help with my son's shooting

[Doug Treat]

Hey guys,  My 15 year old son has been struggling to shoot well.  He used to shoot really well with a recurve and has even won some 3-D shoots, but has recently had a rough time.  His draw length has grown like crazy over the last 2 years and he now draws 28".  When he shoots now, he has a mental block about his shot.  He draws, puts the point on the target, and then right as he shoots, he drops his bow arm to try to compensate for holding too high.  I think that he used to be able to put the tip on the target and hit it, so now he can't not shoot that way.  Because he is dropping his bow arm as he's shooting, his consistency is not there.  I will tell him before he draws to concentrate and hold the arrow point under the target but even when he says that he's trying to hold lower before the shot, his arm won't let him. He instinctively holds the point on the target.  Is there something that he could do to break this?

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by Doug Treat:
but even when he says that he's trying to hold lower before the shot, his arm won't let him.

'his arm won't let him'

He shouldn't be raising or lowering his arm to shoot hi or low....he should be bending at the waist.  The arm should not be taken out of alignment to compensate for elevation adjustments.

So, he's not wanting to move his arm...that's good...tell him to bend at the waist and see what happens.

[FerretWYO]

A friend of mine had a very similar problem after suffering a broken collar bone. He had to switch to left handed. Not being a gap shooter I cant speak as to the point on target issue.

I can say that if he can keep his alignment and bend at the waste as Terry mentioned it is nearly impossible to drop your bow arm.

An idea that may help is give him a very light bow he can hold for a long time. Use the blank bale and change the point of focus.

[BobCo 1965]

From another perspectice, get him up close and see what he does when he closes his eyes and shoots. If he does not drop his bow arm when shooting like this, then there is a mental thing going on when aiming that effects form. A lot of times, kids love to try to peek to watch the arrow in flight which could be the culprit.If he does drop the bow arm, then there is a collapse going on. He could be anticipating the shot. You may want to try a form master.

I would also advise to not stress the importance of aiming and accuracy until the form gets back in line. Remember one of your(our) goals is to keep him in archery and not loose interest. If accuracy is kept as the main goal and he is stumbling right now it might not be too much fun and he may feel he is letting you down, things could sprial from there. Always work toward obtainable goals.

[wtpops]

Im going to throw this out there.

 "He draws, puts the point on the target, and then right as he shoots, he drops his bow arm to try to compensate for holding too high. I think that he used to be able to put the tip on the target and hit it, so now he can't not shoot that way."

Put a stick on orange dot below the bulls eye and have him concentrate on the bulls eye while in his peripheral vision  put the point on the orange dot and shoot.(Point of arrow and orange dot will be blurry). If he is high or low, adjust the dot until the arrow is hitting the bull. Let him shoot, as time goes on he will be able to remove the dot and his newly trained brain will set the bow arm where it needs to be. This is assuming all else is good with his form.

[EHK]

This almost sounds like a form of target panic to me and I had a similar bout as a teenager when I was a FITA shooter.  I don't know how it developed, but as soon as my pin would hit the bull, boom, the arrow was gone.  What finally cured me was a clicker.  Your son is acquiring a target, but it sounds as if his point of aim has changed and he's releasing before he acquires the right point of aim.  Maybe a clicker would help.  Or maybe some blank bale work, or forcing him to draw then let down repeatedly....anything to break the auto-pilot cycle of releasing as soon as the tip of that arrow passes over the target.

[JamesKerr]

It does sound like a form a target panic to me too. I would highly recommend getting him a push release dvd and have him learn the technique. I also agree with Terry in that he should not be moving his arm to compensate for different levels of shooting but instead bending at the waist.

[Doug Treat]

James, what is push release?

[FerretWYO]

Doug I have the Push Release DVD your welcome to borrow it. It is a pretty good system. Not a fix all but a good start.

[Doug Treat]

Ferret (Randy), very generous of you.  Are you planning on shooting at any of the BTB 3-D shoots this year?  BTW, I just noticed your mug on the front page of Tradgang with a whitetail.  Nice!