During the summer, I participated in the NFAA surveys and checked the box for doing the Indoor National tournament like they do the Sectional tournaments every year at different host locations in the regions. Then, when the news came out that there was going to be a virtual Indoor National tournament, I was excited to participate in it.
When I looked through the places I could shoot, I chose the one that would take place the week before Christmas because it would give me about one week to get a bow ready to go. Anyone who knows me knows that 100% of my focus and energy goes into deer hunting throughout the fall. Although I wanted to do well in the tournament, I chose not to miss out on the magical weeks of fall when I could hunt. Therefore, I stuck to the grind and never fired an arrow until the week before the tournament was scheduled to take place.
That Sunday, I entered the range and spent an hour or two shooting. Although I shot at a target, I didn’t focus on impact point. Instead, I wanted to make sure my shot felt good and the draw length was good. After all, Sean Roberts had helped me with a few issues on my bow, and we tried to get the draw length in the exact spot where I thought I could execute my best shots and perform my best. He did a great job helping me with my equipment, and we ended up at 28 ¾ draw length, holding about 17-18 pounds. I’m shooting a PSE Supra Focus (the original one), and the ability to adjust the let-off is one of the best features with PSEs in my opinion. I settled on the 70% let-off location for the draw stop. It felt the best in that location and made my shot break the best. Although I could aim better at higher let-off, my execution was better in the middle. The lower let-off made the bow feel too jittery for me, although I’m sure I could shoot it now after sending a lot of arrows down range. My bow has GAS strings on it, and they have performed flawlessly since installing them.
By the end of the week, I shot two games and scored 58xs and 57xs. I felt confident going into the weekend. Then, the blizzard hit and the tournament had to be postponed. I was disappointed but glad, because taking care of the three feet of snow did a number on my shoulders.
After getting the new date, I decided to focus my efforts solely on the tournament. I worked hard on my shot, my self-image, my recovery strategy and my ability to stay in the moment. In the next month, I never shot above 58xs or below 55xs. I guess you could say I’m pretty consistent. I also knew my misses weren’t mental. The misses I was making were due to a combination of poor execution and pin movement. For the most part, the arrows were hitting as good as the bow was holding. It’s hard to hold a bow really steady with short bars and no lens, especially with 51 ½-year-old diabetic eyes. My execution should've given me multiple 60x games, but the pin just didn't sit still enough to cooperate, and you can't complain when the arrow hits behind the pin.
The Tournament
Well, last week I decided to practice like I would perform, so I ended the week by shooting a 300 game on Wednesday evening and another one on Thursday evening, taking Friday off for rest. I figured this would replicate Saturday and Sunday. I had two good practice sessions and shot 57xs in both of them.
When I arrived at the location on Saturday morning, I felt good, but I could also feel a little nervousness jittering around between the top of my chest and my throat. The little devil has sat in that cavern on more than one occasion over the years. I acknowledged the little beast, but I didn’t feed it. Instead, I welcomed it to give me its best shot. The little fella knew that he had beaten me a few times in the past, but he and I were going to throw down today, and I was going to beat him. I had practiced beating him in my mind many times over the last month when he was nowhere to be found. Now, I was ready for him when he appeared at the top of my chest.
The two official practice ends felt okay but a little shaky. I scattered some arrows around the target and mostly found the middle. As in all practice ends, I don’t really care where I hit; I just want to get a feel for my shot. In the second practice end, I usually focus more on getting my hold to settle down. In that end, I noticed it was still a little jittery. Unfortunately, I made a mess of the target in the practice ends and never replaces it with a fresh one before the first official scoring end.
When the horn sounded for the first end, I felt pressure I hadn’t felt in my month of preparation leading up to that moment. Drawing down on the lower right bullseye, the pin settled nicely and I felt a sense of calmness run through my veins. The bow fired and the arrow pierced the scribe on the dark blue X. I was on my way.
The tension built over the next four arrows, with each arrow becoming more of a battle to fire. When the last one cut loose from my bowstring, I put my bow down, looked deep inside my soul and lightly said, “This is not you. You have 55 arrows left to shoot like you. Now, it’s time to be you.”
After scoring had been completed for that first end, I was the low man. I had shot two, yes two, Xs. After five arrows, I was already at my final score average for the last month. On the way back to the line, I thought of sitting in a tree during hunting season and watching everything wake up in the woods. I saw deer meticulously picking their way through the trees, and I imagined myself in their world. I had worked on my recovery strategy really hard, and I never figured I would have to use it in the first end, but I gave it my best. After all, I knew I might have to use it again. I knew I could roll 55 in a row, so that’s what I set my mind to doing
When the round came to a conclusion, I knew I had beat the beast within. I kept him from winning the battle, and he tried like hell in that first end to get the best of me. When the cards were added up, I had gotten out of Day 1 with 57xs and 35 inside out. With exception of that first end, I held the bow like a rock. The bow held as steady as I’ve made it sit this year. On my way home, I knew I was in the game. Like any two or three-day tournament, you can never win on the first day but you can sure as hell lose. I gave myself a chance and that was my goal for the day.
Day Two
Going into Day 2, I felt more relaxed. I thought I would feel more pressure, but I actually felt less. The two warm-up rounds were less than stellar. I missed half of the Xs, and the bow just wouldn’t sit down like I wanted it to. I knew it was going to be more of a battle than the previous day.
Amazingly, my shots were smooth on the first end, and I missed one, but the arrow hit exactly where the pin was when the bow fired. I couldn’t complain about that. As I marched through the round, I mentally battled. The Nerve Beast, still there, must have been skipping rope between my upper chest and the lower extremities of my throat. Every time he hopped the rope, my pin danced like the dancing bears around the fire. I stayed focus and tried my hardest to stick to the program and look through the pin. Looking through the pin can be tough for me at times because I aim with my pin. I’m not the kind of person who stares through it, but I knew I would need to stare through it on this day. If I didn’t do that, I would be in a heap of trouble trying to stop it.
Luckily (or unluckily), the pin began setting down as the round progressed. At times, the pin sat so still, I just sat back and enjoyed the show I was watching. I did nothing to participate in the archery game. Instead, I was content to watch the pin sit almost motionless in the middle of the X. It slowed my shot down and caused a lot of tension. I began having to let down more than I would like, and I realized that the problem was coming from the fear of missing.
Finally, as the last end of the tournament landed in my lap, I pulled the bow back for the first of the final five shots and began to panic. I could no longer see my green fiber optic, as the light had just about faded out. Scrambling to figure something out, I decided I could get by, even though I knew I probably should take an equipment failure and find a way to fix it.
I knew the shots would have to go quickly before the pin faded out to nothing. I could still see it but it wasn’t bright enough to be able to commit to a shot with great confidence. The next five shots went smoothly, and all arrows found their way into the X. I am a great finisher, and I stomped across the finish line and gave a swift kick to the Nerve Beast. I kicked him and watched him roll across the floor like a tumbleweed beginning its journey across the Kansas prairie. I had beaten him on this day because I had practiced beating him. He can be incredibly difficult to beat because he is more practiced than 95% of all competitive archers. If you take the time to practice defeating him, you will have your share of battles, but you will know you’re able to beat him. I’ve never won a tournament that is as great as one I’ve won because I beat him at the same time. It’s a two-for-one special, and I always lay my money on the counter to cash in while it’s there for the taking.
Final Thoughts
Along the way, I’ve become friends with a lot of archers, and I’m thankful for the friendships I’ve made along the way. I remember watching Roger Thibault, Steph Hamner, Al Lane, Bob Rowe, Dave Gravlin, Brian Visco, Donny Goodwin, Bill Trybulski, and many others throughout New England when I started my journey into competitive archery. These guys set a standard that I wanted to carry on, and I feel like I’ve done my part.
I even got to watch some of the younger guys when they were in the youth class, and I wondered where they would go. Eric Griggs is always one who stuck out to me. I always loved to watch his fiery personality. He had a sleeping bear lurking inside, and you wanted to try to avoid the sleeping bear at all costs. As he got older and became a professional archer, he kept that competitive edge. I believe at one time, although I can’t be sure, that he might have set the record for most Xs ever in Vegas with his MQ1 that he filed the handle off, but he shot a 9 that year. Heck, this was probably 25 years ago, and he was still a kid. It was in a time before everyone shot 30X games. It was impressive to watch him compete. Then, I saw the sleeping bear awaken when he left his last job and opened GAS Bowstrings. The bear wanted to become the best in the business and that’s what he set out to do. When he started out, he said he would help me because I was one of the old-school New Englanders. He graciously reached out and helped me with strings for multiple bows. Then, I settled on shooting a PSE Supra Focus for indoor archery. He made the strings for me, and I put them on there. Although I know strings are like car engines and oil, I’ve ever felt the need to change those strings the last three years. This is the beginning of the third year I’ve had those original strings on my Focus, and they have performed flawlessly on that bow. I know the strings on that bow perform and that’s why I haven’t touched them. They have given me the confidence to get the job done. So thank you, Eric, for providing me with an opportunity to represent your brand and help you out while you help me out. I’ve learned over the years that one hand always washes the other.
I put a lot into this tournament, and my mind has been anything but calm and at peace for the last 10 months. I’ve fought plenty of internal battles in life in that time period. I’ve learned to separate and overcome each battle as it presents itself. I’ve allowed myself to focus on the here and now while ignoring the things I can’t control. Instead, I control the things I can control and let the other things pass by like water in a stream. Since many of us are Patriot fans, we can all use the famous Belichick line after each archery tournament……….. “On to Cincinnati.” It's amazing how fast it is to feel the rush of the finish, then move on to the next. It's important to set new goals and keep moving forward.
