Archery Teaches More than Getting to the Target

Strength, patience, dedication and having a steady form.

These are the most important qualities to have when you shoot archery.

Long hours of practice and striving for that perfect score is the goal of every archer. Your frustration grows with every bad shot. It gets you down instantly when you have a bad end. You blame your bow or arrows, anything but yourself.

“Let’s shoot one more end,” my dad would say every time to make me think that maybe just this time we would finally be done.

“I’m tired and I’m starting to shoot badly. My arms hurt too,” I would say back.

“Shoot your best round so we can end on that note,” he would say.

This is the part when patience and strength are key.

I pull back my bow slowly, setting my mind on the gold. I look through my peep site very carefully trying to set on the center. My release is steady and ready to go off. I pull the trigger and follow through. Right when I look up, I see those pink and green veins in the center of the target, just what I was hoping for.

“There’s my best shot all night!” I yell to my dad.

The feeling of a job well done is always the way I like to conclude my hard night of practice. Ends and ends of shooting. Ten to be exact. Ten rounds of three arrows each. I strive for that top score of 300. The practices grow harder and longer, trying new equipment and new routines to perfect every shot.

The best sigh of relieve is achieved when you see all three of your arrows in the center gold. You know you have just shot your best round and feel very prepared for the next invitational or tournament.

Having my dad as my coach makes me feel great because I know I can always talk to him and he is always around. He’s an amazing coach for me and is always helping me to perfect my shot.

Where do you think I learned patience, strength and dedication?

By Allana Herr

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