How do you practice?
 

I've never had an archery coach or pro check my form out, Like Nike I "just do it". As such, when I practice, I usually just shoot at varying yards at different targets. I'm thinking I should have some sort of routine in order to get continually improve. I had thought about something like, 15 minutes blank bale shooting with closed eyes, etc. What do you guys do or recommend, technically?

Edited by - Rangeball on 02/15/2002 11:20:22

RE: How do you practice?
 

Range,

I think I'd start by finding a coach!!! Heres why, if you practice incorrectly, you are simply reinforcing bad habits. Its been said before, its not quantity, but quality of practice time.

Aim Hard!

RE: How do you practice?
 

FL, If I was gonna go to alot of shoots or get into serious target archery, You bet, a coach would be the way to go. However, we've none in our area, and I don't think I could sell the spouse, who thinks the sun has risen again when bow season ends, on the thought of traveling to find a coach. I don't think I have bad form, I concentrate on a consistent, comfortable grip and eliminating tension from my body when I shoot. I don't move my head to accomodate the bow, and I don't lean backwards from being overdrawn or bowed. I'm very bowhunting competent out to 35 yards or so, and am really looking for some kind of practice routine to follow so I have a plan when I go shoot. Kind of like hitting golf balls at the range, it's better to work on specific issues than to just flail away at a bucket o' balls...

RE: How do you practice?
 

Once you think you have form down fairly well, I think getting into competitive indoor 5-spot and outdoor field spot shooting can help immensely.

There are no excuses- the yardage is known, and the target center bull is in plain view. Shooting 60 arrows at an indoor 5 spot while keeping score will definitely let you know if you're improving. Just keep a running log of your scores to see the trend. If you change something (draw length tweak, peep height adjustment, different release, etc) mark it down in the log so you can see if that change helped or hurt.

There is no wind to blow your arrow off-target, and the lighting stays the same and is consistent through the entire round. The only variable in the equation is YOU and your form. The bow stays the same and the arrows are the same.

3D shooting doesn't give you these controlled circumstances. Lighting can be different every shot. The wind can be blowing. You may not know ring placement on the target. Uphill, downhill, sidehill. You're estimating yardage, "did I estimate short but hit high, or estimate long and hit low for that perfect arrow placement"? Don't get me wrong- I think 3D can be a great shooting experience. But for really getting technical on form and execution I think having as many controlled variables as possible is the key.

Just my opinion.

Edited by - Black Frog on 02/15/2002 12:01:39

RE: How do you practice?
 

not sure if this is a good idea, but it seems to work for me. i generally just shoot 1 arrow only. it takes longer to shoot x amount of arrows, but for me it gets me to concentrate on each one better than just flying 3 and going and getting them etc...

John

RE: How do you practice?
 

Range,

It think you answered most of your own question. Just chucking arrows is not a good idea, fun maybe though. If you do not have someone to analyze your form, whether it be golf or archery, and you have grooved habits right or wrong, just how do you know what to practice or change? If your knowledgeable enough doing a video of yourself shooting is handy. I agree with Blackfrog that the best practice would be under controlled conditions. Shooting poorly executed shots just reinforces bad muscle memory.

Aim Hard!

RE: How do you practice?
 

rangeball, there are 3 things i work on when i shoot.
1.} strength, i shoot probalby 100 shots fairly fast. i use a 5 spot target and shoot 5 arrows. this helps with my stamina. once i find myself getting tired or my form falling off {creeping forward or shaking} i shoot 10 more shots not tryting to hit any certin spot and hold at full draw till i cant hold it any more.
2.) form and accuracy this is mearly hitting exactly where i want with good form. usualy at 20 or 35 yds.
3.) bow hunting. when your bow hunting its all about range and ONE shot. i take something and place it where i want to shoot from {we do this when were watching tv and a comercial comes on} and have my wife place the target some where that i dont know the distance and then i take one shot just one. i pace the distance when i retreeve my arrow. and we go back inside.
also i only do one of these each day.
hope you can get some ideas from this to improve your shooting
Ron

RE: How do you practice?
 

I practice at given ranges at spot targets. I do lots of this throughout the year and at ranges far greater than what I would ever try to shoot a deer. I feel this gets my consistency down and my strength up. I also shoot at deer pictures or 3D targets. This simple helps me pick a spot behind the shoulder. I believe this is the most important part of hunting practice-the years I have done lots of practice shooting at deer shapes my shot placement has been much better than if I just shoot at circles.

RE: How do you practice?
 

I see lots of people spending hours at the practice butts. But one thing I never seem to see them do is keep any kind of record of what they're shooting and how they're shooting. I just don't see how, without a record, you can really determine with any accuracy whether you're improving or not; whether slight changes in grip, release, stance, etc are really altering your scores for better or worse.

Jack

RE: How do you practice?
 

If you are serious about shooting really well, most coaches have books out on form and the correct shot sequence. I suggest you start here.

RE: How do you practice?
 

Rangeball, after reading your second post on this thread, it sounds to me like you already have a pretty good idea of how to practice. A couple of pointers I might add would be...
1. Quality practice, not quantity. If you start to get tired, stop. Shooting after you become fatigued will result in forming bad habits.
2. As boring as it is, if you want to really get good, nothing beats shooting spots at known distance. When doing this, you cannot blame the weather, wind, target angle, etc.
Try shooting 600rds. The popular spot game these days seems to be the 5 spot, 300rd. Shooting 5 arrow volleys can get tiring toward the end, and if you are not shooting a 300 in a 300rd. every time, all the time, you need more practice. Throw in a good mix of shooting 3-d targets, so you don`t get bored shooting the spots.
Good Luck!

RE: How do you practice?
 

John
You shoot one arrow because you lost the rest deer hunting.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>just kidding. If your shooting at a bale with your eyes closed it is to get your release to be subconscious. The small spots on the 5 spot work well also. Good luck

Rich

RE: How do you practice?
 

Once you get started shooting with good form, which, as others stated, may require a good coach, a good routine is as follows.
I shoot 20 arrows a night after work. The main thing is that I only take 1 or 2 arrows out in the back yard with me. This forces me to put the bow down and go retrieve the arrows from the target every 1 or 2 shots. The goal is to take time in between shots. When I first started shooting years ago, I would have a dozen arrows with me, and I would just be flinging one after another, with no time in between shots. Taking time in between each shot really helps you focus on each shot, which is very important.

RE: How do you practice?
 

Similar to what razor does, I will have 5 or 6 arrows, but I will shoot at different ranges as I walk away from target. It is amazing how I will tend to shoot better as I get farther away from target. I think it is just forced concentration.