Breaking bad habits that work

[always89]

Well, im having a hard time helping my son (Jonathan, 13yo) break a habit of snap shooting. Problem is, it works for him when shooting at targets. I think when buck fever hits (he missed 3 shots at deer this year, all well within 20 yards) it falls apart for him. Any tips?

In this video, you can clearly see that he is no where near having a solid anchor. (17 yrds from target)

 http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/tradebow89/?action=view¤t=MOV01719.flv

the target

 http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/tradebow89/?action=view¤t=MOV01723-1.flv

[Molson]

Shoot only one arrow at a time.  Shooting arrow after arrow, with the same mistake, only makes it harder to break.

A drill that can help is to take a large bale and place five different colored 4" dots on it. Take only one arrow with you.  Tell him to draw on one color but shoot the color you call out.  Do not call out the color to shoot until he hits full draw. Evaluate each shot and repeat.

This is a great hunting drill and should take the slack outta that draw.

[Tom A]

Lower poundage usually helps. What poundage is he shoooting now?

[jhansen]

I was wondering about draw weight, too.  It's hard to tell but it looks as though he may have drawn short by 2" or more.  That means that you can deduct 4-6# from the 28" draw weight of the bow.  In other words, if the bow is supposed to be 50# he is only getting 44-46# from it.  Can he come to full draw and hold it for several seconds without shaking?  If not, he needs a lighter bow.

As for missing deer, that could be as simple as forgetting to pick a spot.  Not that I've ever been guilty of doing that, mind you.

John

[always89]

The bow is 60#@28. He is pulling 24" of it. I measured it at 46 lbs.

[always89]

Thanks John. Im guilty of not picking a spot myself all of.....i mean every once in a while

[bm22]

i have the same problem, remind him that sometimes you have to take a step back to take two steps forward. it may not be a "snap shooting" problem it could very well be target panic.

i would get him some parobolic or shield cut feathers and teach him to not let go until the feather touches his nose, and middle finger in the corner of his mouth. a double anchor will help alot.

does he try to anchor and shoot or does he think his accuracy is good enough and wants to continue what he is doing ? if he doesn't want to change then there is nothing you can do to make him.

[jacobsladder]

overbowed...

[Tom A]

Yep way overbowed.  You should see what his draw length is with a much lighter bow (Probably longer) then set him up for the minimum hunting poundage requirements for your state. I would have a kid that age shooting 30# or under and slowly work into legal hunting poundage.

[RC]

I struggled a little once and closed my eyes as I drew the bow and did not open them till I hit anchor. Found my spot and released. I did this with a lite bow. Thats been 15 years ago no problem since. RC

[Terry Green]

THat's not snap shooting....that's short drawing.

RC gave some good advice as well....and here's some I'll add this from another thread I posted on lately....

Why don't you incorporate a double anchor...and slide your thumb base down the side of your face, and not release till your thumb base slides in behind your ear?

If you practice this on the bale consciously over and over, then it should burn in in a few weeks.

And yeah...a lighter bow would really help him with his form.

[Terry Green]

BTW...were the misses on the deer high? Low?

[tecum-tha]

It may be too much poundage, but it may be developing target panic. I had it big time and always shot like him with stickbows. I ordered this video from  www.pushrelease.com  and was cured in a couple of hours. Just to give you a hint what it did for my accuracy: I was shooting 3D shoots and always was in the middle of the field. Since I use the new way I am shooting in the Top 5.
When it comes to hunting, I missed a ton of whitetails with my old short draw style and even a couple of elk. I killed 4 whitetails the last 2 years (I let go about 6 without shooting) and have complete control over my shooting now.
A little test if it is developing target panic: Give him 2 targets and tell him to draw on one but to change the target at full draw. If the arow goes to the first target, we`re speaking of target panic.

[Gatekeeper]

If you think it might be target panic, do you thing small game hunting might help? This would put him in an actual hunting environment with a live target and more chances at shooting.

[Wile E. Coyote]

If he is hitting targets with that form but missing game, then I believe its target panic or the "fur factor". I suffered from it for a long time, use to shoot the same way. What cured me was to practice drawing then letting down without releasing. Learning to get solidly on target and hold. Once done on targets then small game hunting and actually drawing and letting down on deer will help. He has to tell himself that he is just going to aim at the deer, not shoot. At the last minute while he is aiming he then switches and deceides to shoot. It's a mental trick to keep the nerves settled and get him to focus on the shot.

Give it a try it's the only thing that worked for me.

[tecum-tha]

How`s your son doing? TP or overbowed?

[arkiewoodsman]

i had the same problem for a while and i was just shooting too much bow. too much poundage forms bad habits and tends to make you lazy so you can shoot longer.