Holding at anchor problem

[VinnyT]

Hey everybody, first post here. Ive lurked around tradgang for a while and wanted to officially be part of the community and give back what this site has gave me in knowledge.

Ive been shooting trad for about 2 years on and off but have only gotten serious about it recently. I kind of have this problem of not being able to release correctly when holding at my anchor. I say kind of because if I snap shoot, the problem doesnt exist and my shots are fine. However when I attempt to hold at my anchor for more than half a second my release is horrible.

I dont believe I have target panic (I could be wrong) but it seems to me that that I need the movement of my arm pulling the string to have a clean release. Once I stop that movement at my anchor, I can no longer cleanly release which I think is affecting my consistency. Even when I am aiming, I tend to draw the string slower in order to give myself more time but I still snap shoot and am unable to hold at anchor.

Snap shooting feels very natural to me while holding at my anchor feels completely awkward when I release. What are some things I could do to get a cleaner release?

[t4tutor]

Any chance that you might collapse when trying to hold a bit longer? I have also been in archery for about the same amount of time, but sharing this as I experienced the same in the recent past.

[Ron Vought]

I know what you are talking about here. I snap shot for years and just this year wanted to slow things down and get a firm hold and anchor however in doing so I developed target panic where I couldn't draw back to my anchor. I think it came from my snap shooting where I wasn't really anchoring regardless. I'm in the process of teaching myself how to shoot all over again and let me tell you it hasn't been fun but making some progress. It takes time, patience and practice to break bad habits but in the long run I feel its going to be productive. I actually snap shoot pretty good myself however its not a controlled shot and I sometimes hit low and high on the target due to no anchor point being established.

I would suggest working on form that feels good to you. A lot of good advice here but not everything is suited for your style of shooting. Also videoing yourself shows form issues. The video process is a good place to start.

Ron

[McDave]

First, there's nothing wrong with snap shooting, as long as you are able to consistently come to full draw. The problem with snap shooting is that some people find it increasingly difficult to come to full draw, and they end up with target panic.  If you don't have that problem, then maybe you shouldn't try to fix what ain't broken.

Second, there's nothing wrong with holding at full draw. I'm pretty sure your problem is that you are relaxing your back tension at full draw, as was mentioned.  Either that or you haven't figured out how to use back tension yet, which is also common. These are the main problems with holding at full draw. There are two ways to solve this problem:

Use of the dynamic release. View Masters of the Bare Bow 3, Rod Jenkins's section, and Moebows videos on YouTube.  The goal here is to gradually increase back tension at full draw until the arrow is released.  There isn't much, if any, continued increased draw of the arrow at full draw, but there is a small movement of the elbow in an arc around the spine; what some people call the bottom of the "J," and is the expansion phase of the draw.

Use of the dead release.  Somewhat less popular, this method is used by Rick Welch and his followers (which include me).  In this method, you hold at constant back tension at full draw until the arrow is released. I have to have some gage of this, or I lose back tension. My gage is to have the string touch my eyebrow at full draw, and I try to keep the same pressure of the string on the bone under that eyebrow until the arrow is released. I also have to remember to continue to push with my bow hand.

[ChuckC]

I think a lot of folks have problems with release cause they are not actually using their back.  They think they are.  

Try modifying your technique a few ways to see what works for you.   You may need to stretch some more.

I am no expert, (we have some on this site), but some things have worked for me.  

For me... I draw across my chest or shoulders, not to an anchor point, but until my shoulder blades touch.  Try this with a very light bow, even one that you made using a stick, just to see what it feels like.  

Once you know the feel, you can incorporate drawing to an anchor if you wish, or just lay your head down the inch or less into your arrow hand and anchor. I do that cause I have a flexible neck and if I lean it forward or back I can change the draw length substantially.  By drawing to my "stop" it stays the same.

Settle in, aim and while aiming, keep pushing and pulling. If using your back like I said, you really can't pull much more (farther) than you already are, but the motions are set.  

When you relax your arrow hand, it releases the arrow and you are pushing and pulling and you almost can't "pluck" the string (because of these forces) and your hand naturally goes behind you on release .
 
well, it works for me. Arne Moe has some great training videos on another post to show some of this.

If this helps. . .  cool.        
If not. .  nevermind    

ChuckC