I notice that if I don't stop and think of all steps of my form, my shooting suffers. When I think of aiming, I don't think of my release. Or when I am thinking of my grip, I'm not thinking of my holding arm position, I think you get the idea. Now, I have only been "traditional" for about 6 months so I am guessing "with time"
Any tips from the folks here who are instinctive.
Give it time. It's like the golf swing. You try to have only one, maybe two thoughts in your mind before you hit the ball. Too many will confuse you and make you too mechanical.
Same as archery. Isolate one, maybe two things at a time to think on before you shoot. After time the thoughts become automatic to where you won't need more than one. The rest will become ingrained into your brain or muscle memory. And that goes for any method of aiming you do, not only instinctive.
Joe,
Here's my "take" on your question, others will disagree (some vehemently). The "steps" in your shooting should be done sequentially -- initially you must think about them in exact order until it becomes natural and repeatable. That is why we so often suggest NOT shooting for a bull's eye at the beginning, just get the steps down.
Directing the arrow to a target (aiming) comes later and is JUST ONE step in your sequence. It should be the step that happens after reaching anchor(holding) and before release. You "set the aim" (by whatever method you subscribe to) THEN MOVE on to the next step -- release, or whatever you do next.
What many label as instinctive is not a shooting style but one of many ways to direct the arrow to the target. Let's call it aiming for simplicity. If you can make it just ONE step of your shooting sequence, then essentially you will accomplish each step in order and not have the problem of distracted attention you mention.
FWIW
Arne
Thanks, gents, I guess it just has to flow.
I am trying to let the aiming be the last thing to work on but, sometimes it tough. Once I anchor, I want to aim and forget about the rest before the release,,,, and after.
You will improve in time... Right now you still need to go slow and steady during a shot... That's OK... Read what moebow said again, he's right on target!
Maybe it would be a good idea to get together with some fellas that have been at this game for a while... It helped me ten fold...
... mike ... :archer2: ...
What moebow said. If I can't get to RMSGear for a quick shooting tune up, I go right to his video's on youtube. His instruction is awesome, its easy to understand, makes sense, and it works.
There are three steps in learning any hand/eye coordination sport:
1. Cognitive
2. Experiential
3. Inspirational
The first step in learning is cognitive, where you read, hear, or see the required steps. You think about them in words, and may repeat the words to yourself as you perform the steps. This is a crude, but necessary way to learn to perform the activity. Words are a poor substitute for feeling the movements, which is step two.
The second step is experiential, where we learn the feeling of performing the movement correctly, and to distinguish that feeling from the feeling of performing the movement incorrectly. There are so many hundreds (thousands?) of variables in making an archery shot, you could spend the rest of your life trying to describe them all, but there is no need for that. You can become aware of many physical sensations simultaneously that you could only describe in words sequentially. When you ask someone for help, and they see you performing a movement incorrectly, they will try to explain the correct movement with words, which is back at the cognitive level. But you only "own" that movement after you become aware of the feeling of performing it correctly, which is non-verbal. After your awareness of the movements grows to the point that you can reliably execute them without having to repeat the steps to yourself, then you enter the experiential period where you shoot a lot of arrows, sometimes well, sometimes not so well. During this period, you're trying to expand your awareness of what your body is doing during the shot, so you know what you need to correct when you make a bad shot.
While you're shooting all these arrows and expanding your awareness of what your body is doing, you may stumble on something that dramatically improves your shooting. Maybe you finally get in alignment, or maybe you discover what back tension really feels like, or maybe you notice that you have been moving your head during the shot, which you had previously been unaware of. When this happens, you have experienced the third step in learning: inspirational, where something finally clicks and your skills increase.
Once you master the fundamentals and start experiencing the shot, your progress will probably be like stair steps from then on. You won't get much better for a time, or maybe even get a little worse if you drift away from the fundamentals, followed by occasional inspirational leaps to higher levels.
Start by dumping the word/thought "instinctive" and substitute with "practice"...
Thanks gents and understood.
Joe,
Throw me the ball,you heard me, throw me the ball. What did you think about when you did that? Probably not to much,you just threw it. And I bet if it happened for real it was probably close enough that I caught it,and that is because you have done it many times before.
You have to learn the basics before you can forget about them,then they just happen. You will get there!!
Good Shooting,
Craig
just train the deer to stand still while you go through the steps and everything will work out fine! just kidding, it's more like a martial art, you practice steps to develop,after time it becomes quite natural,keep shooting.
Yup, today a broke it down and at times the steps just happened. Agreed, will take time.
What Moebow said....its not a shooting style...but an aiming method...many aiming methods....find the one that fits YOU.
I don't swear as much shooting my bow as I do golf. I don't drink as much either.
Ol' reddogge nailed it as well....perfect practice make perfect...
Work on one thing at a time. I would start with making sure I had proper back tension first. It is the foundation to everything else. Once you get that down concentrate on your release etc. Like was said above practice alot. I shoot daily but do take a day or two off every now and then to recover. Keep it fun.