Beginner's Guide to the Mental Vision of Archery

March 2, 2021 | Taylor Walston | Technical Archery

When you're standing face-to-face with the target on the line, it can be easy to give in to the pressure. In archery, nothing stands between you and the target but yourself. That's why it's so important to develop both your mental and physical shape. You could be in the best shape of your life and practice every day, but if you can't focus, you're guaranteed to miss your shot. We spoke with Lanny Bassham of Mental Management Systems to discuss his approach to coaching mental training, its development by archers, and his advice for implementing this training during competitions.

Why is mental preparation important?

"If you ask a top archer or athlete what percentage of their sport is mental, you'll usually get 90% or more," Bassham said. "If you ask them what percentage of their time and money they spend on their mental training, it's much lower. If you ask them when they thought about their mental training, they'll say, 'Probably too late.'"

Bassham knows firsthand how important mental training can be for performance. When he didn't win Olympic gold the first time around, Bassham realized he needed to refine his mental process. "I didn't want to win by just practicing my form," Bassham said. "I started paying attention to my mental training, and winning the World Championships and my Olympic gold medal became a reality. You can't ignore it anymore. If you do that, you'll get beat by the people who are paying attention."

Bassham admits that having a coach for your mental training isn't as common as having one for your physical or technical game. "It's fun to take a lesson from a technical coach," Bassham said. "When they walk in my door and we talk about needing to change their mindset, they're not used to that." Bassham has long worked with some of the best archers, and Mental Management Systems has been associated with USA Archery for at least 20 years. He notes that competitive archers are far ahead of other athletes when it comes to accepting coaching for the mental process. USA Archery is a particularly strong advocate for this type of training. USA Archery offers online courses on mental management as an integral part of its coaching certification program, and Mental Management Systems offers additional online courses as part of its archery program.

Developing your mental training is crucial for consistency. Bassham notes that if you don't have mental consistency, you won't have technical consistency. "If your mind isn't consistent, your form suffers," Bassham said. "What you do physically is called your routine, and what you think is your mental process. Many archers think about what comes to mind. When they make a good shot, they think one way; when they make a bad shot, they think another. Find a consistent mindset. That's helped me in my career."

I'm a beginner. Where should I start?

"The things we focus on first are range safety and integrating a mental process into your form," Bassham said. "As you develop your technical skills, you should also develop your mental skills." He advises archers to practice their reactions to their shots right from the start of training and to learn to focus on the solutions rather than the problems. "You have to learn how you react or don't react to your shots," Bassham said. The most important thing is to accept your mistakes and learn from them. "Making a mistake is not a mental mistake," Bassham said. "Making a mistake and learning from it is a prerequisite to getting better. Either you get a good shot and you get rewarded, or you get a bad shot and you get a lesson. Making a mistake and not learning from it is a mental mistake. Making a mistake and beating yourself up is a big mental mistake."

Bassham notes that archers shouldn't wait until it's too late to address their mental game. "If you train for years and focus solely on your form and don't address the mental flaws right from the start, those mental flaws will become embedded and much more difficult to eliminate later," Bassham said.

What if I feel fine during training but can't concentrate during the competition?

"I would say you definitely have a flaw in your mental process, and you need to fix it," Bassham said. "You shouldn't have a huge difference between your practice results and your tournament results. Either your mental process isn't the same in tournaments, or the process you use in practice doesn't work in tournaments." Whatever you do during a tournament, you should do during practice. "You learn how to shoot in practice," Bassham said. "You learn how to compete in tournaments, not during practice," Bassham said. "It's very difficult to duplicate pressure in practice."

You can try to replicate the weather conditions. If you're competing outdoors, practice shooting in the wind. There are ways to accommodate windy conditions, so make sure you know how to adapt—and avoid being thrown off your game on a big day. Practicing in a competitive environment will help prepare you for the main event.

How do I develop my mental game?

"Very accomplished athletes will come to us and they've won quite a bit, but they're suffering and can't get past where they are," Bassham said. He then encourages them to ask themselves some questions:

Are you missing important information that you need to know?

How defined is your mental process?

Do you know exactly what you need to think about before, during and after the shot?

Do you know exactly what you need to think about before, during and after tournaments?

"If you don't know, you can't duplicate it," Bassham said. "This could be the reason your tournament results are inconsistent."

He also recognizes other obstacles, such as overexertion, overthinking, and the inability to cope with fear or pressure. Archers can overcome these as well. Bassham suggests breaking the emotional process down into three steps:

Know the essential information and principles.

Develop a mental process that works and then duplicate it.

Overcome the barriers to winning, such as over-trying, overthinking, and worrying about what other people say and think.

Repetition and consistency are powerful tools: Use them. The more you practice your mental process, the more comfortable you'll feel. "Define something you'll think about before and after you shoot," Bassham said. "The important part is that it's always the same."

Visualization can also be a helpful tool. "We call it 'rehearsal' in my program," Bassham said. "It's imagining what each action looks and feels like. Every step has an element of rehearsal. It's a big part of what I think helps develop a mental process you can count on." Bassham cautions that you should still visualize the actual process, not just the feeling of winning. "I think some people have described visualizing the arrow hitting the ten-ring, and I don't think that's a bad thing, but I don't think that's as important as rehearsing what it feels like to make a shot," Bassham said.

Competing against archers who are at a higher level than you is also important to keep you motivated. It will push you to perform at your best, and you'll learn valuable lessons from the others. Bassham coaches Olympic gold medalist Brady Ellison of Team USA and admires his commitment to his mental game. "He's a long-term performer," Bassham said. "I've never met anyone more disciplined when it comes to managing their mental process."

Bassham encourages archers interested in developing their mental game to contact him.

Trust yourself

If you're prepared for something, nothing will shake you. Practice often, get used to the competitive environment, and approach your next tournament with confidence. If you trust your abilities and follow the same mental process every time, your muscles will do their job. We are often our own worst enemy, so don't lose to your own self-doubt.

 

Source: https://archery360.com/2021/03/02/a-beginners-guide-to-archerys-mental-game/

German translation: He Poto - THANK YOU!!!