Back tension?

[TEX]

I agree.
If you get a consistent anchor point and draw the same each time that's the foundation to build on. Then practice practice practice. If you hit the bulls eye once you can do it again.

My first ever shot of a bow was at a school camp. The teacher said the first to get the bulls eye wins a chocolate bar. Well my first shot was dead centre. The teacher didn't believe me that I had never shot a bow before. She gave the chocolate to the next person. I missed most of the shots after that but I knew if I hit it once I will hit it again. I found that the more I listened to other people the more I stuffed up. Every body is built differently I myself am tall and skinny My draw is 30 inches so my style is different than say a short chubby 26 inch draw archer. Your bow will also change your style.

Any way what I am saying is if you can put an arrow where you want you must be doing something right.
I have been practicing with my new recurve. I can manage to put three arrows into a 6 inch group at 20 meters most of the time. Sometimes I can have them touching each other and other times I get an eight inch group. It's just practice and consistency.
Take archers with a disability they shoot with there mouth or whatever they can. There style is there style and I would love to be able to get the consistency that they shoot at.

If you feel comfortable shooting one way and you can get a good group practice that. If you hunt you will be standing on a rock, peeping around a tree, Leaning over a fallen log or up to your knees in mud.
Practice all these methods once you get confident in your style.

A great person to ask about archery is Ian Fenton. I have seen this man shoot standing on his head and lying on the ground. He shot my bow and had never even seen it before and he was getting awesome groups.

Find your own style and go for it. Maybe stand in front of a large target and shoot with your eyes closed to feel your most relaxed position.

I could be wrong but like I said all that is important is when the arrow hits the right spot.
Archery is for fun. Keep it fun. Don't make it complicated.
I was playing tennis with my son and there was a young girl on the next court. she was training with her mother. The look on her face said it all. If she missed a shot she was getting angry when we missed a shot we laughed. Ok she might one day be good enough to go pro and make heaps of money. She may not. But we where having a good time playing she was stressing. Playing being the key word. Playing is fun. You ever notice people when they get to serious about a sport, they only enjoy it when they win. I say that is loosing.
FUN FUN FUN. Keep the smile on your dial.

Reg Tex

[longbow steve]

My draw is 30 inches so my style is different than say a short chubby 26 inch draw archer. Your bow will also change your style.

Who you calling short and chubby?
What causes your misses Tex? What is going to stop you having that bad shot when faced with a trophy of a life time? What causes some of your shots to feel right?
If you know what causes your misses you are streets ahead,if you dont know what causes them you will have times that all your shots will be bad to the point where you may give it away.
Just food for thought.
I found I shot well as a beginner, There is a Japanese saying in archery do it with a beginners mind sounds simple doesnt it.
Steve

[TEX]

I was not saying that you were chubby. I was just saying to different types of people for comparison.
Actually I think most people look chubby next to me. lol

I understand what your saying about a trophy of a life time.

What I was saying is once you get your self a comfortable shooting style that is consistent you can then start going for accuracy.
I agree we need to correct our faults to get better. But I do think we are all different and we need to go with what suits us either for full competition or hunting.

I also think we shoot differently if we are at a range or in the bush. Stance is always going to be different in whatever terrain we happen to be standing on.

You can look at olympic shooters, Fred Bear, Harold Hill and Byron Ferguson, they shoot differently.

Like I said before I could be wrong and you are a far better archer than me.

Tex

[Nephew]

It's still fun, guys, but your both right, it's becoming work! I think what I most need is to shoot in the company of other archers. It's shooting on my own that makes it work, you know what I mean? I've gotta find a way to get out to a club regularly. That, and get out into the bush, just stump shooting I reckon. Ah well, not long to go 'till I can try for a license.

[ed]

stump shooting is great, even better with a couple of mates. I used to roam a paddock kicking out half sized soccer balls to 15-30m and we would see who would be the first to hit them. Sometimes small toys would find thier way into the game Kneeling shots, peeking left or right behind trees etc. You will soon find the practice both fun and instructive.

Two things on accuracy - there is shot accuracy that we have been talking about. Being consistancy of shot, where form is important and you need to look at all aspects of your release position and action (bow hand, head movement, draw hand movement, anchor consistancy).
And there is aim. I think some people blame their technique for crappy aiming and visa versa. That is why point on or other gap consistant methods are such good practice for form as you take out the variation of wobbling your point of aim all over the place.

[jape]

See Craig? If you had had a son, he'd be angry at you shooting up his soccer balls, not worrying about his hair styling!

One thing I did with the longbow when I was getting nowhere with it was I wrapped the handle with thin foam for an easier but looser grip, then I realised I had been avoiding holding it consistently before because the old string wrapped grip hurt.

[perry]

The basics of a proper shooting stance regardless of terrain or contorted body position remain constant , feet , hips , shoulders in alignment = balance - simple ! Back tension is part of basic archery form . I will bet that a champion archer who on the surface says they use a dead release will actually have good back tension - have a look I bet their fingers point down after release even if their hand does not move back a little .

Have a look at some of Howard Hills trick shooting where he is lying down or twisted around and shooting facing backwards - feet , hips , shoulders in alignment , balanced . Shooting uphill will require a more closed stance , downhill a more open stance , shooting at a pig from a seated or kneeling position - all require correct alignment to be balanced - no balance / repeatable form = a miss or a lucky hit - to many of us put value on a lucky hit instead of on the truth shooting a group will show .

regards Perry

[Nephew]

I tell ya folks, we have some truly fine people amongst us here! I have received wonderful support from various folk, but Jape stands out as he has sent me a copy of Comstocks "Hit the Mark" and has asked that once I have finished with it, I pass it on to the next bloke that needs it. Can't argue with that! So, give me a month or so, then contact me if you think this book may help you and I'll send it on! Also, thanks to Perry for his kind help.
Thanks to everyone for their advice and help and I hope others have found this thread as informative as I have...good onya's!!

[jape]

but Jape stands out as he has sent me a copy of Comstocks "Hit the Mark" and has asked that once I have finished with it, I pass it on to the next bloke that needs it.

Come on Craig, I just sent you a booklet at the time it was 'timely'! The idea and book was Hugh's (Nimrod) and the idea has been around and working long before I got involved. As you say, many generous people here. All I stand out for is being a terrible archer and one of life's fools most of the time.

[Nephew]

Yeah, yeah...whatever ya reckon! It was a nice thing to do, just accept it, alright!?

[longbowinfected]

Moreton, you live in or near paradise.
Think about this... set up something really good nearby and getb others to come to you!!!!!!!

Camping, fishing, hunting stump shooting, SUNshine.

Kevin

[Nephew]

Now, THERE'S a thought! I have an appointment with my local state member, the Hon. John English in Jan on an unrelated matter. That may be the time to bring this idea up with him. P.M. me with more details of your idea, please Kev, We have things to discuss.

[buzz]

Ironically I've been recently fiddling with my form as I was not happy with how I was shooting with a particular bow. A while back I had added heavier limbs and in doing some testing to compare the arrow strike point over a fair distance I found I was shooting crap. Fiddling around with an 'open grip' and a finger sling I noticed that I was having to try harder getting my 'normal' draw length and I was also having the string slap the arm high up on the bracer.

Right about here I realised that what I thought had been a really bad release causing the wild shots was actually just a plain not real good release, and a bad bow arm. The finger sling was one of the clues... the bow was doing different things each release - it has no weights or stabilisers, so rightfully it should tilt back on the loose, but sometimes it would torque around, wobble, etc. I suspect I was forcing my bow arm shoulder too far forwards and over extending the wrist to get the length, possibly rotating the elbow. Likely I was easily doing this with the lighter limbs, but it was harder with the heavier. This I think I managed to prove to myself in an end on the range where I didn't use the clicker and just went by feel. At 20 yards 3 of my 6 arrows were touching with the rest just a couple of fingers apart. So.... I obviously need to revise this technique, shorten it all a bit, not over extend my bow arm, or rotate it and work within myself. The string slapping high on the bracer is a bad sign for a recurve - it was further up the arm guard than what the brace height was, so it was even possible the arrow might not have even been released from the string when it happened... which cannot be good.

A good shot is made up of 3 elements.
* a good, repeatable draw length
* a good, repeatable anchor and loose
* a good, solid bow hand and arm.

And I am thinking that the bow hand and arm is possibly the key player in the equation. That is what does your aiming, and that is what must be held for the longest, even after the release.

A succesful shot combines those elements with a good aim.