Follow through question

[habs]

I have a horrible habit.  I'm right handed, and when I shoot, I pull the bow to the right after the shot. I should really be moving it slightly to the left and down, right? It's worse when I'm tired.

I feel I'm not shooting "in the bow". Do any of you have any drills or other methods I could use to rid myself of this affliction?

Thanks.

[Whump]

Whump Sez; NO! try not to move at all---try to hold your position static after the release until the arrow reaches the target. Any movement right, left, down or whatever will affect the point of impact. "Do not get into the habit of dropping your arm" When you draw your bow--imagine you are holding a baseball between your shoulder blades---this will force you to use your back muscles to draw instead of your arm muscles----concentrate on holding the ball and keeping your form static after the release and until the arrow hits its mark. You need to practice this close to the target until it is ingrained as muscle memory. Don't be too concerned about accuracy at first just work on back tension and holding your form after the release, accuracy will follow if you learn to do this.[it helps  if you are not overbowed starting out as this causes more bad habits than the internet]   Hunt safe.  

[Old York]

Whump has it dead-on! Esp. the over-bowed part.

I'd like to add that if you close your stance (have both feet perpendicular to the target) it can help you shoot more "in the bow"; it helps get bow arm, shoulders, and drawing hand/arm in line.

When shooting, think of pushing the mountain & pulling the tiger's tail...

[McDave]

This is Terry's Clock, which is often referred to in this forum, to illustrate proper shooting allignment:

 

What may be happening to cause your problem is that your shoulders are not properly alligned parallel to the arrow.  Instead, they may be alligned so they point off at an angle to the left.  As Old York said, if you set up with your feet perpendicular to the target, it helps you to get your shoulders into proper allignment.  However, even with your feet in that position, you may tend to draw the bow, particularly when you start your draw, with your shoulders pointed off to the left.  Shooting "in the bow" means that you end up your draw with your shoulders in proper allignment.  Part of pushing with your bow arm is really rotating your shoulders into the bow, to get that proper allignment, and you can do that from either a closed or an open stance.  Note that Terry is in an open stance in the picture, but his body is still properly alligned with the bow and arrow.

I prefer the open stance, and then twisting my upper body into proper allignment, since I don't have to worry about where my feet are in a hunting situation, and twisting my body into allignment doesn't make any noise, whereas shuffling my feet around does.  However, this does add another variable, which you probably don't need if you're just in the process of learning proper body allignment.

[Donald]

I have suffered from the same problem and for me, at least, it is mostly caused by not having the same amount of (scapular) back tension in the bow arm as in the shooting arm.

If you find that it takes more muscular strength to draw the bow string to anchor than to hold the bow on target at full anchor, than this is most likely the problem.

To correct this, as I draw the string, I must (until learned) consciously gradually increase the bow arm back muscle tension equal to the string arm back muscle tension as the string is drawn and as draw weight increases.

If done correctly, at release, the bow arm will not move off target, and the string hand will move (if at all) straight back.  The trick is to have the back (scapular) muscles holding most of the draw weight equally at full draw.

One should be able to actually feel the bow arm scapular muscles contract eqaul to and as strongly as the string arm scapular muscles as the string is drawn.  

It does take some practice to learn, and I suggest and agree that one use a lighter draw weight bow until he begins to feel bow arm scapular muscles working more strongly.

[toddster]

habs- What is your drawing hand doing upon release?

[scriv]

Sometimes folks have a tendency to relax the bow arm along with the releasing fingers when making a shot.  This will cause a collapse and pushing the bow to the right. Somthing to think about.

[JRY309]

When I practice on my form and anchor,I draw to anchor and do a three count and shoot and hold my form for another three count after the shot.

[Patience]

habs,
One, bow should not move. So stop thinking that the bow should go one way or another after the shot.
Two, All good sugestions, but for myself, I like things extra simple. I tend to have the same problem every once and a while, I drop my bow arm. It's just one of those things that creaps back into my form every so often. What I like to do is spend a seassion shoot long shots. Don't worry about accuracy just move far enough back that you get at least a couple seconds from release to impact. Release arrow and hold bow on target. You will be surprised at how quickly you'll stop dropping the arm.

[longbowguy]

Trouble up front usually means errors in back.

I suggest work on the pull-through release, and a long and lively follow-through. To do this, draw and hold, then pull-through and end up with your string hand behind your neck, most likely touching it. Don't release the string; I prefer the image of 'ripping your fingers off the string'. Practice this close to the bale, without a target. With a good follow-through I bet your bow arm will behave as it should. - lbg