Equipment Main page

You don't have to do it correctly...

you just have to do it the same every time!

Bernie Pellerite

NFAA Master Coach

In some sports there may be a single 'correct' way of doing things, but I would argue strongly that this is not the case in archery. Archery is a very old sport in principle but, because of the rate of change in shooting technology, a very young one in practice. Maybe there is a universal, 'correct' way and its just that we haven't found it yet. Or maybe there is something more like a universal set of conditions to be met, such as consistent draw length, consistent torque on the handgrip, steady aim etc, and there are many different ways of meeting it depending on such all-too human factors as strength, size, shape, personality and even, perhaps, intelligence. We shall see, but I am firmly on the side of the second proposition, for the time being anyway. We are all different, and while in archery as in all sports, certain body shapes and mind-sets seem to predominate amongst the top performers, there are so many exceptions that I'm not even sure there is any rule to prove (and to 'prove' a rule means to test it - the test can go either way). The simple fact is that, with very few exceptions, any 'rule' we can state about archery will be broken with great success by a large proportion of those shooting at any level you like to name. In fact the only 'rule' that I have never yet (!) seen broken with any degree of success is Walker's First Law of Archery: put the notched end of the arrow on the string and point the sharp end at the target. Sometimes stated as 'The pointy end goes first!'.

The only other advice that comes anywhere near being a universal rule is : do whatever you do consistently from shot-to-shot or as Bernie Pellerite puts it in his book 'Idiot Proof Archery', "You don't have to do it correctly... you just have to do it the same every time". The fact that Bernie then goes on to provide what is perhaps the most rigid and prescriptive set of rules for shooting ever published is just one of those interesting little quirks of archery life!

The whole point about style, technique or call it what you will, is to develop and refine a set of procedures that result in long term consistency for you personally. Anything that tends towards this is good style: anything which goes the other way is bad style even if it is a competition winner for the archer standing next to you or the 'universally accepted' way of doing things. And the way to judge good and bad? Anyone who has read any other parts of this website will know the answer: provided you are shooting safely, within the rules and not hurting yourself, it is judged by the groups you shoot and nothing else.

This leads us directly towards some clear, practical conclusions. Leaving aside some of the more obvious ones such as trying to shoot while jumping up and down is unlikely to produce high scores or wearing a blindfold does not increase accuracy, some of the more fundamental and less understood ones are discussed below.

There is a continual argument as to whether, and how the release hand should move after the shot is made. Unfortunately it has become an article of faith in some quarters that a 'flying' loose is best for all archers, simply because there is evidence (by no means conclusive) that this is the case for recurve finger shooters. Certainly, it is quite clear that any form of forward loosing, where the hand moves forward as the arrow is released, is a very bad idea, because it is almost impossible to be consistent - try it if you like, but I doubt if you will succeed. However, there are two quite different, equally logical lines of thought leading from this fact.

The first goes something like: Does moving my hand backwards at the critical moment matter? No, at least, not if it goes in a straight line with respect to the desired flight path. So lets adopt a 'flying' or 'dynamic' loose and make sure my hand goes straight backwards, even if I have to exaggerate the movement.

The second is more like: The best way to stop my hand moving forwards is not to move it at all. I'll adopt and perfect a 'dead loose' and mentally glue my hand to the side of my face.

There is plenty of evidence that both techniques, if applied rigorously and consistently (there's that word again), can work equally well, and far more archers use a dead loose than care to admit it, even those at the very top of the sport. Watch the video of any Vegas Shoot or - dare I say it? - any Olympic Games carefully if you doubt me. What does not work is being half-hearted and letting your hand move just a little bit, then stopping it or doing one thing one shot and another the next. Find out what gives you, personally the most consistent groups and stick to it. However, you should be aware that the type of loose you use is closely bound up with whether you release consciously or unconsciously - see below.

Another area where half-heartedness rarely works is the hand grip. Few archers below the top levels realise just how important it is to have a consistent grip, or how many of their unexplained misses were down to the bowhand.

What is sometimes forgotten, however, is that there are at least two ways of ensuring consistency. The first, and now the more conventional, is to allow as little of the hand as possible to come into contact with the bow and not to grip it at all, just circling the handle for safety. There is, however, another way, once virtually universal, now almost forgotten: grip the bow until your knuckles are white! Provided you take care to place your hand the same way every time, this works extremely well and the few brave souls who dare to run counter to everything that has been taught for the last twenty or so years sometimes find that they gain considerably in steadiness without losing anything in consistency. Try it and see if it works for you - you may be surprised.

What you are very unlikely to find successful is gripping the bow lightly. To start with 'lightly' is much more difficult to repeat than 'not at all' or 'as hard as you can'. In addition, it is an open invitation to snatch at the bow. This is relatively easily controlled in the case of an open or circling, 'non-grip' and simply impossible if you are already squeezing as hard as you can.

And should you adopt a high grip or a low one? Current theory supports a low grip as it takes the pressure straight through the big bones of the arm to the shoulder, without the hand bones being involved. But some of the best performers of all time, including the Ragsdales in the compound/field archery arena and Darryl Pace in the world of FITA recurve use a straight wrist and high grip. In this, as everything else, try for yourself, and stick to what works best.

The Great Divide in archery is not between those who use back tension and those who don't, but between those who decide when to loose and those who have developed some sort of consistent routine that makes the loose unconscious.

This is a critical subject, as it determines a huge amount about how you actually shoot, and even to some extent the equipment you use. It is also a difficult subject to deal with, both because it is closely bound up with that Holy Cow of modern archery, back tension, and with the enormous gap, visible on any archery field, between what people say they do and what they do in reality. You know the sort of thing? "I use a flying loose." No you don't - you use a dead loose and then throw your hand backwards. "I use back tension." No you don't, you pull the string back with your arm muscles then jiggle your shoulder blades around until something happens. "I release the arrow unconsciously". No you don't, you just delay the punch-through longer than most people.

Almost every decent archer claims that they shoot using back tension. Most don't even know what it means. Try asking them to explain and can they demonstrate it please? Most will mumble something about using back muscles instead of arm muscles and how it is essential for good shooting - they may even mention the magic word 'rhomboid'. Then ask what part back muscles that can move the arm, at most, 6 or 8 inches play in a 28 inch draw, and why is it an advantage anyway? I know the answer, and I'm sure you do, but it will stump an awful lot of so-called 'back tension shooters', and what is more, few will be able to demonstrate that they are involving their back muscles in any significant way. The simple fact is that taking some of the weight of full draw on your back muscles - more specifically the rhomboid muscle on your drawing arm side - is a sensible way of spreading the load, and can help keep proper alignment for the last fraction of an inch. But is no better than taking it solely on your arm muscles, or any other muscles, if it comes to that, provided they are strong enough and you keep the line. Recurves may be different (although I have my doubts), but for compound shooters at least, back tension of itself has no effect whatsoever on your potential accuracy and most archers don't do it anyway!

And so to conscious versus unconscious releasing. The Great Divide in archery is not between those who use back tension and those who don't, but between those who decide when to loose and those who have developed some sort of consistent routine that makes the loose unconscious. Failure to understand this leads to a lot of confusion and frustration as the two styles are very different and advice that is perfectly valid for one can be wildly misleading for the other.

I am totally unconvinced about the whole concept of an unconscious release for finger shooters, but for release aid shooters there is a real choice. All releases, of whatever type, can be set up and used so that you will not know precisely when they are going to go. This is the style that is usually called 'back tension' shooting, but back tension often has little or nothing to do with it.

The secret of unconscious releasing is to apply slowly but constantly increasing pressure on your release trigger until it goes off. This usually means having the trigger set to a very firm pressure (often as firm as the mechanism will allow), or in the case of 'triggerless', 'back tension' releases*, having substantial travel on the hinge or spike. The pressure itself can be applied in a large number of ways, including moving your elbow backwards and round behind your head (genuine 'back tension' at last!), progressively squeezing with your finger or thumb, closing your hand slowly, slowly changing the angle of your wrist, or just standing and hoping for a miracle, which is the way a lot of beginners try to operate. Of these various methods of squeezing the trigger, there is a case in favour of back tension, as many archers agree that it is the way that gives you least warning of the release and, as mentioned above, it goes some way to ensuring your arm is properly aligned. However, I repeat, it is not the only way and of the (very few) archers I know who use a true unconscious release, most use increasing finger or thumb pressure.

Out of interest, you can usually tell a true unconscious release by the way the archer's bow arm breaks away down and to the left and the release hand backwards at the moment of loose (vice versa for left-handers). If this movement, which is quite clearly visible, is not present, then I will take a lot of convincing that that particular loose was unconscious, even if some of the others might have been.

So, what is the point of an unconscious release, and is it any better than a conscious one? The point is twofold. First it prevents us from anticipating the shot: we can't flinch, waver, drop our hand or come off aim just at the critical moment, because we don't know when the critical moment is! Secondly, it removes any decision about when to trigger from the conscious mind, which can help target panic considerably. In a sense, the unconscious loose is the compound shooter's answer to the clicker, although, like the clicker, it may help a lot, but it is not the complete answer.

If you are the sort of archer who can hold your sight steady and unwavering on the spot and execute the shot time after time without any form of flinching, then it is utterly irrelevant whether you use a conscious or an unconscious release - do whatever you like, and by the way, I hate you. If however, you are an ordinary mortal, then two basic ways of shooting successfully are open to you. The first is the unconscious release, which we have just discussed, and the second is what is sometimes called 'soft aiming'. In soft aiming, we accept that we cannot hold steady on the spot. We let the sight settle in the right general area, usually by letting gravity do its stuff and coming down on the spot. Then we watch the way the pin moves, trying to steady it and reduce its movement as much as possible, but not trying to keep it perfectly still. When it is just about to cross the 'X', we consciously trigger the release. You can call this 'drive-by shooting' or 'snap shooting' and pour scorn on it if you like, but the fact remains that it can be very successful - Frank Pearson, for example, dominated the Professional ranks for many years using it. Also it is the way most archers actually shoot, or would be if only they stopped to think about it.

The important point here is not to think of soft aiming with a conscious release as poor technique - an unconscious release gone wrong, or a failure to hold absolutely steady on the spot. It is a legitimate style in its own right and should be treated as such.

Another area of controversy is whether you should focus your eye on the target, or the sight pin/aperture? Perhaps surprisingly, even this seems to depend on whether you use an unconscious release, or soft aim. There is strong evidence from both from professionals and amateurs alike that if you use an unconscious release you will do much better if you focus on the target, looking through the dot or (preferably) ring rather than at it. However, what evidence there is from top level soft aimers, such as Frank Pearson suggests that you will do better to focus on the dot or ring, as in pistol shooting, rather than on the target. What you must not do is chop and change from shot to shot or, worst of all, mix both techniques in the same shot.

As usual, you must experiment and work it out for yourself, but there a few points to remember:

Overall, most archers and coaches, especially at the top levels, agree that an unconscious release is best, if you can master it, and my personal advice would be to persevere and only move to soft aim if you simply cannot train yourself to produce consistent, unconscious shots.