shooting form

[Eugene Slagle]

Very informative sir, & very good video.

[targets3D]

Great video Moebow. I love the commentary and narrative

You talked about a  "rotational anchor", which if I understand correctly, is drawing along a horizontal arc to ensure that you are engaging the back muscles. My question is how is the bow arm play into this, is lined up the sight at the beginning of the draw cycle or do you start to the left and then adjust at full draw?

[moebow]

Targets3D,

The system works BEST (pun intended)  if the bow is lined up a little to the left (for right handed) and is allowed to move into alignment as you draw.  The drawing motion will pretty much align the bow as you come in to anchor.  I think that if you look at the rear view on the video you can see that somewhat left alignment and how the bow comes around as I reach full draw.

[targets3D]

Thank MoeBow - One more question. You used 2 different bows (one I believe you had not shot in over a decade) and still got very close group and proximity to target - Does that mean that sight picture is not coming into play here?

[moebow]

The best way for me to explain that (and it will be different for everyone) is that I am aware of the line of the arrow.  That is, from the nock end under my eye to the point of the arrow is in my peripheral vision and I know that it is lined up left and right with the target.  No gap awareness for most shots out to 20/25 yards.  The fact that I hadn't shot that bow for 20 years, took the two first arrows to get a feeling for elevation.  After that it really was a matter of trust and focus (and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a little luck :>)  The big fight I had was really in the very different grip and not allowing that to influence the form execution.

The big reason for shooting the Black widow and the Bear at the end of that clip was to try to show that regardless of all the discussion about equipment setup.  If your form is repeatable then any arrow with any bow will group.  Yes spine, brace height, nocking point are important to actually hitting something but not necessarily for grouping.  there's a difference.

And, By the way,  There was NO nocking indicator on the Bear, I was just "eye balling" it

[recurvecody]

nice video it's got me thinking about my form no!lol thanks for the great video

[reddogge]

Very nice videos.  I watched them both.  You have excellent form and release and presented them well.  Thanks.

[ripforce56]

Great videos, I shoot a straight limbed longbows, the Howard Hill bow video has really helped me out! Thanks for putting it up!

[SHOOTO8S]

moebow asked me to look at his vid...so here goes!

Very consistent form with great alignment...good job! I did however see a slight loss of back tension at release on a couple shots, so keep working on maintaining back tension until conclusion( can't shoot them too strong).....the fact you shooting very quickly from arrow to arrow, may be the culprit. Allow at least 45 second between arrows so that muscles can recover. Shooting consecutive arrows to fast is one of my bad habits, as well.

[S.C. Hunter]

Very nicely done. Great form, I shoot pretty fast myself. I find I shoot better when I shoot fast but I do try to slow myself just a tad.
 
 When I was at the archery field yesterday I realized how fast I do shoot. I would often shoot 6 arrows and retrieve and shoot again before the other archers. I spent my last 20-30 arrows taking time during the shot and between shots. I really had to make the effort to slow down, I play golf fast and I have a 1.6 index. I shoot my pistol fast and shoot very tight groups, I guess to each own.

[moebow]

Thank You all for the nice comments.  I hope that something in the videos will get you thinking about form.

Rod,  Yes, you are right about the speed I'm shooting and I do need to let the muscles recover after each shot, And so do those of you looking at this thread.  And Rod is DEAD ON about my loss of back tension.  I especially lose it when I am LOOKING at the target compared to blind bale. That loss is evident in the "grouping" video especially in the early ends.

All you reading this thread: Isn't it great when a shooter the caliber of Rod Jenkins will take the time to add a critique.  Attend one of his clinics if at all possible, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!

[xtrema312]

Originally posted by SHOOTO8S:
 Shooting consecutive arrows to fast is one of my bad habits, as well.

Add me to that club.  I need to slow way down.  I can shoot a half dozen in 45 seconds, and I thought that was slowing down.  I have notice many times that my best shot is the first one after walking out to get arrows and coming back to start shooting again.  That shot just feels so smooth and is more accurate than all the rest.

[longbow fanatic 1]

Thanks for the video and well done. I have learned a great deal from your instruction and from the comments of the others.

[Ostrorogi]

All your videos are great. Nice coments. I wish i would soo them when i started shooting.

[Paul B.]

Great video Moebow, I enjoyed that. It would seem that consistent form is a blessing. In regards to equipment, have you compared your groups from longbow to recurve after an extended warm up? I was just wondering if for instance a longbow that had some hand shock would group compared to a recurve that was dead in the hand. What do you think?
I find I am a better shop with a recurve, but then, I'm not Howard or Byron either!

[moebow]

Again all, thanks for the kind comments.  And Thanks LB fanatic for bringing this post to the top again.  I was thinking I was heading for 4th page oblivion.  It may be time to emphasize that these videos were meant to cause thought about how you shoot, not to try to imply that this is the way you have to do it.  Hopefully, the videos will cause you to think about what you do and how you do it.

Paul,  to answer your question recurve vs longbow.  I am not the greatest shot in the world and don't claim to be. I find though that if I warm up and pay attention to my fundamentals I seem to shoot both styles about the same.  I can't really tell a difference in grouping capability.  I personally prefer a longbow style grip and find that I must pay close attention to my grip if I switch to a recurve like the Bear KH that I shot in the "group" video.  My bottom line thought is that we will shoot the best with the style bow we like the best or have the most confidence in.  There's that darn brain interfering with "stuff" again.    

As far as hand shock goes, there are as many opinions as longbows and longbow shooters.  I only have about 15 longbows and have never been able to identify what some mean by "tooth rattling" hand shock.  Yes, if I do something wrong, I feel hand shock but for me, it only happens if I get REALLY sloppy with my grip.

[Jeff Smith]

Excellent video, thanks for posting.If people follow your instructions sales may go down as they will stop trying to buy accuracy.

[mambashooter]

I only have one comment about the clip!!  

[ammoeater]

Great thread, I didn't see this the first (or second) time around.  Thanks for the videos moe!

[moebow]

ammoeater,  Thank you, I hope they give good ideas for those that take a look.  I also thank you for bringing this up again.  This is the second time this thread was headed for 4th page oblivion.  It's fun to see it reappear once in a while.