If I had to put the mental game of archery into words it would be Grace Under Pressure. It’s how we perform when we’re under pressure in a competitive situation.
Every sport has a mental component; some more than others. Archery is one of those sports. Some even say it’s 90% mental.
The reason it feels that way is because when we start to learn how to shoot a bow it’s a conscious mind activity. We concentrate on steps and form. At this time, you are fully involved with your conscious mind. Once we get good enough, we don’t have to think about what we are doing, so we stop accessing our conscious mind. The process becomes more of a subconscious mind activity. Once the subconscious mind takes over, the majority of the process, whatever is stowed away in the subconscious bubbles to the surface. So if there are beliefs, emotions such as anxiety, anger, insecurities to name a few, or negative beliefs about competition, we begin to feel them, and they get in the way of our shooting. In the archery world, we call this target panic.
Target panic is the subconscious way to show your conscious mind or to bring to your attention what is wrong. It’s basically your subconscious saying “Fix this please. I don’t like these feelings. Can you get rid of them?”
Now this is where all the misconceptions about target panic begin. People think target panic naturally comes from shooting a bow. That is just not true; you're simply accessing more of your subconscious than you normally do in your waking state. While these feelings, emotions and patterns of behavior seem to come out of nowhere, they are actually tied to your past experiences with other things in life. But most individuals blame these feelings on the bow or think they just are not cut out to be an archer. This is sad. But this is where the art of archery comes in. Archery is about self mastery. Mastering the mental part is an aspect of it, and maybe, the most important part.
So how do we release these mental obstacles? Entering the trance state through hypnosis gives us the ability to enter the subconscious mind and locate and release these emotions, beliefs, and anxiety that are getting in the way of your performance. At the same time, you enrich your life because archery problems are life problems. The problems you struggle with behind the bow are the same insecurities and frustrations that affect your day today. Anxiety, negative emotions, and negative beliefs can often hold us back from achieving what we want in all aspects of our lives. So by cleaning up your mental archery obstacles, you're cleaning up life problems. For example, let’s say you have problems with competition. You may shoot great in practice but when it comes to competition you fall apart. This may also show up as having problems with test taking or speaking up on the job or in important moments with relationships. Solving the problem behind the bow may also take care of these other anxieties.
If you are having symptoms of target panic and want to get rid of it for good, look into hypnosis and discover your hidden potential.