Analyzing the miss...
 

So this evening I decided to only practice with one arrow at 20 yards.

I would concentrate on my shot sequence, shoot, and retrieve my arrow.

Anytime I was outside my quarter size dot, I would take a minute or two to question why I had 'missed.' What had I done to shoot outside of my intended spot? What could I have done differently. How would doing something differently have affected the outcome of the shot?

At the end of the shooting session I had only missed maybe a half dozen or so times (I had shot maybe 50 - 60 arrows) and had noticed certain things about my shooting sequence that I'll start working on tomorrow evening.

For those of you who don't have the 'pie-plate' mentality to your shooting, how many of you take time during your practice sessions to question why a shot went bad? Have you found it helpful at all? Am I overly anal about my shooting?

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

Get a video camera.....


Zoom it in on JUST your release hand....I bet you'll find more than a few answers ;)

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

I used to shoot the 1 arrow practice sessions more than anything,I really concentrated on that 1 shot and it made me a better shooter.

BUT,a video camera can do wonders for your self evaluation.

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

well, I see what you mean by saying you were off when shooting quarter size dots, on the other hand, 20 yds to most guys is not a chip shot at least for me it's not when shooting at a dot that size. so if you miss the dot but hit close, it's pretty darn good. Think about it, I mean how many times can you shoot the same way before you get tired or have some sort of movement. I don't have the pie plate mentality but I do have the softball one.

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

Could it have been because of that extra beer?:)

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

The majority of my practice is exactly the way Washington Hunter described only at longer distances.It has helped me immensely with my focus and with the ability to address form flaws.I am sure a video camera would take that to the next level.I have a video feature on a couple of digital camera's that I will hack around with.

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

Maybe its just me but 99% of the time when I dont hit where I am aiming I know what happened as soon as I release. At 62 my eyesight isnt as good as it used to be so if I am inside or around the size of a half dollar I am ok.

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

Dan that is the same exact way I practice with my recurve. To me its the only way to practice, at least for me anyway. I as well am anal as you are being if I don't hit my quarter on the target I think why I didn't. Most of my practicing is being done at 10 to 15 yards doing the quarter thing, 95% of the time I'll hit that spot If I'm concentrating enough and doing everything correctly. If not I'm upset with myself, I set my standards very high while practicing with my recurve at closer ranges. At 20 yards I'm no where close to hitting a quarter, I'm lucky at times if I'm within 2 to 3 inches if not farther off. Most of my kills with my recurve are at that 12 to 13 yards. A few have been in that 17 to 21 yards but not many. I've never missed or wounded an animal at 17 to 21 yards but its just not in my comfort zone as a 12 to 13 yard shot is.

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

Glad it's working for you, WH.

I relate a lot of my archery to golf (something I know a little about). Correlating.....I couldn't imagine wasting so much time practicing ship shots ......retrieving the ball after each shot. It's not my idea of expediency. We learn through repetition.

On the other hand......I think it IS good practice when every shot counts. That kind of practice has its place, also. One of the best teachers in golf (and archery) is the realization that we have to live with each shot. There sometimes are no "mulligans".

For golf......it's easy. If we have an errant shot.....we go and start over with a totally new experience with its own array of issues. In archery.....(target or hunting)....it's one and out. ALL we can do is prepare ourselves for every shot.

The key to repetitious practice is having the mental fortitude to approach each shot with the same focus......in lieu of just "hitting balls" or "slinging arrows".

The point to my post was......"I" feel it's easier to expedite my practice by giving each arrow the same credence/worth.....and shooting many v. few. Whatever works for you is what you should do, though. If that's one arrow at a time.....kudos.

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

I usually know what went wrong before the arrow leaves the bow. [:@]

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

If your are shooting quarter size grouping's at 20yrds, 54/60 times. I think its time to sign up for some tournaments. I have the ball method. Golfball at 20-30yrds. baseball at 40yrds, and softball at 50. How I do this, I take rolls of vinyl(I own my own vinyl lettering company) I cut out circles these sizes with scissors and put on my targets. I practice with 3 arrows, I put all 3 in the circle I move to the next target. I do this repeatedly, then I randomly choose.

But as mentioned, usually you have an idea of what you did out of place that made the arrow miss. This is assuming the bow is set-up perfectly for you. Great shooting even if it is 20yards!!

I like the video camera idea as well, I bet that would help a ton.

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

Any time you miss your shot (no matter what size your target is) you should think about what you did to miss. The key to being a great shot at a known distance is to do everything exactly the same why every time. Once you start getting close to that you will develop a feel for your shot and as Bob said, you will know whatyou did wrong before the arrow hits the target. I like one arrow practice rounds, but the best practice I have found for developing that "feel" is blind bail shooting. Give that a try, it will really make you focus on the feel of your draw, anchor, and release. It also does wonders for those that are having any kind of target panic.

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

For the most part I think this is a very good way to shoot. The only comment I would make is that for beginners, repetition (as long as its correct repetition) probably would help more than single shot practice. Once the basic form and muscle memory is down part, a “seasoned” shooter can probably eke out more from single shot practice.

On a separate but related topic, I think analyzing the miss when it occurs on a real animal is HIGHLY overlooked in bowhunting. Too many people attribute missing to just being part of the game, but I think that given just a little bit more effort, one can reduce their misses on game down to very low levels.

RE: Analyzing the miss...
 

Although I do not shoot 1 arrow per group, I do analyze every shot. I have been shooting for long enough that I can usually "call my shot". What I mean is as the arrow leaves the bow I can generally tell whether it is going to be on, right, left, whatever. This is why I like practicing 90% of the time at 50 and 60 yards. It is truly amazing how much different it is shooting at 50 compared to 40 and 60 compared to 50. The difficulty, and resulting group sizes, are not linearly related. It is definitely an exponential curve.

I can say that 99% of my errant shots are due to a bad release or dropping my bow arm at release. The first is the one where I am cussing before the arrow gets to the target:D