AK Novice

After a couple years of shooting my bow I have started flinching badly. Can anyone help me break this habit.

Rack-attack

Surprise release

Can't flinch when you don't know its comming

Bigpapascout

do some blind bail shooting

get about 5 feet in front of your target and draw back take aim then close your eyes before you shoot repeat this about 20 shots.

concentrate on your form while you are doing this.

Bigpapascout

another thing you can do is to set your release on a hair trigger.

goldtip45

i agree with the hair trigger and shooting at your target at about 5 feet away just to practice a surprised release. a surprise release is one when you dont anticipate it.so other words its not a total surprise its allowing your mind to pull through the shot without your conscience telling you now! if you have a good safe place to shoot and draw your bow with out raising it and the lowering it to your target once you feel comfortable with the hair trigger step back to 10 and shoot for awhile and then 20 and do the same. its fairly dangerous with a hair trigger with out a safe place to shoot a hair trigger and i have seen it done because if you dont draw straight back you can actually release the trigger no anticipating it and the arrow goes dangerously out of sight if you no what i mean. a buddy of mine did it in his back yard and it ended up somewere on his neighbors property a long way off and that is scary---so just be safe about it and practice with it for a while and it should help. then once you beat the mind anticipating and telling you to trigger --set the release heavier and you should be fine. you dont need to try a back tension release the hair trigger with do that for you. remember to pull through the shot allowing your release hand to come back. try making sure each time you release your hand comes back to touch your shoulder for practice.

hunter9022

the only thing about hair trigger, is that after while, it cause you to punch also. or, thats what i thought anyways. I would also say to get up close and shoot where you are comfortable. Make every shot perfect, and only shoot a few arrows, after while, you can gradually move yourself back. I personally like to have quite a bit of pressure on my release, cause it makes you squeeze, but, to each there own. Try both.

Arthur P

I totally disagree with the hair trigger idea. That just makes you anticipate the shot worse, which makes the flinches worse. Set the release as hard as you can. Adjust the length in order to get the trigger into your second knuckle. Then, trip the release by pushing your elbow back, slowly. Do NOT squeeze the trigger with your finger. Let the finger follow the elbow through the trigger. I know, you don't see how that can happen but, If you have your wrist strap adjusted properly - meaning not too tight - it will work. The idea is to use your release like a back tension release.

Or you can break down and get yourself a full blown backtension release. If you do that, then go down to the local martial arts store and get a mouthguard.

gunner0909

The harder trigger pull is a trick they use in a lot of shooting sports, shotguns, handguns,archery, just about everything but benchrest. The idea is to make you think about the pulling not just slap at it. The backtention release will work very well, we call em let go's. It takes tention to pull, you relax to let go. If you try it you may be in for the worst beatin of your life till you get used to holding that trigger back while you draw.

c903

I agree with Art P's warning and suggestion.

The trigger pull on a mechanical release is not like the trigger pull on a firearm, although there are some releases now on the market that trip the sear with much less pull. If you try to "squeeze" the trigger, you immediately become aware of the resistance. This heavy resistance causes many shooters to be distracted from their aim as they now start trying to anticipate when the release will trip. The longer the release does not trip, the more anxious the shooter becomes and the flinching begins.

If Art's recommended method does not work for you, I suggest that once your pin is somewhat settled on the mark, you intentionally but smoothly pull that trigger. I know that intentionally pulling or punching the trigger is not the recommended method, but doing so is often the best alternative for some shooters.

Although I use both the finger and thumb-tripped releases, I have an easier and cleaner release with a "thumb-tripped" mechanical release. I believe the "T" releases are still the best.

shishkabob

scott archery has a release called the mongoose. you can buy the deluxe model and it comes with three different trigger posts.reg,knurled and a spring trigger,yes it is actually a spring,i've not tried it personally but some of the guys in our club recommend it. retails around 65.00 bucks