Parker Woolworth: Archery

When I was ten, I received my first bow, I was so happy about having a bow and couldn’t wait try it out. However, I soon lost interest in my bow because I didn’t know how to shoot one. Over the next 5 years, I learned how to shoot arrows (accurately) and ways that made it easier for me to shoot. Now in the present, I consider myself an average archer. To improve my skills, I picked up the Beginner’s Guide to Traditional Archery by Brian J. Sorrells.

The first area of archery I would like to improve is concentration. If I improve my concentration, I will be able to target and accurately hit certain areas of a target. 

 A concentration exercise the guide had was to shoot an arrow at the bull’s eye from 5 feet away. After you hit the bull's eye, you go back another 5 feet (or 10 feet away from the target) and try to hit the bull’s eye. After that, you go back another 5 feet and keep repeating the process.

 After doing the exercise, I noticed that few of my arrows were close to the bull’s eye. A note the author wrote in his book said, ”Don’t worry if you’re not hitting the circle; your brain and body want the arrow to impact in the circle, and right now they’re learning to do that.” (Page 73). However, when I tried shooting from a distance, I was able to get more arrows closer to the bull’s eye. What is the point of doing an exercise that’s supposed to improve your accuracy and concentration, when it only makes it worse? 

Normal Exercise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercise Suggested by Guide