Bow arm shoulder

[S.C. Hunter]

I tried something different today. I spoke with Mike Fedora today and we were talking about shooting and Howard Hill style. I guess he was a Howard Hill rep at one point in time.

   He mentioned that HH was not a snap shooter as thought by a lot of people. He would use a method similiar to this when he would do trick shooting. Well any way Mike teaches and has for many years now. He said he designed his bows after HH's method of shooting.


   He said Howard would often have his personal bows as wide as 3" on the grip. His belief was that this allowed his finger to rest on the front of the grip and this made it difficult to torque the bow. I have to admit my new Fedora grip is large and I don't try to strangle the bow but find that I rest my hand in place and it allows me to use my skeletal structure to hold the bow.


   The last thing he mentioned to me was having more than one anchor and I told him I use corner of mouth with my middle finger and knuckle on back of thumb to back of jaw. He said that was good but as a drill try to shoot next time by using those points with one more added, he said to touch my bow arm shoulder to or under my chin at the side of my jaw.

   Well I went out and shot about 50 arrows and I have to admit the first three to four arrows were odd. That feeling soon left because I was shooting lights out. The rest of my arrows were feeling more natural. I guess the best way to describe what I felt was my string hand was hitting its spot because I have used it so much. I felt my shoulder and chin come together on the draw and it felt natural. When I checked this out in the mirror after I finished my bow hand arrow and dominant eye along with my string hand were all in a straight line. I went back and drew without touching my shoulder and my left eye was over the string and arrow. I went and looked at a old photo of my shooting from about 10 yrs ago. I was touching my bow arm shoulder to my chin. I guess I got away from at some point in time.


 Does anyone else use this method?

[bendbig]

Interesting ,now you've got me thinking. Better go shoot a few.

[sffar]

I tried this last night after you posted, and I'm finding it works for me. Kind of makes alignment come together as you state. I'll have to keep at this.
Sam

[moebow]

Sorry guys,  I have to disagree.

"he said to touch my bow arm shoulder to or under my chin at the side of my jaw."

The bow shoulder should be DOWN AND BACK  not up and touching your chin.  That's a recipe for bow shoulder injury down the road!!!!  Your upper arm bone (humorous) will be positioned too high in the shoulder at the wrong angle and you will be asking for impingement problems sooner or later.  FWIW

[S.C. Hunter]

Sorry I may have not have communicated it properly. It is more of a bow arm left for a righty and chin down. When I do this my side of jaw and chin area contact my shoulder lightly. I am not in a awkward position. It is actually comfortable for me. My chin actually rest at what would be the top of my deltoid, but because of may arm position at anchor it is behind the top of my shoulder along my collarbone. I hope this clears up what I mean. Sorry for the confusion.

[moebow]

SC Hunter,  That helps some I think.  I'm old and cannot touch any part of my shoulder with my chin/jaw bone when I'm in proper shooting position.  We may very well be into the area of different body shapes work differently.

[BobCo 1965]

Interesting.

Personally, I also can not touch my chin to my shoulder when the shoulder is down and in the correct position. I tried.   :D  

I would say that maybe this style works for some, but I would put the head into position before drawing and not during the cycle. I would also not try to reach with the head to the shoulder or try to bring the shoulder to the head.

[Stumpkiller]

I would have to lean my head forward (or lift my shoulder out of alignment) an additional 2".

I'm either broad shouldered or weak chinned?!?

[AllenR]

The way you describe the technique, it sounds like some of the shooters from the 50's & 60's.  I've seen pictures in the book Power Archery.

Apparently it worked for them, but when I tried it a couple of years ago, it soon hurt my neck.

I didn't think anyone shot like that any more.  

If it works for you and doesn't hurt, use it.

Can you post a photo?

Allen

[FerretWYO]

Originally posted by Stumpkiller:
I would have to lean my head forward (or lift my shoulder out of alignment) an additional 2".

I'm either broad shouldered or weak chinned?!?

[S.C. Hunter]

I have tried this for for a little over a week now. I shoot very well using this but I can see it is not for everyone. It is a training drill for me to make me feel connected in the shot. My stance is not parallel but more oblique. I started thinking I fight in that stance, shoot my rifle and pistols in that stance. I am not talking about target shooting but for combat or defensive shooting. Very quick and accurate. Even in my golf game on shots inside a 100 yds accuracy is more important than hitting it hard and my stance is slightly open there as well. To each his own I guess. Nobody holds their bow exactly like the next hunter and not everybody has the same release, some are split finger some three under some two finger split. If it works use it if it needs to be tweaked by all means tweak away. Marines taught me to improvise, adapt and overcome. Good luck!