RE: Practicing at short yardage - do any good?
I once shot for 2 months, every day at a range of no more than 8 feet. It made me a much better shooter. That was when I was learning to overcome target panic and was shooting blind bales. It'll tune the muscles, body and mind and make you a predator to be feared. Was it Nick Bacl......... that used to say "Aim small.... miss small". Form, muscle memory and fitness can all be helped greatly. Work up some games to avoid boredom.... trace a star with arrows at the points and valleys, draw a line verticle and horizontal and try to see how many arrows you can string on the lines without a miss .... all kinds of games. You'll be so ready when you step outside in the spring they'll think you been cheatin'. As far as compound or instinctive or trad... it doesn't matter. Perfect practice makes perfect. Instinctive trad shooters become good instinctive shooters by starting at FEET... not yards.