[Arcus]

I put competitiveness into three categories:
1. Winning is the most important thing.
2. I will try my best to beat you, but winning isn't the most important thing.
3. I don't even keep score.

My wife is #3. I put myself in #2.

Personal illustration: I used to play racquetball with a buddy. We were so evenly matched that we got a terrific workout while playing. I think that if I were a #1 type, then I would have gained more satisfaction by acing him on every serve even though we would not have had competitive games and great workouts.

Applied to archery: I would rather finish in the middle of a pack of a dozen barebow recurve archers than be the winner of just two of us.

So, how competitive are you?

 

[the other DWS]

Not!

 

[sylvan]

I would rather shoot a personal best and finish 5th, than shoot below my average and win.

 

[Mitch]

20 years ago……..#1 was me. Second place was just the first loser.

Today…….as long as I put up a score that I am satisfied with, all is good regardless of where I end up.

Having fun and meeting good people is more important to me than where I place.

 

[Grantmac]

I'm fairly competitive but my main competition is always myself. I want to shoot better than I have in the past.

Also if I'm going to win I want to shoot against people who are shoot their best, not because everyone else had a bad day.

-Grant

 

[Phil]

If there was a 4. on your list Arcus that would be me

 

[Danceswithleaves]

Ya i'm a number 3 I'm going to go put on my hip boots now. Cal

 

[longrifle346]

I want to shoot my best, if that wins so be it. For the past two seasons I've placed second in more than one event to the same archer...and he's an awesome shooter. He's also become a good friend and I thoroughly enjoy shooting with him and against him. Do I want to beat him? Heck yeah and I've worried him a few times! But I don't want to win because he falters but because I was the better archer that day. In the meantime his competition gives me the incentive to practice a little longer, a little smarter, a little harder....

 

[kenn1320]

I would rather shoot a personal best and finish 5th, than shoot below my average and win.

This sorta describes me. I shoot at home for fun, but I go to tournaments to win. I don't have fun at the tournaments, due to TP. I rarely if ever make a shot I'm happy with, and that is very frustrating. I've won a few this year and while it feels good to win, the mental frustration of my poor shot control drowns it out. At this point I'd be happier to be in control of my shooting.

 

[bwhitman]

I usually shoot like #2, but shoot the best I can everytime

 

[Jon Lewis]

I just do the best I can on the day and let the cards fall where they will. I have standards I set for myself and get frustrated if I don't meet them but I also enjoy watching good shooting so if I get my clock cleaned by a guy whose on his game, good on him.

 

[Hank D Thoreau]

I am with the folks that say they would rather shoot a personal best. Winning is not hard if you do not have viable competition. Beating a personal best means you have done better than you have ever done before. I still like to win. When shooting FITA I would know exactly how many points I could give away per end to stay ahead on the shorter distances, that are my weakness. If fact, I would know it to two decimal places !!!! I would calculate and recalculate the number, even as I shoot. But what disappoints me is when I fall short of the goal I set for myself, and that goal is always points, or form execution, and not position. I will be shooting some field tournaments in the next month. My goal for these will be to execute good form on as many shots as I can. I know that high scores will be difficult with insufficient time to prepare for the distances with my longbow. This year is all about getting experience in a new discipline, and executing my best form when it counts.

 

[Hank D Thoreau]

For golf, instead of score, I kept track of how many good shots I hit. That way I was focusing on my successes rather than the depressing failure of triple digit golf scores. I could hit a really good shot and shank the next. That would still count as a success, even if it took 8 shots to get the ball back on the fairway.

 

[Jinkster]

at different points in my life?...I've been all three.

and oddly enough?...in the very order placed..1....then 2...and now...3.

Then again?...."My Hero" in the MBB collection?...was Steve Fausel.

"Winning" to me is just feeling good spending a day relaxing and enjoying shooting my bow.

 

[Hank D Thoreau]

Jinx,

What's relaxing about shooting a bow that does not put the arrows where they are suppose to go. Or golf clubs that constantly slice. Or tennis balls that bounce too low, or too high.....urrrrrrrr. I think I will do a few relaxing head butts against the wall and then go back out and see if my bow has decided to cooperate.

 

[Jon Lewis]

A lot of guys I've come across sit in #3 mainly because of how bad they shoot. Not all by any means, but a lot. Why do you think places like Compton get way more shooters than the Trad Worlds, easy, no score cards. 2/3 of those guys would struggle to break 200 on an iBO course but spraying them round the woods at rendezvous events doesn't interfere with their claims of instinctive hunting prowess because there's no record of it.
Many guys just like to shoot for fun but hitting stuff is way more fun than missing it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Danceswithleaves]

So if you, me, and Demmer are the only one's at the shoot and you beat the two of us, you will feel like you didn't do anything special and you would have rather shot your personal best in your back yard. I understand, I feel a little empty when I beat Dave Wallace. Cal

 

[Matt_Potter]

If I dove in the pool with Michael Phelps I'd do my damnedest to beat him - I'm more than a little competitive ;-)


---------------------------------------------------

Team Montana - we are coming for your quarters ;-)

 

[Hank D Thoreau]

So if you, me, and Demmer are the only one's at the shoot and you beat the two of us, you will feel like you didn't do anything special and you would have rather shot your personal best in your back yard. I understand, I feel a little empty when I beat Dave Wallace. Cal

Personal best in the back yard is different than personal best in a tournament. Practice is just practice and shows what you could do if you executed to your full potential. I do not count practice when looking at a personal best, any more than I did when I used to compete in track and field. That is just how I measure myself. If a backyard personal best is your goal, then that is valid as well. We enjoy this sport in different ways.

 

[Jinkster]

Jinx,

What's relaxing about shooting a bow that does not put the arrows where they are suppose to go. Or golf clubs that constantly slice. Or tennis balls that bounce too low, or too high.....urrrrrrrr. I think I will do a few relaxing head butts against the wall and then go back out and see if my bow has decided to cooperate.

Hank...I got this new rule I attempt to adhere too....

If you ain't having fun?...You're not doing it right! :lol:

and you know Hank...I have the 30" Polar with some well tuned VAP .800's I form/gap shoot with when I'm "in the mood" for such...and I definitely make a very conscious effort of referencing my arrow with that rig...but then I'll instinctive/snap my 44# Herters...and I could go either way with my Bushmen R/D Longbow...but the one thing they all have in common?...is being tuned too..."Hit Where I Look"......provided of course....

that I'm doing everything right....and these days?...it's NEVER "the bow". :lol: