Alana explores deliberate practice in archery in a Socratic conversation with Michael Strong.

Hello, Alana.

Hello, Michael Strong.

How are you?

Can you hear me? I can't hear you.

I can hear you, but— oh, there we go, now we have video as well. So it looks like you are outside somewhere.

I am, I am. I was just shooting bows and arrows right now.

You are doing archery. How do you like it?

I love it.

Is that easy or hard?

Uh, hard and easy at the same time, kind of.

So explain that. How can it be hard and easy at the same time?

Like, it's a little hard but a little easy at the same time, like a little bit of middle.

Is it in the middle, or is it hard in some ways and easy in other ways?

Yeah, hard in some ways and easy in other ways.

So what are some of the ways in which it's hard?

Like if you, um, point it too up or you point it too down, it can go underneath the target or above the target and land in the bushes.

So it is hard to hit a bullseye, for instance?

Yeah.

Have you hit a bullseye yet?

I have.

Are you getting better and better?

I am.

How long, how many, is this your first day or how long have you been doing it?

It is my second day.

All right, so it's hard, hard to hit the target and even harder to hit a bullseye.

Yep, kind of.

And so what are, in what ways is it easy?

Sometimes it's easy like when you get it like straight. It goes right where you want it.

And why do you think sometimes you get it straight and sometimes you don't?

Because when you're stretching the string, sometimes you don't notice, but you're like pointed to the side, so it goes in the wrong direction that you want it to.

So do you think that getting better at archery is a matter of noticing and being more aware?

Yeah.

Would you say that you are trying to get better?

I am trying to get better.

Okay, so is there anything other than noticing that helps you get better at it?

Also by, um, watching other people do it because there's other people doing it right now.

And how does watching other people help?

Because you can see their different strategies and how they keep it straight or how they do it.

Mm-hmm. What's a strategy you observed from looking at other people? Can you give me an example?

And also my dad told me this. So keep your hand on your tiki and nowhere else. And if it doesn't hit your arm, because there's— you have like this arm guard to protect your arm if the string hits you. And if it doesn't hit your arm, sometimes you're doing it like crooked.

Mm-hmm. So your dad said don't let it hit your arm, and your dad also said you put it next to your cheek, is that correct?

No, you want it to hit your arm, so if it hits your arm, that means you're doing it right. Yeah, you do, because if it hits your arm, it means you're doing it right.

I see. And what is the thing about the cheek? You're supposed to hold it next to your cheek?

Because if you hold it further, I don't know what will happen, but But if you just do it to the cheek, like right here to the corner of your mouth, I think it'll go as far as you want because there's also another range behind me that is further than that one.

Got it. So, so you are noticing, and that's helping you improve, you look at other people and get strategies and your dad is giving you advice, right?

Yep.

So I'm still looking for a strategy you got from looking at other people. So you, I know what your dad told you. Can you give me an example of something you learned from looking at other people?

Um, so they kept their eyes on the, like, where they wanted to go and also keep, like, imagine the arrow as a pointer finger pointing at the target because I noticed that they were looking down the arrow.

I see, and so you started to do that?

Yep.

Does it help your—

And also my dad told me that.

I see. Does it help your aim to be able to do that?

It is. It does.

So on day 2, you're learning that it can be hard to hit the target, but you're becoming more aware. When you say notice, I also would say that's similar to becoming more aware of how you're doing it. Would you say that's accurate?

Yep. I think it is.

So you're becoming more aware of what you're doing. Your dad gave you advice on how to hold the bow, where to, how far to stretch it back, and then this keeping your eye on the target and using, do you kind of line up the point of the arrow with the target or keeping your eye on the target? I'm trying to imagine exactly what you're doing. Is that accurate?

Yep.

Do you think that you could teach somebody else how to shoot a bow and arrow?

A little bit, like I could teach them like a few like strategies. And how to put the arrow in if they're like just a beginner.

Yeah, and do you know what it will take to get better from where you are? How do you get better from where you are? Or do you think you're just practicing? And how does practicing help you get better?

Because as you do it more and you know and you find out some more strategies, sometimes you can try them and it'll make you do it Are you aware of anything that you're doing right now that you know is making you miss the target?

Like, is there something you know you should be doing differently, but you're just not very good at doing it differently?

Yeah, like sometimes I, um, like point it crooked or I put it up more or down more because if I point it up more, it'll go over the target and into the bushes and it'll be kind of hard to find.

So that's kind of noticing and making sure you've got— you're going right at the target. Do you find that your body shakes at all and so it's kind of moving around, or are you very, very calm and focused?

Yeah, sometimes I shake, sometimes I'm very calm and focused.

And what's the difference there? How can you become more calm and focused and shaking around less?

For me, when I'm calm and focused, it's like just when I like stretch it out, and then if I hold it for too long, I become shaky and I'm like, "What'll happen? What'll happen?" I see.

So it sounds like actually it's sort of when you first stretch back the bow is when you— ideally you kind of get a perfect shot by stretching back the bow and being right, you know, having the arrow pointed in the right, the correct direction without waiting too long. Is that accurate?

Yeah. Yep.

It is. Do you think it's because your arms get tired that after a while if you hold too long it starts to wiggle all over the place?

Maybe. That could be a thing.

Have you ever decided that you were wiggling too much and instead of shooting the arrow you let it— you kind of unstretched it again and then pulled it back again? That is, do you ever kind of not take a shot because you realize you're just off?

Yeah, sometimes. And if you just feel yourself shaking, you can just put it down and then put it— and then pick it back up again and then do it.

That's what I was thinking. That's what I was thinking. If you start— if you've held it back too long, do you feel as though you've got just like a couple of seconds that are perfect, and if it's more than Maybe even 1 second is too long. How long do you have before you kind of start moving around? Is it like 10 seconds? Is it 1 second? Is it half a second?

Maybe something to 20 to 10 seconds. Like I do like this and then I'm—

So you can hold it about 10 seconds before you get shaky?

Yeah.

That's a long time. It seems like you should be able to focus. So Would you say that you're hitting the target 9 times out of 10 now or 5 times out of 10? How often do you hit the target?

Um, maybe 5, but I don't hit bullseye like right away.

How often do you get a bullseye?

Uh, maybe 3%, maybe 3 out of 5, I mean 3 out of 10.

3 bullseyes out of 10? That seems pretty good.

Thanks, Jim.

And in But then 5 out of 10 completely missed the target? Is that accurate? So are you— and not that you need to kind of take data, but do you know what data is?

Like some information?

Yeah, like numbers. So, you know, if you were going to become a competitive archery, you know, expert, I could imagine Are you interested in becoming competitive?

I am.

Okay, in which case, you know, again, it's only day 2, so it's pretty early, but you might want to start to keep a track of, yeah, you know, every— how many out of 10 you're getting and how many bullseyes and so forth, and basically measuring. And then you can see, you know, you can see if your numbers are getting better day by day. Does that make sense?

Yep.

How often will you be able to shoot archery? Is this like just once a month, once a year, once a week?

Maybe like, I don't really know. We haven't really figured out a schedule yet, but last night we started shooting after we bought the bow there.

Got it, got it.

Because there's like a room. Because there's a room in that shop that some people go in to shoot.

Yep, yep. So, you know, there's something— so you're right, practice is how you get better. There's something called deliberate practice, which means really paying attention to how to get better at each part of what you're doing. And people who become world-class, people who become the best in the world, they almost always use some kind of deliberate practice. It's not just practicing, it's also noticing. Is it because you're holding the bow out too long? Is it because, I don't know, you're standing wrong? Is it because your arm's in the wrong place? That noticing about why you're doing well or not doing so well, that's how you get better at things. Does that make sense?

Yep, it does.

So it sounds like you already at your age, you know, quite a lot about deliberate practice. So I'm going to encourage you to just keep noticing whether it's, you know, jiu-jitsu or reading or writing or math or archery, notice how you get better. Notice because we're all, sometimes we're all tired, you know, sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I'm lazy, you know, all sorts of things mean I don't do my best, but when you're ready to do your best, Yeah, kind of notice, okay, what caused me not quite to do as well that time? And then you keep noticing, and that allows you to focus on what it takes to get better. Make sense?

Yes, it does.

Okay, in which case, have a great day of archery, and hopefully we'll talk again next weekend. Okay?

Okay.

Bye-bye, Ilana.

Bye, Michael Strong.