To bridge the gap, the squad spent their first two days completing eight hours of intensive coaching with Bernardo, working on posture, bow tuning and simulated tournament ends to help them understand the scoring process.
The sessions also introduced the young archers to balance pads to refine their shooting posture. Bernardo used the pads to help keep one archer’s hips anchored and prevent another from letting her shoulder creep forward during the shot.
“Because they came right before a competition, that puts us in a somewhat limited position in terms of technique work,” said Bernardo. “We’re not going to reinvent their technique and risk lower scores. At the World Archery Excellence Centre, posture and balance are foundational areas we can work on with almost anyone.”
“The balance pads we use are just a little bit unstable, so they instinctively force the archer to be more stable and to use their body and core muscles a little bit more,” he added.
Competing in the under-21 category, 12-year-old Chen ‘Harry’ Zhonghan delivered an impressive qualification score of 549, averaging 9.15 points per arrow.
Ambitions remain high, and Chen’s long-term goal is to win Olympic gold. For this trip, however, the team’s immediate priority was simply to explore the Swiss Alps.
