need help with my form (videos)

[nchunter]

I took up archery two years ago, and while I've improved some during that time I'm still a pretty mediocre shot.  My groups will typically be around 12 inches at 15 yards.  

Being a typical American, I first looked for the quick fix: the magic bow, the magic glove or tab, etc.  But now that I have decent equipment I'm forced to look at the archer.   :rolleyes:  

Here's a video from the side.  (Yeah, I know I look retarded, but that can't be helped.)
 

Here's a video from the top.  I put a tarp down for contrast.  Be patient, it takes me a while to climb down the ladder after I turn on the video.
 

I can't see anything wrong with my form, but then again I'm pretty new to this whole archery thing.
Appreciate any advice that you can give me.

[TradPaul]

I'm by no means an expert or think i know it all, but there are some questions that may help as they have helped me.
   Are you comfortable with your draw weight?
   Which sighting method do you use, if instinctive, are you concentrating on your "spot"?
  Have you tried to hold your anchor abit longer , like around 3 seconds?

  And one thing that does stand out is that your drawing arm elbow seems abit high, i've heard much better archers than me say that your drawing arm elbow should come back in line with the target. My .02.
  Also since you live in charlotte as do i, you should really look up archery events in the area, there you can meet many people to help out with form and things like that. Good luck.

Paul.

[UKarcher]

Joe, if you watch the video from above, look to see where your drawing hand ends up. You will see it is out away from your head and your fingers are straight. This usually means that you have consciously let go the string, and that you are using your arm muscles rather than your back muscles. Like Paul said, when you come back to your reference point, pause and feel your shoulder blades squeezing those back muscles. Bring your elbow down in line with your draw force line. You should feel your shoulder roll around the back of you, and making you pull the string back more. You won't feel this if your elbow is either too low or too high because the joints lock. This is where a strong reference point comes into action because instead of the string moving, your fingers will be pulled off the string. You may even feel your fingers drag past your neck.
The only other small thing I would mention is close your mouth. You are opening your mouth as you come to full draw. That will give you an inconsistent reference point.
Keep up the good work, you look very smooth and with a little work those groups will tighten right up.

[Daddy Bear]

nchunter,

I strongly advise you take advice from one of the target guys over mine, but I'll throw my two cents into the hat.

When you pause your overhead video at the exact moment you loose the arrow, you'll see that you are not at full draw and you are mostly using your arms. You already are using a semi-closed stance which should aid your ability to favor more back muscle, but it doesn't appear to me that you are taking full advantage. I think you are not fully reaching anchor and I think you are not bringing the back muscles into play.

Again, I'd strongly rely on one of the many vetted target guys for any corrections.

Best of Luck,
Daddy Bear

[Terry Green]

I don't say this very often, but I think you are over bowed.  With a practice session every other day, your strength will build and you may not be over bowed in a month, but lets hope you don't develope bad habbits before then IF you are over bowed.

Couple of things...I think your elbow hieght it fine, but its pointing at 5 o'clock at release and needs to be closer to 6 o'clock if all posible.  Like stated by others, you are not gettin full extention and using muscles to hold the bow on target instead of bone structure.  This can also cause a 'fly away' release.

You aren't bad out of whack at all...just fine tune that alignment. to get all of your energy going direclty to and away from the target.  I think this will also help that little bow arm drop.

[BLACK WOLF]

I pretty much also agree with what has already been shared.

Your form is not bad by any means...just needs some fine tuning if you really want to potentially decrease your group size.

I personally saw about a 1/2" variation or less in draw length between some of the shots shown and believe if you tried settling into you anchor a bit more or found a secondary anchor to go along with your primary anchor you would create more consistantcy in your draw length..

I also don't think your elbow is to high but I would like to see your forearm arrive in the 6 o'clock position directly in line with the arrow before you released .

The one thing I really did like was your tempo. You seem to keep a consistant pace through draw and release, which is usually a sign of good form and an accurate archer.

Ray  

[nchunter]

Thanks all for the input.  I sure hope I'm not over-bowed, as it's only a 40 lb bow - and I'm only pulling about 38 lbs.  I'm no he-man, but I don't think I'm THAT wimpy!  Maybe I just make it look hard because I'm not good at it yet.

[BLACK WOLF]

IMO, you didn't look like you were struggling to me with the weight because of the rythem and follow through I was seeing.

IMO, it looked like you were struggling with consistantcy due to believing you have to rush a release once you hit anchor...which isn't necessarily true.

It's actually going to benefit you more if you practice settling into a solid anchor that actually consists of 2 anchor points or at least 1 solid anchor point. Settling into anchor can take a second or more. You don't have to hold at anchor for 3 sec. or more to settle in. You just find what it takes for YOU to settle in and after you know what that feels like...than you can work on speed.

Ray    

[Terry Green]

OK...that's good to know.  Maybe you're just not comfy at anchor....don't be afraid to snuggle up to your release hand, and make solid contact with your face.  Also don't be afraid to pull back a bit distorting your face, and this is what it will probably take to get your elbow back to where it needs to be.

You might try and incorporate a double anchor.  I slide my thumb base knuckle down my face, and my middle finger comes into the corner of my mouth. I continue to pull rearward till my thumb base knuckle slides behind my jaw under my ear.

You might find that to work or some other form of a double anchor to get yourself properly aligned.

[nchunter]

Black Wolf and Terry, I believe you're onto something about my anchor.  Now that you mention it, I believe I do slowly pull back until I feel my finger tip touch the corner of my mouth, and then I consiously open my fingers and release as soon as I feel that touch.  I'll try doing what you suggest.

Thanks all for replying.  I'm going to copy this thread to my computer and keep it in a folder with the videos for future reference.  This is a great website!!!