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Way back last year I had an email chat with archer extraordinaire, Don Barkley, who is a master of the 3-under gap style. With Don's permission, I offer this to you all ...<P>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<P><B>Question #1--Do you place your dominant eye over the shaft when aiming?</B> Yes I do Rob. Well as close as possible anyway. <BR>Everybody will have a slight nock right of anchor(which means a slight nock <BR>right of eye center) unless you are anchoring under your chin which is only <BR>neccessary if you are shooting fita with sights. You were talking about <BR>shooting without sights, right? Remember, there is an angle that is different <BR>on everybody. That is the angle that runs from the nock of the arrow(your <BR>anchor) --To the center of your eye---to the tip of the arrow---and back to <BR>the arrow nock. It's this angle (the distance the center of your eye is over <BR>the tip of the arrow that determines what your point on will be). Then there <BR>is the first angle I was getting at which was the distance the nock is from <BR>the right side of the face. If you have a fat face and I have a skinny face <BR>then my eye will be closer to the center of the shaft. These two examples <BR>explain why if you and I shoot the same bow, we will have different point <BR>on's and you might shoot to the left while I might shoot to the right. <P><B>Question #2---Does your arrow point overhang the shelf at full draw?</B> <BR>Your arrow should hang over whatever it takes to get your point on where you want<BR> it to be. I will add this. The arrow seems to group better when it's a little<BR> longer, rather than a little shorter, especially on the long shots.<P><B>Question #3-- Do you reference the string to any part of the riser?</B> <BR>Once I get my bow shooting on level ground, I do take note of where the string is to the riser when the bow is straight up and down. The reason is this. When you get on a range with side hills this information will be <BR>invaluable to you to let you know that your bow is not canted. Otherwise, when I am on a level target, I just look down the shaft and keep my bow straight. The other problem to be aware of here is sometimes the TARGET is <BR>not level, then you will have to cant into the target and how much to cant is <BR>learned from experience. <P><B>Question #4--How would you compare your three fingers under style to split finger?</B> That depends on what you mean by <BR>compare? If you are talking about accuracy, well, they both are very accurate. The issue here is you need to do what you need to do to get the point on you are in search of. Think about this. If you shoot split finger <BR>and your point on is 60 yards, your inside shots are going to play hell with <BR>you. The gap or pick a point will be WAY to wide to duplicate every time. You <BR>will shoot the hell out of the long ones, but miss alot of close ones. And <BR>there are way to many close shots to let that happen. Always remember, you <BR>MUST nail the close ones. Anything from 0 to 40 yards. After that, everybody <BR>gets a few and misses a few. THERE ARE ALWAYS ALOT, ALOT, ALOT, MORE CLOSE <BR>ONES THAN FAR ONES.<P><B>Question #5--Why do you use the 3 fingers under style?</B> I think I just answered it! Set you point on up around 40 to 45 yards and plan on nailing everything from there down. After that, you can afford to shoot an 8 once in awhile because everybody does( to some extent, just dont get to carried away and think you dont have to practice these). <P><B>Question #6--Do you require or use specially tillered lower limbs for <BR>your 3 fingers under style?</B> NO I don't. This does not make the arrow <BR>fly better. Offsetting the tiller(in my opinion and experience) sometimes <BR>makes the bow aim easier, but you can always get the arrow to fly and group <BR>even if you do not use this option. And if your not over bowing yourself, you <BR>will be able to aim very well with a standard set-up. It changes the hand <BR>pressure on the riser a little, which causes a riser angle change in your <BR>hand. What I am saying here is you don't have to run out and by a tillered <BR>set of limbs yet. Wait till you have developed some consistancy in your <BR>shooting style first. <P><B>Question #7--Can a split-finger archer successfully employ your aiming methodolgy?</B> He can with a really fast bow--but in <BR>the world of numbers and averages (and remember, we are talking about <BR>barebow, stickbows, longbows and recurves and such) he will have a very hard <BR>time trying to figure out a gap system with a slow bow (remember, he just <BR>increased the distance from the arrow to the center of his eye) and will <BR>probebly not be as successful as he would shooting 3 under and getting his <BR>inside gaps a little tighter (or alot tighter). I might add that even with a <BR>fast bow his eye will have to be very close to the arrow to make it work. <BR>Now, if a guy was string walking then he would want to have a long point on <BR>and shoot split finger, but thats a different story.If I was your coach this <BR>is what I would say to you. Get your point on set between 40 and 45 yards <BR>with your widest gap (20 yards) not over 1 inch wide. Have about one inch of <BR>arrow hanging over the shelf so you have some room to work with your long <BR>ones and LEARN TO LOOK THROUGH THE ARROW like I said before in my previous <BR>post. Now, there is alot more to learn but this is enough for now.There is a <BR>whole other subject on tricks you can use with your form but first you need <BR>to group those arrows a little. <P>Hope this helps you, sincerely, Don Barkley<P>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<P>------------------<BR><B><I>Rob DiStefano</I></B><p>[This message has been edited by rob (edited 04-17-2001).]
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