Raising Bow Arm at Release

[Trenton G.]

Over the past year-year and half while shooting, occasionally for some reason unknown to me, my bow arm would jerk up right as I release. It began to get more frequent and people would comment on how much I throw my arm up when I release. As much as 6 inches sometimes. It is very frustrating, and has begun to affect my shooting quite a bit. It's almost if if my mind knows that I'm aiming low and then at the very last possible second it tries to correct it as I release. I've tried fixing it and of course the more I think about it the worse it gets. I'm almost certain its a mental thing but I really don't know. I feel like I am probably anticipating the shot, but I still don't know what would cause me to raise my hand like that at the last second.
Has anyone had this issue or have experience with someone who has had this issue? If so, any advice on how to fix it?

[McDave]

This may not solve your problem, but for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction. Is it possible that your bow arm jerking up and right may be the reaction rather than the action? Is it possible that your bow arm movement might be caused by jerking your string arm down and left?  If so, you could correct the problem by making sure that you are pulling straight back through the release, and this may correct your bow arm problem as well. Keeping a high string arm elbow and good back tension should help if this is the problem.

[Trenton G.]

Hey Dave, thats a good thought. There isn't any left or right movement, just straight up. My release hand generally comes back to my ear, but I'll really try and pull through and exaggerate it a little but to see if that changes things. I'll try and get a video or something at some point, that might help explain my issue a bit more.

[McDave]

Sorry, I misinterpreted when you said “my bow arm would jerk up right as I release.”  I thought you were saying “up and to the right,” but you meant it would jerk up when you release the shot.  Actually, this fits better with my suggestion, because I had a hard time visualizing someone pulling down and to the left.  Sometimes I pull in a downward direction when I accidentally get too much arm muscle or too low of a string elbow into the pull, and it inevitably results in a high miss. 

[Trenton G.]

Sorry, I should have worded that a bit differently. I will have to pay attention next time to where my elbow is and whether or not I have it too high or too low. Another thing that I've noticed is that the longer I hold, the more pronounced it seems to be. I will definitely pay attention to all of the things that you've mentioned tomorrow when I'm shooting.

[McDave]

You didn't mention how you aim. I use the arrow point to aim, but I want to be focused on the spot I want to hit, with the arrow point in my out of focus peripheral vision.  Since I use the arrow point to aim, my focus occasionally accidentally shifts to it, and when that happens, I usually miss high.  I doubt that this would be a factor if you aim instinctively, even if you see the sight picture, because you're not using it to aim.

[Trenton G.]

I shoot instinctively for the most part. Once I get out closer to 30+ yards I shoot with more of a split vision aiming method. Whenever I accidentally look at the arrow tip things go downhill.

[Noah70]

It sounds to me like a form of target panic? Our minds can make us do strange things when we focus too much on the result, tighter groups.  Try moving up to 5 yards and making blind shots with your eyes closed, focusing entirely on form and release. Have a friend observe to see if the arm movement is still an issue. I suspect it would be gone.

[F. Dobbs]

Film and post, sounds like you are out of alignment.

[Jock Whisky]

Are you moving your bow arm up to get on target? Perhaps if you are still moving it up when you drop the string the release of tension allows your arm to jerk upward. Just a thought