snap shooting

[Florida bowhunter]

I don't know what has caused me to start snap shooting,  but I have got in the habit of this so how do I get out of this and start anchoring before I release. ....any suggestions. ..thanks

[TX FLY CASTER]

Might research "target panic" and see if this applies to your situation. I would also concentrate on drawing , reaching anchor , hold for 2 seconds and release. Just be sure you are not collapsing your back tension while holding.

[BRITTMAN]

A few things that work for me are
1. Shoot up close like 5 to 10 yards max , most of the time its a confidence thing so shoot some good slow shots up close with only one arrow
2. Get a light weight bow or even a compound bow and pratice with it up close for a while , again using only one arrow
3. While setting around in the house pratice pulling your bow to full draw and holding 3 to 5 sec.
4. Dont shoot at bullseyes , shoot blank targets like haybales or solid black targets

Mike

[Machino]

Something that has helped me tremendously is using the "formaster".  I made mine from 1" tubular webbing (climbing stuff you could get at REI or similar) and paracord.  I made the loop of webbing a few inches bigger to go above your elbow around the bicep area.  The paracord loop was about the same size and you will have to adjust a little until you find the right length.  Cost is under 5 bucks.  I had this stuff laying around.

I had heard of this before, but thought it wasn't worth the effort.  With 10 practice shots with the form master my group shrunk considerably and also helped with panic as you hit a good anchor and get proper back tension.  Something you skip with snap shooting.  At least I felt that was my problem.  Youtube formaster and you will see the procedure.  I showed this to my buddy as well and he was practically robin hooding immediately.  Do it! It will help.

Oh my!  I'd suggest getting Master's of the Barebow, Volume III. Follow Rod Jenkins advice to the letter.  

Learn your shot sequence on the bale, then, bridge back from there.

Good luck to you.

[kevsuperg]

at ETAR this yr i went to joel turners seminar on target panic, which snap shooting is a form of.
 try looking him up, i believe he has a website.
, he even posts his phone # so you can speak with him.  
 i have his CD on shot control and i would assume he has videos on youtube, very helpful. my shooting has improved vastly.  great guy.
 good luck

[Todd Cook]

Snap shooting and target panic are NOT the same thing. If you can't get to anchor, that's target panic.Some of the best game shots I know draw, anchor and release in one fluid motion. They are in control of their shot, they just don't hold. I hold a second but wish I could snap shoot accurately.

[LongStick64]

Basically you are aiming while you draw the bow, your mind is speeding the process up and is not waiting for you to anchor before sending the signal to release......that is completely natural. It is how we are all wired.
Talking to Joel Turner is a must. He can help you, but trust me it wont work overnight. For myself I took Joel's advice and tweeked it to work better for me. I use a rotational draw and I focus on my draw arm elbow. If my elbow is in the correct position, you can bet I am at anchor. Then I set my sight picture and focus on maintaining a pull. This gives me a second or two at full draw and eliminated the snap shot.

[Terry Green]

Yep...Snap shooting and target panic are NOT the same....some REALLY want it to be because they don't understand it, or mad because they can't do it. Snap shooting is a method of aiming/style of shooting.  

Snap Shooting is NOT a mental issue with the shot sequence...THAT is called Target Panic.  I've seen target panic shooters hold and gasp for breath at full draw terrified to let go, and when they did it was like they we coming apart.  Now is that called 'holding at full draw' "settling in at full draw" or target panic?  Its Target Panic plain and simple...a mental issue that interrupts the shot process no matter whether you hold or not.

Uncontrollable urges to let go of the string before reaching anchor is not snap shooting...its a symptom of target panic....just as uncontrollable urges NOT to let go are also target panic.

Howard Hill was a snap shooter...I can list many more legends that were.

Rod Jenkins himself posted on THIS very forum that he and I shoot exactly the same....I just go through the motions much faster.  Its all in our make up.  Rod is a 'slow motion' snap shooter as he never stops pulling.

Don't get into an argument over it, you wont win.  Too many greats proved it....Including 'Slo Mo Rod'      

[Terry Green]

 

   

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.

[amazonjim]

My friend caused me of snap shooting because he draws and holds then concentrates, but I didn't think my form suffered because I concentrate on my target first, during, and after the shot, but my draw is one fluid motion until anchor, then release.

Thanks for the post I was beginning to think I was having target panic, I only have that when a big buck walks out, but then that would be buck fever I suppose.

[kevsuperg]

told you i wasnt aguing, i simply stated there was literature referring to snap shooting as target panic, often leading people to believe they are one in the same. just like the OP referred to as his problem.
 i will agree snap shooting is a controlled act and that not reaching full draw and/or not holding at anchor is often confused as snap shooting.

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by kevsuperg:
i simply stated there was literature referring to snap shooting as target panic,

Yes...miss information and bad literature.

[ChuckC]

I agree with Terry on this one.
ChuckC

[Terry Green]

And I agree with Mr LaClair on this one...he's more of an authority than me!!!  

[kevsuperg]

again not to argue, but in his book, the archers bible, pg 40-42,fred bear himself refers to snap shooting as short drawing or freezing on target and calls it an affliction making it impossible to reach full draw. the only cure being a " clicker"
 he also then references true instinctive shooters as also being snap shooters who always come to full draw with little to no pause at the anchor.  
 hence the confusion, just saying
 as i read that snap shooting can be either a form of target panic or if done properly can be a proper form of shooting.
 so to the OP,if you are having trouble reaching full draw , try a clicker or some other form of " mental trigger " ie feather to nose , to signal your brain to loose the arrow

[Terry Green]

I hear ya....and Fred was a snapper that evidently bouted with TP.  But he was a dang fine snapper when not afflicted with TP.

[LongStick64]

Nothing against anyone that snaps shoots with a solid repeatable form, but there are people that label themselves as snap shooters because it sounds better than admitting they have target panic. I'm not saying snap shooting is target panic. I actually consider myself a snap shooter, but I do get to anchor. Someone who can't consistently get to anchor and release prematurely is not snap shooting.

[ChuckC]

The problem with snap shooting is, in my mind, it lends itself to developing a form of target panic. If you can pull it off, and numerous do, that is great.  I used to snap shoot and I was pretty decent.  But I got so deep into letting go whenever something, anything touched my cheek that I lost control.

You've got to pull the same distance each time to control the flight of the arrow.  I believe you don't even need the same anchor (if you practice) but pulling 25" one time and pulling 28" another won't cut it.
ChuckC

[Florida bowhunter]

See that is exactly what I do, I concentrate on my target as I am drawing and when I hit the corner of my mouth I release all in one fluid motion, everyone tells me on the range I need to be holding for 2 or 3 seconds before I release, I tried it but I find I am not as accurate, but if I draw hit anchor and release and release all in one fluid motion I am usually right there within a inch or so of what I shot at........