Pulling and Aiming

[rollingrock]

As I understand that when pulling the string, one should use back muscle instead of arm muscle. As soon as I learned this, pulling my 70+ lbs recurve hasn't been that hard any more. But where should I lean my string finger? By my cheek or or my ear?

[Bowzone_Mikey]

text book anser ......the end of yer finger should be at the corner of yer mouth .....

real world anser ...whereever the most comfortable anchor point is for you

[rollingrock]

Thanks Mike.

[Will]

text book anser ......the end of yer finger should be at the corner of yer mouth .....

real world anser ...whereever the most comfortable anchor point is for you
I place my "middle" finger at the mouth corner......works and is easily repeated.

Doesn't much matter what you do, or how you do it, as much as it matters that you do it the same, each and every time;-)

[Kody94]

Same here. With my recurves, I anchor with my "bird finger" touching the corner of my mouth. When I do that, my thumb just naturally comes in contact with my ear...so I kinda have two points of contact.

Cheers,
4ster

[J_T]

I always tell kids and ladies the way to pull the string back is like you are about to punch somebody and your just cocking your hand.

Amazing, kids and ladies will fight with pulling the bow/string (using the bicep alone) until you tell them it's like getting ready to punch. They all understand what it means and after they seldom have a problem. Once they bring the back muscles into it instead of the bicep alone it sure is easier. Helps stabilize too.

I lay my "plucking yew" finger on my eye tooth. When you release the key is 'not' pluck, just gently slap your face.

[Bow Walker]

Are you using the arrow shaft as an aiming guide? Do you just shoot instinctively? Do you "string walk" to aim?

All these things can and will impact your aiming process and/or aiming point(s). As far as anchoring, I'd agree with Will, that it doesn't really matter where you anchor and how you aim, as long as it is repeatable and the same each time.

[rollingrock]

I went for my first practice tonight. Everybody tried my bow and...well :D. I pulled one guy's 65 lbs recurve, piece of cake. They said my bow's drawing weight might be around 80 lbs. But I've never measured it. For sure I learned a lot for these old boys! Anyhow, here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hodi5T7wEoU

[Tuffcity]

No offense, but you look grossly over bowed. How were the groups you were shooting?

RC

[rollingrock]

No offense, but you look grossly over bowed. How were the groups you were shooting?

RC

No group pattern at all:biggrin:. That was the first time I went shooting a bow. After two hours I was able to put arrows in one paper, roughly. One of five shots stayed on bull's eye. I guess it will take some time to get better. But the bow is really stiff, for sure. :biggrin:

[Tuffcity]

But the bow is really stiff, for sure. :biggrin:

LOL

You might want to consider dropping about 30 pounds in draw weight and having some one show you how to develop a better draw and release. You got a lot of bad habits starting to develop if that's your first bow!

Note: not meant as a bash, but (hopefully) just constructive criticism to get you on your way with what can be a steep learning curve. Looks like you were having fun though! :-D

RC

[rollingrock]

Drop 30 lbs? Man I'm counting on this to get me some meat, maybe a bear. Am I going to poke a bear with a 50lbs recurve bare bow? Well.... :icon_frow

But just pretend that I was using a 50 lbs bow, where should I improve to get rid of my bad habits? :tongue: Like drawing, aiming and follow through....anything you can think of! Thanks!

[OOBuck]

As I understand that when pulling the string, one should use back muscle instead of arm muscle. As soon as I learned this, pulling my 70+ lbs recurve hasn't been that hard any more. But where should I lean my string finger? By my cheek or or my ear?

Try sticking your finger in your ear!!! :shock:

Just joking,,, I used the corner of my mouth closed my left eye (I shoot right) and sight down the shaft..

[Tuffcity]

Like drawing, aiming and follow through....

yup! :)

You'll kill a bear just fine with a 50# recurve.

By the way you draw that fence post you look like a strong guy, but you're doing yourself a serious dis-service by starting out with that poundage.

The draw: (from the video) you appear to start your draw with the bow arm fully outstretched and the bow pointing towards the ground. As you draw you're throwing the mid section of your body forward and arching your head back as you reef back on the string to give yourself more of a mechanical advantage. You then hold the bow in a near as possible to a verticle position and look around it at the target. As soon as you get any where near full draw you let go of the string and your hand sort of flys backward. At the same time you're quickly looking up to see where the arrow is going. Keep this training up and you'll be lucky to hit a bear in the ass.

So much for the bad news. :)

Try this: borrow a lighter bow,even for a week. Doesn't have to be a 30#'er. Try a 55#'er. When you draw, bring the bow up and push it towards the target as you pull the string back with the other hand, use your back muscles and don't jerk your body around. Cant the bow over a bit and draw to the same anchor point. Keep your head in one place. Keep pulling the string as it slips from your fingers- your hand should glide back past the side of your face. Don't move until the arrow hits the target- you can't help it hit by looking at it. Remember the golf adage: you always look up to see a bad shot.

Get some one who can shoot to watch and give you pointers.

Keep a positive attitude- even when guys on the 'net give you a hard time. :)

RC

[rollingrock]

Thanks for the good advice up there! :D