Last time, I wrote about my goal in 2023 on archery as a comeback player. Two weeks ago, I participated in a local archery competition and didn’t win, as expected.
During the previous months, I practised a lot as an amateur archer. It was raining and windy on the last night before the competition. However, I didn’t skip the regular lesson and tried my best to gain experience in facing adverse weather conditions. Perhaps it was my first archery competition since I rejoined archery. I was so excited that I woke up at 4 AM that morning and spent almost an hour falling asleep again. Coincidently, my friend who participated in the same archery competition also woke up at 4 AM.
I was in the Elementary Division. The competition for this division is to shoot 72 arrows at 30m. My primary goal was to reach 560 points to be promoted to the Intermediate Division. My secondary goal was, of course, to win the competition. Although I had a month of experience shooting at 30m, all my practice sessions were in the evening and at night. I could see the target face clearly without a telescope. But I was excited to shoot with many competitors in the same field. I couldn’t control myself well in the practice trials. I even aimed at the wrong target as the targets until my coach noticed and told me.
Finally, I scored 573 points and was promoted to the Intermediate Division, but didn’t win the competition. During the competition, I didn’t notice the efficiency of my equipment dropped during the rain and didn’t adjust the sight pin in time. As a result, most of my arrows landed below the yellow region of the target. I missed 1 shot as well. If I hadn’t missed that arrow, I would have scored the same as the 2nd runner-up and won the 2nd runner-up by counting the number of 10+X.
Setting up the archery field is the responsibility of the competition participants in Hong Kong
It was a pity not to win any prize in the competition, but I learned a lot throughout the competition. After all, in an archery competition, the only competitor is yourself. The performances of the others don’t affect yours. Mastering self-control dominates the performance in archery competitions – at least you can reach the same performance as regular practice.
Apart from the mental preparation, physical strength is also a key factor. Recently I watched a video about the training routine of an Olympic medalist when he was in the training camp. He began with running for 45 minutes, followed by 5 hours of shooting arrows with a 2-hour lunch break. On alternative days he also went to the gym for 1 to 2 hours. As an amateur archer, it’s impossible for me to train like him, not to mention I have my full-time work. But more importantly, to be competitive, especially in more advanced divisions, I must spend time training deliberately.
The next competition I will probably participate in will be held in September. With the experience gained and the reflection after this competition, I hope to be as competitive as those teenagers and young adults who are supposed to be more physically fit.