As opposed to a fletching archer, I suppose. I actually earned an archery merit badge in the Boy Scouts when I was maybe 13 or so, using a recurved bow during summer camp. Even learned to fletch arrows, not that I remember step number one of the procedure.
A friend of mine recently bought a new bow and, upon hearing that I was interested in taking up archery again, offered to give his old Hoyt compound bow and some arrows and accessories to me for free! Sweet!
So we (the guy who donated the bow, plus myself) went to an indoor shooting range to try out our bows. His new bow is actually a recurved bow, and I didn’t try to shoot it. The bow I was given had what I think is called a “pin” but not a “peep” if those are the correct terms. Nevertheless, within about ten minutes I was getting relatively tight groupings of shots from ten yards. I moved back to twenty-five yards or so and (as would be expected) the groupings weren’t usually as tight and consistent. I kind of like not relying too much on sights and peeps and whatever, trying mostly to just align the string with the “bead” on the pin (again, if those are the terms) and using raw judgment to determine how high to aim for a given range.
Any tips that might help an untrained beginning archer? The bow has about a 55 pound draw weight, and I’m using aluminum arrows. So far the advice I’ve gotten has been “follow through after shooting, don’t drop your arm” and “before release, take a breath and release on exhale.”
I’m an instinctive primitive archer using home-made gear and the last time I shot a compound was in 1995, I think - but archery basics apply to any bow. Lots and lots of literature on the subject, might want to take a look. When you really get down to how to shoot, 20 pages doesn’t cut it.
It seems to me you might want to try shooting your compound instinctively. It’s perfectly feasible, though not common in the techno-bow realm. When you shoot instinctively, you have no sights on the bow but instead rely on your brain to estimate windage and elevation for every shot. With practise, you’ll begin to know the trajectory of your arrows and make the necessary adjustments very quickly without conscious thought (“instinctively”).
Sights or no sights, hitting targets consistently requires a solid shooting technique or form. It really starts from the feet, or your stance. Experimentation is the only way to know what fits you best. Keeping the bow arm perfectly solid and still, and the drawing hand and fingers relaxed (just enough tension to hold on to the string), using the same, fit-for-you anchor point every time, and following through - ie. not dropping your bow arm the minute you release, or throwing your head to see where the arrow went but instead keeping the perfect form until the arrow hits home, are the basics of shooting a bow. The why’s and how’s of each of these easily fills a book chapter, but it all boils down to finding what works best for you, then religiously repeating your personal optimal shooting form. If your form fails, no amount of aiming will help. And once you know your form, you’ll know exactly what gives when your accuracy goes down.
Shooting with your eyes closed (very close to a large target face!) is an excellent way to sharpen your form. By taking the aiming part out one can get intimate with the physical side of shooting, “how the right shot feels”. Every pro shooter practises her form year in, year out, and many beginners would do well to concentrate on form, not trying to hit anything, for the first several hundred shots, at least.
Thanks, Toxylon, that sounds like some good advice. Sounds to me like it’s kind of like bowling, in a way; you really want to concentrate on perfecting the art of consistent form, above all else. I tried to be consistent when I shot, and I think the tight groupings at ten yards showed that was the right approach. The tips about the stance and the follow-through (not dropping the arm, not moving your head) are very much appreciated.
Yeah, I remembered that much from the Boy Scout experience. No way was I going to shoot without an arm guard.
I bought a “shooting glove” at the Gander Mountain where I was shooting (in the far distant past I used a finger tab) but I wonder if I even need it, and if it’s having a negative effect on my release; the index finger tip seems to “pull” away from my finger when I release. It’s only a 55 pound draw weight, so maybe I should just skip the glove?
Initially I was using a “one finger over, two fingers under” approach with my…uh, nocking hand? Not sure what the term is. The hand that pulls the string back. Anyway, the pro shop guy recommended that I try the “three under” approach, which is (you guessed it) the first three fingers situated below the notched arrow for the draw. Is there really a right or wrong to this, or is it just a matter of (a) developing consistency regardless of form and then (b) adjusting how you line things up to actually hit targets?
Three fingers under is a modern technique meant to put the arrow closer to one’s aiming eye, making it easier to aim. To my eyes, it looks horrid (looks are important!). The traditional Euro-American, most common “approach” is the one over, two under you initially used. This is the hold that every trad archer I personally know uses. It is the hold that every Olympic archer uses. Most compound shooters these days use a mechanical release.
Any of the above will work, like you guessed. The key is consistency.
No need to use a shooting glove if your fingers can take the strain. Compounds are easy on the drawing hand with their let-off (especially older, longer models with favorable string angles at full draw). You might find your fingers getting sore after prolonged shooting bouts, though. A glove or a tab provide a slightly cleaner release than bare fingers, too, but they must fit well to not be detrimental to accuracy. I use a home-made three-layer barktan tab, trimmed to fit my hand perfectly, and can’t shoot with anything else.