Watch This: The Power of Silly Manifestation in Axe Throwing

Picture this: A little round man is at IATC. He is sweaty. He looks like he’s a deflating glove full of mashed potatoes. He’s outgunned by almost everyone else there in axe throwing skills, looks, and intelligence. But he is, by all accounts, a goofy lil guy. After his opponent throws the fifth axe and their score goes up to a cool seven points, this little man makes an important decision: he’s going to use the only tool left available: absurdity.

“No problem. Watch this,” he says. He says it like he’s done this a thousand times before. He says it like the outcome is all but absolute.

The round boi throws at the clutch.

He nails it. Premier as hell. They go to big axe (where, if memory serves, the dumpling of a man donks it).

That’s the power of silly manifestation. That’s the secret of absurdity.

What if I told you, dear reader, that little walnut-shaped person was me. What if I told you: it’s a true story?!?

Hit Your Mark recently posted a series on the socials about the Alter Ego:

View this post on Instagram

and this post, alongside one they shared about the “Championship Mindset” made me realize something: When I do really well – when I perform like I understand axe throwing AND can do it, I’m doing both of these things: creating an alter ego, and acting with my version of a championship mindset.

But, because it’s me, I’m also being weird as hell with it.

the watch this system of achieving success

Since IATC, I’ve been testing out the “Watch This” method of throwing. Maybe I should define that a bit:

In the Watch This system of throwing, you follow these easy steps:

• Recognize when you’re in a tight spot (down by 7, need to hit a clutch with a big axe, whatever)
• Decide that you’re going to act like it’s not a big deal
• Inform anyone around you that you’re not worried with a white hot “watch this”
• Achieve your axe throwing
• Act like you knew that was gonna happen. Of course it was.

Will you find that the Watch This method works every time?

Well, with absolute confidence, I can tell you: No. No it will not.

BUT: it will make you feel a lot better about the outcome, whatever it happens to be. If you do nail it, you’ve just done something really fun and really goofy. If you miss, you’ve done something very funny and really goofy.

why I think it actually works

Now I’m no rocket surgerist, but there’s plenty of evidence out there that getting stressed out messes up your accuracy and ability. There’s also something to be said about believing in yourself and having the right mindset.

If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that by looking your axe throwing opponent dead in the eye and saying “No problem, watch this” before throwing, you’re cutting the tension. You’re making it a silly thing. And that absolutely cuts out so much tension and stress from the throw. It’s like magic.

The difference between getting super serious and being seriously silly, for me, is the difference between demanding performance from yourself and facilitating performance from yourself. It’s that alter ego thing HYM was talking up in one of their posts: my alter ego needs me to not stress it out. And when I don’t stress out that little goober, I do a lot better.

It works because I’m reminding myself that I’m here to have fun and create space for other people to have fun. When I manage that, the throwing becomes more accurate and more…uh…fun. PLUS REALLY TRULY even if I miss my mark, I don’t care nearly as much, and that’s nice for me. If I carried around the weight of all my failures I’d be even shorter, you dig?

So whenever the score is close; whenever I really need to make the clutch or nail it with a big axe, I either say “watch this” out loud or in my little, corrupt brain. And you know what? Truthfully? I can feel the difference. I can feel that I’m stepping outside of myself to just do the thing. And a lot of the time, I manage to pull of what I was hoping to do. Not every time, to be absolutely clear, but more often than I did before carrying this one-off joke for months and months.

So figure out what your “Watch This” mindset is, or heck, just start saying “watch this“ to people before hitting/donking your next big throw. I think you’ll find the magic of being a silly goofball will help you out, take off a lot of the pressure, and give your mind/body and indicator or when it can release the pressure of the game and replace it with the joy.