# Practice? Practice! We talkin' bout Practice...



## SpotShy (Mar 14, 2005)

The infamous words of NBA All-star Allen Iverson in response to being fined for not attending mandatory team practice. If you have never seen the video, check it out on YouTube, I guarantee you a chuckle. So what is my point? Well I coach a group of America's youth and I am constantly preaching the need for practice. Of course they are always bouncing off the wall when it is time to shoot a meet but they are less enthused about practice. Therefore I often break out my best Allen Iverson impression to mock them or shame them into embracing practice. Well I was thinking about this the other day and thought that it might be fun to discuss practice on here. I find that many archers really do not understand the difference between practice and arrow slinging nor do they even have an actual practice routine. So I thought that we could all share our views on what constitutes practice and how we go about practice. I'll start. 

First of all I believe that unless we have specific long and short term goals that we can reference, archery is nothing other than a recreational activity done for the fun. This is due to the fact that if you have no expectations you can't or won't achieve any real results. So if we are doing this for more than a bit of fun then we need to determine why and what we expect to achieve both in the now and in the future. Then write it down.
Second, we must establish a written shot sequence (the steps performed between the times we pick up our bow until we set it back down after shooting an arrow). Without a written shot sequence we will not know where to look in-order to determine where our flaws exist nor can we create a plan of practice activities to address these flaws. The shot sequence is the guide that we follow that dictates everything we do in archery. It is the Ten Commandments and Holy scripture of the game.
Next we need to set down, take off our rose colored glasses, be brutally honest with ourselves and list our flaws. In addition it is also wise to consult the folks that we shoot with and get their opinion on where our game is weak. Write these down.
Now, we must develop a strategy of how to achieve our short and long term goals and set aside specific periods of time to exercise those strategies, i.e. Practice. This is the time when we take those noted flaws, locate were they occur in our written shot sequence, and then set up specific practice drills for them and practice these steps of our shot sequence, INDIVIDUALLY! The key is to break your game down into its component parts. These parts when mastered individually can then be strung together to make up a complete game.
Finally, set aside time during the week to practice and keep a journal on your practice sessions. Do not consider setting sights, tinkering, or setting up a new bow practice. Practice is goal driven and outcome oriented with a focus on physical improvement of a skill set. I should also mention personally that I feel that shooting for score with a goal is practice but it should not be performed as your only method or practice. Shooting for score such as a 300 round or a Vegas round can be a good measure for any archer to determine improvement even if it is not your specific game of choice. Without saying, it is important for all of us to practice with the target medium we compete on, but in the event that it is raining we can always go to the basement and shoot a 300 round. The Results of practice can still be seen. I'd suggest that one include any accessory skill practice to their routine as well, such as yardage judging, yardage cutting, different size targets and the various distances you may shoot in your particular venue. The whole idea is to work for improvement by proactively addressing your weaknesses and improving upon your strengths. This has to be a conscious effort with both short term and long term goals in mind. It is a proven fact that the best practice results come from breaking down the game to its individual parts and working to master each area. 

Please share your thoughts.

Thanks,

SpotShy


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Spotshy,

That Iverson video shows an attitude that is why I don't watch NBA basketball any more. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so selfish and who just doesn't understand. His last line in the video is probably the worst "How the he11 can I make my teammates better by practicing?".

On the more interesting subject of archery practice, I agree with everything you've written. Goal setting, shot sequence, plan of action, working on one thing at a time and most important honesty with yourself.

The only place where I disagree with you is on the use of targets and then only when it comes to the early stages of an archer's career. I don't think that you can learn anything shooting at a target except where the arrow lands. Of course, in competition, that's a pretty important thing, so a target is a good indicator of your progress. But it's difficult to improve your form while focused on hitting a target.

I'm a believer in Len Cardinale's program of bale & bridge. Develop your shot, one part at a time, on the bale then verify it on the bridge. The goal is to be able to shoot exactly the same shot on a target as you shot on the bale. This is a highly disciplined program and probably wouldn't work with most younger archers. 

Of course, it depends on where an archer wants to go in archery. To get to the top requires a discipline that most can't muster.

Good topic, 
Allen


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

That was a great post, i tell my students the same.....but i was not aware of that basket ball game stuff, and im wondering just what you say about it... I preach only shoot perfect arrows, no slinging 12 , we shoot 5 perfect....and i always have them set realistic goals for each student .well i dont bragg much but,i have 2 students this year, that just won 1 place in state. 1 won 6 medals a wall hanger , and a scholarship, and im sending 5 to the nationals..now that has made me proud.the kids worked hard, and it shows.but only perfect practice makes perfect.... I welcome you to my friends list spot shy.once again great post.  mike 66


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## SpotShy (Mar 14, 2005)

Thanks for the responses and kind words guys.

I basically wrote the thread matter for those in the novice to intermediate level because I know that it is easy to fall in to the trap of just slinging arrows and calling it practice. The key to achievement in any sport and especially the discipline sports is to develop, learn and follow a strict sequence. I have watched many folks who have shot archery for years never advance beyond an average skill set. Most times this is due to have being mislead from the beginning in proper form and mechanics but it also stems from the fact that they never address the flaws in their game. Without a written, tried, true, and trusted shot sequence, it is difficult to even know where to begin to improve without chasing one's tail.


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

SpotShy said:


> ....Without a written, tried, true, and trusted shot sequence, it is difficult to even know where to begin to improve without chasing one's tail.


That's gold right there!!

Every archer should have that on every page of their practice notebook! Of course they have to have a practice notebook to start with. 

Allen


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

notebook? i have them right it down in steps and tape it to the bow riser so they have to look at it, when its perfect.... and i mean perfect, then I REMOVE IT......yes allen thats GOLD..................................


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Can you guys give some examples of good shot sequences?

Many steps or just a few? Any mental steps, or only physical steps?

Thanks,
Allen


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## Stubby'smom (Mar 20, 2010)

This is gold people, I love threads like this. I have my goals written down and I keep a log of my practice sessions but I don't have a written shot sequence. I have one but it's in my head. I don't have a specific coach either but I have 2 good archers in the area who both work with me and a few others who help me out when I ask. There is also an older thread on here which has some very good info on this very topic but it would be good to see a new thread like this come alive. The level I consider myself to be at would be intermediate. I am finding that going from a beginner to intermediate went faster than my goal of going from intermediate to experienced and then pro. It's the fine tuning my shot, form exc that really takes the work. I really believe that's where the mental game comes into play the most and getting that mastered. I agree that you need to know your flaws and work on them, but I don't think all of them need to be pointed out at once. One at a time seems to work best for me otherwise I'm thinking about too many things I do wrong all at once. A few of my flaws have been pointed out to me and I found myself over thinking everything. I made it a point to work on 2 things and forget everything else for the moment and it has helped. One thing was pointed out to me and the other I figured out on my own. So, what was pointed out to me was that my grip is a hair off at times and what I figured out on my own was that I wasn't using my back muscles in exactly the same way each shot. Those are the things I am focusing on right now. Problem was that I stopped thinking about them and got sloppy so got into bad habits which it took me a little bit to figure out so they got somewhat ingrained.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2011)

As an NASP coach, I love what you have said here. I deal with this all the time, but I have turned the focus less on the physical once they get their form down, then I focus the work on the mental side of the game. Once my students had acheived some incredible scores in the NASP system, the shooters would start to loose it right before a big tournament. Right then, I switched to mental training with exercises and tactics. It really helped train their subconsious to react after the nerves set in. My team won regionals, took 3rd in the state of Missouri, and held their own very well in Nationals. We set goals for each shooter to achieve before each tournament and the majority of them met it every time.


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