Bring the bow to your face!

[jonsimoneau]

Maybe Moe or Terry will tell me if I am right on this or not.  After a bit of lackluster shooting I decided to have my wife film me from various angles to see if I could figure out what the problem was. I was spraying arrows around the last month No consistency and was having a very hard time figuring out what the problem was.
     I thought it could be lack of focus...lack of back tension...bad release...you name it.  first my wife filmed my back while I was shooting.  I was wondering if I was getting back tension.  I had a feeling I was loosing it since I had a sore bicept on my drawing arm after a long shooting session a few days before.  It did not take long for her to notice that my drawing arm shoulder blade was not "squeezing" in the way my bow arm shoulder blade was.  
     Then she filmed me from behind and it became apparent what the problem is.  In the video you can easily see me crouching my head forward down and forward in order to meet the string.  I think this is wrong so I made an effort to "bring the bow to my face" The results were immediate.  My bow arm was more solid.  Back tension was achieved and I was not hitting to the left.  I shot a beer can over and over at about 14 yards or so.  
     Video cameras can really help when you are having shooting problems.  But its been said before. "Bring the bow to your face! Not the other way around!"
    Doing this one simple thing makes a major difference in your alignment in my opinion.  Everything feels right.  You cannot help but have a rock solid bow arm and a clean release because you are fully expanded.  
   Terry has said over and over that alignment is everything and he is right.  If you have good alignment it is almost impossible to not get a good release, follow through and solid bow arm.
    Film yourself from behind and above and see what is happening when you shoot.  It can really be revealing.

[jonsimoneau]

Also, to see a good example of bringing the bow to your face, watch a clip of Rick Welch.  Notice how once he starts his draw, his head does not move.  If he needs to adjust up or down it is all done at the waist.  It's the perfect "T" stance that Terry stresses so often.

[monkeyball]

Jon,
       When you say "bow to your face" you are meaning the string right?

                            Good Shooting,
                                               Craig

[jonsimoneau]

Yep. The string.  I've been told to keep your head upright and erect and draw the string to your face.  Don't move you face to the string.  If you look at it, you will see that moving your head to the string as you draw can get you out of alignment.  Keep in mind that you can be at your anchor point, and the sight picture can seem right, but still not be "fully extended".  If you are not fully extended you will be more likely to collapse, get a bad release etc.  Keeping your head up and erect and bringing the string all the way to your head instead of dropping your head to meet the string can help to ensure everything stays in perfect alignment.  
    I took lessons from Rick Welch and he really preached this.  But over time, I forgot about it and became lazy.  My shooting suffered for it.

[moebow]

YES, YES Jon!  Set your head then draw to your face, don't "go to get it."  This one little things solves SO many problems that folks encounter.

It reduces muscle strain -- you don't need to use upper back and neck muscles to hold your XX pound head up which is kind of like adding xx pounds to the bow's draw weight.

It reduces or eliminates the dreaded and often messy "nose strike."

It allows the shooter to maintain a solid "power unit" which then can be moved as a unit and not separate parts.

Everything we can do to reduce muscle strain during the shot will improve the shot.

Video is very useful if you are serious about improving your shot -- you can really see what is happening as opposed to "I think that is or feels right."

Arne

[McDave]

I'll third what Arne and Jon are saying.  When I went back to Rick Welch for a tune-up lesson, he noticed that I was occasionally moving my head during the shot sequence.  Sometimes I did; sometimes I didn't. I couldn't tell which shots I was moving my head and which ones I wasn't, other than what he was telling me.  After I knew I was doing it, I worked on developing my physical awareness of it so I could know if I was moving my head without someone having to tell me or watching a video of myself. But without having it brought to my attention, I wouldn't have been able to identify this as being a cause of missed shots, because I had no sense of awareness that I was doing it.

Developing your physical sense of awareness applies to all other aspects of the shot sequence, alignment, etc.  I would venture to say that once the basics are mastered, a person's sense of awareness determines how skilled a shot he will become.  When we say a champion has natural talent, it seems like something that is unobtainable for the rest of us, like trying to grow longer arms.  But I believe a large part of that talent is a heightened sense of physical awareness, which we can all work on developing.  Of course, another large part is determination and hard work, but that's another story.

[Jake Scott]

McDave,
I believe that heightened sense of physical awareness can come through a whole of practice time as well.  Sure there are those that have more natural talent, and it is of course easier for them.  It is my belief that talent can also be developed with time and persistence, if the individual is willing to put in the effort.  In my journey to becoming a better bow shot I have noticed that as proper form becomes more and more well practiced that awareness of flaws becomes more evident.  Of course, a large part of this is gaining the knowledge to "self diagnose" a form problem.  Like many other things thorough knowledge of proper form certainly does not mean it is performed every single time, same as baseball, basketball, golf or many other things where proper form lends itself to success.  

Jon, I have had the same problem you described, and still do from time to time.  You hit it right on the head....PULL THE DERN BOW BACK!!!  I have muttered it many a time.  Great thread.  

Jake

[Terry Green]

Yes Jon....said it many times, bring the string to you...don't go to it.

   

[Sirius Black]

I've gone thru this myself, just recently. Pulled or pinched a muscle in the side of my neck.

[slowbowjoe]

Very helpful point. Been working on ingraining this in my shot sequence.. so far, it helps ALOT!
Wasn't quite on during my evening rove yesterday, till I remembered this point, and VOILA! shots dialed right in. I tend to creep if I don't draw this way.

[stalkin4elk]

Please clarify and contrast the idea of touching your brow or glasses to the string. Seems like a subtle difference in form styles or do you touch your brow by drawing a bit more? Can you properly achieve both? Thanks.

[moebow]

stalkin,

It will depend on your bow length (string angle at full draw) but holding your head still and achieving bone on bone in the arms and shoulders will place the string on or very near the eyebrow/glasses at full draw.  Once at full draw, do not move your head to "touch" anything, all the "touching" should be done.

Said another way, don't try to change your head, arm/shoulder relationship JUST to achieve artificial "touch points" or references.  This is a VERY common error C bow shooters make.

Arne

[stalkin4elk]

A big thanks! I went out and really paid attention and was definitely lowering my face. Squared up according to the above advise and plunked a few in a group with no fliers. I may have misunderstood some of the authors Hill, Schulz,Wesley when they mentioned brow contact...they did not say to drop your face. Funny how bad habits creep up on you!

[BobCo 1965]

I also agree, set your head position and address the target.
MMs are acceptable after anchor in order to get string blur in position (if needed).

[Rick Marchand]

I am new to Trad Gang and am just getting back into shooting after a long hiatus. One of the most memorable and game-changing tips anyone has ever said to me went something like this...

"Once you look at the target with intent, your brain has already made the calculations and released the arrow. Don't undermine it all by trying to "think" or "aim"... just allow your body to play out the script as written."

That came from an ol'timer who didn't bother with paper scores or long shots. He told me that because he said it looked like I was following the bow's lead, instead of leading the bow.

I realize there is much more to it than "just allow your body" and I'm sure he did, too. I think it is more inline with "learn it all, then forget what you know and just do."

Wow... that was a lot of quoting and poetic babble... sorry... lol

[tracker12]

I spent the afternoon and my archery club yesterday shooting on our outdoor range.  Went inside and two of the clubs top spot shooters were in there practicing (compound shooters). Larry is a consistent 300 shooter and his form is impeccable and repeatable to the T on every shot.  His head is straight and still threw the draw and shot.  My shooting always improves after watching him shoot.   He came outside and helped me with my back tension which I was just not hitting the mark on.  I am sure he helped out as this morning my back muscles that I obviously were not using before are sore.  What I thought was back tension was nothing more than pulling the arm back.