does this look normal? (pics)

[Gunnar Mullins]

Ive never had any kind of male figure in my life, so archery was something i picked up by myself at a pretty young age. I started off making my own bows out of sapling i had cut down and from there have worked my way to where I am today, with my 3 professional bows.
Im totally self taught.
I started with split finger, but the past few months I have been 3 under. How does my form look? I shoot with the arrow over my eye and I judge the shot by the angle the arrow makes with my hand, and Im pretty good with that. I dont really use the tip of the arrow in my sighting. Here are two pics of my form:
Thanks guys!!
 
 

[todd smith]

It's very unconventional.  How does it work for you?  todd

[Looper]

Well, it's a touch unconventional.  Most folks have the arrow under the eye and the bow arm a lot lower. I'd imagine with the way you're doing it, you're having to compensate for two things when you're aiming, windage and elevation.  With a more traditional form (your eye above the arrow), you'd only have to adjust for elevation.

[Izzy]

Im not a 3 under shooter but what Ive seen most guys that are do is anchor their index finger in the corner of their mouth.

[tradtusker]

its a bit different from the norm Gun.
i was also self taught when i started archery, as there was no one else around in South Africa that shot a bow where i was.
i was lucky to then have access to the internet and pretty much learn't by looking a photo's and videos of Terry Green and Guru "Curt" shooting. the problem was i had developed a lot of bad habits, which could have been avoided if i had someone to show me from the start.

Having said that archery is great in that you can find a style that suits you, there is no "One size fits all" in Archery.

how accurate are you with that style?
what are you wanting to do most, hunt?

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

By lowering your anchor you'll be able to see your target better as well as properly use your back muscles. Try anchoring with your pointer finger or middle finger in the right corner of your mouth, bring your right elbow down as well as your left shoulder creating a straight line from left hand to right shoulder. (Try it in the mirror)

That said, if you shoot well your way....who's gonna argue. Best of luck....Ryan

[GingivitisKahn]

Ooooh it's weird and unnatural!   Bleah!

That said - how do you shoot?  If your accuracy is ok, then who cares?  If it isn't then this is a great place to get usable coaching.

If you are considering changing stuff up, this (not big game season) is as good a time as any.

[Gunnar Mullins]

yeah i knew this was a bit odd.. i never really thought much about how i shot till i saw these pictures ..
Like i said I use the angle that the arrow forms with my hand, then i usr that to place where i believe my arrow will hit..
its hard to explain but i guess its just my style of instinctive...
Im comfortable shooting out to 20 yards maybe 25 (i cant really get farther than 20 in my yard)
I do hunt, Im unsuccesful on any big game ( i shot a 4 point whitetail but didnt recover him  :(  )
When i shot split the arrow was lower, but with three under i cant imagine having my anchor point being lower than my eye.. let alone my mouth!!! lol it just dosnt feel right

With this stance I havent had any problems with stamina during shooting..  I try to shoot at least 100 arrows a day and i do so without any fatigue (unless we're talking a ridiculous amount of shooting)
But i would like to see if i can tweak this style a bit to something a little more textbook.
Thanks for giving it a look guys!!

[Mudd]

If you move the arrow below your eye you'll be closer to textbook. It will feel awkward until you done it for awhile.

I think you might find your groups tighten up once the feel of the arrow below your eye comes to feel more natural.

You asked for opinions... this is mine!

God bless,Mudd

[Gunnar Mullins]

thank you mudd.. Yeah Im gonna go give using the corner of my eye as my anchor a try in a few hours when its light

[Rob DiStefano]

yessir, that's unusual, asiatic-like archery form.

however. don't matter if yer form is twisted up like a pretzel as long as you can consistently hit the pick-a-spot mark at hunting distances.

[Uncle Buck]

when trying new things in your form, make sure you give it a fair chance. I have made several major changes to my style and they all felt strange at first but are now second nature. My accuracy has also improved. If there is an archery club in your area look into joining or attenting shoots there. Shooting with others lets you compare styles and see what works and what doesnt.

[Gunnar Mullins]

ive been wanting to get into some of the traditional shoots going on around my area.. there are quite a few actually..
But i want to get a little bit better before I embarrass myself in front of a bunch of other trad archers.. lol

[Tom]

It sometimes is hard to shoot in front of others but when you hear the laughter ringing off the hills you know you're not alone. Go to the shoots and maybe you will find a mentor with patience, it will make the journey that much better to share with.

[LongStick64]

You look very tensed up like that, way too much shoulder action there. Lower that  anchor a bit and get more of your back involved. I bet if you put a clicker on your bow, you'd wear out your shoulder trying to pull through it.

[kat]

Don't worry about embarassing yourself. I have found that just about everyone you ask is happy to show you what they can.
Besides I almost always find some people to be shooting better than me, and some worse.
Just learn whatever you can from everyone, and most of all, enjoy the experience.

[Over&Under]

Originally posted by Manitoba Stickflinger:
By lowering your anchor you'll be able to see your target better as well as properly use your back muscles. Try anchoring with your pointer finger or middle finger in the right corner of your mouth, bring your right elbow down as well as your left shoulder creating a straight line from left hand to right shoulder. (Try it in the mirror)

That said, if you shoot well your way....who's gonna argue. Best of luck....Ryan

Gotta agree with this 100%.  Give it a try, and even though it will feel different than what you are used to, stick with it for a short time and see how it works for you.

[BobCo 1965]

It is true that a lot of people feel that hitting the target is always the number one priority.

However, also consider injury potential from shooting in this manner.

IMO, you want to engage the large muscles of the back as much as possible, especially if you are shooting a lot of arrows. This will be very difficult in the manner you are shooting.

If you continue to shoot in this manner, I would be sure to do a lot of stretching, and warm up excercises before and after shooting.

[Gunnar Mullins]

Bowbco, I am working on lowering the anchor point, Ive tried it a bit today and i think I can get used to it..  just need to work at it a long time.. And as for the stretching, that is a great idea, I need to start trying to do more of that.. my warm up normally consists of those first 5-10 draws of the morning that are stiff and painful lol after that im *warmed* up lol
thanks for the advice

[Jeff Strubberg]

The only concern I would have over your form is that you are really working your shoulders over by holding draw weight up high like that.

At hunting weight, you may run into some shoulder problems later on.  Something to think about.