#811: 2x Olympic Archery Medalist Jake Kaminski — Lessons Learned and Mantras Used After 1,000,000 Arrows

Jake Kaminski is a two-time Olympic silver medalist in archery and a longtime member of the US Archery Team. He runs a successful YouTube channel, writes training guides, and develops high-performance gear under the Kaminski Archery brand. Sign up for the Kaminski Archery Backyard Championship here.

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Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Start.

[00:06:50] A glimpse into the high-precision world of Olympic archery.

[00:11:04] How Jake and I connected.

[00:18:27] Jake’s auspicious introduction to archery.

[00:21:15] Why you (Yes! You!) should try archery.

[00:22:01] The differences between bows.

[00:25:19] The admirable proficiency of Shot IQ’s Bodie and Joel Turner.

[00:26:24] Ethical bow hunting, performing under pressure, and transitioning from rifle to bow.

[00:29:22] Why I wouldn’t have cut it as a competitive archer in Korea.

[00:30:14] Mindful archery and training hard to make competition easy.

[00:37:00] What Jake did when compound bow archery started to get boring.

[00:40:00] Meeting legendary Coach Kisik Lee (KSL).

[00:43:06] The upsides of having no social life as a kid.

[00:45:20] The welcoming weirdness of archery communities.

[00:46:33] For the sake of form, Coach Lee shakes things up.

[00:51:21] “I am.” — an affirmation for apathy adjustment.

[00:58:11] London, 2012 Olypmics: when it all starts coming together.

[01:08:28] How does teamwork play out in archery?

[01:15:40] My own experience with Coach Lee.

[01:19:23] The trials of training and traveling.

[01:27:33] Blank bale practice.

[01:31:14] Layering, biomechanics, and other early points of focus.

[01:33:03] The underrated importance of follow through.

[01:36:40] Coach Lee’s take on follow through vs. release.

[01:37:29] Gauging tension and intention as an instructor.

[01:38:52] Attention to grouping over hitting the bullseye.

[01:40:57] Making adaptations for physical limitations.

[01:43:30] The ups and downs of our patented “Jesus take the wheel” instinctive approach.

[01:46:24] Warm-up tournaments, barebowing, black bales, and string walking.

[01:50:54] Recovering from the disaster that made me rethink Lancaster.

[01:55:15] Rebalancing gear: arrows and arrow rests.

[02:00:50] The importance of practicing in tournament-like conditions.

[02:04:03] Securing convenient fuel.

[02:08:17] Lancaster preparation logistics (with special thanks to Heather Kaminski and Rick Simpson Oil).

[02:13:17] The glue that holds us together: note-taking and training logs.

[02:16:47] Even counterintuitive consistency is key.

[02:18:45] Our experience at Lancaster.

[02:28:00] “The goal is to do the least necessary, not the most possible.” — Henk Kraaijenhof

[02:31:44] Learning by observation and conversation on the practice range.

[02:35:35] What’s the Kaminski Archery Backyard Championship, and why should you get involved?

[02:40:30] How can you (and why should you) get started with archery today?

[02:42:48] Parting thoughts.

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