When the Wheels Fall Off

[BWallace10327]

I'm not being literal; our bows don't have wheels.  In all seriousness, what happens when everything shootingwise fall to pieces?  I've been on a real hot streak for the past few months.... placing in 3d shoots, never missing my target ball at a wide variety of unknown ranges out to 30+ yards and just last weekend, bettering my 300 indoor score by 7 points and hitting a new high on X count.   Fast forward to this afternoon.  3rd shot, miss left.  I spend the next 2 hours shooting 1 arrow at a time, ending the day with more misses than I've had in 2018 and half of 2017 combined.  One poor shot skipped off the top of the ball and send the arrow to a juniper limb that propelled the arrow off into the wild blue yonder.  All I could do was shake my head.  Please Tradgang, share your experience, help me feel "normal".   

[McDave]

My experience when this happens is that something has crept into my shooting that I’m oblivious to.  Back tension, creeping, peeking, those have been my issues.  Your’s might be different.  Experts like Rod Jenkins or Rick Welch could spot your problem in just a few shots.  Either find one, or send in a video for Arne to evaluate.  The good thing is that once you learn how to spot it, it won’t stump you again.

[Sam McMichael]

To paraphrase the poet Robert Burns, "The best laid schemes of mice and men often turn brown and start stinking." This, too, shall pass. Spend some time working on form and maybe shoot fewer arrows for a few days to let your mind rest. When you fret too much about this, your concentration may focus on fretting rather than on shooting. Picking a spot, back tension, anchor point, smooth release, etc. will all fall back into place when you loosen up a bit.

[BWallace10327]

A day of poor shooting always starts with one bad arrow you never forget (at least for the remainder of that day). The best advice I could give someone in such a scenario is something I should heed myself.  Relax, have fun and don't get stressed out (fretting is a great word).  This happens every now and again.  A few days without shooting and all will be well again.  My form didn't feel any different, but my focus did.  If I could learn one thing to improve my shooting it would be to let a miss go and continue on like it never happened.    No worries now, I took my arrow hound out today and he nosed down my lost arrow.  Thanks for the advice. 

[Todd Cook]

"my form didn't feel any different but my focus did". I'm convinced that's about 99.9% of the problems we have when we have a bad day shooting.

[Rob DiStefano]

unless there is a physical problem or non-archery related mental problem, THEE problem with losing what used to be consistent accuracy is almost always a head game issue.  we're not doing something within the shot process that had been perfected subconsciously.  this is what happens when we don't realize to remember the specific steps we've learned that make for consistent accuracy.  some of these shot process steps are subconscious, and when they go away on vacation and leave us stranded, so does accuracy. 

it all begins and ends with head games.  go through your shot process slowly.  use one arrow.  begin with the draw and anchor and hold.  don't shoot.  repeat.  that's a good beginning and you'll know when to move on to shooting, and only at a very short distance of 10yds and under.  all this will build confidence and help bring back your mental game.  good luck!     

[DanielB89]

This will likely sound like malarkey, but i'll give it a go. 


Back in 2014-2015, I entered every tourney and could , both locally and out of state, and never placed worse than 3rd in anything.  This was the same year that I won the Howard Hill Shoot in McAlla, AL with a 238/250 with no 12 ring.  I took the time to average out my scores for that year and my average per target with no "12" or "11", was over 9 points per target.  If you're a competition shooter, you know that's very good shooting.  Well, let's just say my head began to grow.. My pride began to gain stride, etc.  It consumed my thoughts, etc.  I was always wanting to shoot a tourney and more specifically, to shoot well.  Not just okay, but very well.  I practiced almost every day for 100's of shot and it showed. 

Well, I feel like the Lord began to humble me.  I began to get a bad finger pain on the inside of my index finger's cuticle and eventually had to swap to 3u.  It was like learning to shoot a bow again.  I hated the sight picture, the noise of the bow, just everything.  Well, since then, I don't know that i've managed to average 9 points per target.  It has been some very frustrating times.  I feel that I finally began to realize I couldn't treat it like I did when I was shooting all those tourneys.  Oddly enough, I have been telling my wife how bad I suck at shooting now and how things just aren't as easy as they once were and I have finally been able to go back to shooting split without any finger pain. 

I do understand it was most likely a form change and ultimately I reversed it in some form or another, but, I do believe it had a lot to do with the idol I made archery into.  I am reminding myself of this constantly while out practicing.  Don't make finite things into something they were never created to be. 

[BWallace10327]

Thanks for sharing Daniel.  I don't know if everyone has felt that way, but many can relate including myself. Getting to a place where an archer is happy with their shooting is a slow climb with the potential for a sharp drop off once the peak of the hill is reached.  Reading and watching Moebow and others who really know what they are doing have taught me to keep focused on the details of the shot and treat a perfect shot as a consequence of doing everything right. It is easy to forget that when every arrow goes where you look and it seems so easy.

[DanielB89]

I agree.  I believe it has all been attributed to my lack of focus on the small things.  For so long, I didn't have to worry about, or even know what they were, the small things.  I am learning the value in them now.  I am currently building me a new shop and plan to have a good place to practice on a blank bale in there.