Ready to start shooting? How do you it?!
Just grip the string and pull right?
Just raise the bow, but how do you keep the string from hitting your arm?
Surely the arrow will go where you are looking…
Pulling the bow back and letting the arrow go is easy. There are many styles and ways to shoot an arrow out. You will generally hit close to what you are looking at, but soon you will feel the desire to get better….
These are the 11 steps of shooting for the NASP program:
1. Stance
2. Nock
3. Set Draw Hand
4. Set Bow Hand
5. Pre-Draw
6. Draw
7. Anchor
8. Aim
9. Shot Set-up
10. Release
11. Follow-Through and Reflect
That is good for the process of shooting, but how do you really hit what you want? We are going to give you some easy concepts for right now that will let you hit Coke cans at 10 yards in just a few minutes… 3AR…. Anchor, Alignment, Aim, and Release. These simple concepts will shorten your learning curve and transfer to more advance lessons later in this program. Think long math before you get a calculator.
Take a second now, print and study 3AR:
How to shoot with 3AR (PDF Handout)
Form questions that might affect performance/consistency? Each is a link to a video on the subject. These are also in “Resources” for easy future reference.
Hold the bow vertical or canted?
What happens when the arrow leaves the bow? Archer’s Paradox.
That’s why arrows need to be matched and tuned to the bows shooting them. For instance, wood arrows are not strong enough to be shot out of high powered compound bows, they will shatter because the overload of kinetic energy transferred to the arrow! This will be explained later on in your advancement levels.
Watch this slow motion action of world famous archer Byron Ferguson explain Paradox…