“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” That Lao Tzu quote pairs with the lesson I covered in this week’s Motivation Monday: You can’t rush past the patience required to learn a new skill in archery.
Another saying follows it: The teacher will appear when the student is ready. I bring it up with my students all the time.
I’m holding our 2 Smooth Hinge Release right now. This is the exact tool I used to drive that lesson home with one of them.
The Hinge Release Lesson
This guy kept trying new gear and new techniques every time we worked together. As his coach, I was loading him up with new ideas before the earlier ones had taken root.
So I brought up the saying and laid it out for him. I told him when you’ve shot this one release 10,000 times without changing it, then I’ll coach you again. Until then, I’m not giving you more to work on, because none of what I’ve already taught you is sticking.
The Askhole Problem
I have students I call “askholes”: they ask all the time and never apply the answers. That gets frustrating fast.
If you’re not putting what you already know to the test and locking it in, your subconscious can’t run those parts of the shot for you. Piling more on top from me doesn’t help.
I can tell you a thousand ways to be a better archer. But if you’re not solidifying the basics and the principles that matter most based on where you are on your archery timeline, the results you want won’t show up.
Selective Cycling
When you’ve identified the part of your shot that needs the most attention, you stay on it until it’s locked in before moving on to the next layer. I call this selective cycling.
This year, I’ve been working on my front shoulder more than I have in years. That one weakness keeps giving me problems, so I can’t justify jumping ahead to other parts of my form.
Forcing my way through the timeline instead of staying patient with what matters most right now would only set me back. You have to exercise patience with the part of your form holding you back the most right now.
Don’t try to do five things half-assed. Try to do one thing right.
Then solidify it. Let it take root, let it become second nature, let your subconscious take over, and let your strength catch up to the new technique.
On Draw Weight
A compound bow puts us under load. When you pull the bow back to full draw, you’re fighting it as it tries to collapse on you. Stability matters, and you build stability by training the muscles that hold you there.
Jump too far ahead on poundage, and you undercut the building blocks you need for repetition. Pull more weight than you can hold cleanly, and the basics of your form give way.
Repetition Is the Whole Job
An archer’s job is to learn to put one arrow in the middle, then repeat that same shot until it lands in the middle again and again and again.
That’s the work. Rush past what hasn’t been established, and you’ll end up frustrated.
Go back to what you know you need to work on the most, and solidify it. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
