So tomorrow night is the start of this weekend's AZ State Indoor Championships for archery and I don't think I've ever been more nervous before a tournament. Not nervous about our daughter, all we need to do is get her to the range and she's pretty much on autopilot all weekend long. Yes, how strange is it that I'm really not worried about a 12 year old girl running around with a bow and quiver full of arrows all weekend pretty much on her own?

No, I'm more nervous for myself and I'm not even shooting. As usual, we'll have a sizable contingent from our club shooting this weekend that we'll need to support as coaches. But I'm nervous because I have 3 of my personally coached students competing this weekend.

It's been a progression of being there as a parent, team coach and now individual coach. With our daughter it was basically get her there, feed and water her. With a team it's been a lot of helping the newer archers out of where to go, what to do, fixing things when they go wrong. As an individual coach, it's almost all entirely mental game of keeping them positive and not letting the demons of doubt creep in.

My basic philosophy is if I've done my job as a coach, I don't need to be there at the tournament. My archers should have the confidence to stand on the line, evaluate their performance, make adjustments and be able to deal with whatever amy happen. Of course it doesn't always work that way. And tonight I sit here wondering if I've stressed the right things in practice to prepare them for this weekend.

Ultimately it's not about me, it's about them. If they have fun this weekend and accomplish goals that they've set for themselves, I'm happy and honored that I could be a part of it.

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And tonight I sit here wondering if I've stressed the right things in practice to prepare them for this weekend.

I'm sure your brain didn't go tits up when you were coaching them.
You have done this before...successfully!

Sleep soundly. Easy for me to say huh?

Don't fuss, don't be a Nervous Nellie, the students will sense the nervousness and become nervous as well. You know and they know their abilities.. Relax and have fun.

Time to cowboy up and roll on in there like Victory Bear and just KNOW they are going to ace it.

Confidence is contagious.

I can understand why you would feel that way, they are your protégé's, and under your training, you win or lose with them as you are a team.

I'm sure you will be proud, you've worked hard, they have worked hard, now it's go time; enjoy and good luck to your archers.

Well, the first night is over. One of my students shot tonight and she's currently in the lead for her division but she's got competition shooting in both the morning and afternoon sessions tomorrow.

Tough night for me as I was judging and on the opposite side of the range. I could see her absolutely drilling her 1st and 2nd shots with her 3rd shot consistently low and there was nothing I could do. I was just hoping she'd realize it or another coach or her father would realize it and tell her to put that 3rd arrow in the back of her quiver and pull out another one. She did realize it after a couple of additional ends and switched out the arrow.

I've got one student shooting in the morning, another in the afternoon, my daughter in the afternoon and I'm judging again for tomorrow evening's session. Then do it all over again on Sunday.

Personally, I think it's gonna be another year. That's the consensus here in Waukesha. So be at peace now, and train more future champions! Good luck, keep up the great work!

Dude, Really? From all the posts about archery, I am pretty confident in saying your archers are as well prepared as any others showing up to the competition. Relax and enjoy it. Say a little prayer and let the big man take over.

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Originally posted by armedprof:
Dude, Really? From all the posts about archery, I am pretty confident in saying your archers are as well prepared as any others showing up to the competition. Relax and enjoy it. Say a little prayer and let the big man take over.

It's one thing to prep them for the mechanics of how to shoot a tournament, it's another to coach for the mental game to keep them competitive during the tournament.

The other struggle I have with 2 of my students is truing to keep them from getting discouraged. Both of them shooting the cadet age division which is basically 15 & 16 year olds.

With my male student the top 5 archers in his division all have national titles. He finished in the top 1/3 at Vegas last year and was ranked in the top 1/3 nationally, but in Arizona, he's in the bottom half.

My female student came in tonight bummed that she was in 4th. I had to explain to her that the archer in 1st is a former Vegas champion and the archer in 3rd just got selected for the US Olympic Dream Team, so 4th is nothing to be ashamed of. It's tough for both of them when the level of competition at a state championship really is the same level as a national.

But during this afternoon's session I was able to relax, be a coach, let my archers take the lead and support them when needed. We got lucky in bale assignments in that 4 of the archers from our team were clustered together and shooting the same line. They were able to support each other and most importantly have fun. Seeing the smiles on their faces is the reason that I coach.

And now I feel like I've done something right. My male cadet student just beat his personal best score by 1 point!