snap shooting is it real

[Chub]

i was at a local shoot saturday im a hunter not a target shooter a gent came up to me and asked if i shoot alot of 3D i said no why did not get the point of ? so talking to some people they said i have a form of snap shooting because i dont pause at my anker so this week i tried pausing at anker  no consisteny in my groups is this socalled snap shooting a bad thing or just a bad habit

[crandog]

I don't know. When people accuse you of being a snap shooter it seems to be a bad connotation doesn't it?
Yet Fred Bear called himself a snap shooter.  Maybe you can snap shoot like Fred Bear or snap shoot meaning you don't reach anchor.

[Leo L.]

I've always been under the impression that snap shooting is a form of target panic.

[Str8Shooter]

Originally snap shooting was meant to describe someone who couldn't control the shot when it neared anchor. When the hand nears the face the release is gone. It is a form of target panic.

Some people shoot with a very quick and fluid style. Oftentimes there is little if any pause at anchor but there a definite anchor point. There are some people who can shoot this way very well. Most didn't start shooting this way. They usually start off shooting slower and controlled and as the shot becomes more subconcious it speeds up.

The difference between a fast shooter and a snap shooter is control. A true snap shooter doesn't have control when the hand releases. I have a friend who epitomizes the worst in snap shooting. He cannot control the release. It doesn't matter if it is a 30# bow or a 60# bow. When the hand is close to the face the shot is gone. Drawlength is inconsistent and accuracy is non-existant. I know another archer who shoots fast and fluid but is in control. He is a great 3D shot and an killer on animals. He has almost no pause at anchor but that is because he chooses to shoot that way.

If you can be totally honest with yourself ask whether or not you are in control of the shot. If the answer is no then you need to work on establishing a solid anchor and gaining control of the sequence. If the answer is yes, don't worry about it.

Chris

[Terry Green]

The old timers that coined the phrase 'snap shooting' or 'snap shooter' that I personaly know/knew, was just phrase to describe a style of shooting.....someone who shot fast without holding, or never stopped pulling. Hill and Pearson were both great shooters, and refered to in those days as snap shooters....seems Fred Bear called himself a snap shooter as well.

As of late, others have miss used that phrase and have put a negative spin on it, mostly by those that don't understand what snap shooting is as deemed by our forefathers......and referring to snap shooting as out of control shooting and leading to target panic. I just wish the term snap shooter would quit being miss used.

Target panic is a mental issue, and causes uncontrollable releases....short drawing is also a mental issue, as the one shooting knows they are suppose to come to anchor.

Snap shooting is a style of 'releasing' or shooting, ...target panic, or out of control shooting is a condition.

Yep,....I'm a snap shooter, and snap shoot most times on game, but I have held on game as well many times, and holding or letting down is very common on hogs, sometime as many as 8 times before I got a shot....if I got one.

Here's Ron's take on it....he's been around long enough to know....


   

Originally posted by Ron LaClair:
I've been shooting a bow since I was a squirt... but I didn't really start to learn about form and style until I started shooting competition 49 years ago. While we never "stop" learning there are some things that become apparent after 50 years of study. One thing I do know for sure is there is no absolute style when it comes to shooting a bow.

When someone says you have to shoot this way or that way because all the top shots shoot that way, I say baloney. Some of the best shooters I've been privileged to know shot with what some would call an "unorthodox" style. Jim Pickering used a "Dead" release and high anchor when he competed in some of the top tournaments of the day in the 1960's. Everyone else in the Country shot with what was call "Power Archery" Jim whipped them all. He was a National Champion and a PAA Champion using a style that everyone said was "wrong". Jim Caspers another Archery Champion shot with a high elbow on his drawing arm. He actually pumped his arm up and down after he was at full draw, he said it helped him build up back tension.

As for the term "Snap shooter", I've been hearing it for 50 years and it was probably used before that. It has "always" been used to refer to someone that shot in one fluid motion, and whose release was triggered when they touched their anchor.

I was privileged to talk to Fred Bear many times over the years and I remember him calling himself a "snap shooter". He said, "I'm a snap shooter,..I concentrate from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet". He said he couldn't shoot a compound because the let off interfered with the rhythm of his shooting style and broke his concentration.

"Good snap shooters"?...I've seen a lot of them. In the early years of the GLLI (Great Lakes Longbow Invitational) when scores were kept , we had the best shooters in the Country shooting for the honor of top dog. The shooters that won that shoot more often than not were what I call "Snap shooters" Very controlled, very meticulous, very accurate shooters whose release was triggered when they touched their anchor.

Someone that "does not" come to full draw or touch their anchor before they release have what's called "target panic or what use to be called "IT". They are NOT...repeat NOT, snap shooters.

I think the problem is like what Terry said people today are "mis using" the term "snap shooter".  Snap shooting is definitely not an inferior style of shooting a bow, however it must be realized that not everyone can master the snap shooting style. Those that can't may end up with target panic and be called snap shooters but in reality they are  not.

[Dartwick]

As someone who was a very bad "snap shooter" for years(No target panic at all) I will say its extremely hard to maintain consistent form snap shooting and for just that reason I would recommend against it.

Ive switched to a much more structured shooting cycle and my results have greatly improved.
I think you should learn to shoot from solid anchor and once you master that then try other types of shooting if thats what you want.

[Chub]

i brought up this subject because if i shoot with a dead stop anchor i start to think to much but if i aproach the target relaxed and us thissocalled [SNAP SHOOTIHG FORM}A smooth draw release upon anchor i shoot better im sure there are lots of archers out there that shoot this way . you know i purchased master of bare bow1-2 all those great shooters said there is no standard of shooting also you must use what works for you .

[Dartwick]

Thats also what happens if you dont have consistent form.

If you dont have good form then snap shooting will usually be an improvement.
But if form is the issue then youll have a problem being accurrate on that first shot(like when your hunting.)

[Terry Green]

I disagree Dartwick...I know too many snap shooters that I hunt with that have great form and sure don't have a problem killing game with their 1st shot.  

Howard Hill was a snap shooter too, and he was deadly on both targets and game.

Re-read that post by LaClair above.

We are all made up a little different, and what doesn't work for one might work for another. It doesn't mean it wont work for everyone.  Case in point, snap shooting didn't work for you, but it sure does for me.  You are probably doing the same thing I am....its just that I am doing the same thing faster.  No harm, no foul, no worries.  Each of us has to match our style with our make up. That way we will all reach our best potential.

[SHOOTO8S]

If you watch a well coached and accurate shooter, he will draw the bow to anchor, begin balanced pulling, aim and go to conclusion...all the while never stopping pulling...if he's in no rush it may take him 12-15 sec to get through his shot sequence, not that they can't do it much faster if needed.

If you watch a very good snap shooter,one that's in total control....he will draw the bow to anchor, as he aims never stopping pulling and go to conclusion...most only take a couple of second to get through their shot sequence...not that they can't do it much slower.

Anyone notice the similarities? Both are in total control and never stop pulling
   

[Dartwick]

I think you misunderstood what I was saying Terry(I probably explained myself poorly.)

Im not saying you cant snap shoot well every shot. Im saying if your using snap shooting to compensate for poor form you will have a hard time on the first shot.

I dont really understand how it worked but for some years as I muddled through trying to teach myself to shoot I found that I could snap shoot  at an almost passable level. But it end up being a crutch that let me avoid establishing all a consistent form other than an anchor/release point.
I can see how as long as you have good mechanics, various methods could have good results.

My only point was that if you are learning(especially  with out a teacher) be careful of starting with snap shooting because you can end relying on your coordination just enough that you dont build good habits and mechanics.

[Shleprock]

How will I pheasant hunt if I ever get the chance. That's why I try to do well at both. Tossed or hanging targets in the wind. Seems to me the overall conditions your in may dictate one way or another.

[sweet old bill]

I am and I guess always will be a snap shooter.

 I tell myself as I draw each arrow to come to a full draw, lock in, then pick that spot and have a clean release.

 What occurs for me is when that hand hits my face the arrow is gone, that  target panic and I have over the years tried you name it. Blank bale shooting and several other methods and nothing works.

 I shoot several times a week and just have fun.
I ama a snap shooter, maybe should change my handle to snap/shooter Old Bill

[mooseman76]

I agree with alot of what has been said.  I'd say your consistency problem with drawing and holding is that you stop pulling.  When you are shooting your normal snapshot you never stop pulling and pull through the shot as you should.  When you pull to anchor and pause I'd guess that you are losing back tension which is causing your inconsistencies.  It can be done by holding anchor you just need to find a way to maintain the back tension.  Just my .02...Mike

[GroundHunter]

Snap shooting - according to Mssrs Green, LaClair, Hill and Bear - all pretty much the same story and they have it. It's a foreign concept to archers who strive for a mechanical, step by step form and execution. We all start that way to learn. Once you have the form basics down, try putting it all together in an atletic move, like a golf swing or hitting a baseball, and you'll get the idea. That's how most of us "snap-shooters" discovered it. We hit a wall on consistency and groups shooting "static". Then, relaxed and shot a fluid rythm, and bingo, we were shocked by our first 1" group of arrows snuggling together in the same spot. Did I do that? How'd I do that? And, you start learning how to relax and repeat it.

Fluid, dynamic, rythm of execution with correct form (no form elements are left out), all in one smooth motion (generally, more or less, and sometimes we hold)is the good "snap-shooting". As Terry once pointed out - snap shooters tend to aim then draw and execute, and others tend to draw, aim and execute. Keep pulling!

[adirondack46r]

Originally posted by GroundHunter:
... That's how most of us "snap-shooters" discovered it. We hit a wall on consistency and groups shooting "static". Then, relaxed and shot a fluid rythm, and bingo, we were shocked by our first 1" group of arrows snuggling together in the same spot...

My experience was directly opposite - when I started to pause at anchor for 2-3 seconds my groups tightened up. Obviously many of the pro's don't agree but my HO is that the average shooter would improve his accuracy by anchoring, pausing for 2-3 secs, and releasing.

We will never all agree on that, but then again we don't have to.    

[Jeff Kruse]

Last week I invited a friend over the house, to shoot my new bow. He had never shot a bow before, so I walked him through the basics. I noticed that after a few shots he could hit as good as myself. I have been shooting a bow for thirty years. I can hit a pie plate at 30 yards most of the time, but I also have some crazy shots also, that Is what bothered me. I am a snap shooter, and I figured I look at the target about 90 percent and my arrow 10 percent. So the next day I decided to look at the target 60 percent and the arrow 40 percent. My groups tightened right up. I still snapped shoot, I just held for a second longer, and glanced at my arrow.
 
Try it you might like it, It worked for me.
Jeff

[Terry Green]

Adirondack...you are correct...we don't have to...because what works for one may not work for the other....and that is OK.  Some are better wired to figure the trajectory to the moon, and others are better wired to fly the rockets....that's what makes the world go round.

Some would be better holding, and some would be better by not holding....that I think we can agree on.    

[longbowguy]

Howard Hill, Fred Bear and Frank Pearson all learned to shoot in the days before fibreglas backing. So they all learned on simple selfbows, carved from a single piece of wood. Selfbows usually loose power rapidly if held a full draw, so in those days it was standard practice to shoot quickly, snap-shooting or using what was called the slash release. It was necessary to get good arrow speed from the bow.

Those men continued to shoot quickly after they were able to add fibreglas to thier bows. It was natural to them and they were all champion archers.

It is possible nowadays to learn to shoot quickly but the bows no longer require it and most of us can shoot more accurately if we take the time to refine our aim. Some archers for nervous reasons are unable to take that time- thay cannot control their shot sequence and release the arrow whether they are ready or not. This is a serious defect and is also called snap shooting. But it is a different thing from the fine quick shooting the old times greats and some modern archers can do.

And if you intend to learn to shoot moving targets, flyers and fleers, you had better learn to shoot quickly. But if you can take some time to hold on target and perfect your aim, you will likely shoot better. - lbg

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by longbowguy:
 Some archers for nervous reasons are unable to take that time- thay cannot control their shot sequence and release the arrow whether they are ready or not. This is a serious defect and is also called snap shooting. - lbg

Nope...I disagree..and so did Ron on page one.  What you just described is call 'target panic' pure and simple...a mental condition NOT a style of release.

And it does NOT only effect folks that can't reach anchor.  I've seen folks hold at full draw for 5 seconds that are terrified to release, and when they do, they panic, gasp for air, jerk their head out of the shot, and their bow arm leaps.  Target panic is target panic.

Oh, and I think you'd be better served as a bow hunter to be able to do both, shoot quick if the shot calls for it....and also be able to hold if the shot calls for it.  A bowhunter should be able to control the shot and not have the shot control him.

If only more folks would actually get out and practice....