rick welch school

[griz#1]

Hey Trad Gang Guys and Girls,
Has anybody attended Rick's school? And if so, how did you like it? Also, how does it compare to other schools or shooting clinics you have been to?
Thank you.

[pacopperhead]

good question,i'll be interested in the answers this thread recieves

[PastorSteveHill]

I've gone twice! Best money you will spend on trad shooting....

[buckster]

Without any reservation at all, I would recommend this program to anyone who was looking to improve their shooting abilities. Further, he does really well at giving you a "keep it simple" foundation.

I attended about this same time last year. The first thing that we did the first morning was to film my shooting and critique my form (or lack thereof. Then Rick gave me specific steps towards shoring up my shooting.

Some of the things that I learned were to be CONSISTENT in sqaring both my feet and shoulders towards my aiming point. SLOWING down, solid DOUBLE-ANCHOR, HOLD, HOLD, RELEASE. The end results were quit astounding as I watched the films on day 2, after incorporating the recommendations. I shot a 246 and 226 (2nd round and a bit tired) on the target course. Before this, I was averaging about 190.

I also learned that my 55 lbs DAS Recurve was too heavy. Yes I could shoot it o.k. at short range, but holding it 2-3 seconds and obtaining the proper sight picture resulted in the need for a lighter bow, which luckily for me, Rick was able to provide for the sessions.

I will try to cross-pollinate Rick's style of instinctive shooting. The "double anchor" point maximizes your consistency shot after shot. We had to re-fletch me a couple of arrows with the back of the fletching just coming to the the tip of my nose. Then my split finger, middle finger to corner of mouth was completely changed to the front of the bent thumb, to the back lower part of my jaw bone.

Rick's process is all about repetition, with no reference to the tip of the arrow, or Gap shooting. It's about achieving the proper sight picture by focusing on your target and adjusting the bow arm for longer shots. If your form is right, it just becomes exculsively an elevation issue with the shot.

Repetition produces the proper data to your subconscious and you achieve the desired results. As I watched my second day of shooting, I was truly amazed at how far I'd come. I had significantly reduced a lot of bad habits like plucking the arrow, rushing the shot, peeking, etc.

If you are like me, I don't like to think that I am "not in control". But Rick's knowlegeable insight and patient demeanor gave me a totally new perspective and made me a better shooter.

BTW, his bows are top shelf as well.  My Dakota Hunter trumps all my others as my fav!

[TexasTrad]

I attended Rick's school last week (unfortunately just for one day because of work commitments) and was really impressed. Best money I have spent on archery.  Like some of the other above, the first thing he did was to take some video.  We went inside and watched the video and he pointed out what I needed to work on.  It was very helpful and my shooting is improving.  

The main componants of Rick's shooting style are something I had already picked up by watching his videos.  However, it was very helpful having him watch me shoot because as he told me "it is hard to improve your shooting if you dont know your doing wrong".  That may not be an exact quote but it is close.  In my case, I had a problem of my bow arm collapsing at the shot so we came up with an approach to work on that particular issue.

It was very cold while I was there so we spent some time shooing inside one of the local archery shops.  While inside, Rick spent a good bit of time showing me how to fine tune my bow.  We also changed my setup by switching to an arrow that was about 100 grains lighter than the arrow I showed up with.  The amazing thing is that Rick adjusted the pad on the shelf and my sight picture changed very little from the heavier arrow.  I really didnt have to adjust my shooting much and the arrow is obviously shooting alot flatter.

After we went through the formal part of the school, we spent the rest of the afternoon shooting the 3d courses.  He would watch me shoot and give me suggestions then he would shoot to show me how to do it.  The only thing I am going to say is that if there is anyone who doubts his shooting ability, they need to shoot with him a time or two.  After the first round on the 3d course, we moved back and shot from the compound stakes and he was consistently drilling the 10 ring (I am not sure he ever missed the 10) out to about 55 yards.

His bows are really shooters and I have one on order although Rick never once tried to sell me one.  I shot the bow he was shooting and it was an exceptional shooter.

Finally, you wont meet a nicer guy.  He called me on my cell after I left for the airport to make sure I new how to get to the airport.  He is a class act.  If you want to improve your shooting you should consider attending his class.

[RC]

I watched several of his videos and played with three under a while. I finally took the plunge this year and shot 3 under the entire hunting season using the double anchor. Killed 9 hogs and 2 deer.0 misses.Heck of a lot better than the previous years. I would recommend the school and I ain`t never been....RC

[jonsimoneau]

Yep.  I attended and wish I would have had the opportunity years ago. Single best investment on archery to date.

[Bullet_Bob]

At the expense of sounding dumb... Who is Rick?

[McDave]

Check out his website    here  

And also check out another string of posts about his school in the shooting forum.

Just would like to second that his school taught me more in 1 1/2 days than I learned in the past 20 years.

[Hornseeker]

Bob, Ricky Welch is arguably the best barebow shooter in America and possibly the world. He is unreal...he has gone to shoots and won the Recurve, longbow and primitive class...and all of that with his kid sitting on his shoulders! (that is hearsay...but I wouldn't doubt it :0))

I am not going to the class...but sure would enjoy gleening as much info about his instruction as possible! Can anyone tell me why they think three under works better than split?

Thanks,

Ernie

[McDave]

Hornseeker, there are certain elements of his style that are more important than others.  There wouldn't be much point in going to his school unless you were willing to adopt his anchor, his stance, and his holding time.  Similarly with instinctive shooting; he doesn't teach gap or other aiming methods.

3 under is one step down from that.  He encourages his students to use 3 under, because he believes it is a more consistent release; less prone to errors than split fingers.  But he will teach his method to someone who wants to use split fingers; it is not essential to his method.

[TexasTrad]

Ernie:

I think a big part of the three under approach is the double anchor Rick teaches.  One anchor is middle finger to corner of mouth (or thumb nuckle to jaw just under earlobe) and the other anchor is the back of the feather on the tip of your nose. I think it would be harder to use the feather as an anchor with split.  I am sure there are other reasons.

[Bullet_Bob]

Does he have a video on his way of shooting. I have shot a real bow for 3 days now. I would like to learn right from the start.

[McDave]

He has two DVD's out on his shooting method.  They're available on his website (see my link above) or from 3 Rivers.  If you really want to learn right from the start, you need to attend his school.  When you look at a video or read a book, you imagine you're doing something whereas you're really doing something else.

[Bullet_Bob]

Unemployed, Lives in Virginia Makes it kinda hard to go. But I would love to go.

[Raven]

Rick couldn't shoot his way out of a wet paper bag!    

 Just kidding!    

 Raven >>>>-------->

[Hornseeker]

I am going to look into it a bit more. I anchor for about 2 seconds usually...so that part shouldn't be bad. Does his front foot point more forward or do both point at a 90 to the target?

A good friend and fellow TGer is hoping to go to Ricks in April... that would be cool... I hopefully could learn some of it second hand..

Does Rick talk about till and nock height concerning shooting 3 under vs split?

E

[Raven]

Hornseeker,

  Rick stands with both feet pointing 90 to the target. He does talk about how to set up your bow to shoot concerning the nock height. He say you can shoot both 3 under or split with his style. I shoot split finger and have no problems shooting this way, but I have been shooting this way for almost 30yrs  :eek:      Dam I'am getting old!    
 He's not "Superman" and dose show a few misses and one deer that took two days to hunt down and kill with a secound arrow while stalking in his bare feet. GOOD STUFF!!!

 Raven >>>>------->

[Hornseeker]

Cool.
Is the nock high? Low? Does he like an 1/8 pos tiller or what?

Thanks

[McDave]

Rick really doesn't get into bow tuning much in the class.  In my case, he just had me start shooting my bow 3 under, and after a few shots noticed that my arrow was getting a bounce and raised the nock point a little.  I'm not sure what his feelings are about bow tuning in general.  I'm interested in it, but when I brought it up, he didn't really say much about it.  He discusses moving the nock point more to fine tune the point of impact than for arrow flight.  I think he converts so many people who come to his class shooting bows that were tillered for split fingers to three under that he just doesn't think it's much of a problem.

Since his class, I have retuned several of my bows for 3 under using bare shaft tuning.  All were originally tillered for split fingers.  Generally, they required moving the nock point up 1/8" - 1/4" to get good bare shaft flight with 3 fingers.  Some were easy to retune, some were finnicky.  I guess that's why bowyers ask whether you want your bow tillered for split fingers or three under, because it's not always easy or possible to get good arrow flight both ways.