Kelby Gjovik – It took me four years to accomplish something I have never done. What is it? I shot a 1 during a tournament, something I call a one wild flyer.
Shoot your game
Imagine shooting for your first time at a tournament and you lose your routine. This is something that happened to me at my first state tournament. Everyone around me was shooting fast, so I shot faster and fell out of my rhythm. I was upset with myself because I rushed and shot worse. My coach and parents reminded me to take a deep breath and shoot my game. After an end, I finally got back into my rhythm.
After that tournament, my coach and my dad reminded me that it did not matter how fast the person next to me shot, all I needed to do was shoot my game and take it one arrow at a time.
Don’t let one bad arrow ruin your round
Have you ever shot an end when you have three tens in a row, and you lose a little bit of concentration causing that one wild flyer? I have had that happen many times where I’ve had one wild flyer and I let it ruin the ends that followed. While working through this during practice, and at home, I finally was able to overcome this. I still struggle with letting one arrow get to me occasionally during tournaments; however, I have gotten better at making a recovery and not letting one arrow ruin that end and the ends that follow.
The one thing that I have learned that really helps me overcome one wild flyer is to stop and take a deep breath. Taking a deep breath forces me to reset and to forget about the last arrow.
Short term memory
While shooting I have been told to have short-term memory. Short-term memory shooting is when you take it one arrow at a time, you don’t worry about the arrow before or the arrow to come, just worry about the one arrow you are shooting at the moment. How I have worked on accomplishing short-term memory while shooting is by taking a deep breath after every arrow. Taking a deep breath forces me to forget about the arrow I just released. This also makes me concentrate on the arrow that I am about to shoot. This is also something I have used to help me not let that one wild flier get to me and ruin the rest of my round.
Don’t be so hard on yourself
Something that I have struggled with a lot this year is beating myself up if I have a rough arrow or tournament. This year has been a struggle compared to last year. Last year, I was shooting between 280-290 in almost every tournament; however, this year I have struggled to shoot 270s. When working during practices, and at home, I found something that contributed to my struggle. My eyesight had changed and I was struggling to see the target.
Word of advice, it helps to see the target.
After getting a new prescription and shooting glasses, which helped, I would still struggle with shooting above a 275. I have finally come to realize that I am way too hard on myself. I have been told this multiple times by my coach. He’s told me that I am going to have those rough tournaments and rounds and that it is okay. I’ve learned that I put stress on myself by comparing my scores to those from last year.
It has taken most of the season, but I have finally figured out that I need to forget about last season and to focus on just doing my best with this season, and not be so hard on myself.
-Kelby Gjovik is a 2022 student contributor. Watch for her future submissions.-
