Bullseye: How Leblanc drops the bat and picks up the bow

Charles Leblanc nocks his arrow and calmly stares out into the outfield from the left field foul line near the Jacksonville bullpen. Sitting 30 yards away is an archery bag target. With a slight breeze, Leblanc calmly draws his bowstring, takes a deep breath, and slowly exhales as he releases the bowstring. As if a 99-mph fastball popped the leather of a catcher’s mitt, _POP! _The arrow makes solid contact with the archery bag close to a bullseye.

“I got my bow last year, around June and just kind of picked it up with a few teammates I had back with the Rangers,” explained Leblanc. “I’ve been probably shooting it three or four times now. It’s pretty cool, the grounds crew is really cool here, they just allow me to bring my stuff out here and shoot.”

Athletes have different avenues of clearing their minds or pregame routines; for Leblanc, it’s a good way to reset and relax.

“It’s something I do to clear my mind,” Leblanc said. “Even though you’re at the stadium, it’s good to refocus and do something else.

Everyone has a story about why or how they got into an activity when they were a kid. While Leblanc picked up an actual bow and arrow just recently, it’s been an interest of his for a long time.

For Leblanc, watching movies with his family as a kid is what originally sparked his interest in shooting bows and arrows. He took a keen interest in Legolas, the elf from Lord of the Rings who’s primary weapon was the bow and arrow and who was known for his marksmanship.

“I remember when I was younger watching movies growing up, tv shows, and Legolas from Lord of the Rings,” laughed Leblanc. “Growing up just watching Lord of the Rings, and I remember playing with hangers and pencils trying to mimic a bow with that. It’s always been something that has interested me, now that I’m older and understand how things work, get a feel for I want to get into this. I was willing to spend the money and get a set up with this. Now that I’m able to do it, it’s pretty cool.”

Not only was watching the movies with his family a good bonding opportunity, so was taking his sister to experience shooting a bow and arrow with him. Besides the movies, watching her brother shoot sparked an interest that they share.

“It’s good bonding time with my sister,” Leblanc said. “Even my sister, she was a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and she saw me shoot for the first time this past offseason, (saying) ‘oh yeah, that’s cool, the next time you shoot, let me know and I’ll go with you.’”

Leblanc doesn’t just look at this as an activity to goof off, he takes it seriously. A professional athlete with a strong work ethic for baseball, he takes that mentality with him even on his “off day activity.”

“Just like baseball, trying to get better every day and improve,” said Leblanc. “You know, I got the bug, it’s kind of addictive. It’s like anything, like baseball, you want to be as perfect as you can.”

Baseball is a game that everyone knows you fail more than you succeed. For Charles Leblanc, his start to his Miami Marlins tenure was about as perfect as you can hope if you’re a baseball player. He clubbed two home runs in his first two games of the season, en route to a stellar month of April. Leblanc would finish second on the Jumbo Shrimp in batting average (.386), first in home runs (6), RBIs (18), OBP (.457), SLG (.700), and OPS (1.157).

While Charles loves the activity and is wanting to be as perfect as possible, there’s a healthy balance that comes with archery.

“It’s almost like a double-edged sword, it’s like golf a little bit where you want to be perfect every time and now you start overthinking,” Leblanc said. “Sometimes, I’ll be shooting for 25-30 minutes, which is a pretty long session. You pick up your bow, you shoot great but the more you do it, the more you start thinking about your form, your hold, and then the worse your shots get.”

The age-old adage “practice makes perfect” rings true not only in sports but in hobbies as well and Leblanc takes that seriously.

“I just picked it up last year, and morally I think it’s the right thing to do. Be comfortable, learn how to shoot with it, different angles, targets,” said Leblanc. “For me, personally, I want to get ready, feel comfortable at 40 yards. In that range, if I can’t put a good groove at 40, with the emotion, heartbeat bracing on a hunt, even if it’s a 20-yard shot, if you can’t put a good groove at 40 or 30 yards, what is it going to be like when you’re out there? I have a good idea of hunting situations like what could be, I’m not here to judge anyone but I don’t think it’s smart to just pick up a bow and go out there.”