I’ve been shooting a recurve for almost 3 months now and I have to admit that lately I’ve been frustrated by my lack of shot consistency. I know that I have the capacity to hit what I am looking at out to 30 yards because I do it as often as not. But it’s so frustrating to put an arrow perfectly in the mark and then shank the next two and not know what you did differently. I’d like to take my bow out and finally try to hunt, but I have the same problem even at close range and I’m afraid that I would wound an animal.

Today I was out shooting during my lunch hour and having the usual success - some of my shots were right on the money and others would be well off. Finally I had enough and pulled 4 arrows from the target and said to myself that these would be it for the day and that I would accept the shots however they turned out (I normally try to end the practice session on a good shot so I can feel good about my shooting for the rest of the day). I was tired and frustrated and my first shot was predictably sloppy. During the release the bowstring slapped my arm guard with a hard crack and I watched as the arrow wobbled toward the target. I had noticed for some time now that my bowstring would strike my arm during the release. I attributed this to the fact that I was locking my bow arm (I learned this from Fred Asbell’s book I believe) and the fact that I have a hyper-extended elbow. I decided to try a little experiment with my last 3 arrows. I would bend my bow arm slightly so that the string would not slap my arm and see what effect this would have on my shooting. My next 3 arrows sliced into the center ring each with a satisfying thud.

Now I know that 3 arrows does not prove anything and unfortunately I had to return to work so I couldn’t take anymore shots to confirm or disprove my theory. Is it possible that the string slapping my arm could be responsible for some of my shot inconsistency? And what is considered proper form for holding one’s bow arm?