Why do I suck?

[McDave]

I agree with Pavan that it's usually just one small thing that I need to adjust.  The problem I have is that it's not obvious to me what that small thing is, so often I self-diagnose the wrong thing, and then I have two things that need adjusting.  So it's really helpful to me to have someone who really knows what he is doing look at me shoot once in a while and tell me what I need to correct.  Often, even when it's pointed out to me, I can't feel what I'm doing wrong, but after I focus on the area that needs to be corrected for a while, I begin to be aware of when I'm doing it right and when I'm doing wrong.

An example would be moving my head on release.  I'm not aware that I'm picking up my head, but when it's pointed out to me numerous times, I finally begin to feel it when I do it.

I don't feel too bad about having to do this.  I used to be heavily into golf, and I read that Jack Nicklaus used to have a coach he would visit for a week every year to tweak his swing.  I'm sure the coach couldn't play golf anywhere near as well as Jack could, but he could see things about Jack's swing that Jack couldn't see himself.

[Sam McMichael]

I would join those who say you should get help from a competent instructor if possible. If not get good video of your form from various angles and let Arne Moe take a look. He is not the only analyst who can help you, but he is a very good one. Learn good form and develop consistent shot sequence, and accuracy will come. It is not necessary to get every flaw fixed overnight. If you do one thing better today than yesterday, you are making progress. Don't give up.

[DanielB89]

actionjackson22,

this wont be the philosophical response you may have been searching for, but I remember when i first started, I absolutely SUCKED!!! And I sucked for quite some time.  It took me several months to learn how to shoot decent, and by decent, I do mean just hitting a block target at 15.  I was probably a "slow learner" and didn't have anyone to teach me how to shoot properly.  This past summer I won the Howard Hill Longbow division and I just got off the phone with Jake Scott(posted above) yesterday about how bad i'm currently sucking. lol!  

Without the crutches of a solid back wall,  a peep, and a sight, it is very easy to "suck".  My advice would be read all you can, shoot all you can, and weather the storm.  You need to be focusing on hitting your anchor and trying to develop a consistent sight picture(that's just my opinion though).

[the rifleman]

Where in Ohio are you?  If nearby maybe I can help.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by actionjackson22:
I gave up the compound and recurve and went to longbow only. I have shot as much as I can, not near as much as I want to but still a good amount and I cant hit anything. I think its the change of the grip or something but I'm trying to kill a turkey with it and right now I couldn't hit a bufflo!!!

you didn't mention the holding weight of yer bow.  too often, that is the problem - yer "over bowed".  mostly happens because of macho ego or coming from a compound.  drop down to a bow holding weight that feels way too light, learn proper alignment form (hopefully from a local trad bow coach) and lose yer suckiness.    

[Captain*Kirk]

One thing I didn't see addressed was..maybe your particular longbow just 'ain't your cup of tea'. Maybe the grip size or shape is wrong for you. Maybe you are overbowed. Maybe the tiller is wrong, or the brace height? The question you have to ask yourself is, when you were shooting recurves, did you "suck" then as well? Guess why there are so many different styles and designs of bows? Yep...because someone, somewhere, shot a bow and said "I suck!" and developed a different one he didn't suck with.

[Chain2]

Been there. Done that. Got the T shirt and every othe cliche' I can think of. I didn't have the opportunity to get with a good instructor where I live. But I had Arnie, McDave and Terry on-line with their videos and advice. Start your shooting practice with Elvis singing " Promised Land " Then watch a MoeBow or Terry video and you'll be OK. It works for me