Sometimes you have a bad day...or two

[VA Elite]

And that's why I began this process in Jan, long before deer season. I want to be as accurate and deadly as I can be come Oct.. I know it will take time and practice... thanks Chuck, as always, you are encouraging and helpful

[2bird]

Everyone is giving great advice. Archery is almost all mental... 1 thing that helps me when my form or mental game is off is to only shoot perfect shots, if everything isnt perfect i let down the arrow. This can be frustrating because sometimes it might take 30 minutes to shoot 15 arrows but refuse to let yourself shoot a poor shot (form). For me this has been very hard but extremely rewarding and before you know it you will be shooting better then you ever thought you could.

[VA Elite]

2bird, I like that a lot. I will try this.

[maineac]

I love to shoot, but rarely shoot for more than half an hour.  More often fifteen minutes.  I will shoot often 15 or 20 arrows and call it quits.  I have been shooting for a lot of years, so I don't have the new love drive, but I still think it is better to shoot fewer arrows.  If I want to shoot more I might shoot three or four times during the day if it is a weekend. It is hard to keep mental focus for an extended time.  This degrades my groups, and then my confidence. Slow down and enjoy the process, and you might find you will actually progress faster by shooting less.

[Bowwild]

I love to shoot as well. I rarely shoot more than a couple dozen shots at a time.

Sometimes I experience less than what I'm looking for in terms of results. I stop shooting arrows. I stop shooting because I'm not performing my process properly.  I whip out my non-elastic "String Bow" and remind myself what a proper shot is supposed to feel like.

A DVD called "Beyond NASP" by an Olympic archer coach explains the string bow. It would cost about .05 to make one. I'd tell you where to get it but I'd be in danger of referring too much to non-tradgang sponsors.

Your frame of mind is important. When something seems awry think, "what must I do better" instead of what most people think, "what am I doing wrong".   By the way, from time to time I've written here that however one shoots is okay...until its not. You are experiencing some of the "not" episodes.

If you know what your are looking for it can be very helpful to video yourself -- phones these days work great.

[ChuckC]

VA.   new folks often get caught up on the deer hunt thing.  Don't get boggled by the self fed need to shoot well at yardage before you hunt.  Hunt experience is important too.  

My rule. .  if you can shoot well at only 5 yards, go hunt, but keep your shots to 5 yards.  

You CAN do that by using your brain and arranging for being in a certain spot with the deer being within your range.  

Obviously, more than 5 yards is better and you will have more shot op's.  But go.  Just know your limitations.
CHuckC

[Traditional-Archer]

I think last thing you want to do starting out is over shoot. You will tire and form will suffer. Then you'll develope bad habits and not even know it until your shooting goes to pot. Then your mind will get to you.

I unfortunately only ever shoot by myself and find myself slowly picking up a bad habit every now and again. It's hard to self diagnose. Take your time and let your muscles develope like you would if working out. You don't hammer legs 7 days a weeks. Others with more experience and better advice have and will chime in, but those are my experiences.
 

X2

[Traditional-Archer]

I've Taken as long as 6 month off, training is the best answer, correct building up of the core muscles and shoot at a blank target only working on form at first. Take your time most guys think they should pick a traditional bow up and shoot like they did with a compound “really” come on man LOL.

It’s a whole different muscle group, take the time to train those muscles that are now the new muscle group that you are using. If you practice until you are tire without practicing bad form that is the tricky part, how can you know?  Find an experienced traditional archer and have him work with you. If that is not an option do like I did and film your practice.


This is the sequence most traditional archers follow.

         
       

[Duncan]

Hey VA,

I remember starting out with 47#, probably closer to 44# at my draw and it seemed hard for a awhile but once I mastered it I went to a 50# bow and it seemed hard but after years of shooting I can shoot almost any bow up to 60+ # accurately at least a few shots without a lot of practice.
I agree with the others that if you are sore you should back off until that goes away. A trick I use to optimize my shooting time but not over do it is to shoot only 3 arrows at a time and broadheads I only shoot one but that is to keep from damaging my fletching. With only 3 arrows you get a little rest while going to pull them so you can spend a good amount of time shooting before you get tired. Know when you are tired and stop then don't push past that point and you will be fine.

[mangonboat]

I didnt become ambi-archerous on purpose, but now I shoot both ways and ,like DDave suggested, changing over on a fairly regular basis has proven surprisingly helpful for identifying form issues, especially release issues: its like one side of your body immediately recognizes what the other side is doing wrong. It also gives the muscles a day or 2 off . As others have mentioned, I also moved to a deeper hook and that is a lot easier on the hand and wrist.