Target Panic, Food Poisoning, and the Joy of Shooting
This season I received two of the best honors of my short archery career while fighting through the biggest disappointment I've faced.
This season started great for me, and went off the rails fast. I progressed pretty quickly in the beginning, but after a near miss accident this winter suddenly had a spiral into target panic; I clawed my way back, and was looking liked I'd place where I thought I would (after adjusting expectations) at Nationals. Then: food poisoning.
Around 850 hours of training this season (conservatively) derailed suddenly on the line. I considered dropping out (at this time, World Archery had no medical-issue rule), but stayed in it, fighting getting sick for what felt like an eternity. I kept a smile, but it was more out of desperation than anything else. In the end, I placed 18th in the country. I had a full blown miss on one shot; had that landed even a 1, I would've jumped several places.
Many archers punish themselves for bad shots; I make a point of celebrating my good ones. Fist pumps, smiles, something to turn nerves into joy. Devan noticed as the day went on, I was celebrating even bad shots, and it was because just finishing a shot was the new goal.
At the end I went around to thank the judges and organizers, and each commented they'd never seen an archer who had more fun shooting. Even as I was spiraling, I got to share insights that were given to me with a few archers, and lived up to my title as (as one archery commentator described) "The nicest guy in Barebow." Towards the end of that awful round, I broke my two rules--never talk, never break my shot rhythm--to talk with a young archer who was seething from a bad shot. I was at setup when I heard him swear under his breath, I came down and motioned for him to look at me. "Hey, keep at it dude. We all have bad shots. I just took like 20 of them. Just take the next shot." I was honestly talking to both of us. He did great.
I won't ever get to have all that go on my resume or record, but I'll carry it all with me as my biggest accomplishments, and as a reminder why I shoot: the joy of it.
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