27/09/2026
Turn the Bad Shoot into Useful Information
Once the sting fades a little (give it a day or two), your bad shoot becomes valuable. There's gold in it, but only if you look at it calmly rather than emotionally.
Use Bassham's "mental receipt."
Bassham's method is simple. After a performance, write down:
What went well (there is always something, even if it's small)
What you'd like to improve (one or two things, not twenty)
The order matters. By recording the positives first, you keep your confidence intact and train your mind to store good memories rather than only the failures.
Look at process, not just scores.
Coaches in the Korean tradition, such as Kisik Lee, whose ideas are set out in Total Archery, focus on a repeatable shot process: stance, set-up, draw, anchor, release and follow-through. A score is the result of that process. So ask yourself:
Did I stick to my routine on every arrow?
Where did I rush or hesitate?
Was it a technical issue, a focus issue or a nerves issue?
This turns "I was awful" into "I lost my routine after the third end," which is something you can fix.
Keep it short. Set aside 15 minutes, write your notes, then close the notebook. You're gathering information, not replaying the whole weekend on a loop.
This week's takeaway: Every bad shoot has one or two clear lessons. Find them, write them down, and let the rest go.
