your opinion on proper form

[trapperbob]

#7111

After years of working to perfect my form ,practicing, books vids ect, I have found the only way I can shoot consistently is to shoot my bow like I grew up shooting my wristrocket slingshot. My anchor is below my chin, my bow arm is low and I pretty much move my bow up&down till it is on target then almost snap shoot. I also do not hold my bow steady after the shot in fact It is kinda pushed forward & down with my wrist breaking. I am sure it looks all wrong but after trying for so long to do it “properly” I find this is the way for me. Sure “what works for you” is one aspect of this but I wonder if others have found these things to work better or have an opinion on it?

[Bloodless]

#58411

Boy Bob, are you gonna hear plenty “what works for me” with this question. But in the end what will that mean for you? As you said, how you do it sure seems wrong. For one example anchoring below the chin puts the line of sight and the line of flight at wonky angles! But hey, if you shoot good, who cares what works for others? Me, I like a 4′ stabilizer on a 2′ Matthews arrow-shooting machine, with lazar sites and a “bow-pod” to anchor the 23-pound monster to the ground! 😛 To each his/her own, so long’s it don’t cheat the animal and further gut the heart of hunting. bb

[SteveMcD]

#62620

So, Bob.. are you hitting where you are looking? What makes you think it’s all wrong. Take a look at a lot of the European Field Archers and you’ll find many anchor under the chin as well. Bottom line.. what ever is “proper” still has to work for you!

[Daniel]

#62628

A day at a time is what makes it for me and lots of help from lots of great folks. I’ve always found althought that when the crunch time came, everything comes together but shooting everyday and doing my exercises given to me by Mr. Kidwell help me avoid the serious mishaps.

And I have fun shooting 🙂 As long as my wife is not shooting with me :lol:, just kidding of course, she shoots better than me you see, hate to admit it 😉

SB

[William Warren]

#63012

I have developed he habit of snap shooting too but my nemesis is not following through by dropping the bow to see where it hit. As long as I “anchor” at the corner of my mouth and keep my bow arm in place after the shot the arrow hits where I am looking consistently.
I have tried to hold anchor but my accuracy gets worse when I do. So, I make sure I get a full draw and follow through.
Duncan

[Hiram]

#63138

Snap shooting is the worst thing anyone can do to ruin their shooting! I started out this way and it almost ruined my shooting accuracy. It is rare that one needs to snap shoot at anything unless he is shooting at birds flying or running or moving animals. Bad decisions to shoot Deer running. Deliberate sequence of form is ruined by not aiming whether you use the arrow or not, it does not give you time to seat in at anchor and pull through the shot. It also is a side note that most I have observed snapping are suffering from Target Panic and may or may not know it. I think I shoot too fast and notice my accuracy and form suffers when I do this. I try to pull through the shot and hold for at least a second or two.

[Buckhorn73]

#63542

TrapperBob

Great topic for discussion. I have come to realize many things in my lengthening years in archery. One of them is we concentrate too much on proper form – other people’s proper form! My particular nemisis is the anchor point. I do not like anchoring against my chin, face, nose, tooth and find I can be consistent as long as my eye views the exact centre of the centre of the target and when I am at full draw I hold that spot for a split second. This is not a snap shot but is very quick. I know this may seem like there is no consistent spot for that rear sight to take in the whole picture, however, this “floating” type anchor then allows the same sight picture and seems to work for me.

[RRZESCH]

#63552

There are some basics that apply to all forms

1. Rock solid arm
2. consistent anchor
3. concentration on the mark (aiming however you do it)
4. smooth release and follow thru

Not saying I do this right all the time because I don’t, heck I am not a very good shot, but have been doing this for a long time. Still there is a lot of room for what works for you within the “basics”.

Two things:

1. Be careful with snap shooting, just shooting fast in general it can lead down a dark path:D

2. Don’t necessarily try and shoot like someone else. You may pick and choose and try to integrate one thing at a time, but what works for you…works for you.

I always remember what Brian Ferguson said in his book and this is not an exact quote, “to me good form is putting the arrow in the bullseye all the time”.

[William Warren]

#63721

OK, what I’m calling snap shooting is drawing, aquiring the target, and shooting as soon as I come to full draw. If I try to hold and then shoot my grouping begins to deteriorate. Either way, to be consistent I literally have shoot almost every day. I’ve been shooting this way since I was 12 and I’m still not a really good shot so maybe I need to do something different like working on holding for 2 seconds and doing that figure 8 exercise.
Didn’t mean snap shooting as in point shooting with a shotgun at flushing birds in a thicket.

[RRZESCH]

#63738

snuffornot, a lot of guys shoot the way descriped and I have seen some that are pretty good. For me longer shots require a little more time at anchor, not much but a little. I think the answer is to get a professional coach if you really want to get better. Not some other guy like me:D. I know that is not easy to do, but I belive that it is the real answer to getting on the right road.

I don’t think there is any of us that would not like to shoot better than we do.

One thought on holding at anchor, maybe you are shooting too much weight??

God Bless

RayMO

[Author]

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