So, our JOAD club has finished up the outdoor season and have started training for the long New England Indoor season that will reach its finale at the USAA Indoor Nationals. My young squad of compound shooters are looking good, and we are working hard identifying and correcting some form issues.
I have 2 at the moment working on release issues. Both are making progress. for a lot of thumb trigger shooters overcoming the issue that had them switch from a caliper i the first lace is the challenge. This issue is usually punching. A thumb button or triggerless handheld release are NOT magic. They can both be "helped" and quite frankly, explaining the feel is more difficult than you would think.
Generally the concept of expansion/ pulling/rotation of the scapula is told. Some people really get it , some need it to be demonstrated . It really is a feel thing. time after time I see people start pulling with their hand and forearm really tight and doing most of the work. The shot should be easy and breezy. No tension in the hand, and the hand relaxing through the shot. Some people do well just " pulling the bow apart" until so much tension is built it is quite aggressive and violent in the follow through. if this is working please continue! For most this is only possible with absolute alignment. too short and it will throw arrows left.
I believe the best way is to relax the hand AS you are slowly adding tension through the Rhomboid , in turn bringing the shoulder blades together.The hand is only used to hold the release with the fingers, totally engage the trigger post by wrapping your thumb around it. If your release does not allow this position of the thumb....buy a new one plain and simple.
Through the flattening and relaxation of the hand while maintaining pressure on the thumb the release will remain where it is and the thumb will be drawn into it as a result of elbow rotation. this method is repeatable and will not tire you out in your forearms. NTS is fine and a safe and repeatable system, but the best demonstration I ever had and the person who made it "click" was Coach Alexander Kirillov of PSE's shooting school. I now use his method to convey the FEEL of the hand and forearm .
If you have a decent target bow you should have a fairly solid back wall, if not .....buy a new bow. Backtenion with a release aide should be done with little movement from anchor. In order for the trigger to have pressure increased the release cannot move backwards.
This is the cause of the other students release woes. They are a wrist caliper shooter and are generally pretty consistent. Sometimes things get squirrelly, I noticed that the throat of the release was squeezed during the draw to anchor, after anchor and prior to transfer to hold this needs to be relaxed and the strap made to hold the load, and the trigger fully engaged. Then as expansion happens the hand is relaxed and drawn backwards the same as the handheld. There is 0 difference in a proper backtension shot with either release style. Anyways she relaxed this and got tighter groups.
On to Trad!! I am really trying to focus on traditional, and more specifically instinctive. Instinctive is Archery at its essence. a simple stick and string. I have been studying loads of books and video on the subject and there are some "universal truths" and they are universally universal, a consistent and repeatable shot squence(process) is the key. it doesnt matter if you are shooting a blinged out Olympic rig, a fast IBO 3D bow or a longbow. Now, for instinctive it is both harder and easier, I am following Rick Welch's method cause you really should pick one and see if it works and his suits my sensibilities. I can boil him down to a handful of concepts.
1. consistent shot cycle and set up.
2. double anchor
3. laser focus on the smallest spot you can
4. after anchor a 2 sec pause to let the bow arm settle( without looking at the bow or arrow)
5. release and follow through.
Seems easy right? It is when it is....when it isnt it isnt. This is the hard part, instinctive is really NOT instinctive, it is really subconscious programming,.
How do we program? By shooting a TON. Here is where I think people fall down, we as archers are used to going to a set line say a 20 yard bale and shooting groups. for an instinctive shooter , this is of little use. It is important to shoot groups when setting up your bow , because you cant tune until you can shoot groups.
After the bow is tuned to shoot where you are looking, groups should NOT be shot . instead shoot an arrow at a random spot, go retrieve it and walk either past or ahead of where the last shot was. Side angle even. Better yet go stumping. This is my favorite way to train. it gets me in the woods, I have many shots that all look different and with every shot I am practicing my sequence and running the whet stone over my skills edge.
Now, does this mean I never train on a static line? No, sometimes I do if I am working on a specific aspect like my follow through. Even when I do this I will try and not stand at the same spot, or I will put a paper cup on the bale and try and get all my arrows in it.
I recently watched a YouTube video by a German guy named Greyarcher, he discussed "calibration" before heading out to the range, he puts a tiny dot on the bale and takes some shots trying to hit it subconsciously. Once you are hitting the spot all the other distances should be sighted in.
I am going to shoot in the barebow division at Pioneers fall Fling event this weekend, with my 45# PSE Ghost and instinctively...no gap or sting walking for me!
This is really the most fun I have had shooting. Trad is the poop!
lastly, one of our JOAD Archers and a former club member shot some big matches. one was Kelly Davis, she shot in the Texas Shootout and tied for first! lost on 10 count...but she is a great shooter and deserves everything she gets, a hard worker and devoted to her shot.
Next is Ethan Merrill, he was part of the USAT youth team competing at the youth worlds in Argentina, he made it to the gold medal match and it came down to a shoot off, after a nice 10, the other archer hit a hair closer. Even though I can take 0 credit for his career I am very proud of him and will always be in his corner.
cheers
