ORIGINAL: NEW61375
Archery is a sport and requires a lot of the same kind of practice, dedication, and committment. The only sport I've ever practiced more at than archery is golf, not football, not basketball(the other two I played a bit). Golf and archeryare much more technicalthan those sports IMO(not talking about play calling oranything like that just the individual physical and mental part). I wouldsay that I seea common ground between archery and golf. I didn't want to comment on the other thread (it was more fun just reading that one) but I knew what you meant. When I was developing into a better golfer I got withthe local proshop and an instructor to help me try to reachthe next level of playing (next level for me). I went tothose guys because they are the experts, there are a million guys on a golf course or driving range that can tell you eveything you are doing wrong and what you need to use as far as equipment but are they themostqualified? No. The guys that are pros and a lot ofthe ones that work in the shops are, and after going and having them analyze eveything and fit me to my new set of clubs(switched froma beginner/intermediate set to some T-Zoid irons)and practicing on thethings they noticed I could improve on I had immediate improvement and continue to improve. I had basically become better than my old set of clubs and the new ones were fitted to me. Theywere an extra inch long and just fit me better, the increased shaft stiffness helped me a lot because of my swing speed,not to mention the fact that having more ofa blade style ironincreased myability to maneuver the golf ball. Now a lot of that I might have eventually learned but they flattened out my learning curve so to speak. I still only play for fun and I am definitely no pro but canshoot in the low 80's consistently and have broke into the 70's on several outings and I don't think I would be doing that without their help. Sorry, I can never keep my replies short.
I agree with some of your statment but not about other sports. To be a good basketball player it takes hours and hours of practice. I'm not talking about some fatty like Shaq that takes up the middle. I'm talking about guys that shoot at a high percentage from the field and from the foul line. Spend countless hours doing the same drill over and over. As for mental toughness. If you do not have confidence you aren't going to be good. I stopped shooting for years and within 2 trips to the range started splitting arrows. I can't stop shooting free throws for years and then go to the line and make 95%. Any skill sport takes hours and hours of repetitive practice.
Also, when I was about 18 and played golf about 2 days a week I was a scratch golfer with an $80 set of clubs. Although, I think as we get older though we do not have the same abilities as a youngster and therefore need equipment set up just for our body to play well.
Istated in another post about golf archery. It's a great way to learn to judge yardages. I love to golf and I love to shoot.