Don't panic! Here's Leigh's hitchhiker's guide to archery
WHEN Leigh Christie's uncle introduced her to the world of archery when she was 13, she could never have foreseen the rollercoaster journey that would form the next six years.
In that time, she became entirely hooked on the sport and has worked her way through the ranks to become the best in the country at her age level – now knocking on the door of the senior classes. In between times, she has even found time to fall prey to an archer's greatest fear – target panic – and beat it.
Leigh – a 19-year-old admin assistant at Forbes in Kelso – told TheSouthern how she caught the bug.
"I first tried archery when my uncle Ian, who used to work in an archery shop, introduced me to it on holiday," she said.
"But I really became hooked two years later, when I found out there was a club near Hawick (Eastcote House].
"My mum and dad gave me a course of introductory lessons as a Christmas present. I've just been hooked ever since."
Since that time, Leigh, who lives in Ancrum with her dad John, mum Susan and elder brother Neil, has won numerous national titles with her treasured compound bow.
She currently holds the Scottish Under-21 Ladies Compound Championship titles – for both outdoor and indoor events.
It is always a mark of someone at the top of their game if they can win even though they are not actually playing that well.
That was the case at the end of last month as she toed the line at Montrose to try to retain her indoor title.
She said: "It was kind of iffy. I didn't feel I had shot particularly well – certainly not as well as I should have as I had been doing well in practice up to that, but I shot a good enough score to win, so I was very pleased.
"The outdoor competition at the end of August in Penicuik was better. I did really quite well, despite the weather. Up there it is kind of windy and wet most of the time. The wind is the worst – that can send your arrows all over the place, but you have just got to put up with it, it's the same for everyone."
Her two national titles are testament to the amount of work she puts in – she trains four times a week for two hours a time – and the expertise of her coach, Gwyn Jones, owner of Eastcote, who also trains Paralympian Kate Murray.
It was Gwyn who guided her through the horrors of target panic last year. It is the last thing any archer wants to happen to them – a psychological condition that can be caused by many factors, but usually ends up with the archer releasing the arrow too quickly, affecting the aim and the speed of the shot.
Leigh told us: "I had it really badly last year. I wasn't getting the string back properly, I was only pulling it back so far and it was away. The arrows were just going everywhere. That really set me back and I missed a few competitions because of that.
"But Gwyn helped me through that and this year, with my new bow, scores are beginning to go up again.
"Gwyn's great. He's ever-present at Eastcote. He always pops his head round the door to check you are all right.”
One of Leigh’s proudest achievements is an expensive one – the fact her grouping is so good, she has split no fewer than two arrows, Robin Hood-style.
She laughed: “Yeah, I’ve done that twice. I’ve got them hanging on my wall – it’s quite sad, but why not? It shows you have achieved something, some folk will probably never do that at all.
You would think that someone who has such a good eye for the bullseye – she hit an amazing 87 of them to win the outdoors title in August – would have a sense of direction. Think again.
Because there are two more people she has to thank – her parents, who are happy to chauffeur her the length and breadth of the country to compete.
Leigh smiled: “I do drive myself, I’ve been through my test for nearly a year, but I have a really bad sense of direction.
“At the moment, I only know the way to the likes of Lasswade and Penicuik.
“I might decide to venture further soon, but I’ll probably get lost.”
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Weather for Galashiels
Thursday 24 May 2012
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