Got my longbow
 

Been shooting tonight in my garage at10 yards. Sometimes my shots feel great, sometimes aweful. I am having trouble working out my form. I have shot recurves but not a longbow at 2oclock position. It just feels so strange. I think it uses different muscles. Shot about 150 arrows. Pretty wore out. But once I got into a groove, I was shooting 2" groups at 10 yards a few times, but once I thought I had it figured out, I got 8" groups. I had trouble pinching the arrows. I tried some different technices not shooting split fingered, but that didn't feel right. I need some pointers I believe.

But I feel happy about my purchase. And if I get even a doe this year, I will be so happy.

RE: Got my longbow
 

Congrats!!! I can't really help you with pointers as I've only been at it for a year..... I'm having form issues also... The last two weeks have been the worst shooting I've done in 6 months or so..... Tonight things did get a little better though.... I've been spending ALOT of time working on my follow thru and making sure that bow arm stays still.....

RE: Got my longbow
 

Yep you need different muscles allright, just don't shoot so many it worns you out.
I shoot 12 arrows daily and that keeps me sharp.

RE: Got my longbow
 

I shoot a longbow and recurve the same way. You maybe thinking about it too much. I don't think about shooting a longbow or shooting a recurve, I just think about shooting a bow, period. Same muscles, same anchor, draw, release, and follow through.

Good luck,

Chad

RE: Got my longbow
 

Congrats. I would just say to have some fun with it for a while and just get used to it. Don't pressure yourself to shoot perfect groups. 150 arrows is a lot of shooting for a day. Bad habits can form from shooting too much and becoming exhausted.
See what feels comfortable for you. You don't have to shoot with that much cant. The proper cant will come with aligning the arrow below your eye pupil (important), your anchor will also come into play with this.

RE: Got my longbow
 

Thanks guys. going to get arrows made today. Its much faster than I thought. And penetrates the foam target pretty well. I have no doubt that it should penetrate a deer if hit in the boiler room.

RE: Got my longbow
 

One thing, I don't mind putting in the time.I understand that. I don't mind getting bad groups working on my form. But I just want to make sure I dont' get bad habits. I have what I consider great form with compound with release. I only release with back tension. I use the push pull method. But this is different. I am having trouble with my form using back tension. When I pull it back to my jaw anchor with the cant, I am just not using my back as much. And I believe thats bad form. Maybe not. I am going to a tradional classic shoot in May here in MD. And I heard a bunch of traditional guys hang out at macrotech this evening. Well see.

RE: Got my longbow
 

http://www.tradgang.com/videos/rod.wmv


This wouldn't be a bad one to learn from.......

RE: Got my longbow
 

Back tension definitely has a different feel with a traditional bow vs a high letoff compound. You've trained your body to use back tension in perfect uprighttarget form, like you have to use with a compound and all the doodads. When you make the cant and lean, you have changed several angular relationships with your musculoskeletal structure. It's not been trained in that way, so back tension feels odd.

Another thing that weirds you out is you're using much more back tension in the lastfew inches of draw than you do with a hight letoff compound. The feel of pulling back tension from a holding weight of 20 pounds or less is way different from what you feel at 50 pounds. With a low holding weight, there is a lotof muscle reserve to be called on for the release, so you feel back tension a lot better.

With a traditional bow, much more muscle is required to bring the string to anchor, leaving much less muscle in reserve to be used for back tension release. The back tension is still there, but it feels a lot more subtle.

I'm not sure I'm explaining it well. Darn pain pills still have me kinda fogged out... [&o]

Say your muscle strength is a max of 60 pounds. With the compound holding weight of 20, you are using 20 pounds of your strength to hold the string at anchor. That leaves you 40 to call on for the back tension release. With a 50 pound traditional bow, you use 50 pounds of strength to get the string to anchor, which leaves you only 10 pounds of reserve strength forback tension release. So, what I'm trying to say is, it's easier to feel 40 pounds than 10 pounds.

I hope I'm making sense. [&:]

Just concentrate on feeling the back tension when you release. Push your bow hand straight at the target while making sure the release comes as you're pushing the drawing elbow back into the wall.

RE: Got my longbow
 

It looks like he is dropping his bow arm alot. Is that pretty normal. Also I took a look at alot of those guys shooting and alot seems to be gripping the bow real tight. Is that normal for longbow/recurve? I was shooting tonight open handed like I do compound. After the shot the bow bounces some. I think my arrows I am using is too light.

What about the release. Some guys shoot with all three finger under the arrow and some with the index on top of the arrow. I have always shot recurves with the index on top. But I have a bad habit of pinching the arrow and it wanting to come off the shelf.

One thing I did learn off those videos is they do alot of mental prep before the shot and then snap shoot.

Makes total sense Arthur.I appreciate posts guys.