ORIGINAL: DropTine249
Um, aiming small isnt always the best thing for everyone.
I learned that when aiming small, you tend to hold longer, float your pin more and become more and more unstable as you attempt to steady your pin on a tiny target.
It could be a muscle or form issue. Try aiming at a larger target, something like a 3" diametercircle or larger. Just aim at any part of the circle.
As you continue to shoot, try to hold longer and longer and become more and more steady.
This will train your muscles and FORCE you to develop better form traits.
Once you have your muscles prepared(second nature kinda thing), you can then shoot at smaller and smaller targets.
First thing first- get your form and required muscle groups trained...THEN go for smaller and smaller targets.
I delt with this EXACT issue while teaching my brother to shoot. The more he tried to aim, the worse his groups were...simply because he was "wearing himself out". I have the same issue when I dont shoot for awhile, especially considering how busy work has been.
What I do is what I said- get my muscle system back inline and make sure my form is dead on. After that, I will begin to focus on groups...
Building muscle memory is good, but from what I was told, it's best achieved by doing blank drawing drills (draw, aim, hold, let down). Over periods of time you will build that muscle memory up. As for using a larger circle, I've never heard of that, but if it worked, go for it. The shakiness from aiming small comes from WATCHING the pin, rather than focusing on the target and letting the pin float. If you can isolate the back tension motion from the bow arm controlling the pin float, you will shoot consistant. If you're constantly looking at the pin moving, you'll try to get it to
freeze over the target, and that's what causes you to hold longer, shake more, etc.