Form??

[Slaughterhog]

So I was reading the thread about proficiency and the 9” paper plate and I shot it and scored a 78 one day and a 74 the next. Not bad but I strive for better. I’ve been shooting for roughly 3 years now and always keep jacking with my form always tweaking it to what other people say I should do and my accuracy suffered bad ( unfortunately wounded a deer and haven’t drawn on another one since) and almost gave up the trad bow. About 6 months ago I just said screw it and started drawing back to my anchor and just focusing on my target. My form sucks when I do that but I am grouping and more accurate than ever. At 20 yards I can hold groups of 10 in 6” with an occasional flyer but it’s even tighter closer. So my question is..... Does anyone else just not worry about form and focus on the target and achieve decent accuracy? Sorry for the long lead up to the question.

[DRT]

That's what I do. Form and focus is key.

Well, making sure my brace height is squared away. [emoji849]

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[Bisch]

There is no such thing as right or wrong. There is only consistent and inconsistent.

If you are consistent, you will be good. If you are inconsistent you will not be good.

Find a way that works for you, and that you can consistently repeat!

JMHO

Bisch


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[SwampRabbit]

Great question!!!

I think there are just a few things that categorize good form vs bad form.

1) Bad form is hard on your body. Good form lets you shoot longer and prevents certain types of injuries. There are bad ways to hold the string, there are bad angles to put your arms in... or bad angles that are not good on certain joints.

2) Bad form is hard to reproduce consistently. Good form is something that you can reproduce consistently. Again, certain anchors, certain arm angles, etc add too much "slop" to the system and accuracy can suffer.

With that being said, you can be very accurate with something that some will classify as "bad form" as long as YOU are able to be consistent with that form.

Some very good shooters release before hitting anchor (snap shooting.) As long as they are really consistently releasing at the same point in mid air, you can be accurate. But without any physical reference, if you get stuck, your form doesn't give you much to fall back on.

If I am having a bad day of shooting, I go slow down and checkpoint stuff... my stance, my grip, my hook on the string, my bow shoulder and bow arm, my anchor and then yet again my hook (am I torqueing the string?)

So, settle on and identify your form, good or bad or whatever, and at least own it and know it. That way when you see some guy who stands with his feet touching, or some other aspect of how they hold their bow at brace, etc, you at least know "that's different' and know why that would or would not be worth trying, etc.

I don't cant my bow... not gonna happen. I stand up straight, I don't lean over. I have a medium to high wrist grip... my arm doesn't fly straight back on release, but I also don't dead release. good/bad/whatever, I know and own my form.

[Slaughterhog]

Everyday I’m feeling more confident in my shots and they are way better than when I wounded that deer. People keep trying to break me of my static anchor but it just feels right. Anyone else have a static anchor?

[brokeno]

I just pull back and shoot. Don't overthink it just make it happen

[SwampRabbit]

Everyday I’m feeling more confident in my shots and they are way better than when I wounded that deer. People keep trying to break me of my static anchor but it just feels right. Anyone else have a static anchor?

If by static you mean draw to anchor, hold, then release; yeah, me and alot of guys have static anchors. How long I hold is variable, but is usually a second... giving me time to focus on the spot and settle.

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[Slaughterhog]

I guess I mean dead anchor. When my middle finger touches the corner of my mouth I hold for a couple of seconds to focus and release but my hand doesn’t move. It just stays there. It doesn’t go back or out just doesn’t move.

[Bisch]

Go back and read the first paragraph of my post above!!!!!

There are a 1000 different guys doing it 1000 different ways.

Consistency is pretty much all that matters.

But, to answer your last question, there are loads of folks who have a very static release.

Bisch


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[KenWood]

I have bad form. It works for me. Trying to duplicate some one else’s form is the recipe for disaster. Do what feels natural to you. When shooting at an animal, it has to be and feel natural. If you think about it you miss. The best shot on an animal is a shot you can’t remember what you did. It was automatic. I may not be a group shooter, but I can be good on one important shot. This is me. If you have a check list kind of mind, then do you.

[RickBarbee]

There are only two kinds of form. Good, and Bad.

Good form - is anything that is repeatable, consistent, and that you are accurate with.

Bad form - is - well it's just the opposite of good form.

Rick

[Hooverfb]

I have a static release. Part of that is im shooting a lower weight bow, and to do a dynamic release i would really be pulling past my anchor or plucking the string on release. Wih a heavier weight bow i could see it being more plausible.

[SwampRabbit]

I guess I mean dead anchor. When my middle finger touches the corner of my mouth I hold for a couple of seconds to focus and release but my hand doesn’t move. It just stays there. It doesn’t go back or out just doesn’t move.

Okay, what you mean is a dead RELEASE, not anchor. Sounds like you have a solid anchor and you can hold that. That is not a bad thing.

A dead release is often considered by some folks as bad form. The idea being that if you have proper back tension, when you surprise let go of the string, your hand should recoil back, under that tension.

I see plenty of folks whose arms go flying back at the release... my opinion... they are being over dramatic and it looks forced. Its like they anchor and then dramatically expand and let go... which is all well and good if you let go at the same point of expansion!

My bow hand recoils an inch or two tops. Granted, I am not lights out... but it isn't because of my release. If my hand doesnt move, I am creeping most likely at the shot.

At the end of the day, a guy that consistently plucks the string the same way everytime is still gonna outshoot a guy that expands on release, but applies inconsistent expansion or releases at varying times during expansion.

It is all about consistency and what you can repeat.

I had a funny habbit there for a while of wiggling my fingers a few times before I released during 3D season.. It was a running joke and eventually I had to force myself to stop when it dawned on me that it would not be a good idea to do that during hunting season.



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[Dragonheart]

I remember back as a kid there was this brochure from Bear Archery that listed out the steps to good archery form-technique. The basic foundations are an important step to learn, and something to return to if you want to improve or having shooting problems. You need a shot sequence with steps that you should write down at some point.

Your physical structure, internal shot rhythm, anchor point may have a variation from another person. Work on developing your form by focussing on each step in the shot process. This should be done without trying to hit something, at close range at a large target backstop. I would recommend you shoot some close with your eyes closed. You also have 3 years of mental-muscle memory conditioning in your form. It is probably "set" to some extent.

With this said,

I have a buddy in Idaho that did exactly what you said in your post. He just shoots after struggling with too much thinking was detrimental to his shooting. He is a snap shooter, It is his WAY. In a hunting shot, you are better off to have little thought in the process. That needs to be trained before shooting at a critter so the conscious focus is on the spot to be hit.

Practice the routine of shooting. The reality of being under the pressure of adrenaline, your shot may or may not be different. The only way to know how you will react is by shooting at animals. Small game hunting could really help you, I believe, to get some shots under adrenaline.

Let go of that deer. You did the best you could in that moment.

Forgiveness is letting go of the idea that you could have had a different past.