I’m pretty sure we’ve all been there at some point in our archery journey. We might be at a competition, maybe on our clubs practice range or sat in a tree stand hunting.
We have nocked the arrow on the string, set ourselves up, starting our draw and got to anchor but something feels wrong. The alarm bells are going off in your head or your gut is telling you it’s not right.
Rather than coming down and starting again as we know we should, we push on with the shot believing we can make it happen. Willing it to work in our attempt to recover or force it.
What’s the result?
Well if we are honest with ourselves then yes sometimes it will work and we make the shot. Other times it fails, leaving us feeling and thinking why did we push it?
The problem is we are fooling ourselves each time we force the shot and it works.
It also lays down memories and processes in the brain that this is the right thing to do. IT’S NOT!! Plain and simple.
This can be very hazardous as there well maybe times you force it and it’s dangerous to do so.
It’s even more important for newbies to learn to reset and not push it.
I was coaching a family group last weekend, a couple of them had shot a little before so knew some basics. Like all newbies who draw a bow to anchor point and then try to aim, they can sometimes hold at full draw too long.
I tried to explain that its better to come down and start again rather than holding at full draw. This is both less tiring and it helps to condition your brain into knowing that drawing up doesn’t mean you have to shoot and it’s okay to come down. A fact that any experienced archers struggle with.
Thanks for reading.
My Archery Experiences 