Table of Contents

Table of Contents Help

The tabs on the right are shortcuts to where you have been:

  • Previous Screen
  • Previous Articles
  • Previous Categories
  • Start Page
  • Hide Entire Menu

Swiping to the left will take you to the previous screen.

The folder icon indicates that more content is available. Click on the icon or the associated text, or swipe to the right to see the additional content.

Performance

General

Sports Performance: Woman archer wins gold medal with the aid of EFT

Important Note: This article was written prior to 2010 and is now outdated. Please use my newest advancement, Optimal EFT. It is more efficient, more powerful and clearly explained in my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™.  Best wishes, Gary

Note: This article assumes you have a working knowledge of EFT. Newcomers can still learn from it but are advised to peruse our Free Gold Standard (Official) EFT Tutorial™ for a more complete understanding.

Hi Everyone,

I really like this article by John Freedom in behalf of his client, Tammy Bredy. I've long held that sports performance can be limited by the athlete's emotional issues and this case is a glowing example of that idea. Note how many such issues are successfully resolved.

Hugs, Gary


By John Freedom

Tammy Bredy is a mom, a massage therapist and archer who lives in Cedar Crest, New Mexico.  She learned EFT at an EFT Training and two weeks later she participated in her first archery shoot.  Here is her account of how she used EFT to win her first two competitions, and came in 2nd place at the third, competing against some of the best archers (native Navajos who’d been shooting arrows since childhood!) in the country, under very extreme conditions.

As you read her account, you will observe how she went from first tapping on ‘negative’ feelings to tapping on the positive; and her effective use of positive reframing to ‘turn her head around,’ after first performing ‘poorly’.

John Freedom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My 1st shoot in Red River, NM.  I was very nervous about going to a competition that is at the level of ‘State Qualifying.’  I decided to go for the experience and the practice.  The course was harder than I had ever shot.  There were a lot of long-range shots.  Many of them were up steep hills, down steep hills, over gullies and streams.  In lots of shots the arrow had to thread between branches.

I started feeling like I didn’t belong there.  I wasn’t good enough to be there.  I was a ‘new shooter.’

I started tapping,

Even though I’m a new shooter…

Even though I don’t think I can compete at this level…

Even though I’m not ‘good enough’…

Even though I may not judge the distance correctly…

Even though I don’t always hold my bow just right…

I am tapping as we are walking to the next target.  I made sure I was walking behind the group. While tapping, my head became very clear, and I calmed down.  Some long shots were next.  My arrows flew just right, and hit the scoring rings.  I felt good about the shots, but still had doubts about keeping up the good shots.  I tapped on my doubt:

Even though I doubt my ability…

Even though I still don’t think I am ‘good enough’…

Even though I am shooting with these ‘experts’…

Even though I don’t think I can keep up…

I kept shooting well.  I felt happy and gained some confidence.  I kept doing EFT the rest of the day.

Even though I don’t always hold my bow in exactly the right place…

Even though I don’t always line my peep up just ‘right’…

Even though I sometimes shoot too quickly…

Even though I drop my bow too quickly…

Even though my arm gets tired…

When the scores were posted, I was 24 points ahead of the 2nd place person!  The second day I came to the shoot thinking the day before was just ‘lucky.’  I still wasn’t really ‘that good of an archer.’ I tapped on the doubt again:

Even though I doubt my shooting skills…

Even though I am not really ‘that good’…

Even though I think yesterday was ‘just a fluke’…

I shot the first 8 targets very well, and received high scores.  At this point I started tapping ‘positively’:

I am a good archer…

My arrows will fly perfectly…

I am not dropping my bow early…

I am lining the peep up perfectly…

I am releasing my string just right…

My arm is not shaking - I am perfectly still…

I will not move till I hear the arrow hit…

I am choosing the bull’s eye every shot…

I kept shooting well, and started to really enjoy being there. I won the shoot (this was my first competition!) and was very pleased.

My 2nd Shoot.

The second shoot was a bigger challenge because it was held on an Indian reservation (in New Mexico), and because of the heat.  I do not do well in the heat.  I started tapping right away:

Even though I’m not sure why I came to this shoot…

Even though I don’t do well in the heat…

Even though I I did well at the first shoot…

Even though I will make friends with the heat for these two days…

Even though the heat will not affect my shooting…

Even though my body will keep the heat away from my body’s boundaries…

Even though I am shooting with Navajos whose traditions include archery …

The targets were in crevices of rocks.  The ground was harder.  I knew my body would be drained after walking on this terrain and in the New Mexico heat in July.

Even though this day will be taxing on my body…

I will hydrate and keep focused.

I will enjoy my walk.

I will enjoy walking with my fellow archers and being with them.

I will BE ALL HERE and keep my mind on the shoot only.

I will do all the right steps I know to do to make good shots.

I know the Tunguska will help me focus.

My legs started feeling ‘heavy’, and tired.  I tapped on:

I feel light.

I know I am strong.

I know I have practiced.

I know I can hit the bull’s eye.

I know my arrows can fly well, and will.

I started feeling better and happier and I enjoyed the shoot.  I won this shoot as well, and went away this time thinking I was going to keep being a good archer.

My 3rd Shoot:

This shoot was near Shiprock in the Four Corners area of northern Arizona.  It was very HOT, over 100 degrees, and also walking a canyon, and up and down rocks.  I was competing against native Navajos, who learn to shoot while still children, and are some of the best archers in the country.  I began the shoot, making good shots.  Then my stomach started hurting again.  I had had a stomach ache and flu feelings the day before, but thought it was over.  It turned out to be a flu that lasted a day after the shoot.  My head was also hurting.  I started shooting poorly, and keep shooting poorly this first round.  I started tapping:

Even though I have started this shoot off poorly…

Even though I am shooting with some of the best archers in the country…

Even though I am feeling sick…

Even though I am having trouble focusing…

Even though it is getting very hot…

Even though my first round wasn’t a good score, and I was SICK…

 …I can learn from these Navajo archers.

…I can still have fun.

…This can still be a good day.

…My stomach will feel better and my head will stop hurting.

…This bug I am fighting will not pull me down.

…My body can endure this shoot and I can rise above this.

…I will not drop my bow.

…I will line up my peep.

…I will judge the distance properly….

…I will not rush my shots.

My second round score was much better.  My body was feeling weak, but not feeling sick.  I tapped on:

My arrows will fly with ease like eagles.

I can make it through this shoot.

I can finish and do well.

I can be all present for this shoot.

I imagined light clearing my body again.  I was doing well this last round.

I will feel good the rest of this shoot.

I will learn from my fellow archers, and enjoy the rest of this shoot.

My stamina will hold out.

I will keep my focus.

I will not get anxious.

I will not drop my bow.

The heat will not affect my shooting.

I will stay focused till the last target is shot.

This round was great!  I scored very high.  I wasn’t going to turn my score card in, but I did.  I placed second, and was surprised that my score was as good as it was, given what the conditions were, and how sick I had felt at first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I (John Freedom) did some more work with Tammy recently.  I asked her what was ‘up’ for her, and she said that she felt ‘impatient’ and was ‘rushing’ her shots.  We tapped on ‘feeling impatient,’  which got lighter, but there was still something there.  “Why are you rushing your shots?”  I asked her.  “I feel like I shouldn’t keep people waiting,” she said.  “When you were a little girl, who used to rush you, and told you that you were keeping people waiting?”  She thought a moment, and then looked down and grimaced.  “My stepdad.  He was always impatient with me.”  We did another round of tapping, after using these setups.

Even though my stepdad was always rushing me…

Even though my stepdad was always on my case…

Even though my stepdad blamed me and shamed me…

Even though I felt like I shouldn’t keep people waiting…

I know that was about HIM and not about me.

I know that that was then, and this is NOW.

I know that I’m a strong powerful adult now.

And I’m choosing to TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS I NEED.

And I’m choosing to relax, pick my shots, and enjoy myself, whether I win or lose.

And I’m choosing to relax, take my time, and do the best I can.

We then did ‘alternate tapping’  on feeling impatient, feeling rushed, not keeping people waiting, and feeling calm, having plenty of time and taking her time, etc.

After several rounds of tapping, I asked her if there was anything else.  She thought a moment and said, “I’m feeling self-conscious, because I’ll be competing with a hunting bow.  Most of the archers will be using performance bows, which are more expensive, easier to draw, and more accurate.  My hunting bow is heavier and more difficult to draw.”  “What do you feel, when you think of competing against these other archers with a hunting bow?”  She hung her head, and said, “I feel like I’m at a disadvantage, and like I’m less than.”

Tammy had grown up poor in rural Wyoming, and often wore hand-me-downs.  Even though her family could have bought good clothes for her, her stepfather refused to spend any money on her.  She got a job when she was 12 years old, so that she could buy decent clothes for herself.  Having an ‘inferior’ bow compared to the other archers was plugging her into the shame and deprivation of her childhood.  I decided to help her use this to her advantage.

Even though I’m competing with a hunting bow, when the other archers will have performance bows…

Even though I’m feeling defective and less-than, like I did when I was a child…

Even though I feel handicapped and like I’m at a disadvantage…

I know that I’ve had to work harder than others all my life, and that has made me strong,

I know that I’m very competitive, and I do my best when competing,

I know that I’ve been ‘at a disadvantage’ my whole life, and this has only made me stronger,

And I’m choosing to put my best foot forward, do the best I can, and que sera, sera.

And I’m choosing to tap on myself, release these old inadequate feelings, and discover how adequate and capable I really am.

And I’m choosing to take my time, work with what I have, and do the best I can.

Tammy says, "In the morning I was red hot, I could not miss, but then got really tired later in the day.  I was starting to wear out, and was not shooting as well, tried to figure out in my mind what was going on.  I was trying different things.  This other gal had gained a few points on me.  I thought the game was over, but we had one more target, a javelina target.  My husband had bought me a javelina, the same 3D target.  I told myself “I know I can make this shot.’  I took my time, waited until I was totally ready, and hit the dead center of the bulls eye.  It was a photo finish.”

Tammy Bredy took first place in the New Mexico games in June. The next month she competed in the Western States Games, in Colorado Springs, an event that brings hundreds of athletes in virtually all sports together.  Competing against archers from all over the country, she won the gold medal in the 3D competition, and the silver medal in the target competition.  This was only her 2nd year of competing, and the first time she had competed in the Western States Competition.

John Freedom

"We make the path by walking it."

FOR MORE EFT HELP ...

Explore our newest advancement, Optimal EFT™, by reading my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™. More efficient. More powerful.