NYFAB/NFAA Virtual State Championship

 

   

  If you shoot for the stars, you might miss and hit the moon, but at leas you'll be heading in the right direction! This weekend I attend the  NYFAB/NFAA Virtual State Championship. Unfortunately, I didn't spend as much time mentally preparing for this event as I had for the Indoor National and the Mid-Atlantic Sectional. Those two events were my main focus for the indoor season. I know better than to be unprepared when I attend an event, but I just didn't feel like I needed the same mental game for this event as the others to be successful. It's a very poor attitude to have, and I'll share with you how my round went after arriving at the host site. 

  I registered for the 9 a.m. Sunday line, figuring the shooting time would be the same time I shoot every Sunday morning. I figured that would work well since my daily routine wasn't changing at all. I had a great practice round on Thursday night and felt good about my shot. I shot a Lancaster round for a warmup on Thursday and ended up with a 641, which I considered pretty good for shooting a bowhunter setup. It gave me a lot of confidence going into the event. After the practice session, I decided to take a few days off and not touch my bow. 

  When I got to the event, I was happy to see Jeff Wagoner and John Vozzy. I didn't know John was going to shoot, and I haven't seen him all winter, so it felt good to catch up with him about archery -- and life. I haven't seen Jeff since going to Hall's in January, and I always enjoy hanging out with Jeff and sharing stories. 

  My first two practice ends felt good. I shot a nine or two in the practice ends, but I was focusing on my shot and not my aiming. Then, the  line judge said, "This is the first official scoring end. The line is hot." 

  The clock began ticking, and I drew my bow. My hold was long and my back felt like jello. When I'm nervous, I know I need to stay strong with my bow arm, so I focused on that. When the release fired, the arrow stroked the 10-ring and pierced the X-ring through the heart. I talked to myself in my mind and said, "Nice shot, Todd. You always shoot well when you feel nervous." Then, I reached for my second arrow and nocked it. I pictured myself shooting another good shot, watching the arrow find its way to the X. Then, I drew my bow. The picture I had just seen wasn't quite as clear as the one that was actually occurring, but I stayed the course and kept pulling. Seconds later the arrow found it's way into the highest scoring ring. The anxiety continued building as I nocked the the third arrow. This time, both arms felt like jello. It was if I was Plastic man and my arms were dangling from tree limbs. I had a long hold, but when it fired, it followed the first two arrows and made its way into the 10-ring. Walking to the  target to begin scoring, I told myself, "I always get stronger as the round continues. I knew I was going to have work hard because I felt a lot more anxiety than I had felt in any round of the year. I didn't expect it, and I knew I would have to dig deep and figure it out as I went. Nerves are incredible thing and learning to deal with them on your own terms is something that takes experience. You might have to work a while to figure out what things work for you and what things don't work. You need to stay the path and learn from every experience. 

  

  After that first end, I struggled with my shot a little bit through the next couple of ends, but the arrows kept finding their mark. Then, in the fourth end, every shot felt like the most incredible shot I ever made. The first one was awesome, and the feeling built from there. I was sinking into the zone, and the times I've been in the zone in the past, I've been on cruise control until the end. Although I could still feel the nerves, my pin was sitting still and my shots were breaking with consistency. Going into the eighth end, I knew I would not miss on this day. My shot and aim came together to create an unbeatable combination. What was a struggle in the early going had turned into a powerful calm. My shot was powerful and my mind was calm. I was hitting every step in stride, and nothing could stop me. After the eighth end, the line judge informed all of the shooters we would take a 10 minute break since we were at the halfway point. I got a little distracted by that and began talking. I've always preferred staying to myself in any type of tournament and not talking to people during the shooting. I seem to focus better when I'm alone with my thoughts, and sometimes I get distracted my conversation. I need to work on this in the coming weeks. 

  My shots broke good after the break, and all of the arrows found their way to the highest scoring ring again. However, my aim had deteriorated a little bit from the rounds prior to the break. Going into the 10th end, I still felt good. Drawing on the first target, I felt confident I would stuff the one hold in the 10 ring. I hadn't missed the X on that target yet, and there was one hole in the target. The pin dipped a hair right when the shot fired and the arrow hit behind the pin. I knew it was at 6 o'clock in the 10-ring. I shot the next two arrows and made good shots.

  When we walked down to score the arrows, I saw that the arrow had gone into the target and channeled into a hole in the backstop. The arrow ripped through the paper at 6-o'clock in the 10-ring, but titled downward, so the arrow appeared to be out of the 10-ring. It was a bummer, but there was nothing I could do about it. I let the circumstances control my thought process, which took hold and got me good for a few minutes. 

  I lost my focus and began missing steps in my process. In the last five ends of the tournament, I got off course, my mental game suffered, I missed steps and made mistakes I haven't made the entire year. I had two shots fire prematurely when I skipped a step and engaged the trigger before the pin was in the middle of the 10-ring. Each time, the bow fired and the end result was exactly what it should have been for skipping a step. 

  After the round ended, I was really disappointed in myself, but I was also happy that I found that elusive "Zone" in the beginning of the round and road it through 2/3 of the event. It's not often that people find the zone, but it's also not likely that someone goes out of it once finding it. I made great shots today while under pressure, too. Although I would like to tell you I had a winning performance, I can't honestly tell you that today. I did shoot really well, though. I had a great round, but needed a little bit more luck. We will have to wait for the results for see how I finished. I'm guessing I probably have a good shot to win, but you never know these days. 

                                                          Closing Thoughts

  Today was a good day. It quickly reminded me that I need to stay 100% focused for the duration of the event. It also showed me that I ignored the strongest part of my game, which is my ability to concentrate. I will not let that happen again. 

  I got to watch some great shooting today. Recently, I have tried to help fellow archer Rick Steves with his mental game. I've always felt that my mental game is what has allowed me to win a lot of things along the way, and I pride myself with that. I might not shoot better than you, but I shoot well enough to let my mental game beat yours, which allows me to beat you. If you surround yourself with people who are mentally strong, you will become stronger in that area. 

  Rick worked hard on his mental game for this event and did the things I told him to do. He had a great round on Friday night in his league, and he followed it up with an outstanding performance in the state shoot. I've never seen such a good looking target that wasn't a 450. I watched Rick's entire round, and he performed flawlessly. He had a winning performance, even though he will not be the winner of this event. You can never ask for more than having a winning performance. Like me, Rick just had some bad luck today and missed a 450 by no more than a fingernail width of an arrow. 

  I think our club members will have another great showing at this event, just as we have over the last few years. Although you can never predict what will happen in these virtual events, I'm thinking Jason Clark and I will both win our third NFAA state title in a row. I guess we will just have to sit back and see what happens as the scores roll in. 

  I can't help but mention my little buddy, Jacob Slusarz. It's a pleasure to watch him succeed at the highest levels. While it's always disheartening to not bring home the gold medal, he's still showing all of us an incredible feat in archery. What he is doing is not easy and very few professionals have ever been able to do what he is and has been doing. While all of you are cheering him on, don't ever think that he is a natural. He works harder at it than anyone an imagine, and he has the ups and downs that we all have. Every round is not a stellar round. He manages his practice and works on things. He had lost his shot a little bit in recent times, just as I had. When we discussed it, we both came to the conclusion we needed to do something different. We both used our own methods and worked on things the way we thought would fix our problems. Obviously, Jacob put the correct work in, identified the problem and worked hard to improve a few areas of this game. Too many people don't put this type of work in. If you want to be a great one, you can follow Jacob's lead. You need to put the work in and do the things that will help you improve. Jacob is never satisfied. He always wants to get better. This drive and determination allow him to excel when he has a chance in big events. Always try to work harder than your opponent in silence. I respect this more than anything about Jacob. He never makes excuses, even if something else can me blamed. He always takes accountability, even if there was an issue with his equipment. Many people can learn from this trait. Always be accountable for your shooting. 

  When the results come in, I'll probably write another article on my thoughts about the indoor season. I'm unsure if I'm done indoors for the year, so I might still have a shoot or two to write about between now and then. I hope everyone is doing well. It appears we might be able to have a somewhat normal outdoor season this year once it finally starts.