Just changing things?

[NIGEL01]

I find all these topics fasinating, because they're all issues i've been dealing with for the last three years.  Just wondering has anyone shot so-so but picked up a particular bow and everything just tightened up and felt right?  What I've been finding is if every once and a while I switch bows or form or some other little thing I shoot better for a while, but then the accuracy starts to fade again.  Is it just that when a make a switch I'm more concious of my FORM and as I get used to the new change I start getting sloppy again?

[LongStick64]

To keep things from getting sloppy again, add some drills to your shooting sessions, don't skip them but make sure you take the time and dedicate yourself to them.
Practice should be all about maintaining good shooting habits. When you want to get together with friends and shoot, make it fun. But never practice by just flinging arrows.

As far as our comment about changing things, I agree and I rotate my bows around never shooting the same one more than twice in a week.

[NJWoodsman]

I've heard this called "new toy syndrome". I think the reason why, in your last sentence is spot on.

This is why changing ANYTHING takes a while to see if it's actually helping. A few good shots in a couple of sessions may be encouraging, but come back in a week and see.

[McDave]

I rotate my bows around, but usually stick with one for long enough to get used to it before I switch to another one.  Anywhere from a few weeks to a few months on one bow before I switch to another one.

I relate to Nigel's experience, and think the reason we sometimes shoot better with new equipment must have something to do with increased concentration or focus when we try something new, as he says.

Right now, I'm kind of having the opposite experience.  I'm trying to shoot a longbow with wood arrows, and I shoot it so much worse than my recurves with carbon arrows that it challenges me to learn to do better with it.  It seems like the slightest little tweak in my release, or the slightest difference in my anchor or draw length throws the arrow off at least a foot at the target, where the same thing might throw my recurve with carbon arrows off by just a few inches.  I feel like it's really causing me to have to focus on my form to get it as perfect as I can, which I hope will help me to shoot better in general, regardless of what bow and arrow combination I'm using.