Stickbow Target Archery Forums

Sometimes, on my off days, I wonder if 'holding' on target, and surprise releases, are a myth.

I heard Dave Cousins talking about setting up a mechanical release properly -- he said that it should require NO movement to trigger it -- just a slight increase in pressure. Talk about a hair trigger! And why would you want such a hair trigger. I wonder whether, consciously or not, he has a visual trigger, or a rhythm, that he releases to.

And some of the best Korean archers go from redraw to release in just a couple of seconds -- put the sight on the target and let go.

And look at Howard Hill and his upside-down J.

I ask this because my favorite way of shooting is to let the bow drift slowly down to where I want it, and as soon as it is 'there', let go. So far, I can't shoot world class scores this way -- and I've allowed people to tell me such form is terrible.
But, as I say, on my off days, I wonder whether this form is fine -- maybe I am just not very good at executing it.

Don't know about that, but it sounds an interesting train of thought. My mechanical release consists of 3 fingers. Longbbow & recurve
my wife is a compound shooter with a release aid, & she tells me that she only has to "think release" it's gone, sometimes before she has come to her reference point. That's what I call a hair trigger

Field archery is a wonderful convincer of the virtues of good form. Yesterday I shot -- today I believe that holding a bit before releasing is good!

A.C., for a while I tried your method of drifting down and releasing when I got to what I thought was the proper point. It gave me a horrible case of target panic! The only way I finally cured it was by going to an extremely light longbow that allowed me to hold for an indefinite period of time and then working on holding on target. My scores immediately improved. For me at least, I have to hold on target and let everything settle in, if I'm going to achieve even a mediocre level of accuracy. It doesn't have to be for long, just a second or two, but it makes all the difference in the world.

IMO, there's no substitute for finding (and retaining!) The Zone - come to full draw, aim intently whilst checking whatever references need alignment, back pressure steady so as to not creep the arrow, feel *good* about the form and aim and pending release, then *bang* - that missile's gone, buried in the mark. Wish I could find The Zone more often ... seem's a harder task as I age ...