Critique my form........Thanks
 

Take a look at my form and let me know what you think......

My first problem is that this is the only position where I can see through the peep. I'm stacking arrows out to 40 yards with no problem, I shot two Robinhoods just this week (see my other post) so it's not affecting my shooting. I just don't feel comfortable.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

First off, theres no arrow on the string. 2nd, i'd say your a good 1 - 1.5" short on draw length. You look REALLY compacted and cramped up.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Dude, you need to relax. You look tense. Relax the bow hand, legthen the draw length and shortenthe rope loop, and get that string on the tip of your nose.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Ditto That

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Dude.....
You need to shave.

Also, your draw is a little short.

Other than that, all is fine, except the shirt.
:D

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

I don't shave until I get a deer or the season ends. It's a tradition I'm starting, since I'm the only hunter in my family. And what's wrong with my shirt?

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Cool tradition I havent shaved my beard off since I was 19 I am 45 now

what you mean, whats wrong with your shirt?
It aint camo!

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Yeah the draw is too short, and that is causing your bow arm to be bent too much. Your bow arm should have a slight bend, not too much or not locked. When you lengthen your draw that should bring the elbow of your draw arm down. Your elbow should be pointing directly behind you, not up in the air like in the picture. Your form should look like the letter "T". With your draw arm and bow arm directly in line with one another.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Boy, those who know me would never believe I'll say this but:

Your draw length is substantially too short. No arrow nock, but the string ooks like it could be drawn back about 1/2" more so the nock would be right under the eye. Couple that with a drawing arm that is bent way too much and I'd say you could be about 2" too short.

I'm not a fan of the "bent elbow". I'd rather see a straight bow arm, but not locked. Bone to bone contact is much more steady than using muscles to hold the bow.


Bow hand seems a little tense in the fingers, but not too bad. The trigger of the release appears to be at the finger tip. Shorten the release so the trigger is in the first joint of the trigger finger. The loop is too long. It only needs to be long enough that the release doesn't hit the nock when hooked to the string.

Left shoulder is down. That's good. The right shoulder is too high due to a high anchor. For the same reason your right elbow is very high You could lower your anchor closer to the chin. That would help your upper body form more of a "T". It would also lower your right hand to about the bottom of your ear lobe. Of course you'd have to raise the peep accordingly.

I don't know why this is the only position where you can see through the peep. The peep is moveable.

NOW, if you want to get real nit-picky then go over on www.archerytalk.com and look up a guy named "Nut&Bolts". Ask him the same question and see what kind of response you get. He's got a regular thing going on form with lots of pictures so you can compare.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Thanks for the tips everyone...


BGFisher,

The peep problem is a left to right issue, not an up and down issue. If I anchor to my face, I can't see thru the peep without craning my neck terribly. That's why I anchor so far back.

To all,

I guess I should have mentioned that I crushed my left wrist in a motorcycle wreck about 4 years ago. I don't have full range of motion, and it's quite painful to hold a lot of weight on it.Bending the elbow helps put the force of holding my draw on my shoulder, and not as much on my wrist. If that makes any sense.

Plus, a 70# draw makes for a nasty forearm bruise.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Why are you pulling 70#when you have a bad wrist? Your bow is more than capable of performing well at a lower poundage, like 55-60. Not sure if it'll go down that far though.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

My thoughts exactly. Why 70#? Why do guys have this problem with testosterone? There is nothing walking this continent, or most of the world really that 60# won't handle with equal efficiency.

Because of your wrist you can't hold a lot of weight? OK, I'll accept that, but no matter, you still have to roll it over the peak weight and that's the part that ruins a lot of bodies. That and the sudden drop-off to the holding weight.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

I agree with outlander and fisher!
drop down your poundage and adjust your draw length and use a wrist supportby not gripping the bow this will take pressure off the wrist besides there is more pressure on your shoulder and elbowthan on your wrist.
If the string is slapping your wrist you need to roll your hand in a little to get your forearm farther away from the path of the string. The heel of your palm between your thumb and fore finger at about a 45degree angle should be the only part of your hand touching the riser grip.
If you have to canter your head over that much to see thru the peep while properly anchoring the string to the side of your nose the peep or sightor bothis in the wrong location.or either your eyes are on the side of your head:D

you can choose to improve your form or you can continue to make excuses, your choice we will respect which ever decesion you decide to make;)

Now go shoot your bow[8D]

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

I experimented with my Highlander and dropped the length half an inch but it felt tooinconsistent and uncomfortable so i went back to my normal DL and i have to agree with BGfisher it feels way better and more comfortable to have a straight or nearly straight elbow,it will make you more consistent on your shooting and anchor points.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

I agree with some of the posts.

No arrow nocked. You should always nock an arrow to prevent dry firing.

Your wrist sling looks too tight. A tight wrist sling causes torque. You want it loose. It's there just to keep your bow from falling after the shot.

Right now, I only see 2 anchor points. You need at least one more; your nose. You'll need to lengthen your draw a little, just enough to get the string on your nose.

Yourarm looks to be bentjust a smidge too much. It does look good though. A bent arm, as I'm sure you know, does a few things; you don't whack your arm, it reduces left/right movement and also reduces stress to your shoulder.

*For you guys that shoot straight arm, it's just one of those things where you have to build up the muscle. You don't see guys shooting their long guns with straight arms. It's the same principle.

If you're worried that a longer draw will mess up your anchor, because of your release being so long, change to another release.Lengthening that draw a bitreally will help. I shoot with a T.R.U. Ball Short 'N Sweet. I love the adjustability of the head and it's more of a hook than caliper. I can slip the "hook" onto my loop without ever taking my eyes off the target/deer.

I like the beard. Keep it. ;)

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Sorry I do not agree. there is nothing similar about shooting a rifle and shooting a BOW just as the principals between shooting a hand gun and a rifle are different.a bent arm is poor form and does not allow you to utelize your full draw lwngth potential plus it makes you less accurate
if you are slapping your wrist with the string due to a proper draw length becausethe arm is strait the bow is being held incorrectly thus causing the string to slap the fore arm.

there are no in betweens either you have poor form or you have proper form.
can a person hit what they are aiming for using improper form? sure nevertheless it is poor form.

anyone can have a good form as long as they are willing to take construvtive criticisim and drop their bad habbits and replace them with the correct techniques to achieve the correct posture.

I hate to sound harsh
but sometimes the cold hard truth is hard to take[X(]

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Monie, I'll agree with you on one point. One that I saw and forgot to comment about. The wrist sling is too tight. As for developing muscles that hold the bow? About the only muscles that should be doing any real work are the back muscles themselves. And these to hold at full draw---not hold the bow up.

I think that Bigpapascout and I are on the same page. Although I agree with the idea of people making excuses, he does have a way of saying it better than I. However, I don't see much justification in asking for constructive criticism if it's not going to be heeded anyway. This is where many guys fall short of achieving decent goals, not only in archery, but in life. The desire to better one's self comes at a price. It's partly desire, but also the willingness to act on the advice given---and give the body and mind time to adjust to something new.

Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes. Well, good shooting form is not learned in a day, or a month or......

Hell, Ive been shooting compounds for 32+ years and still learning new tricks. Some work for me and some don't, but I don't dismiss ideas out of ignorance or bull headedness.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Your draw length definately look's too short for you ,considering your elbow is bent so low ,Keep that bow arm up and slightly bent .


nubo

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

You're not beingharse at all I welcome all comments as long as they are not rude or disrepectful.

I guess I'm not understanding what you mean by full draw length potential. Could you explain that please.

Also, exactly what is the proper form and who was it that determined this way of shooting to be proper? I'm not being smart alecky, I seriously would like to know.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Well, thanks to everyone who gave me some pointers. Also, I didn't mean to sound like I was making excuses, I just forgot to mention a few limitations, and I thought they would play a part.

Over this weekend I took several of these suggestions, and I have seen the fruits thereof. I have straightened out my arm, and brought my anchor to a point lower behind the ear, my string is just touching my nose, I repostitioned thedrawingarm to be inline with the arrow, instead of pointing up into the air. I took the weakened wrist out of the equation by simply taping up my wrist like I do when I play hockey. My reward? Underestimating a shot on adoe by8 yards. But I did hit where I aimed.

RE: Critique my form........Thanks
 

Two words.............TOO SHORT!!!