Should your bow be vertical when shooting?

[Papa Bull]

There's no point in worrying about form at all unless you want to be a good and consistent shooter.  If being a good shot isn't important to you then form needn't be a consideration, either.  You can always just grip-r-n-rip-r if you don't care where the arrow goes.  I get the impression that there is a misconception that if you learn to shoot with good form then you can't shoot in an awkward position after that.  On the contrary, you'll just be able to shoot in an awkward position better after you have attained good form and good shooting techniques.

Comparing to pool, learning good technique, good stroke and a good bridge doesn't keep you from shooting behind your back or one-handed when you need to.  With archery, it's not even that complex because you can't shoot one handed and you'll never take a hunting shot behind your back, although it makes for fun "trick" shooting if tricks are the goal.

[stmpthmpr]

Originally posted by Papa Bull:
 There's no point in worrying about form at all unless you want to be a good and consistent shooter.  If being a good shot isn't important to you then form needn't be a consideration, either.  You can always just grip-r-n-rip-r if you don't care where the arrow goes.  I get the impression that there is a misconception that if you learn to shoot with good form then you can't shoot in an awkward position after that.  On the contrary, you'll just be able to shoot in an awkward position better after you have attained good form and good shooting techniques.

Hey Papa Bull!

I agree. Looking back at my comments,I can see where it may have sounded as though I was saying form doesnt matter. Not that you were adressing me, but I like to wear shooes that fit!! Keeps me honest and reasonably humble!! LOL

I guess where Im coming from is that I have seen SOOOO many archers get frustrated with their form. Ive been there... done that. Not fun.

Shooting bow is as much a mental game as is baseball or many other spoerts. You can get into slumps and doubts can creep in and when you are picking yourself apart, your mental game is down the tubes.

The best advice I ever gave someone was quit thinking and just shoot. May not be the advice for competitive, but for barebow shooting it is.

As a simple, pick a spot and shoot kinda guy, I see "thinking" as a brawback. When I engage my mind to figure out what's going on, I only reduce or eliminate the natural ability of my brain to do it's thing.

Most of what we do is learned behavior. The simpler the task, the quicker brain takes over and allows for unconscious action or reaction. Archery is not one of the simpler tasks, however with persistence and the ability to cut oneself a little slack, most anyone can become proficient.

Some of the best trad shooters I know look like they are having an epilectic seizures when they shoot. But they have been shooting spastically for so long it works. LOL!

Daddy Bear, thanks for the vid. When I get moved down to the farm in South dakota, Ill have to invite you out for some awesome pass shooting set-ups for geese. Some great pheasant action goes without saying.

[Pruneemac]

Whatever works for you. I dont think there is a right or wrong as long as you are comfortable and can be consistent and accurate.

I think Trad shooting is more art than science.

[DaveBriner]

Heya Terry,
What am I missing here?  How do you cant to left and keep the arrow against the shelf?  I shoot a widow recurve, and ever since I bumped up the shelf a little underneath the sealskin, my arrow likes to come off the shelf.  If I can adopt something into my form like you have to keep the arrow tight against the shelf no matter what, that would be a huge help.
Thanks,
Dave

[artifaker1]

I agree with what has been said and shown here but would like to add; that the construction of the riser and the thickness of the arrow can come into play shooting off the shelf as well as with rests. I have a longbow right now that seems to be losing it's center shot somewhat and tends to shoot to the left a little, even with arrows that are light spine for it,although this can be corrected by canting more. In fact I've found that canting deeply can overcome other problems with tuning or the lack of. I personally like to keep the bow fairly vertical but off the shelf you usually have to cant some to get more stability.If I cant too much with my normal setups the bow will shoot to right. Too strait up and down and it will shoot to the left or even the right depending on the shelf construction.
I guess my point is bows will have different amounts of center cut. Self bows might have no center shot at all and have to be shot with extreme cant to correct it. I have a big river 50s style recurve that is at the other end of the spectrum and likes 22 and 23/64 arrows otherwise it will shoot to the right with skinny arrows.

[-Achilles-]

I think for a new shooter starting out they should shoot vertical for a while just to get the sight picture down...its just the basics of archery...canting can come later

[Terry Green]

Dave..........I'll answer in the morning......been gone and got some catching up to do....

[DaveBriner]

Thanks Terry,
I've been experimenting with a slightly deeper and more aggressive hook.  That allows me additional cant to some extent, but I feel like my accuracy suffers somewhat.
Dave

[Terry Green]

Dave....I covered this in The Bowhunters of Trad Gang.com DVD as well as other things...easier to see than read but I'll try.

Shelf built up or not, or no shelf at all shouldn't matter.  Its all in the string fingers.

The string needs to be in the 1st joints of the fingers, and the fingers need to be pointing back at you before you draw the bow, and 'pinch' pressure should be applied to the arrow nock.  Also, your wrist needs to be rolled out a bit.

Once you start to gain weight in the draw, your fingers will start to 'uncurl' slightly and your wrist will start coming back in line and these two things will apply lateral pressure on the arrow against the side plate holding the arrow in place as you continue to draw.

Hope that makes sense.

[DaveBriner]

Thanks Terry,
Got it.  Not about depth of hook, but rather placement of fingers (finger pads actually) BEFORE draw.  I will start testing this out.
Sweet!
Dave