performance, and tourney pressure - lets talk about indoor tournaments, where there isn't weather conditions to contend with, or distance estimation, or an as of yet to be reached "score ceiling". And let's for simplicity just look at one venue Vegas. Vegas scoring is actually a much easier round than FITA I, you get to score 10's and X's, and you don't have to worry about "fat nines" shooting a compound. The top shooters who shoot Vegas are some of the best compound archers in the world, FITA I Indoor World Champions, FITA I World record holders, in fact many of the participants will run clean FITA I rounds (600 60x) in practice, target after target. Some of them have had strings of several hundred 10's in a row over multiple sessions over weeks, without dropping a 9. So why didn't anyone shoot 900 90x's, why when $1,000,000 dollars is on the line didn't they just shoot as well as they can in practice? I will tell you why and it is the same reason why the FITA I WR is 598 and not 600...Anxiety. And anxiety has a detrimental impact on performance. When you add the mental perception that you must shoot perfectly in order to win, and a single miss will push you out of the running - top archers will fold. You ask GRIV on AT about how hard it is just to shoot a perfect 900 in Vegas (just fat 10's), and how many top shooters will drop a 9 and thereby be out of the running - and after doing that they will then clean 300 30x rounds - because the pressure is then off they are out of the running, they are effectively back practicing, well within their comfort zone.

We all talk a good game on the Internet about

[James Park]

It is also reasonable given you can expect to drop points under tourney pressure.
-CG

CG,
What I am saying is that it is possible to learn to use the pressure to advantage, rather than having it as a negative. That is: accept that the pressure will be there, but get it to assist rather than hinder you. Many scientific studies have shown that without a bit of pressure athletes perform at a lower level than with carefully managed tension. (The key is "carefully managing it").

[clever_guy]

"What I am saying is that it is possible to learn to use the pressure to advantage, rather than having it as a negative."

And I am acknowledging that, there are positive benefits to stress, particularly as concerns arousal levels as well as physiological changes such as hormone production and increased blood flow - all of which can lead to heightened levels of awareness (arousal) as well as increased performance levels, especially when an athlete learns how to control/manage it.

However as I mentioned, that doesn't prevent the overall effect from being negative or detrimental to performance. You can't look at it as being only a positive, stress is stress. Most people react to stress the same way, and for the most part it is poorly. Most of this stress is also self-induced, which is at the root of the problem. Athletes often lose the event mentally before they ever lose it physically, and it has a lot to do with the mental frame work they build around both their self-assurance and their expectations. You can't expect to shoot a PB of 1,400 in a tourney if you have never shot over a 1,370 in practice - it may happen - but most likely even if you are on the way to doing it in a tourney, you will "crack" along the way, because internally you "know" you are not a 1,400 shooter. All the adrenalin and higher arousal levels won't help you from losing the mental game. As the self-doubt mounts, so does the stress, and you can then feel the physical as well as the psychological detrimental effects of stress. On the other hand a 1,400 average shooter most likely won't experience the same mental barrier on the way to shooting a 1,400 in a tourney - so the stressors will not be as high, and they can better manage the effects, and gain the slight advantages. It doesn't work all the time though, we are all human and we all have good and bad days and we can't control where they will fall. This is why athletes use beta-blockers, for all the possible positive gains that are availiable from stress, retaining managed control is still the better plan - and if you can take enough of the stress edge off you can concentrate on the task at hand.

Before anyone asks, I have no idea how you better control the mental side of the equation to minimize the negative stress and maximize the positive stress - I doubt anyone really does. What makes a Lance Armstrong not "crack" and win a the TdF 5 times, where equally conditioned athletes fail to finish is anyone

[2Dogs]

I'm sure if I was shooting a World Championship tournament on Sandrine's Target I would definately be in a higher state of Arousal :D............most likely having an Anxiety attack........I think studies have called this Mental Bliss the "Gravy Stroke".

...Oh and I would problably shoot crap.....but like who would give a Toss :D

[CMB50]

OMG! :roll:

[Kuru]

Scientific tests on me have proven this week that Lisa Lashes improves my shooting :D

[power-strings.com]

I have a better average at the asa pro/ams than I the locals. I guess I'm that I have always thrived with competition.

[TreacherousT]

I dont know about you guys, but I ENJOY the pressure of being the last guy on the line and having everyone watching you. Last sunday at the shoot I went to I shot one arrow, which was an 11, and then on the second arrow I had to let down three times because my hand just wasnt comfortable. Everyone in my group was done shooting and another group of 8 had come up behind us. I liked the feeling of having the people watching me and shot another perfect 11.

I think that it is this mindset that helps me not be scared to be the last on the line, and other things of that sort