Pic from National Indoor Champs in December.
Back on track once more. With coursework and exams for my final year at university bogging me down over the past few months, work and life became a huge balancing act. Archery, for this reason, became a sideline, but I still had my competition commitments and coaching to keep up with.
Shooting had become a chore, something that I told myself to do because it used to relax me- that is, until my performance dropped. Naturally, without the weekly practice and passion that went into training, my arrows didn’t have the conviction and care to help them fly straight.
Its very easy for archery on social media to become a steady stream of smiling faces, perfect tens and shiny equipment, but of course it is never the case! In a sport where performance is so tied to mental strength, sometimes there are just days where expectations and reality are just not the same. So going into Nationals, with very little training and even less self belief, there was no chance of achieving the success I wanted.
But that’s okay! It’s a turbulent time in my life- preparing to leave University to get to the ‘real world’, balancing exams and my own health. I needed to forgive myself for not shooting as well, and leave time to catch up. I’ve learned from the experience, I’m now loving archery even more.
I’ve started my Masers project this semester, so I have time for competitions at weekends again. As of next week, I’ll have 7 shoots in five weeks- and I plan to give my best in all of them!
Its going to be Happy Shooting x