Rahul Banerjee remembers shooting arrows wearing a backpack stuffed with water bottles at the 2015 Archery World Championships, because archers feared they would be flown away by strong gusts of wind. As a former top international Recurve archer and now a senior coach guiding younger Indians at national camps and the Archery Premier League, Banerjee leans back on his experience, like when he figured he needed to aim at 6 or 7 circle of Target 1 for the bow to actually veer into the 10-circle of Target 2.Archery in the winds has always been a wild ride – though 2026 marks a turnaround for Indians who secured breakthrough medals at the Asian Games. The improvements have come with experienced coaches first, acknowledging the wind-problem for India, and then offering technical solutions.“You have to understand that Indian archers from my times used to be very afraid of shooting arrows in the wind. Like, there was a real shaking fear of aiming even at the thought of it, because it’s not just wxindy, but cold and then time pressure,” Banerjee admits candidly. He was also part of the much-reviled generation, cruelly crucified as ‘chokers’ at every failure. Deepika Kumari’s implosion at London Olympics was a scarring memory for fans, but Banerjee stresses that fans aren’t remotely aware of what the challenge entails for Indians who don’t grow up training in cold+windy centres.It was a long-time problem. Head or tail winds is one thing. Even left to right we can deal with. But Lord’s during the 2012 Olympics was one of the toughest because it was circular revolving winds (like a typhoon), because it was an enclosed stadium,” Banerjee recalls. “Antalya was tough recently, because it was very windy. But the preparation was important, or you can get scared literally. Otherwise itna wind chalegaa that your whole focus is on that, instead of aiming. It’s taken us time to learn how to deal with it, and passing on to the next generation,” says the team bronze medallist from 2010 Guangzhou Asiad.Are the choker tags justified? Not quite. But all Banerjee will say is the likes of Dhiraj Bommadevara or Atanu Das and Neeraj Chauhan, or youngsters Kumkum Mohod and Simranjeet Kaur come far more prepared, than archers from earlier. Banerjee insists a high performance centre in a place like Himachal, might really help Indians.He knew cursorily that if winds hit from 8 O’clock, they could strike at 2 O’clock, but executing that had practical issues. At the 2009 World’s in Ulsan, Korea, archers were briefed it would be cold, but actually shooting was teeth-clattering. “Conditions changed mid-competition and it suddenly got cold, and we weren’t even carrying jackets,” he recalls. At Copenhagen where he literally aimed at the adjacent target, and managed to not be blown away, he still finished Top 10, shooting a low 640 – that’s how treacherous things could get.But Banerjee developed a method. “When young, we followed the (yellow) flag,” he says. But that’s just the start of reading winds – one half of the matter; worrying about the arrow path. What’s more important, the 2010 CWG champ says is, “Feeling the wind in the body, and managing to stay composed when slapped by cold gusts is the challenge. But I was still afraid. I used to shoot very fast, a decision I made because if you shoot fast, there’s a low chance of mistakes.”Story continues below this adThough there’s a more fundamental technique – which he sees mirrored by Neeraj Chauhan and Bommadevara. “Focus is on simple drawing technique. Put arrow in the string, get in line, put the nock properly and draw with a longer right hand. But your focus should only be on the left hand – because that aims for the position. Always work to make the left stronger,” he stresses.Casey Kaufhold is women’s Recurve World champion currently and following her archer parents, she’s been slinging arrows since age 3. Watching twice World champion, Brady Ellison, and growing up in moderately windy Pennsylvania, she acquired an antidote to winds — supreme self-confidence.“Windy is fun, always. You need to be extra confident. Just commit to the aim, shoot,” the American says, recalling a Nationals at Indianapolis, when she gee-ed herself up even as others were missing entire targets altogether. “Confidence is most important. You can’t have doubts about aiming in the wind. I just had many people guiding me on how to aim in winds when growing up,” says the World No 1 archer, shooting the final arrow for Chero Archers.When Compound legend Mike Schloesser shot at Antalya for his World title in 2013, he remembers dire winds. “It was so bad we had to sit on our knees in between arrows. Properly unsafe. It was crazy but I walked out with a big smile, and was asked ‘Why are you so happy?’ I said ‘wind is my forte’.” You need to meet it, to beat it.