Breathing, Adrenaline, and Concentration
Concentrating on the bullseye focuses your mind away from missing. And away from other distractions.
Looking away and taking a deep breath releases tension.
A shaking hand can be caused by a too powerful bow, improper technique, or adrenaline release. First check your technique. If a more experienced bowman or coach tells you your technique is fine, then look at strength. Exercise the muscles used in drawing and steadying the bow. They may simply be overpowered by the bow size. If those two things are good, then it's concentration. Your body may be releasing adrenaline for various reasons. Maybe you have a subconscious fear of someone seeing you miss. Maybe just having someone watching you makes you release adrenaline. Whatever the reason, this adrenaline is bad for the quiet steadiness required to aim well. A meditation technique can calm the body and mind by regulating the release of adrenaline. Just breathing won't do it. Try this:
1- Before drawing the bow, position your body, look at the target, close your eyes, relax your shoulders, take a deep breath, and hold it.
2- While you are holding that breath visualize yourself slowly drawing, aiming, and releasing the arrow to the bullseye.
3- Open your eyes, let out the breath while you draw the bow aiming high.
4- Breathe in and then level the bow at the target as you slowly breathe out.
5- Keep breathing out as you aim and release the arrow.
6- Continue breathing out as the arrow flies to the target.
Doing this routine each time you shoot will improve your concentration and slow the release of adrenaline. This combination should help the shaking if it's from concentration alone. If you release adrenaline for some other reason there is a very old and little known martial arts trick that might help.
Most people think that the little bow they do before fighting is just to show respect. Long ago, when fighting matches were serious business a martial artists could calm his or her adrenaline release by bowing a certain way. Here's the trick:
1- Stand with your feet together, take a breath in and hold it.
2- Press your fingers firmly into your solar-plexus and bow as you release the breath.
This works for most people.
It worked for me in billiards. My hands would shake while making shots. It caused me to miss longer shots especially. Then I remembered the old, old trick. I did the motion and breathed as I should. So it didn't draw attention I did it pretending to check the alignment of a shot.
It changed my game forever. You can do something similar.
If you are in competition you can just bow to the target while doing the trick. It will be a psych-out for your opponents. They might even try it, but they won't know the trick.
Oldcoach
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