In getting back to archery after about a 35 year layoff, I found that I needed a lot of information. Fortunately, I like to read, so I started buying bare bow shooting books. I have to say I don’t think I’ve found a book that didn’t offer some sort of help, but ended up with a few favorites.
The first one I got was Byron Ferguson’s Become the Arrow. It’s a quick, fun read with a lot of good information. A lot of Ferguson’s character comes through, which makes it entertaining.
Anthony Camera’s Shooting the Stickbow, A Practical Approach to Classical Archery, 2nd Ed., is a big, thick tome that really gets into detail. This one helped me take a closer look at how to hold the string and what and why it works. This has been a very valuable book for me.
The last shooting book I picked up this Spring is G. Fred Asbell’s Advanced Instinctive Shooting for Bowhunting. I’ve been looking at purchasing his other books, but then this one came out. This one has really helped put it all together for me. Asbell covers the push-pull concept over and over, really drilling it in and explaining the importance of it really well. In the Campfire Forum you can see George D. Stout’s great short shooting videos, “55 Yards Behind the Shooter..” where he mentions pushing the bow arm toward the target. Stout’s video shows you the benefit.
In the end, I have to reiterate that these books and others have been very valuable and are worth having in your library. I’d love to read what the rest of you have found to be helpful. Thanks, dwc