Anna C. March – When someone asks me what goes through my mind when I’m shooting, they are going to get a long answer. For me, I hyper focus on every part of NASP’s eleven steps in my head while I shoot.
- Stance
- Nock
The first thing I do is set up my feet and nock my arrow. Setting up your stance is the first step in getting a consistent shot. Then I start thinking how I want this shot to go.
- Draw handset
- Bow handset
- Pre draw
- Draw
One of the most important things when shooting, is your breathing. The technique that works best for me is to inhale when I’m pulling back my bow, and then exhale before I let go of the arrow. When first starting out, I made the mistake of holding my breath while I was shooting.
- Anchor
I try to get my anchor point consistent by hooking my thumb on my jaw every time. At first it was something I had to think about, but now it just comes naturally.
- Aim
- Shot setup
Aiming and shot setup are the steps that are mostly mental. It’s about looking at your spot on the target and thinking of your release. If you pressure yourself to much, all that tension is going into your shot. You will shoot better once you’re calm and get the nerves shaken out. Sometimes there are distractions when you’re shooting, but you need to learn to tune those things out. It’s a skill you can get better at the more you shoot. I’m still not great at tuning little noises out when I shoot, but there is always room for improvement!
- Release
- Follow Through & Reflect
If I have a good shot I try to do the exact same thing again for the next shot. If it wasn’t a good shot, I try to figure out what I did wrong and adjust so the next shot goes where I want it to go. Positive self talk is so important. My parents tell me that I can be pretty hard on myself, so this is an area I’m trying to work on. At our state tournament a few weeks ago, I didn’t do as well as I had hoped at 10 meters. Instead of beating myself up before we shot at 15 meters, I told myself to just relax and do my best and it would be ok. I ended up shooting one of my best scores at 15 and I think it had a lot to do with those positive thoughts!