Lara Shows Strength and Composure at the SVTA AAMT Championships

Rogue Archery Development Squad archer Lara put together an impressive performance at the SVTA AAMT Championships, competing in the Under 21 division and demonstrating not only strong results, but also the mental resilience that comes with developing as a competitive archer.

Lara finished 7th out of 33 archers at 40m, a fantastic result in a highly competitive field. She also progressed through three individual matchplay matches and made it all the way to a one-arrow shoot-off during the teams matchplay.

However, for Lara, the weekend was about much more than the results. One of her biggest challenges came from the heavy winds, particularly because she shoots with a lighter poundage. The conditions made it difficult to remain stable and maintain good posture throughout the shot.

Rather than allowing the wind to dictate her shooting, Lara developed a strategy of resetting after strong gusts and waiting for a better opportunity to shoot. This gave her greater control over her shot process and reduced the impact of the wind's force on her execution.

Learning the Strength of Letting Down

One of Lara's biggest takeaways from the competition was learning the importance of letting down.

Previously, letting down could be perceived as a sign of weakness. During this event, however, Lara began to recognise that the ability to let down when the conditions or shot did not feel right is actually a sign of strength and control.

This shift in perspective was significant.

Instead of forcing a shot simply because she had reached full draw, Lara learned to trust herself enough to reset when necessary. That allowed her to protect both her technique and her mentality, rather than allowing difficult conditions to push her into making unnecessary mistakes.

This is an important part of competitive archery. A strong archer is not simply someone who can execute a perfect shot when everything is going well—they are also able to recognise when something is not right, reset, and give themselves another opportunity.

Keeping the Bigger Picture

Lara also demonstrated an impressive ability to maintain a positive mindset throughout the event.

She recognised that a bad end or a poor arrow did not determine the outcome of her entire day. By separating the emotion attached to her scores from the process of shooting, she was able to move forward rather than allowing individual mistakes to affect the arrows that followed.

This helped her stay focused on what she could control: her technique, her decision-making and her shot process.

Rather than dwelling on the minimal mistakes she made throughout the day, Lara continued to approach each shot with confidence and composure. That ability to reset mentally is just as important as the physical skills required to shoot a bow.

Her performance at SVTA demonstrates the continued development of Lara not only as an athlete, but as a competitor who is learning how to handle pressure, challenging conditions and the inevitable ups and downs of tournament shooting.

Congratulations, Lara! 💪👏

Her performance at the SVTA AAMT Championships is another great step in her development, and we look forward to seeing her take these lessons into her next competition at Indoor Nationals this August.