8 June 2010 – Ruben OCHOA (MEX): “Archery is my way of life”

Ruben OCHOA (MEX): “Archery is my way of life” Antalya (TUR) – 8 June 2010   With a career spread over 15 years, Ruben OCHOA (MEX) is one of the most experienced archers in the world. Ruben also owns an archery shop and is the uncle of top compound archers Almendra and Linda OCHOA. Here is what he has to say about his experience and passion for the sport.  First of all, could you tell us what year you started archery? I started archery when I was 27, some 16 years ago. So I didn’t start very young. The thing I like about this sport is that age does not have an influence on my goals and objectives. In any other sport, I would have been finished at my age. Archery is my way of life because I have an archery company in Mexico and I compete as an international archer.   What brought you to archery? I used to hunt with all kinds of rifles. One day my cousin (the father of the OCHOA sisters) bought a bow, which looked very attractive to me. I used to go hunting with my cousin very often and he showed me how to shoot a bow. That’s how I started in archery. Then I found out about 3D tournaments and started to compete. Somehow the Federation saw me shoot in such a tournament and invited me to compete in a National trial. I made my first National Team in 1998. Also the family of my nieces were doing archery before and introduced me to it. Later on, I brought my nieces Almendra and Linda to archery, like a payback.   What are the most memorable moments in your career? In 2006, at the first ever World Cup stage in Porec, I almost reached the podium for the first time in a major competition. I almost beat the great guys and placed 5th, that was a great memory. Also, at the World Cup stage 4 in Shanghai last year, I won the gold in the team event right on photo and I reached the silver in the mixed team. The best thing now is that my 12-year-old son is learning to shoot archery and I’m his teacher. It is a major goal of mine to coach him.   You have been at the top level for 15 years. What keeps you going? I want to continue until I win a World Championships, after that we will see.   How come you opened an archery shop? When I started archery, there was the problem of getting archery equipment distributed to Mexico. I decided to open a small distributor to fill my necessities and those of my friends. I started in the back of my car, with products imported from the United States. I reinvested my earnings, I bought 2 boxes, then 3, and a truck, then a trailer and finally a shop, etc. I’m now selling archery products all over Mexico and in several Latin American countries: Colombia, Argentina, El Salvador… Besides that, I run archery seminars in order to share my knowledge with people.   Because of your shop you already have some nice Hit/Miss targets. How long have you been practicing on them? We got the targets at the begining of May and started to shoot on them. It looks easy to do because the Hit ring is larger that the 10 ring we have on regular taget at 50 metres (10 cm compared to 8 cm), but once you are focused on that it is not so easy.   How did you adapt to it? In your opinion, what do you need in order to shoot well with this target? The main thing for an archer is always to focus on the target. I think that at 50 metres we will have to be perfect in order to win. I think that in perfect weather conditions we’re going to see more perfect scores. However, it’s going to be very tricky if there is some wind. We’ll have to adapt to it, because it will become very easy to miss the Hit zone.  How do you set up your bow for the new competition format? I reduce my aiming dot for the Hit/Miss target. For the qualifications, I still use a normal one for a 50 metres target. Altough it has zones from 5 to 10 points only, the target face still has the same size as before. For the Hit/Miss target however, I use a much smaller dot to aim. My goal is that the dot covers the hit zone. Then I know I am in the middle, altough I do not see that middle anymore.   Do you think the change to the Hit/Miss target and the set system is going to change the hierarchy? This year, since the changes have come into effect, I have realised two things. I think this new competition format equalizes the forces and even if you’re not in the top, with a little luck, you can beat the best archers. You have a hope even if you’re not good at the begining. With the Set System the outcome of the game comes to the last set.   So, is it the archer with the toughest mental game that wins the competition? Absolutely, it’s a mental game. The one with the toughest mental should win the last set. In a sense, the good news with the Set System is that you have a chance to catch up if you’re behind in the set score. However, the bad news is that you can never relax if you are ahead, because all the sets, all the arrows may count. Anyway, the very good news is that this should make the matches even more spectacular. I hope that these changes will help archery grow all around the world and that there will be more archers competing in compound and recurve also.   Thank you Ruben and good luck!   Didier MIEVILLE / Vanahé ANTILLE World Archery Communication