Concentration problems???

[Emilio]

Hi all,

It looks to me that some days, at the practice range, it takes me more than an hour to shoot consistently, while other days I shoot consistently from my first arrow until the last one. In my mind I believe that mi form is exactly the same in both cases, but the results are not the same....
Ussualy my first and second arrow hit always where I´m looking, but later some days I loose my concentration or what???, I do exactly the same things, pick a spot and shoot, nothing more and nothing les....

What do you think?

Regards,

Emilio.

[Peachey]

I'd say it happens to everyone, I know it does to me. You know what they say--You have to keep your head in the game!!

[Junction hunter]

That is one of the big differences I've found between compound and traditional. With compound I could always shoot consistantly no matter where my head was. With the recurve if I had a bad day or have something on my mind I can't hit anything until I clear my head.
But that is what I love about shooting the recurve. It forces me to focus on shooting and empties the day out of my head.

[Jack Aldridge]

My idea of the perfect shooting accessory is a small mirror stuck right in front of my face when I draw. Then when I shoot poorly I can look directly at it and see the source of the problem...hmmmm....maybe I'll start selling these!  :-)

[Willow]

I have the same problem.... I generally have to clear my mind.

[Scott J. Williams]

It is a problem that manifest itself more with instinctive shooters than with other methods of shooting.

I always shoot better in the morning when rested than I do after a day at work.  

When things are not working right, it is the loose nut on the grip and string that is often the problem...lol

[madness522]

Sometimes when that is happening to me I will start doing what I call walk back shooting.  I start at 5-7 yards and shoot one arrow.  Then I take a few steps while I nock another arrow then turn and shoot. I repeat this until I run out of arrows.  I'm not stepping off any particular yardage with the steps all I want is to take a few steps and hopefully not know exactly how far I am from the target then when I turn to face the target I have to concentrate more on how far I am and where I need to put the arrow.  A lot of times when shooting groups of arrows my mind starts to wonder and my groups look more like random shoots at the target than groups.  Another thing I sometimes do is put all but one arrow on the ground and shoot the one arrow, retrieve it and shoot it again.  Either way seems to help me get my head back in the game.

[Jack Aldridge]

Scott,Your answer that this bothers instinctive shooters more intriques me. Why do you say that?

[laddy]

I am in the group that has to keep not only the range, but the target and where I shoot changing.  Plugging the same old stump challenges the a.... the ........the, I forgot .   Oh well shoot another arrow.

[Scott J. Williams]

Jack,

     I say that because we are all about total focus on the thing, or spot we want to hit.  If I were shooting a gap, point of aim, split vision, or a site for that matter, it would allow me to focus on those things.  This requires less concentration, due in part to having a reference for aiming.  

     It is not a slam at people who shoot in ways other than instinctive.  It is just an observation of mine.  

     I was a lot more consistant when shooting sights than I am shooting instinctive....why, because it provided a ready reference, and I didn't have to concentrate on the target, I had to concentrate on the site which was tangible.

[Wldhorse]

When practicing I limit my arrows to three at a time.Also to improve my concentration, I practice shooting in low light conditions.I also stalk my targets. Works for me.


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