Peaks and Plateaus
I was all the way up there ... once!
Every archer has these. Even if you don't track them, stress about them, agonize over them, rage because of them .. you have them. So buckle up as this post is going all Willy Wonka scary boat ride into the dark, numerical side of archery and how it affects you.
Let's start with the peaks or, as they are more often called, PB's. Sometimes you will hear archers talk about their PB's and the circumstances they were shot. What follows will end up sounding like fishermen comparing their "biggest catches". You may even catch an air of skepticism wafting nearby but these are serious discussions. But these PB's, why are they so important to archers?
A PB or "Personal Best" in archery refers to the highest score that archer has achieved in a particular round. Its the absolute best performance at that distance/target size they have ever managed with their bow .. and they will be damn proud of it. It may have been shot in practice. It may have been shot in competition. Doesn't matter where. Its their peak performance. Experienced archers tend not to shoot lots of PB's unless they are on a significant improvement curve. These are more common early in an archers career but the rarer they get, the more an archer will embrace them.
Ok, so, each archer has their own personal best score for a round. Why is this significant? To an archer .. that's their highpoint in the sport. Potentially how good they could be if they could capture the lighting in a bottle they got that one time, ALL the time. Imagine shooting as good as you can all the time. No depression, rages, bouts of Tourette's or announcements of quitting this stupid sport. (It doesn't really work like that - all rainbows and roses - but lets pretend for a minute*) This unfortunately gives the archer an inflated view of how good they are. Its potentially how good they could be, not how good they are. This can start to prey on the mind. "I once shot XXX so I should be able to do it all the time" is not great logic as they might never achieve that score again. Failure to reach those dizzy heights again erodes the confidence boost archers get from knowing that they can and have done it. So importantly, see the PB as a goal to push yourself to chase ... but don't obsess as it could become an unachievable goal that taunts, mocks and depresses rather than motivates.
Peaks and plateaus over an entire winter (40cm face - average arrow score)
Conversely, this brings us to the concept of archery plateaus. Where the peak is the PB. That balls to the wall, do or die round that lives in every regular archers heart. The plateau is the consistent, reliable score that regular archers put up time after time after time. This is a more reliable indicator of how good our archer is. It may have been their PB once but now its the run of the mill performance that they think they can better and often brings some depression when its shot. If you think of it as they do, its where the archer is stuck progression wise. They aren't getting any better, they just keep shooting this score. They may be laudable numbers but archers are their own harshest critics. They want this plateau to be a temporary stop as they drive themselves towards a higher plateau (as shown in the graph). However, they fear that this is the highest they'll achieve before they start the slide back down. Something that happens to every archer eventually.
Being stuck on a plateau might be an ability thing, a physical thing or it could even be a mental thing. But it is a thing and getting stuck with no progression will mess up the archer's fragile psyche causing despondency and eventually lack of motivation to keep trying. So as with the peak, the plateau should not be obsessed over (seeing a theme here? - DONT OBSESS!). Be aware of your plateaus. Use them as expectations to show you aren't doing as well as you should or you're doing better than predicted but recognize it as your business as usual.
Case study: One GA archer shooting in the Glasgow League has shot 544, 545 and 549 in the first 3 legs (Portsmouth round maximum = 600) and this consistency is an important foundation in GA's team effort. This is his current plateau and its eerily consistent - three rounds within 5 points with a slight creep upwards. Can he shoot better? We bet he thinks he can and there is evidence to back this up. His PB for the round is 566 and his previous competitive plateau was 555-560 but that doesn't mean he can or will shoot that well right now. Shooting these scores consistently, with no improvement will eventually undermine his confidence because he expects better of himself. This is the root of a significant conflict in archers. Between current ability and a perceived, be it a realistic or an unrealistic, potential.
Mountain Image by sfkjrgk from Pixabay
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