Getting Started
The purpose of this document is to try and help Archers who have no coach, and to help some of our coaches who wish to advance their coaching with some thoughts and ideas that have come through success and failure with different athletes that I have worked with.
For those of you with coaches you are welcome to take this to them and the both of you go over it and see how this information can be of benefit to you the shooter. Also know that just because your coach does not follow this plan does not mean that they do not have a plan for you. It would be a good idea for you to talk to your coach and see what they are planning, and for you to express your plans and ideas. But know this, you must start to plan for next summer or even the next indoor season now. You are here at this time, what do you want to do, and most importantly how and with what tools are you going to get there? You must ask these questions if you are to build the blocks to accomplish a realistic goal for yourself. No matter who your coach is, this is your responsibility in the equation. Your coach nor I can do this for you, we can only help with the planning and supply the tools. Let us begin with the basic terms.
Planning: If we were going to go on a trip, we would have to know where we were going, how we were going to get there, how long it we would be away, etc. The same is true for participating in a sport. If you are to achieve any goals that you set you need to know where you are going and what you have to do to get there. You decide what the priorities are, how to act on them and when you should act on them.
Goal Setting: This is the concept of when and what. There are short-term goals, e.g. In September you decide that you would like to shoot the B.C. Indoor Championships in March. Further to that you have decided that you would like to finish with a score that is a personnel best, or very close to it. There are also intermediate goals, e.g. goals for the next year at the B.C. Indoors and there are long term goals, e.g. being at the Olympics or the World Championships.
Monitoring: Once goals have been set, now we need to check and make sure that we are moving in the right direction. From time to time the plan may need to be adjusted in order for the goals to be realized.
Commitment: This is a tough area - how do we commit to our goals? The best way is to put it them writing; state it somewhere, a diary, a journal. An athletes diary is a good place to start. Write your goals on the inside cover and read them to yourself once in a while to stay motivated. It is also a really good idea to share them with your family or your coach.
So with the above terms laid out the first thing that we all need to do is be more aware of writing down what we are doing, a journal of activity to keep track of where we are in the training. You will not all advance at the same pace and it is important to be responsible for your own records. As some of you are not close to me and some of you do not have coaches this will be even more important. So get a notebook if you do not already have one. It doesn’t matter what kind of book just as long as you can write notes about your shooting, your goals, and debriefing after tournaments, I cannot stress this enough.
Again, with September comes the outdoor season's end, now is a good time for some of you who have been shooting a good deal to take a break. A REST in the periodization cycle is always a good thing.
1st step: In order to do that you need to first establish your resting heart rate. Find a quiet place to sit down and spend a couple of minutes getting your heart rate. Find your pulse in the neck or in your wrist, which ever is easier. Then count the heart beats over a 1 minute span. Do this a couple of times and get a constant resting heart rate. Now WRITE IT DOWN.
Next start some stretching exercises, this will help with range of motion and flexibility. They are not hard and do not require a large amount of time. You can do these before or after you walk, also before and after your shooting.
Safe Stretching Guide
All of the things I have spoken about are not hard and they can be done by athletes of all ages. This is just the beginning of a new season. There will be success and failure along the way. However by building a good foundation we can together realize some basic building blocks that can be used throughout your archery experiences.
