Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: sweet old bill on September 20, 2011, 06:31:00 AM
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I guess what makes me shoot trad is that it is so much harder than with the compound bow and sights, release, peep, and kisser.
I have been shooting about 3 times a week since the snow went off in APril. I just pick up the bow and will shoot from yards out to 25 yards. I was feeling that this is the year I will finally feel good enough to take the checkmate firebird model bow hunting. But yesterday was just could not hit the full side of a barm let along a deer. I got so mad, that I went back and tried 3 under, and got great groups at 20 yards but just did not feel that I locked in. SO I put the bow away went out for a few hours with the wife and came home and tried agin with my old spilt finger draw and did not bad. Do you all go thru these what I have to call as head games with the bow. Later today I am going to shoot the 3D course to see how I do.
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Head games with archery? Abso-luddy-blutely! A bad session can be caused by stress and tiredness, too.
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Yes I go through it every now and then. Can lose focus, or be a little tired. I think of it this way. Ever watch a big league pitcher. Burns up the plate for 3 innings then all the sudden he can't hit the corner or he completely throws one away. It is hard to keep up such accuracy all the time expecially without a sight to tell you that you are on.
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I just went through it last week....then seemed to 'get it back' when I tried again a few days ago.
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If you can't focus your arrows will stray. Oh, the love/hate relationship with trad. :D
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All the time. Every fall I struggle with the same issue you are. I shoot my recurves almost exclusively pretty much year round, but often hunt with the compound simply because I have trouble being consistent with my recurve. It doesn't matter to me on targets, but it does on things that bleed. If it was just a miss, that I can handle, it's the bad hits I want to avoid.
I hunt two distinct types of terrain, open prairie and dense woods. I usually let the range of shot opportunities dictate which bow I take. A died-in-the-wool trad hunter might look down on me for having one foot on the dark side of the fence, but oh well...
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I say shoot what you are comfortable shooting. If you feel more confident shooting a compound while hunting, do it. I shoot longbows all the time, hunting and targets. But if I wanted to shoot a compound hunting, I would.
As far as a bad day, everyone has them. The key to fixing a bad session is to stop before you get irritated and look at your form. See if you can feel what you are doing differently. Think about how you are gripping the bow. Just give a little self check. It will usually clear up problems.
God Bless,
Nathan
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One of the reasons I practice with just one arrow. I talk myself thru the shot, then shoot. I go get the arrow and move to a different spot and repeat. When I shoot for a 3 or 4 arrow group I sometimes just repeat the mistake if I made one. I never have long sets of practice...10-15 minutes, then go do something else and them come back later. This whole thing is 90% mental and if your your having problems it can make you 100% crazy!....LOL!!!
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when i'm sinking it up i get up close to the target make 1 or 2 good shots and hang it up till the next day.
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always leave a practice session with a good shot.i compete at all levels of 3d and use to get so up in my head that id do horrible,now i show up have fun and usualy do really well..i carry my ilf setup till aug.then its time to pull out my black widow..i shoot both everyday at least 100 arrows,and i still get frustrated
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I usually shoot with a Damascus glove, but it's been hurting my fingers lately. So I switched back to my neet glove which is thicker, now I can shoot very well with this glove but something was missing. So one of the local guys here gave me an old but new tab to try out. He said this tab was made many years ago but he didn't use it.
Well I tried it out and at first I did have trouble with it, but what I did was to figure out what I was doing wrong and fix it. Sometimes one has to be able to break down there shot and analyze it step by step. What I do is I get out my Hoyt Pro medalist which is a light # pull bow, probably around 37-38# at my draw length. As I shoot it I go through every aspect of my form and I always find the part that is causing my poor shooting. I then get my regular bows out and have no trouble zeroing in on what I want to hit.
Hope this helps.
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Bill,
I have those days frequently, usually when I am stressed. Best thing to do is stop shooting and walk away.
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Its always in the release and the bow arm some days that hand just wants to go out there . Ive went back to a static release and it has helped me alot, I'm much more consistent. The best shooters I know shoot 3 under.
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SW Bill,
I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but if you've been practicing since April and you're still not confident in your accuracy with your trad bow, it could be the poundage you're shooting might be "slightly" too much for you. In other words, overbowed. What poundage are you shooting?
Many compound shooters shooting 70# bows with 80% letoff are used to holding only 14# at anchor.
When a compound shooter wants to try a trad bow, they think shooting a 45#-50# bow is going to be a piece of cake. Some can handle the poundage, but many of them get a rude awakening since they have to hold three times the weight at their anchor point. They have trouble after shooting 20 arrows. Their arrows are all over the target.
Sometimes, if you've been shooting since April, it might not be a "head" game. Just food for thought since no one has mentioned this.
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If you are interested in hunting practice shooting one arrow at a time will improve focus and is a lot more meaningful anyway.
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Night Wing has a good point, but it works both ways. I am over bowed for shooting 3d for sure - 59#. I've had my bow for a long time, and am strong enough to shoot it with good form
At most small 3D tournaments I go to I usually at least place pretty high if not win, and the people who do beat me are ALWAYS shooting 40 to 50 pound bows, usually with lighter arrows as well.
For me, lack of focus which causes me not to reach alignment and thus miss my spot, but if I pick up a lighter bow and shoot it for a while the occasional lack of focus results in a poor release which causes me to miss my spot. It's easier to have a consistently good release with a heavier bow for me.
So no matter what weight you shoot, you can manage to miss due to lack of focus - may not be for the same reasons...
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Great point & observation Bill. Everyone (even cmpndr's) have wrecks. Get your level of confidence up to par & go with it. The more you experience the more confident you'll become. Have fun first.
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Happens to all of us, more so early in your trad life, but it's in your head. One arrow at a time, good advice and good exercise.
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I have things like this happen with my compound too. Shoot good most of the time, and then not so good(flailling,or lack of backtension). I do shoot just one arrow when practicing with my trad bow. My accuracy and focus are better.
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plain and simple; dont over think the shooting process. If you are determined prior to shoot great, that will throw you off. Over thinking will most certainly take away from your form.At that point you will never hit the mark on the target, but you will hit the frustration mark.JMHO
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On days like that, try standing up close (5yds) and shoot until you get really good shots. Then take a step back. Work your way back to about 15 yards, maybe twenty if you want. I find that it helps me 'dial in' if my mind isn't in the game. And if you've been doing well during a session and suddenly arrows are all over the place, step up close, take one last good arrow to boost your confidence, and then pull the pin for the night. End on a good note, and don't make bad habits by shooting too many arrows.
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Shooting any bow requires concentration. As great as Byron Ferguson is, he said in his book that he never shoots more than three arrows in a row when practicing because that is as long as he can maintain absolute concentration.
I try to stick to that too, but if I am struggling, I shoot one, walk up and pull it, walk back and shoot it again. I focus on making each shot count. Keys for me: pick a spot, focus on the spot, anchor, increase back tension until the shot happens. Concentrating on back tension keeps me from plucking the string (my major bad habit).
Even compound shooters need to practice and need good form. I've seen too many "just a little back" and spine shots on TV to think otherwise.
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Sometimes I just have to get away from my bow for a while(couple or a few weeks) and when I get back to it, I can focus on the shot much better.
Also, I like what Bjorn said above. I used to go out in the yard in the late evening and climb up in the ladder stand I had out back and pretend I was hunting and after about 10 minutes or so, I would turn around and act like I just noticed a buck appear out of nowhere(my 3D target at 20 yards). I would then proceed to slowly move around for a shot and pick a spot on the "deer" and take the shot. I would only take ONE shot no matter how good or bad that shot was. Then I would get down out of the tree and pull my arrow and do the same thing again the next day. I would sometimes work on my shooting form on another target on days when I had extra time.
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My thanks for all the help...I have two bows setup one is for working on form and it is 42 lb checkmate and the other is the hunting bow a Martin hunter at 50 lbs. I am now going to just one arrow and then move back if the shot is good, if not were I wanted it I move back to 5 yards and start over. I also am shooting the 3D at about 15 to 20 yards and that is one arrow at each target. I shoot the compound at 58 lbs, and also seem to use it more for the hunting than the recurve unless I am sitting in this one ground blind that if I get a shot it will be less than 15 yards at the most. It is a heavy brush funnel to a open pasture and also some old apple trees.
My thanks again
Bill
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Interesting point "move to 5 yds.". When I practice I shoot 4 arrows at a time - 5 sets or 20 arrows. I also have a large cup of coffee to sip when I complete to 20 arrow set. This seems to slow me down and get back to concentrating.
When things don't go just right I start shooting with an arrow at 5 yds - then another at 8-10, going out to 20 yds. This seems to break the habit of just standing at 18-20 and flinging arrows - losing concentration. Anyway, this works for me. I shoot 125 arrows per session and 2-3 times a week.
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I find it very hard to maintain focus on a single target for very long. When I get in one of those ruts you mention and have lost my focus, I immediately switch to stump stooting or moving targets. This works very well for me.
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When shooting's bad I take a rest or shoot for form or muscle exercise without a tought(or concern) on the grouping.