Stop trying, stop not trying, just shoot...

[Rat]

Yoda was right, "Do or do not, there is no try."

But how do we get there, how do we make a clean shot when it should be a surprise? How can it be a surprise when we are trying to make it a surprise? It can't be both a surprise and a conscious thought. It has to be one or the other.

Watch this for some insight, Alan Watts wisdom...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlQomWPnmhQ"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlQomWPnmhQ[/ame]

[Booner Sooner]

Tag

[Gunnyart]

It sounds to me like Mr. Watts has been smoking some wacky weed.

[Rat]

It sounds to me like Mr. Watts has been smoking some wacky weed.

I don't know if he did or not, but just based on listening to his lectures I am sure he had partaken in many forms of chemical enlightenment; but I could be off.

Nonetheless he makes a good point, we are talking about "The Zone" in athletic parlance. This is where we perform without thinking, we just do it, and we do it well.

I remember a particularly great 3D course one time where I shot 8 up. I could do no wrong that day! My yardage was spot on, my pin held like a rock and my shots broke like glass!

I could do no wrong!

I can still recall that feeling, it felt great, my confidence was through the roof on every shot and it got better with each shot. It wasn't effortless, but it was very close to being on autopilot.

Everything just clicked!

I have talked with many people about "The Zone", some professionals some armatures, and they all say the same thing; when it's on you can do no wrong.

I once listened to an interview with Michael Jordan about the zone and he said that he could slip in and out almost at will, but that if he tried to do it he couldn't. This was many years ago and I thought it was an interesting statement. How could one slip in and out of a consciousness (because that's what we are talking about here, an altered consciousness) at will but without trying?

My personal conclusion is that the task and the mind have to be in sync perfectly; like the timing on a well tuned vehicle. Once everything is synced up you can achieve a new level of performance, one incapable of being achieved by the PURELY conscious mind; but one that takes the body and the unconscious mind working together in sync to achieve.

I also think visualization is a big key to this. I once asked a downhill skier how he gets in the zone. His reply was, "I start the race before the buzzer." IOW, he stands at the gate, atop the hill, and starts to visualize the run in the few seconds before the buzzer sounds. In videos you can see the expression change on his face, literally from one second to the next when he gets into the "The Zone". His facial expression goes from anxious and hyped up to almost blank and serene in the seconds before the buzzer; he has entered "The Zone".

I really think he is using it as a type of meditation to sync up his body and mind to reach that higher level of performance.

And I have been chasing this same thing for many years.

I know this all sounds very Eastern Mysticism and Zen Like, but I am not talking about religion here, I am talking about how to sync up our bodies with our minds so we can perform to the best of our abilities each and every time.

We all know a person who can seemingly do that one thing (however significant or insignificant) to perfection every time they perform; how is this possible? I have answered this question to my satisfaction.

However, putting it into practice is something all together different...

[popup_menace]

The mind-body connection is the sole driver behind true archery understanding. Beyond all of the technical aspects of your setup, your understanding of how a shot is supposed to feel is the #1 aspect of being accurate. I am not a big fan of words like zen because it invokes a sort of religious thought. I just think that muscle memory is much more powerful than folks give it credit for. Once you commit a proper shot execution to memory, the only conscious thought you should have is whether or not your shots felt like a replica of that perfect shot.

[Gunnyart]

Too zen for a simple man like me.

[Hotrodd]

Good information here. Food for thought!

[DesertDug]

Well put. I like your groove.