Fellas... I came back from Africa... sold my wheel bow and booked a bear hunt all in the same week. After some tinkering I have my arrows flying great out of my centaur... off the shelf. I shoot 2 X a day... prolly 50-100 shots per session. I'm amazed at how fast I'm improving. I have a question for the collective wisdom... but I have to describe my situation... so please bear with me.

When I get to full draw... I have to mentally check a few things... (grip and my anchor reference points). When I don't do all my steps I don't shoot well. I'm getting faster and faster at this. I look down the arrow... to the point I want to hit. I do it TWICE... look down arrow... stare at target... look down arrow.. stare at the target... THEN finally I zero in on my target only and my focus stays there all the way through the release.

I feel like stay at full draw for a LONG time. I filmed myself and it's not that long but when I watch the masters shoot... geez... they anchor and the instant they hit their anchor - the arrow's gone. I feel like I'm a million miles away from this. When I try to anchor and release like they do it my groups are garbage. When I go slow they are respectable.

Wanted to know what you guys look at? Do you EVER look down your arrow... or do you just stare at the point you want to hit the entire shot sequence? Will I get faster? Do I need to get faster to be more accurate? Thanks much.

Just my opinion, but keep doing what your doing which apparently works. You will get faster. Keep it simple and don't try to change too much.

Don't try to emulate someone, shoot as you feel is good for your shot. Read what you can find for aiming systems: instinctive, gapping, split vision, stringwalking, fix crawl, and you will understand more and you will give yourself the answer to your question.

Your eye is getting distracted by going back and forth just look at the spot a small spot a strong pull don,t baby it and follow thru if your form is good you will hit you are also probably trying to look at the flight of the arrow after the shot dont

Archery is for hitting the center of the target, not shooting like someone else does. Don't change anything if you are shooting good, and don't let anyone talk you into changing. If you start to struggle, then you look for help..not when you're shooting well.

Read that again, and avoid keyboard coaches.

Speed is the enemy of accuracy. Take your time and enjoy the shot.

TMBB

Well hell... okay... I guess I'll keep on keeping on.

Jar

I kind of agree with George, except that there's always room for improvement. You are obvious looking for improvement. For one, you should adjust your grip just before you hook the string. AND it should not move until after the shot.

TO me it doesn't make sense to adjust the grip at full draw, when it can be done before. In fact, everything you can get done BEFORE drawing is a good idea.

I'm against the conventional 'burning a hole'. For a couple of reasons. Take a look at a door knob that's about 20-30ish feet away. How long can you stare at the exact center before you start to see things in your peripheral vision (distractions)? For me it's about a second.

Because of this, in my sequence, I pick a spot, look at my cresting and then start to draw at full draw I'm back at the spot in a second and the rest of my sequence takes about 2 seconds. Talk a look at the Lancaster finals this year. Those guys are not touch and go by a long shot.

By the way, the dumbest thing you can do, is do what I do because I do it. Look at reasons and see if those reasons fit into your sequence/form.

Bowmania

Very helpful - Thanks Bowmania

I agree with don't try and follow someones shooting. Pick a style of shooting that is comfortable to you and shoot that way. I shoot split finger instinctive and I cannot watch a video of someone shooting gap or other 3 under shooting styles as for some dumb reason it screws me up in my head. That goes the same for watching snap shooters, I have a tendency to start snap shooting.

'When I get to full draw... I have to mentally check a few things.' That is all part of the process.

'When I don't do all my steps I don't shoot well.' That realization is a turning point on the road to improvement.

'I do it twice.' It would be nice to eliminate redundancy, there is enough to think about such as where to hit a bear.

I think the most important thing you are doing is building a repeatable shot from a series of steps. If you have trouble in a certain area, you can add or revise steps. The steps that work well get 'grooved in', as Rod Jenkins says, and get done without thinking so you can focus on other things.

Also, I thought you posted because you wanted some responses. I am on my way to the local indoor range, I wish you could shoot with me this afternoon. Best wishes, GGS

Note: I am not a coach; 'I am an archer. I am not a traditional archer, bowhunter, compound shooter, or target archer.' - A. Camera

Ok Jarhead let an old Sailor tell you how to do it. Don't over think it just keep doing it the way you have been and your speed will improve.

Don't overthink it!!???!! are you kidding!! Man with my Mathews it was so easy... align the peep and hold for a full count after the release. That was it... that was the totality of my process. Now... way less equipment... way more to do to get that arrow to hit my spot. It's amazing how much mental gymnastics goes into a good shot. Fascinating.

The good news is me and my 9 year old are about the same... so we can shoot against each other.

Jarhead -

Ah, you're actually doing everything right.

If you think it doesn't "feel" right, deal with it. There's a fine line between covering the bases and overthinking, and I don't think you've crossed it.

Viper out.

Anchor is a means to stay put, for as long as needed. Aim employs your eyesight. Release is what you do when YOU are ready.

50 TO 100, sounds a little much. Shoot 4 or 5 and then pull, so as to rest your bow arm, or you will develop problems.

Hope you are getting the idea that you are off on the right foot.

You’re building a neuromotor circuit, and you’re doing a good job of it... but don’t take my word for it - try The Talent Code and Guitar Zero as reading materials...

Also the book that Viper wrote.

But right now, you’re Chunking; that’s good. Do it carefully and the fluidity will follow. Biggest mistake people make IMHO is trying to begin with the end product. Gotta lay some foundation before you start in on the roof. That’s the biggest fault with the Fred as Bill approach… The “instinctive“ part is the roof.

I would probably agree with Wild Bill, though… You will earn faster by settling into exactly the same anchor every time, and my concentration will rarely hold up for 20 shots in a session, which is why target competition is the Hard. Two, bad habits creep in when we get tired. We stop using exactly the right muscle fibers and start relying on some that are pretty nearby, which build you a slow, dirty circuit. You want to build it clean so it will grow fast. Just don’t forget that it’s as important to grow the nerve cells as carefully as the muscle cells

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here