A few weeks ago, before I was called to Florida, I had a long talk with Ed Despart. We discussed a variety of things, but we both agreed that the number of people who shoot at a high level is amazing. Twenty years ago, there were a lot of guys who could shoot well, but it seemed like many of these individuals came from the same geographical locations across the country.
Amazingly, the scores that win now aren't any different than the scores that won back then, but the number of archers shooting them has increased dramatically. So why did a lot of good/great shooters come from the same geographical locations back then?
Well, that was a time period before the internet was overloaded with information about shooting. Websites weren't available to filter through the information and learn the answers to your questions. YouTube didn't exist, so there weren't any video tutorials out there to pick apart and decide what information you could use to improve your game. There was no way to keep up on what was going on at big tournaments unless you knew someone who went to them. Then, it would take you a week or two to catch up on the "new" news as it filtered back to the ranges around the country.
I have always felt fortunate to live near Albany, N.Y., where many great archers have lived over the years. I've done most of my "local" shooting throughout New York and New England. In my travels, I've also been lucky enough to toe the line or share a stake with some of the best shooters in the world, whether it was in the late '90s or last year. I've been surrounded my professional target archers and professional 3D archers.
The amount of knowledge in an area directly leads to the quality of competition. If you find yourself in the same ranges and at the same tournaments as the good guys, you have an opportunity to watch, listen and learn. A lot of the data about shooting and tuning is talked about every day, week and month when you're around these guys. As with anything in life, if you're a good listener, you can become better at almost anything.
Twenty years ago, I was surrounded by guys who were ahead of the curve when it came to shooting and tuning. I quickly learned that being able to execute a "surprise" shot would increase my odds of being successful. I would go home and try many of things I heard others talking about. Eventually, I found my own way of doing things. I learned that the biggest secret was being consistent with the way I executed my shot. Although there were many thoughts on good form and bad form, the secret was to do things exactly the same every time I drew my bow and settled into my anchor. I might not have done it the right way, but I figured out how to repeat the process. I also learned how to give the shot 100% of my concentration.
I never achieved the heights of many of the guys from my area, but I think I did okay when I look back on it. I'm not sure if I would have done better if I had access to all of the knowledge that is currently on the internet, but I know my learning curve would have been much shorter. It probably would've allowed me to save hours, days, months and years of experimenting to understand what worked and what didn't.
When you take a look around and think about how you got to where you are, whether it's still flinging arrows in the backyard or traveling across the country to compete in national events, you should never forget your journey and the people who helped along the way.
After I got out of college and started competing, I came in contact with a lot of the greats in my region and had the pleasure of shooting with many of them. I learned from all of them, even if I didn't shoot with them. When I started traveling to shoot in 3D tournaments, the legend in my area was Roger Thibault. Everybody wanted to beat Roger. He set the bar for all others in New England. After I began finding myself in peer groups with him every year in the New England Triple Crown, I realized that his confidence helped him more than anything. He had a better mental game than anyone I had shot with up to that point. I knew I had to work on that part of my shooting and made it a priority.
Over the next 10 years, I learned from Bob Rowe, Steph Hamner, Ryan Rowe, Dave Cousins, Eric Griggs, Scott Tozier and many others. Then, as I began competing in target archery events, I watched Jim Despart, Dave Badgely, Doug Williams, Kenny Young, Doug Monteleone, and John Vozzy. Although these are just a few of the guys, there were many more whom I could write about. These guys gave me incentive to get better.
I know I probably didn't accomplish anything in writing this, but I did get to think about some of the old days when shooting was the same -- but different. The whole secret to shooting well depends on the ability to shoot a surprise shot and having a solid mental game. The rest will take care of itself. I hope this short piece makes people think of all the people in their region who pushed them to become better. Although I included a few western New Yorkers, I'm glad I lived close to many great shooters. How about all of you? Have you noticed that certain regions/pockets hold a lot of good shooters?
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