7 ms·
The Secret Curse of Expert Archers
- soundsop 18y agoBased on an article by Gladwell (http://www.gladwell.com/2000/2000_08_21_a_choking.htm http://www.gladwell.com/2000/2000_08_21_a_choking.htm), this is closer to choking rather than panicking. Choking occurs when an ingrained/unconscious skill is interrupted by conscious thought, like a professional athlete who chokes in the big moment. Panicking occurs when conscious thought is interrupted by the unconscious, like a pilot who can't respond to a correctable airplain failure.
- silentbicycle 18y agoWell, the article says that there may be underlying neurological causes. Of course, an archer would probably lose their confidence and focus once they know their arm muscles might lock up at any time and make them fire before they can aim properly.
- hooande 18y agoA similar story in sports is that of Rick Ankiel. He was a top pitcher in 2000 but he experienced some kind of panic in a playoff game that prevented him from throwing the ball over the plate. His story ended in success as he quit pitching and went on to become the great hitter and position player that he is now. It's really an interesting story: http://awurl.com/xqsndl148973 http://awurl.com/xqsndl148973
- antiismist 18y agoWorth following the link to see awurl in action.
- jamongkad 18y agoMan, I remember when that guy first came up. He was a monster. Should have seens his Triple A stats that year. It was to the tune of 40 walks and 200+ strikeouts. The guy had velocity and control...but went out like smoke afterwards. Tsk tsk
- jimbokun 18y ago"His story ended in success as he quit pitching and went on to become the great hitter and position player that he is now." Kinda like Babe Ruth (the pitcher to position player part, not the Ankiel is as good as Ruth).
- mattmaroon 18y agoI didn't know there were elite archers. What year is this again?
- river_styx 18y agoThat's nothing. Apparently there are some out there who still do things like ride horses, make their own bread, sing songs, and drink alcoholic beverages. Join the 21st century already, people!
- icey 18y agoI guess you've never heard of the "Olympics" either, eh?
- nazgulnarsil 18y agoAll I know is that if there's a zombie outbreak I want an olympic archer with me for when we run out of ammo.
- cdr 18y agoYou're right; it's not like bows require ammo. I'm sure arrows would be real effective against zombies too :)
- nazgulnarsil 18y agoarrows can be made much more easily than bullets. and yes, broadheads would work against zombies.
- eru 18y agoHow do you know?
- khafra 18y agoYou wouldn't have the hydrostatic shock that a bullet provides, but if the grey matter disruption of a small-calibre round to the head is sufficient to drop a zombie, a heavy draw bow and a broadhead oughta work, too--and the arrow might be more re-usable than a bullet.
- silentbicycle 18y agoI wonder if there's any connection between this and some types of RSI-like symptoms. I know it's a bit of a strange comparison, as with typing any focus would be on content and not aim, but the paragraph about others (e.g. musicians) getting "focal dystonia" from when neurons that guide a particular movement [...] become worn from overuse reminds me of people whose hands seem to cramp up at the mere thought of typing. Just a thought.
- tom_rath 18y agoHow do neurons become "worn from overuse"?! Is such a thing possible or was that just an analogy?
- akd 18y agoThe terminology sounds quackish but I think they might be on to something -- if you do the same exact thing every day for your whole life, maybe one day you snap and can't do it anymore. If this is true, I would expect it to affect baseball pitchers (not hitters as much, since they are reacting to something), bowlers, archers, rifle competitors, people who do the same job on an assembly line for 20 years, etc. etc.
- j2d2 18y agoI was under the impression damage from drugs like mdma came from overstimulating neurons and thus they burn out like a fuse.
- aristus 18y agoBack in the day, papermaking depended on a certain twist of the wrist to set the fibers of a new sheet. People would practice for years to get the proper "knack". Experienced papermakers would often "lose their knack" and could no longer do it. Whatever the mechanism, it's a real phenomenon.
- Tamerlin 18y ago“Do not focus on results,” he said. “When you focus on results, it builds anxiety. And anxiety is the kiss of death.” That sounds a bit like the Kyudo (the Japanese art of archery) philosophy. They say not to worry about where the arrow goes, only how you shoot it. To hit your target, you focus on it until there's nothing else in your universe, and then it's not possible to miss. Watching these folks shoot is quite amazing. They ride past past a series of targets around 8 inches in diameter, on horseback -- at full gallop -- and pick them off one after another almost casually.