This past weekend I stumbled upon an awesome 3D Course hidden just outside of Woodstock NY. It was a warm day (finally!) and I was shooting good, things just came together. I can’t wait to come back again in the summer! If you are in the area, check this course out, it will challenge your skill!
Another thing I learned in martial arts that applies to archery is the concept of three steps back. In Iai (Japanese Samurai Sword Arts) if you mess up a move, the reason you messed it up was was because of something you did three moves back that forced you out of place to execute the move planned.
So, how does that apply to archery. Simple, if you shoot an arrow and you miss, you then think about it and place the blame on a bad release. But if you continue to look deeper into that shot you will find out more often than not that the real reason you had a bad release was because of something you did a move or two before the release. It might have been your stance, your front shoulder was not in the correct position or how you drew the arrow, maybe you did not use your back. Doing anyone of these can affect your shot, for they take you out of your routine and any change in routine will be seen in your arrows flight. The release was just the result of you doing something different before then. Next time you shoot, instead of blaming it on a bad release, look further back and you will see the real culprit.
I will be the first to admit that I do not “tune” my arrows, nor do I make my own. I have the guy at the local pro shop make them. Doing it that way has worked great for me for so long, why change now? People always ask me for arrow tuning advice and look at me like I have a horn in the middle of my forehead when I tell them I don’t tune my arrows. “What, you don’t tune or build your own arrows? Blasphemy”! Is what I picture is going through their minds.
One reason I don’t is that I shoot instinctive and I believe that doing so is inherently inaccurate to a degree. A person shooting instinctive is going to have a larger shot group than the person using sights, it just a fact of life. I’m understand that and I’m perfectly happy to live with that fact, trust me I don’t loose any sleep over it. But there are times when I wonder if I should.
Just in the past few weeks I noticed that a couple of my arrows seemed to be flying different. The vast majority of the time any problems in archery are caused by me not my bow or the arrows. It was only it seemed one of two arrows. So I questioned the equipment. Were they getting old and too beaten up to use I wondered. Maybe they were right, I should build and tune my own arrows that would cure the problem, yes that was it!
So I read up on tuning, watched YouTube video’s and even bought a DVD. What I found is that like anything else everyone puts the emphasis on something different. No one can agree on anything in archery it seems.
The one neat trick that I liked was from the DVD. It was by Byron Ferguson (Tuning for Extreme Accuracy) and in it he said once his arrows are set, he has a final test. He takes his arrows to the range and shoots them at dusk using a Lumenock. If you don’t know what a Lumenock is, it is a nock made for hunting that when the arrow is released a LED inside the nock turns on, allowing you to see the arrow better while in flight and if your prey runs, you hopefully can follow or find it easier.
He made a great point that many times it is difficult for you to see the flight of the arrow and that what you thought you saw may not have been accurate. That is why he uses the Lumenock, his eyes could follow the flight of the arrow better.
I just by chance had a couple of them and went to the range, It is still too cold here to shoot outdoors and the snow is almost gone, so instead I shot indoors and simply turned off the lights. I could just see the target and let loose a few, wow, what a difference, my eyes could track it the whole way and the person watching said they could see it even better! Using the Lumenock I found out that my arrows fly just fine and yes, it was once again operator head space and timing that was the problem. I’m still going to have my pro shop make mine, but I will now check them using the Lumenock whenever I doubt the equipment.
Want to start an argument? Mention Instinctive Archery. There are more opinions on this than on any other subject in Archery.
To some it is a mystical thing, that defies description. To others it is nothing more than a gimmick, nothing more than a learned routine.
The truth is in between the two views. First lets look at the word itself Instinctive, according to the dictionary.
Instinctive is an Adjective
Relating to or prompted by instinct; apparently unconscious or automatic. :An instinctive distaste for conflict”
(of a person) doing or being a specified thing apparently naturally or automatically. “an instinctive writer”
Look at that second line. Is that not what Instinctive archery? I think people are confusing the concept of a primal instinct with the word instinct.
Is walking an instinct? No, it is learned and through consistent practice (every time we walk, we practice it) it becomes so natural that we no longer think about doing it, it becomes instinct. Do you “think” each time when you start to walk, jump, skip etc; “Left foot first or right foot”? You don’t, you just do it. Walking has become a part of you, it has left your conscious mind and entered you unconscious mind, it has become an instinctive action.
Breathing is an natural or primal instinct, yet in sports we train in how to control our breathing, does this make breathing no longer an instinct? No, but we do learn how to do it better or should I say more efficiently.
Yes, Instinctive archery is learned, just like walking is. Yes, Instinctive Archery is Instinctive, just like walking. Both when done so much they become part of you and doing it becomes natural for you, it becomes part of you, you do it unconsciously, which is what instinctive means.
With that said (or written), how can you shoot “instinctively” right out of the box? You can’t. What your dong is “learning” to become instinctive.
Let the debate begin ……
Have you ever wanted to shoot in a totally different way but were afraid of developing bad habits in your current method?
Well believe it not you can, simply shoot from the other side!
Yes, if you shoot right handed, then shoot left handed, it is that simple. What you do with your right hand side does not transfer over to you left side, or vice versa. Therefore you will not have any bad habits “seep” into what you have worked so long on to perfect.
I’m a lefty, but I have always shot right handed. Why? Because the rest of my family (and my two brothers) are right handed. I was not going to have a bow just for me while my brothers had to share. Nope, not going to happen. I shot the old traditional way, split finger; anchor the index at the mouth. Shooting righty is all I have ever done or known…. until last year.
Last year I tired shooting lefty and everything I knew how to do on my right, I couldn’t do on my left. So I did a little research and found out that co-ordination skills and muscle memory are not transferable from side to side (For proof, try throwing a ball or writing your name with your other hand). I realized this gave me a chance to try something new , anchoring under the jaw. I could start fresh and not have to fight to re-learn anything.
It has been a growing process and yes, I have gotten better, my right is now only slightly better, but the left (which I spend most of my time shooting from) is catching up. My shot cycle on each side is totally different and if I try to replicate the cycle from the other side, it just feels weird.
There is a downside, you will now have to buy extra equipment. But it has allowed me to shoot two very different styles and that is a blast. So if you ever wanted to shoot a different way, take a walk on the wild side.
Besides archery, I’m have been training in the martial arts for the past 20 years, first in Tae Kwon Do, then in Kickboxing and Iaido (Samurai Sword). In the martial arts, Bruce Lee has to be one of the most quoted people and most of the time they get the quote wrong or they misinterpret it.
One “mantra” that he had was “Daily Decrease”. People took this to mean to train in less each day. But what he really meant and it applies to archery is that each day you should strive to eliminate something that you’re doing that hurts your performance. Instead of approaching your training as trying to “get better”, you should focus your training on Eliminating the “holes” in your technique. This is how you will become better.
Jimmy Johnson, the Football coach has said that it is not always the team that makes the biggest plays that wins games, but the team that makes the fewest mistakes. That he would rather have a team that made the least mistakes than one that made the big ones and gave up the big ones too. People and teams lose more often due to mistakes than they win due to making the big play or shot.
Next time you train, go into it with the attitude of “daily decrease”.
Depending on how serious you are, knowing where the “points” are on the target is vital. The most common way to find where the points are, is to simply bring along a set of binoculars.
Last year I was out at a local shoot and I saw a couple who I was told were real “Pro’s” from the circuit. What I noticed (besides them never missing and taking FOREVER to shoot) was that they had cards with the targets on them and they would reference that. Being the overly curious person that I am, I went looking for the cards and after a good search I found them. Before I go into the cards, please allow me to give a little background.
What targets you will find at a shoot and the possible points on those targets are dependent on where you go and who is running the event. A local, or “club” event will have targets from wherever they can get them and can use whatever point system they like. If you go to an event ran by the IBO or the ASA, they uses different targets, points and rules.
The IBO uses only Rinehart targets and a 0,5,8,10 system,
The ASA uses only Delta McKenzie targets and uses a 0,5,8,10,12 system
Confusing yes, and that is why when shooting at a club, you never know what to expect. Most clubs have a mixture of targets from the two and use the 0,5,8,10 point system. To show you the difference, Here are the point cars from Rinehart for each:
ASA Card: 5, 8, 10, 12 points, the tiny circle is the 12 point area.
IBO Card with 5,8,10 points
With that out of the way, how do you find the cards? Well you can make them or you can order them.
Rinehart, on their website has a link to download a PDF file of their targets, you can choose from ASA or IBO scoring. Here is the link:
http://www.rinehart3d.com/documents/
Simply print them (they are 8×10 size) and I would highly recommend re-sizing and laminating them. A local office supply store can do it for you or you can do it yourself with clear shelving laminate, which we use to use to cover out maps in the service.
You can also order them from Third Hand Archery. They cost $10. They offer a Rinehart and a Delta McKenzie version. There are 5 1/2 ” wide and 8 1/2″ tall and printed on a hard plastic with an clip attachment provided. This is what one looks like:
Here they are up close
Here is the website: http://thirdhandarchery.com/
Now, all you need to do is figure out how to carry them!
Finding a 3D shoot is tough, but once you find one, the next comes a little easier. It is just finding that very first one.
You can do a web search and you will most likely get junk, you can skim YouTube and maybe get lucky. The best place I have found is a website called 3D Shoots. The actual address is: http://www.3dshoots.com/
This is a great resource and one that more clubs should use to promote their shoots.
Here is the main page. Simply go to the “FIND SHOOTS” button on the black bar ….
That will bring you to this page. As you can see there are many way to search. I like to use the “SEARCH BY ZIP CODE”
That will bring you to here, put in your zip code, select the radius of the search (50 mile increments) and the time frame (by months)
You will then be given a listing, by date. Simply click onto the shoot your interested in and it will bring up this page. From here you will find almost everything you need to know.
Now all you have to do is go out and have fun!
The Secret to Instinctive Archery is your Shot Cycle (a Shot Cycle is everything you do to shoot an arrow), plain and simple. I have the books, the DVD’s, I have been to seminars and all I ever heard or read was for you to “Focus on the Target”. Let me tell you I have been doing that and guess what, I was not getting any better. I was getting frustrated, I had plateaued and I had no clue as to what to do next.
Being an Instructor myself (I train people in Muay Thai and I teach kids Martial Arts) for the past twenty years I know a thing or two about teaching / learning. So I thought about it and found the one group that trains the most archers, the Olympics. To train a large number of people you need to have …… a system. One that is repeatable, adaptable, teachable.
What I found is that they have broken the Shot Cycle into different phases or parts. This simple revelation has helped me get past that plateau and has helped me to teach archery in a more efficient manner (yes, I teach archery for a leadership group by of West Point). I took what they did and adapted it to what I do and it is a great tool to help you clean up your shooting.
The beauty of this was proven yet again yesterday for me. I was at the range and I was shooting like crap. The worst I have done in a long time. Instead of getting frustrated, I went over my shot cycle, step by step, I got better as I went and I fixed a nagging problem I have had. Ever since I switched to the under the chin anchor, from time to time, my arrows will fishtail, not all the time just some. I couldn’t figure it out and neither could those I asked, wrote to or even those I had watch me shoot. No, it was re-focusing on my shot cycle. I realized what was causing it was my Anchor. For some reason I would let the bottom of my hand turn out, which in turn twisted the string slightly and when I released the arrow, this twist would undo and cause the fishtailing.
Want to get better, then write down and practice your shot cycle, know it inside and out, so when things go wrong you won’t be in the dark as to why.
Here is the Shot Cycle: (Now I could go for days on each, but I won’t)
STANCE: How you stand can and will affect your shot. There are many ways to stand and yes, over time you will be able to shoot from almost any position. The point is that when you are learning or trying to get better you need to use the same stance every time. Remember the more variations in your shot cycle will show up in your accuracy.
NOCKING THEW ARROW: How you not doesn’t really affect accuracy and can be done how you like.
GRIP THE BOW: An often over looked area. How you grip you bow really does affect you shot. Squeeze too much on your pinky and you’ll shoot low, too much on the index and you’ll go high. The grip should be firm but relaxed. The bow should not be able to move around in your hand. You can take you fingers out of it altogether. The key is to grip the bow the same way each time.
GRIPPING THE STRING: Again, there are many ways to grip the string; Split Finger, Three Under, Pinch, Thumb Ring, etc. The key is to ensure that you grip it the same way every time.
SET POSITION: This is the stage where you’re ready to draw, at this point in time you start to “Focus” on the target, this one is more mental than physical.
DRAWING: Many ways to draw, Low, Middle or High. But do you do it the same way each time?
ANCHORING: Again many ways, but is you’re the same each time?
HOLDING: If you’re not a snap shooter, you do this, it might only be for a second or two. When in this stage you should feel the pressure through your arm and into your shoulder. I you feel the pressure on your arm and chest, you have not “locked it in” and your accuracy will suffer. This is what many people mean when they say “Use you Back muscles”
RELEASE / FOLLOW THROUGH: There is a nice debate on this, when you release does your hand stay put or move back to your shoulder? I find myself doing one way for a while and then the other and my accuracy shows it.
FEEDBACK: After you have shot think about the cycle and how it felt. If it was good then try to duplicate it. If the shot was bad, think about how it felt and see what was different.
Just like anything else in life there is more than one way to do it. Scoring in 3D archery all depends on who is running the event. The two most common methods are those done by the IBO and the ASA, then again you have “club rules”. This video is the best that I have seen at explaining it.
3D Archery with Gregory Richards 