#109 – John Dudley: The beauty in archery, the love of practice, and a model system for life

In this episode, professional archer, John Dudley, shares the many insights he’s gleaned through the process of not only becoming an elite competitor of archery but also an exceptional teacher. John describes how his desire for improvement has cultivated a sheer love of practice, and how pursuing mastery helped put into context how archery is an amazing model system for life. Additionally, John discusses the often misunderstood nature of hunting, but also makes the case as to why one should consider trying archery even if there is no desire to hunt.

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We discuss:

• Why John loves archery, and what it means to be a professional archer [4:50];
• How John’s love of practice and training led to archery [10:45];
• How an intense desire to improve drove John to quit football and pursue archery [22:00];
• A traumatic childhood event that changed John’s course from troublemaker to committed athlete [34:15];
• The nuts and bolts of archery—competitive events, types of bows, hunting, etc. [45:30];
• The blissful nature of archery, and the uselessness of anger [57:15];
• Hyper-focus and flow states—Did John’s ADD and task-driven personality give him an advantage? [1:07:15];
• The common traits found in the most successful people [1:12:45];
• The keys to maintaining credibility as a salesman—integrity, honesty, and straightforwardness [1:18:45];
• The coaching technique that makes John a great teacher [1:28:30];
• Why you should consider trying archery (even if you never want to hunt) [1:36:15];
• Hunting discussion—the morality argument, hunting vs. commercial farming, managing overpopulation, and the unique emotional connection [1:45:00];
• Resources for those interested in taking up archery [2:12:00]; and
• More.

Why John loves archery, and what it means to be a professional archer [4:50]

• John grew up in Mississippi and then the Illinois near the Fox River and learned archery as a child
• First bow hunt was at 10 years old

Why does John like archery so much?

“Because it’s hard”

• That insight came from Andy Stumpf,  he goes, “That is why you do it. Because there’s days where you’re good at and there’s days when you’re not.”
• There’s always been a new challenge in archery where John can start from a place of being bad and work his way up to being good
• Every time he would get bored, he would jump to a new aspect of archery and start the learning/growing process over again
• With archery, there are days where everything is clicking but then the very next day you can’t replicate it (kind of like how golfers feel)
• In other words, you can’t just be perfect all the time 

“I just have made a career out of being poor at a certain aspect of it and making it a mission to become good at that. And then over the course of 33 years, I’ve got to the point where now I feel like I have a very good understanding of the game and I’ve learned a lot from a lot of mistakes.”

How John’s love of practice and training led to archery [10:45]

• John was an All-American athlete growing up
• In fact, John earned a division 1 scholarship to play quarterback at Western Carolina

A great story…

{end of show notes preview]