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?

Get a video camera.....


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

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.

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.

Could it have been because of that extra beer?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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