Daniel Ebner, May – There are a lot of feelings that happen when you shoot archery. Something that I think is so great is that when I think of all of the feelings I associate with archery, almost every one of them is positive. What a cool sport if you can practice, prepare, travel, compete, and have positive feelings about it.
Fun: For me archery has always been fun! It is so fun to shoot a bow, and Genesis bows are my favorite type to shoot. It is fun to pick out your arrows (they make many different arrow and fletching colors, so you can usually find a color combination that fits your personality). It is fun to get to practice and see yourself improve and your hard work pay off. It is so fun to get to look forward to a tournament and seeing friends you’ve made. It’s really to have a good scoring round and, in practice or a tournament. It’s also so fun to talk about archery and tell people how to shoot a bow, what NASP is, and to talk to other archers.
Rewarding: Seeing your hard work pay off is so rewarding! I practice a lot and to see my shot process improve along with my scores is very rewarding. It’s also rewarding to help other archers. Seeing my coach, family, and friends be proud of me for participating in archery is a very rewarding feeling.
Dedicated: Archery takes a lot of physical and mental practice, and I feel very dedicated being an archer! You have to be dedicated to practicing, checking your equipment, having your equipment ready for tournaments, and doing your best each season.
Strong: I feel so strong because I’m an archer! Archery is such great exercise, and it’s both physical and mental exercise. Being able to shoot a bow, hike an archery course, pull your arrows, and even pack your equipment into a tournament will help you get stronger and feel strong.
Challenged: Sometimes I feel challenged, anxious, and even stressed shooting archery. But I think these are good feelings because they help me improve. I have always been told that you can’t let a bad shot affect the next shot, and this is so true. If I have a shot that my form wasn’t the best, or my arrow didn’t go where I thought it would on the target, it can be hard. But if I remember to go through my shot process, and take some deep breaths, I can usually turn my mood around.
Included: Shooting archery makes me feel like I am part of something really amazing. Being included on a team, at a tournament, and this year as a NASP Student Contributor makes me feel very included. Everyone is always so nice at tournaments and I always feel included even talking with other teams and students. I might travel to a tournament and not know anyone, but I always end up having plenty of students and coaches to talk to.
There are so many feelings that I think of when I think of archery, but these ones come to mind first. What an amazing sport I get to be a part of!