The Draw & Hold?

[wayne]

Just starting out with a PSE Mustang takedown recurve, 55lbs. I've been shooting 70lbs PSE, Brute and Stinger for a few months and thought I'd give the recurve ago. I'm using carbon arrows for both bows, field points only at this stage.

I note some videos people pull and shoot instinctively, while others pull back and hold like with a compound. When I try the latter it is harder than pulling back the Brute/Stinger. I don't have sights on the Mustang, It was knocked when I bought it.

At 10m it shoots high when I attempt to aim and the arrows do not hit the target correctly, they can be tail up or to the left. Given its me, any suggestions on technique are more than welcome.
Regards, Wayne

[Antonio]

Hi wayne those Bows you mentioned are Compound Bows .of course you know that . you say left and high ,just of hand 55lbs is 15lbs weaker than the 70lbs you have been shooting .so there might be a possibility that the arrows are over spine for the 55lbs recurve.when they are over spine they can shoot to the left .assuming you are drawing with you're right hand and holding the bow with you're left hand


if the nocking point is to low they can shoot high .this is only a rough estimate as I don't know if you're recurve is close to center shot .

The difference in the way the bow feels(harder pulling it back ) is because the recurve you have the full weight of the draw .no let down like a Compound Bow.

If you are shooting bare bow (no sights on the bow ) its up to you how you shoot it ..............some people shoot gap shooting using the arrow tip and the distance to the target others use instinctive shooting ..........if you do a search on this sight you will find plenty of info on it .

I use the arrow as an aiming device like looking down a shotgun barrel and imagining the arrows flight path .

any way this is my answer with the information that I read from you're post .

if you give more information then maybe the answers my change .
but I am sure some people here will give some insight as there are a lot of people here that really know a lot about arrow tuning ,and different forms of aiming .Good luck with it .

[Mick Smith]

It's natural to tend to shoot a bit high when shooting at very close targets. All trad shooters tend to shoot a little high on the close shots.

My first question to you is, are your arrows correctly spined for your bow? They need to be spined to suit your draw length. You won't get good flight from incorrectly spined arrows.

My next question is, are you still using plastic vanes on your arrows? If so, this could be the reason for erratic flight, particularly if you're shooting off the shelf. Plastic vanes don't have the necessary 'give' to be shot off the shelf.

As far as the length of time spent holding your bow at full draw is concerned. Trad archers don't tend to hold at full draw for very long at all compared to compound archers. The reasons are straighforward, a trad bow is difficult to hold for long. You will develope your own style of shooting trad. Some people 'gap' shoot by judging the distance between the tip of their arrow and the target. These people tend to hold their full draw for a longer period than the 'so called' instinctive shooters. Instinctive shooters simply look at where they want their arrow to hit, come to full draw and then immediately release.

The first thing you should do, is ensure your arrows match your bow. Make sure your arrows are fletched with feathers if you shoot from the shelf. You might get away with shooting vanes if you shoot from a raised rest.

You certainly should seek a knowledgable coach to ensure your form and technique are good, as practice without these are worse than no practice at all.

Good luck and welcome to the trad ranks.

Mick

[wayne]

I haven't spine tested the arrows, they are PSE CarbonForce 300 cut 28.5" with 125gn points using plastic vanes off a rest which came with the bow, it is threaded back into the riser. I've adjusted it so the arrow is aligned to the bow centre and string.

I've been trying instinctive but have had some large flyers (destroying arrows).

The knock was set at the shop, I've lifted it .25" myself trying to get a lower fall of shot. Good point about shooting high at close quarters, I'd started short thinking it would be more accurate.

I notice some people hold back to their face while others use a sort of forward tilting hold on the bow not anchoring to their face at all.

Are there any trad people in the ACT region?

Thanks for he feedback.

[kimall]

Weather you hold the anchor or not make sure you do come to anchor as releasing the arrow without coming to full draw is starting on a pathway of bad form you dont want to go.I would think that those arrows are WAY to stiff for your set up.Try to get your hands on some heavy tips as heavy as you can get and this will soften the spine for you just to see how that goes.Dont adjust nocking point to get point of impact adjust to get good arrow flight and the rest will come by itself.But you must have properly tuned arrows or you are wasting time and may even give up before you get anywhere with your shooting.
Cheers KIM

[alaninoz]

Wayne:

Well there's me, but I know stuff-all about recurves - still trying to figure out which end of my longbow is up. You might try John Gaston. Haven't seen him on the forum, but he shoots with ACT Field & 3D.

[wayne]

Ta Alan.

Different question. What is better three finger glove or tabs? I use a leather tab but the string doesn't seem to let go smoothly. if I try to let go quicker, I jerk the string emphasising the paradox! More practice would be useful but I'm always looking to do things better quicker.
Wayne

[Antonio]

Wayne I use a glove .so naturally if asked what I would think is good I will automatically say Glove .

I don't know if glove is a trad thing .and I cant speak for other people .but to me it seems that i see a lot of people that use gloves instead of tab.

I think its a personal thing what some one finds more comfortable .Ron LaClair's......Byron Furgeson........Howard Hill ...there May be more .

with heavy draw bows such as 80lbs I some times shoot but not a lot lately .I cant see myself using a tab it would seem to flimsy .and i would be thinking lot about the tab .

so for me glove seems to be built more for speed .as that is a luxury Longbows and recurves have .

for stuff like speed shooting or self throw en areal targets I don't see a lot of Tab shooters .

because Longbows and Recurves are easy to maneuver Lighter to move around the shot can be set up pretty quick .there is nothing wrong with taking you're time with a shot but some how I feel gloves are faster .

but again I think its a personal thing .

[dmm]

I note some videos people pull and shoot instinctively, while others pull back and hold like with a compound. When I try the latter it is harder than pulling back the Brute/Stinger. I don't have sights on the Mustang, It was knocked when I bought it.

I just want to parrot something that was said to me. You draw the the arrow back, hold, then shoot. How long do you hold?
You own the bow, the bow doesn't own you.

I take that to mean, you need to be able to pull the bow to the correct draw point on your face. Perhaps holding it is not so important for the aim, as to ensure you are consistent, and the bow isn't owning you.
If your bow is to heavy for you, you might want to consider using something a little lighter, whilst you develop your technique and stamina.

Sometimes when I'm getting a little tired I find my style gets a little more "instinctive" and by that I mean faster, but through necessity, not choice!

[alaninoz]

Wayne:

There's also looseplucker, who is on this forum - see the thread about Where Does Your Dollar Go.

I prefer a tab to a glove, but that's mainly because I've always used a tab. What sort of tab do you use - hair on, cordovan, plastic? Some types may work better for you than others. Have you tried putting powder (talcum?) on your tab to make it more slippery? I don't use it, but lots of people do.

[wayne]

Ta Guys, Good points to consider. The tab is straight leather, split between index and second finger with two pieces of leather either side of the slit, fingers never touch the arrow. I'll double check the brand when I get back home next week. Wayne

[Chase N. Nocks]

Yes Wayne, you will find your own style develop..get some of the excellent Trad DVD's such as Masters of the Barebow series and Modern Traditional.

The first volume of Masters of the Barebow will probably be the best for you to look at as it shows a variety of shooting styles. My own style is the use a swing draw and release pretty much as soon as I reach my anchor point. On very light poundage recurves I tend to shoot it like my compound and hold it longer...but even when when shooting compound I still do not hold very long 2-3 seconds tops.

Yes your 300's are way too stiff for that bow. 400's should be on the money and even 500 should fly ok. 55lb being right in between the two size carbon shafts I have mentioned...alloy's I would go with 2016 with 125 gr or 1918 with say 100 gr points.

Being a compound shooter as well as a trad shooter I won't say welcome to the trad fold but I will say enjoy expanding your archery horizons... I could not imagine not wanting to shoot all types of bows.