Compound archery – particularly over 18 metres – is a game of millimetres. One point at the wrong, or right, time can change everything.
Dealing with those minute fluctuations is perhaps the hardest thing.
“I have a bad tendency of changing things when I’m not shooting at the level I want to,” he said.
That approach cut short his campaign at last year’s European Games.
“I started off well in qualifications, but I felt like I could get something better, or something wasn’t optimised so I just started playing with my form and pulling,” he said. Yamrom lost in the quarterfinals to Lukasz Przybylski, who would become a surprise world silver medallist a month later in Berlin.
But he’s learning a more level-headed attitude, one that might help secure him a place in the sport’s cadre of high-flying young prospects.
“In a way, I feel pressure to get to the same peaks, same results they did at my age or the same results they are getting now when I get to their age,” said Shamai, referencing peers like Mathias Fullerton and Tim Jevsnik.
“I think it’s amazing how the level is rising and I’m trying to be a part of that wave of archery that’s really pushing towards perfection.”
