Uploading video

[starshooter]

Ok , the past couple of days I have restricted my shooting to
stretching my full draw out to my anchor which is the thumb knuckle touching the corner of my mouth. How long do I hold at full draw?? I want to "fit "me to the bow What should I be working for on the time to hold at full draw ?? Mind you that I am just working on 5 -10 reps of slowly pulling to anchor , hold,  amen slowly letting down.. Holding for more then 2 seconds causes me to tremble . Thanks

[Rob DiStefano]

hold it PAST your actual real anchor point.  hold 'til it trembles, which might only be a "one thousand and one" count.  you want to feel the strain but not to the point it hurts and you want to feel your back muscles working, not your arms or shoulders.  draw and let down Slowly.  if you can do only TWO of these long draws as a single rep cycle, so be it.  this is an accumulative thing that will take days if not weeks - no fast food fixes allowed or wanted, this is a safe and sure way to increase strength and endurance - do not rush the process!

[starshooter]

Ok thanks

[starshooter]

Ok , I have been exercising my draw on my bow for the past week.
I have no problem bringing the string past my anchor point and holding  for a couple of seconds. However I don't feel the isolation of back muscles . Nor do I get the concept of pulling with my back . Shoulder and tricep seem to be doing most of the work.
When I slow down on the pull I start to feel a stretch . Is it anything like reps with weights in the weight room where you do enough reps to feel the "burn"??
The back isolation is a mystery as well as the elbow shutting the door backwards.

[Rob DiStefano]

[Rob DiStefano]

Archery Muscles and Exercises.pdf

[starshooter]

Thanks! One question- How do you know when you hit anchor at given draw length?

[Rob DiStefano]

your anchor will typically begin at the point where yer back muscles are doing the bowstring holding.  this might be a surprise to someone who has a 26" draw now find it's actually over 27" ... or more.

[starshooter]

Wow! That introduces a whole new ball game. Does this hold for all forms of Archery?? Instinctive ( hunting) ? I started out with a fourty five pound longbow
@ 28 " draw. But found out it was extremely awkward in close shots and that I walked the string at times ( shortened the draw)  so they figured whole I wasn't overboard I was overdrawing. Crazy. Maybe 27 " would be a good compromise.
All these years ...

[moebow]

In the system I teach, your draw length is totally determined by how long the bones are when you get them lined up.  It is not an arbitrary length or a predetermined position.  Get the bones lined up, then your hand comes to your facial references, that's it.

Arne

[moebow]

I will add that "walking the string " does NOT change your draw length!!  Again, your draw length is determined by your  body structure, NOT some predetermined draw position, if you want to be consistent.

Arne

[moebow]

And YES, ALL forms of archery!!

Arne

[starshooter]

Is there any way I can tell if my physical structure is aligned?  I am currently under the assumption that I have to stretch the back and shoulder to where I feel
the contraction in my back when holding. I can pull and hold at 28" abeit briefly.
27" feels a lot better. Does poundage influence draw length or vice versa ?i think one must be comfortable at whatever poundage and drawlength he shoots with.

[McDave]

I don’t think you should determine your draw length by how difficult it is to hold at a particular draw length.  You should get a lightweight bow and determine your natural drawlength as Arne and Rob describe.  Then you should not use a bow any heavier than you can draw to your natural anchor and drawlength.

[moebow]

Think Line up my bones, don't think activate muscles.  MOVE BONES.  When you do that, when the bones line up you will feel LIKE there is a let off of bow weight.  IF you stack the bones from your bow hand to your string shoulder, that length never changes so your draw length never changes.  IF you can change your draw lenght, you are just using muscles and will usually have an inconsistent draw length.

Arne

[starshooter]

Makes sense ... I am thinking target stance like my video but pull back to the corner of my mouth. Thumb knuckle . Hold a second and I should be ok. In all it sounds like a right angle body alignment to the target.. my skeletal structure should be inline bow arm through my drawing shoulder ,elbow and bow hand.
But what is this I read where the elbow tilts sideways As if shutting a door behind you?? 

[McDave]

You have two elbows.  The one on the bow side needs to be more or less vertical, so that if you were to bend it, your hand would come in to your chest rather than up toward your head.  Keep it straight but unlocked.

The one on the string side is more problematic.  As you have noticed, it is difficult to be aware of the back muscles directly, so we use indirect clues.  One of them is to pretend you are closing a door with your bowstring elbow.  If that helps, use it.

[McDave]

Terry’s form clock is a permanent post at the top of this forum. It shows about as perfect alignment as is possible to get.  This is what you want to strive for.  If you get perfect alignment, you are more than halfway to a perfect shot.  As you can see from the responses, people have been studying this for years.  Take a number....

[starshooter]

Yeah, the form clock along with the stick figures really makes it clear to me. Pictures are wirth a thousand words as they say....
I guess I am late to the party ...

[starshooter]

Lining up the bones .. I stand right angles to the target , stretch my bow arm at 12
O'clock.set my bow arm up directly in line , pulling shoulder and elbow in line as well. I draw back to 26 1/2 or almost to the metal of the field point. I am not feeling the letoff as Arnie suggested. Also, I am not able to do a secondary anchor i.e. Close the door  with my pulling elbow to lock my anchor .I am feeling strain on the " lavator scapulae" upper left shoulder neck junction. I don't seem to be able to pull all the way past my mouth to the jaw. Am I overbowed ?
It seems as if Iam trying to go back to compound draw which was easy to do with
Thelet off. Am I supposed to do this with traditional bow as well?? Thanks ..