|
So what does this mean in terms of archery?, I
could tell you that you need to shoot more, which is true, but,
endlessly shooting missing shots will in some ways make you very
good at performing bad shots if you follow me. As much thought has
to go into the practice as in learning anything and as with so
much of what we learn it is always best to start right. Key in all
this is stance, draw and anchor, I mean by that standing in the
correct position, drawing up in a smooth and balanced manner and
coming to a hold position with a point of reference or contact on
your face, I use the middle finger of my draw hand to the corner
of my mouth. This is a common anchor point, there are many others,
but what is really important is coming to that same place each
time, performing the same draw and stance to gain consistency,
this is especially important whilst learning the instinctive
method. Get it right at the beginning and it will pay you back in
spades. Check out the picture below, this
is what your anchor point should look like
Then we come on to how to aim, this is tricky and a bit longwinded
but in essence simple. We have all been training to be instinctive
archers since we could move our arms, one of the first things we
do as children is point, even before we can talk we point to
things which we want. At first it's just an arm wave in the vague
direction of the thing, as we grow and get used to pointing at
things we use our finger and our arm straight to point quite
definitely at an object. In fact do it now, point at something
across the room, notice how you just point from the shoulder, you
don't use your arm like a gun, you are not looking down the length
of your arm, you are looking at the object and just pointing, you
trust your instincts that your finger is pointing in the right
place. But lets just check if you are right, leave your arm where
it is and bend your head down to it so that you can look down its
length, were you pointing dead on the object?, if you were then
that's just great, if you were not then move your arm and finger
now so that you are.
Now we are sure you are pointing at it, put your head back into
it's normal position without moving your arm and look again at the
object, you will note that if you look at your finger, well across
your finger really, that it appears to be below the object, it may
even be slightly to the right (for a right handed pointer), you
know you are pointing at it but it looks below, you have trusted
your instinct that you are pointing at it correctly- in fact you
even checked. This is a key part of the method
So we have established a useful thing, when we point we don't
expect to see our finger on the object (like a gun sight), we
expect to see our finger below it and maybe a little to the right.
 |
it's quite impossible to focus on your finger and the object, so
we focus on the object and learn to use our peripheral vision to
ensure we are pointing right, this is something we do
unconsciously usually but we are going to start to do it
consciously now to give our brain a head start in gathering the
information we want it to assimilate. so lets point at the object
again and whilst focusing hard on the object see how much of the
sight picture we can notice and memorise, it's amazing how much we
can actually see in our peripheral vision, I bet you could even
take in detail from all around the room. If you can be bothered
and you have read this far so I guess you might be, get a small
torch and use it as your finger, with it switched off point at an
object, when you think you are bang on turn it on, if you are
right the beam will light up the object, if you are wrong try
again.
Before you get too carried away though, check out the pictures,
get your stance looking something like the fool in the photos,
notice how my head is tilted slightly, this is to minimise the
effect of the arrow coming from the corner of my mouth and my line
of sight which obviously comes from my eye, it's quite a
calculation for the brain to make for the offset, but happily our
brains were designed for just this kind of task, as a predator
both our eyes are positioned on the front of our faces to give
depth of field. The perfect release would leave your draw hand in
the same place it was after the shot as it was before- see the
perfect release above ;-)
What I am in fact doing is looking at the object and shooting
right down my line of sight, you will find that in very short time
you will hit what you look at, but like I said the stance and
anchor has to be consistent so that you can learn to shoot
instinctively.
There are many anchor
points but this is where to start. The Instinctive method is just
one style in a good archers armoury of methods, it is effective up
to 35 yards depending on the weight of bow used and relies to some
extent on a flat trajectory, however with practice it is possible
to shoot over much greater distance once the trajectory path has
been learnt, again by practice, although I prefer to switch to a
point of aim method over 40 yards. Now that you can draw and
anchor how long should you hold?, don't shoot till you are good
and ready, for some this may be longer than for others, I used to
hold for longer but now I tend to hold for just a second or
two to make sure I am where I want to be. One thing is certain,
you need a second or two to get all the information into the brain
and ensure a good shot, after all there is no rush. Now you are
ready to take to the field with renewed confidence that you can
hit what you look at.
The two pictures above show the angle of cant on
the bow, for a near shot, more cant, for a longer shot less.
Practice is the only thing that will help you get the angle which
works for you
Over time you will develop your own style which
works for you, there is no real right or wrong, whatever gets the
arrow into the target is the right thing- so ready for a game yet?
come on you know you want to, give me a bell and get booked
in!!!!!!
|
