I went down to the local range today for a little target practice. I was shooting 5 arrows from the 20 yard line and, as usual, I’d get one or two near or in the bullseye and the rest would be off by varying distances. It was toward the end of my lunch-hour and while I was pleased that some of my arrows were hitting their mark, I was still perplexed by that fact that so many others were not. This despite that fact that I was drawing, aiming, anchoring and releasing in what seemed to me the exact same manner, or so I thought. I then began to think about all the recent posts on this forum about the importance of form to consistent shooting and that even a seemingly minor lapse can wreak havoc with one’s shooting. At that I decided to try a little experiment. As before I would concentrate on the spot I wanted to hit while I brought my bow to full draw and came to anchor with my bow arm pointing at my intended target. At that point, however, I would shift concentration from the target to going through a mental checklist of my form. First I’d concentrate on extending my bow arm, next I’d make sure that there was tension in the back muscles between my shoulder blades; then I would think about letting the string just slip from my fingers and, as the shot got off, I’d make sure that I was still pointing at the target and my drawing hand came smoothly back behind my cheek. I was dumbfounded by the result – all 5 arrows landed in a 5-6 inch cluster around the bullseye. This was, by far, the best group I had ever shot (I know, nothing to write home about for you wickedly accurate old-timers, but for a novice like me this was pretty neat stuff).

I packed it up after that round because I didn’t want to spoil the moment and I wanted to savor the sight of those arrows clustered together for the rest of the day. The point of all of this is that I now believe that my brain is figuring out how to point my arrows so that they fly where I’m looking at just fine. It’s the rest of my body parts that need to get with the program. Like many of you have been saying all along – form is everything. I think I get it now.