I recently had the opportunity to interview the incredibly talented Tom Hall on the topic of his archery career. Tom is part of the team GB archery team and he represented the UK in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Here is what Tom had to say about his career.
What is your favourite thing about archery?
It’s the competitions for me. Trying to find that edge where I’m pumped up and stressed and trying really hard, but also calm and confident and controlled. I think I want to be that competitive all the time. But archery is the thing I’ve become good enough at to really push myself in those situations.
If you could give one piece of advice to young archers what would it be?
Learn what you need to do to perform. It’s different for everyone, and no one can tell YOU how to be your best, they can only give you suggestions. Try lots of things and learn what works for yourself.
What is the achievement you are most proud of?
At the risk of a cliche, making the team in 2021. I had struggled a lot in the two years before with injury as well as motivation during lockdown. I worked hard to get back to fitness but I wasn’t at my best by the selection trials, and they ended up being the most intense competition I’ve ever done. I don’t know how I shot as well as I did that week, but it had to be better than anything I’d done before just to stay alive, and I think it just came from sheer willpower to make the team that year. So I’m really proud of that.
Why did you get into archery to begin with?
Kind of by accident, I just saw it at university while I was looking for new things to do and it looked interesting and they had cool t shirts! I’d done some rifle shooting in cadets as a teenager but the archery club was cheaper to start with. I was hooked really quickly after that, I think because we had novice competitions really early on (within the first 5 weeks) and I loved the novelty of being competitive at a sport
Do you find it hard competing for the country?
No, I really enjoy it. I know some people feel a lot of extra pressure when shooting in a national shirt. And it doesn’t help that the competition is way more intense at international level. But I don’t worry about it, to me it’s just a bigger competition that I’m trying to do well at for me and my team, just like I would if I was shooting for the county or my university. I don’t worry about others opinions on my performance, because I know if I’ve shot well or not anyway and I’ll be the one trying to improve it next time.
How do you feel about being a role model for young people and how do you use it?
I think it’s really important and I try to use the platform I have to help others. A lot of people drop out of sport as they get older, but I’ve found my fitness is so important to my health, confidence, and happiness, and I think if I can help others do the same then it’s a good payoff for the support that I get for my own goals.
What do you think are the attributes needed to succeed?
That’s really hard to answer, I think there’s a lot of different ways to succeed. I guess the most common theme is having an open mind, being curious and willing to change or be proved wrong. Because the things that make anyone good early on are never the same things they’ll have to do a few years later, and if you only have one strategy it’s unlikely to take you to the very highest level.
How do you balance archery and other commitments such as work?
I’m really lucky to get Lottery funding to train now, which means I can arrange my life to best suit my training most of the time. But I like to have other projects on the side too. Just focusing on archery 100% of the time leaves nowhere else to go when it’s not working well, and I’m always wanting to learn about new things. So I make sure to be doing something else too, I taught myself to code after I left uni and started to train full time and now I’m working on some archery related websites that are providing a real mental challenge during my rest hours!