The archer was in some obvious distress when the club coach arrived at the indoor range.
“I’m really struggling,” said the archer, Peter.
“What’s the problem?” asked the coach.
“Well, I’ve got gold shyness and it’s destroying my archery,” said Peter. “I know this sounds crazy but I’m also suffering from problems down below, if you get my drift. You know, trouble with the old wedding tackle when it comes to kit off, lights off. Sorry for sharing such personal details with you, but I think the two things are linked. It’s having a terrible effect on my marriage, what with my wife being left frustrated as hell and me being bad tempered all the time. It’s bad enough not being able to perform on the archery range, never mind in bed. Anyway, can you help?”
“Well, I think I have a strategy that can solve both problems,” said the coach. “Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll set you up about ten yards out with all the club practice arrows – there’s about 600 of those – and a practice bow. Then I’ll blindfold you and what you will do is shoot every single arrow blindfold until I tell you to stop. You can rest every two dozen or so but you mustn’t remove the blindfold or talk to me, and I won’t talk to you. Total dedication is what we need to crack this problem. I’ve done this before with archers who have similar problems and it’s worked really well. What it does is get you used to shooting again without sighting. And as your confidence builds, so does your confidence in the other department. You’re happy, you’re wife’s happy. Simple, really.”
So Peter put on the blindfold and began to shoot the practice arrows. About six arrows, in the coach crept out of the range, closing the door quietly behind him.
An hour later the coach tiptoed back into the indoor range to find Peter still plugging away with the practice arrows, blindfold intact.
“Well done, you can stop now,” said the coach.
“Great, I’m knackered,” said Peter. “But I’ve a feeling this is going to work.”
He looked at his watch. “Crikey, better get a move on, my wife will be really unhappy with me staying on this late.”
“On the contrary,” said the coach. “From now on I think you’ll find your wife is a happy woman, a very, very happy woman.”
“Oh, really, how would you know that, we’ve only just started?” said Peter.
“Well, I’m a very experienced coach and I’ve solved these problems before,” said Peter quickly. “Let’s just call it intuition. So – shall we get together next week for another session with the blindfold?”
Peter nodded yes, looking slightly dazzled but hopeful after his marathon session with the blindfold.
“Excellent,” said the coach . He could hardly wait.