clickers

[clinton miller]

okay fess up! who's used one? who still uses one? i'm struggling with my shooting at the moment and i think a clicker will go a longway to helping me with my target panic. something that helps you draw consistently has got to be good! any experiences anyone?

[excelpoint]

Clinton. My Dad was trying one for the same purpose but found he was starting to pre empt the click and relaesing early. I to have gone through a bit of target panic and have had good luck just shooting blank bale, no dots to aim at. Blank bale is all I shoot now and continually do 5-10 second holds, let downs etc. It seems to have worked pretty well for me.

[Mick Smith]

Clinton

I've also had a long and sad history of target panic. One of the things that helps me the most is to simply cut my arrows to my exact draw length. I feel for the back of the field point with the index finger of my bow hand. When I feel the slight bump on my finger, I can then release. It serves the same purpose as a clicker and better yet, it's within the rules at all trad shoots.

It's probably not a good idea to try this with broadheads though, as you will probably end up cutting your finger. However, it might be possible if you mount your broadheads horizontally.

It works for me anyway.

Mick

[Chase N. Nocks]

Never suffered target panic in 30 years of archery until I tried using sights and a release aid. Luckily the subconscious is doing all the work when shooting so called "instinctively." Once the bowhand starts to rise I pretty much stop thinking.

I believe that target panic did not effect you though when you were hunting, is that correct Mick. Probably for much the same reason.

I'm wondering if it may resurface when I start giving stringwalking a try.

Sorry, no have not used a clicker but when I give the sighted compound another go soon I just may. I think a backtension release aid might be a better way to go but I think I would need some coaching to use one properly. Just can't really get my head around the written explainations.

Cheers
Troy

[GrahameA]

Hi Troy, et al.

Sorry, no have not used a clicker but when I give the sighted compound another go soon I just may. I think a backtension release aid might be a better way to go but I think I would need some coaching to use one properly.

I use a clicker most of the time on my Target Recurve. I do not have to use one but using one will give me a more repeatable shot.

When the clicker "clicks" I release the arrow. It is a learned response. What I want is a consistent draw-length which gives a consistent arrow velocity. If your arrow velocity is not consistent them you arrow group will increase in size. It can sometimes help to think of it in these terms - consider all the bits and pieces to do with arrow release are designed to minimise the group size and all the sight does is move the group around the target.

Now the question becomes do you release when when the clicker "clicks" or do you only use the clicker to confirm that you were at one stage at the correct draw length? It is interesting and worthwhile to video a few archers using clickers. Some archers will draw, the clicker will go off and they release. Others will draw and wait - and most of the time when they are waiting they will creep forward giving an inconsistent draw length.

They other thing about using a clicker is getting it set up properly. If you use one that works off the bow limb you need to have it set to off when you are at the correct anchor position.

If you use one that is essentially a leaf spring against the arrow then you need the arrows to be cut to the correct length and they are not a good choice for use with a hunting arrow.

As for compounds I use a Thumb Release currently and it works well with a bow with a well defined wall. (My other compound has a wall that is not well defined and it requires a bit more effort to shoot well.) Essentially, I draw into the wall and then squeeze of the shot when I have an appropriate sight picture.

I do have a "back-tension" (call it what you will) release somewhere. What you are aiming to do with it is get is a "surprise" release. You are never certain when the bow will go off. Draw the bow and as you increase the tension the release will eventually fire. Note; there are a couple of different designs.

Of the two styles of releases I prefer my Thumb Release as I do not practice enough with the compound to feel comfortable using a "Back-Tension" release. (Note - you can use a back-tension release to fire on-command if you wish - it does not have to be a surprise.)

BTW - clickers are not the only draw check you can use.

[Chase N. Nocks]

Thanks Grahame,

They certainly make a lot of sense from a consistant draw length point of view.

I think a major part of the reason for my target panic with the sighted/release aid compound was the exaggerated unsteadiness of aiming as well as not having worked long enough with the whole shooting sequence and muscle memory.

The target panic made no sense to me in the rational shade of the lunch table so I realized it isn't really rational I think it is more emotive and can erode confidence in such a bewildering way.

For instance, you expect that your group sizes will increase with distance. That is a simple given probably governed by a symbiotic collection of physical laws. All easily apparent to anyone involved in any sport that launches a projectile. So the fact that my groups sizes would increase did not bother me, the problem was that I could shoot 10 arrows into a two inch group at 25m but go out to 40m and the group had fragmented into 24+ inch groups....just a complete and ever building lack of confidence. Punching the release was also something that started to develop due to the anxiety of releasing on a 40+m distant target.

I have never scoffed at the abilities of sighted shooters with modern gear/compounds. Because I have/do shoot everything I have an appreciation for the different disciplines and the different benchmarks for each of those disciplines. It was only recently in my archery voyage that I verified this first hand.

Shooting instinctively is positively lazy in comparison.... but that's only because I have spent 30 years learning it.

[GrahameA]

Hi Troy.

They certainly make a lot of sense from a consistant draw length point of view.

Read Horace Ford.

I think a major part of the reason for my target panic with the sighted/release aid compound was the exaggerated unsteadiness of aiming as well as not having worked long enough with the whole shooting sequence and muscle memory.

You cannot hold the bow perfectly steady and you move in a "pattern". Tape a laser to your bow and watch the pattern it describes on a target face some distance away.

For instance, you expect that your group sizes will increase with distance. That is a simple given probably governed by a symbiotic collection of physical laws. All easily apparent to anyone involved in any sport that launches a projectile. So the fact that my groups sizes would increase did not bother me, the problem was that I could shoot 10 arrows into a two inch group at 25m but go out to 40m and the group had fragmented into 24+ inch groups....just a complete and ever building lack of confidence.

Did you ever check that the Trig was correct for the distance. That reads wrong however the disproportionate increase in group size may be partially due to different flight characteristics of the arrows. Your arrows are not matched to each other.

Punching the release was also something that started to develop due to the anxiety of releasing on a 40+m distant target.

"Punching" is a big "No, No" in all shooting sports. IMO the unsmooth action is detrimental in the vast majority of sports.

Shooting instinctively is positively lazy in comparison.... but that's only because I have spent 30 years learning it.

Not lazy but rather relying more on the subconscious and you probably shoot at shorter distance which helps to mask the inaccuracies.

You need to get out with your Target Recurve and shoot at the longer distance more. Poor "form" will be punished and you will get the opportunity to think about it all the way back from the Target.

I shot a Geelong yesterday with a Barebow Recurve and instead of my normal method I shot it point-of-aim. Started off bad but by the end of the afternoon I was grouping well - just could not keep the group centralised on the centre. Next time I am going to shoot the same round and stringwalk.

[muntries]

Hey funny you should mention about target panic, I'm still relatively new to archery and I've found this but when I had a casual wander I was fine and much more consistent. Matt, I only realised this when I was last at the club and first half of the day I sucked and then your dad asked me if I wanted to just have a casual stroll and hit targets here and there and I was much better. I think for me it was maybe the whole scoring that was putting on the pressure.