Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

As the season draws nearer....I'm not advocating ANYTHING other than proper form when shooting from ANY position. I'm simply on a fact-finding mission to satisfy my own curiosity.

I am one who centers my sighthousing (which is round and is proportionate to my peep at full draw)in my peep housing to aim. I get a small "halo" when at full draw around the perimeter of my sight housing. No revelation, here, as a lot of guys use this method.

My question is......(and for the scenario depicted.....we'll assume the bow is plumb).....

As long as I keep the halo......what difference does it make if I bend at the waist or not when drawing a bead on my target?

Thanks!

RE: Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

Your fulcrum point designates your drawl length. hence bending any where but at the waist will shorten ,when shooting from a tree down or lengthen when shooting from the ground up at a steep angle ,as in elk or sheep hunting.

RE: Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

Jeff it's your anchor that changes.

If you draw a triangle from your anchor to your eye out to your sights and back to your anchor then change your form other than anything than bending at the waist, ie dropping your arm, that triangle changes ergo, your anchor changes.

Think about it this way, If I took your bow, I could halo your peep/sight the same but my POI may be totally different because we anchor differently.

You may not even realize your anchoring differently just to get that halo effect but indeed you are.

Go out and practice it, bend at the waist on one shot from an elevated position, then shoot one standing upright but simply lower your arm but keep the halo effect. I'll lay $ you'll shoot high on your second shot.

RE: Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

I'm just trying to understand this guys. I'm not discounting your logic. I shoot my son's bow all the time to help him sight it in. Would this not be the same thing (different draw lengths) as what you're asking me to do?

Where does the "triangle" come into play? Aren't we talking about one straight line, or "conical cylinder" from the peep through the housing.....no matter what else? If that's maintained......I'm just having trouble picturing how it could morph. I could see how....at extreme angles.....the peep "cylinder" could morph and become less "cylindrical"....and the same could occur at the sight housing.

RE: Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

Think of it this way Jeff.............you could conceivably turn your hand upside down before you attach your release to the string, draw back and find a way to get the peep into alignment with your sight housing.
That doesn't mean the arrow is going to go exactly where you want it.
Keeping your same anchor is vitally important like Rob mentioned.
You draw and set your anchor then move YOUR BODY to the target mainaining that anchor.

It's not a gun where front sight + rear sight = bullseye as long as they're lined up. How your hand relates to your face and how that arrow comes off is a big part of it. This is the reason I can't take my buddy Frank's bow set at 26.5" and expect to hit the same place he does even though I have those 2 circles (peep and housing) perfectly aligned.

The whole bend at the waist is a 'Do the best you can" to keeping your alignment. We're not Gumby so it's impossible to just bend at the waist , and hold perfect T alignment to the targtet.
The goal is to keep it as close to where you were on level ground.
You just don't want to stand dead erect and simply drop your bow arm down to the target and draw........you have no chance to repeat your level ground anchor.

RE: Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

I guess this is where I'm having trouble understanding, Matt. It seems in MY head like it should be this way....barring hand torque or some other extenuating circumstance.

Again I'm just trying to learn something here.....and I can't fathom why the arrow wouldn't go where it's been programmed to go if they are aligned.

Would the angle be the problem.....say if you had torqued the string down or up to make the two align? Would thisbe the issue?

RE: Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

With a rifle you take the anchor point (factor) out of the equation. With archery equipment it is all about anchor point, however unless you are talking a severe angle and you are not trying to achieve pin point accuracy it won't affect your arrow travel tremendously....

RE: Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

It's all in the anchor point Jeff, remember, you can take the peep out of the equation as well as long as the anchor point is constant. It's the golden triangle of anchor, eye and sight pin. Change the anchor, you change POI.

Take my buddy Nate and I, we're both seasoned shooters right? I take his bow, his 30 yard pin is dead on for me at 20 yards even though I align his peep with his sight housing. He has to hold my 20 low. Even though we center the peep with the sight housing, we anchor differently.

RE: Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

Let me ask it another way.....

THE reason for a peep is to establish "an" anchor point/reference, right?

Let's think......oh I dunno......Jawshooter to explore my question;)

RE: Bending at the waist? Contorted?
 

Rob’s been saying it very well. Not sure if what I’m about to add will help. The biggest concept to grasp is that it’s not lining up 2 references like a gun.

A peep helps to add consistency. But you need several items all working together to achieve absolute repeatability IMO. For me its kisser, peep & nose to string that helps me when tossed into a treestand-hunting moment situation.

Using me as an example.
Yard- all anchor point verifications are readily (& easily) repeated. I feel the kisser, look thru peep & center the housing, feel the string touching my nose. My hand feels like its in the right spot against my jaw. Thwap-bullseye.

Treestand- Deer below me. I feel the kisser, but is it EXACTLY were it needs to be? I have a thin facemask on now.
Housing still centered in peep. Hand feels like the right spot, but I have gloves on. String is touching my nose, but its cold & my nose is numb. Maybe I’m putting too much pressure? All these little things can add up to make the shot a little less accurate, because the anchor is not exactly the same, but like Matt said, we are doing the best we can in the situation. So you can see here, that the only true constant is my peep housing relationship, but that does not guarantee me a perfect shot.