MERMET - Concentration and repetition.

That's Jackie Caudle's simple recipe to reach the top of the competitive archery world.

Caudle, co-owner of the Archery Shooter's Association, should know. He's won two International Bowhunters Organization world titles, four Buckmasters world titles, an ASA championship as well as the 2000 ESPN Great Outdoors Games championship.

Caudle, of Gadsden, Ala., was one of several thousand archers to attend the ASA's Illinois Pro-Am at Mermet Lake last week.

The ASA has four professional classes. Over the years, Caudle has seen competitors shoot themselves up through the amateur ranks into the pro classes, only to stumble when they reach the top level.

"They get into the pro class and they've won everything," Caudle said. "When they get there it is a mental mindset that, 'Hey, these are the best people in the world.' It gets to be a little mental block."

There is a simple solution: Simplify.

"It's like you have to tell them, 'Think you're in your backyard having fun and shoot one target at a time,'" Caudle said. "You look at those targets, there aren't none of them you can't hit. Just don't let the pressure of trying to do good get on your back and make you do bad."

That's where concentration and focus come into play.

"I just kind of block out everything around me," Caudle said. "When you have 4,000 people around you screaming and hollering, you just have to block out all of that. You just focus on what you have to do and just put your mind on that instead of what is going on around you."

And, in archery, focus simply means going about your business the same way with every shot.

"Your hands have to be in the same position every time," Caudle said. "Your release has to come to your face the same very time. Your arm tension has to be the same. Repetition is what makes it hit the same spot over and over.

"You can put a bow in a vise and it will shoot in the same hole every time. Then, you add the human into that. It all comes to play."

For the professionals, several other elements come into play.

At lower levels, archers shoot at targets at known distances. The professionals shoot at 3-D targets, at distances ranging from about 25-50 yards. A 3-D target resembles an actual animal. Archers must place their arrows in designated kill zones on the target.

Being able to judge distances and make the necessary adjustments is what separates the professionals from the amateurs.

"To be able to put your arrow where you want it when you're figuring out how far it is, it just makes it more exciting for me," Caudle said.

And, it's not just a simple matter of walking up to a shooting lane and eyeballing a target set in the open. Course designers do their best to complicate matters.

"They angle them, put them behind trees and put them behind little ditches and ravines," Caudle said. "It throws a whole new wrinkle into just being able to look at that target and being able to say it's that far.

"You have to play with all that other stuff, lighting conditions and all that. It makes a big difference."

And, shooters don't have long to make that determination.

The first shooter in a group has two minutes to make a shot. Subsequent shooters have just one minute. It pays to be attentive.

"Say you've got three guys ahead of you and everybody shoots that target low, then you pretty well know that target has deceived some good shooters," Caudle said. "So, you'll add a yard or two on it and go to school off the other people a little bit."

To Caudle, that is the allure of the sport.

"Just like in golf, nobody can shoot the perfect game," he said. "They strive to do that. In archery, nobody shoots the best they feel they can. It gives them a drive to keep coming back and doing better."

les.winkeler@thesouthern.com / 351-5088