Flinch!

[RoscoeP]

Recently I have had the odd flinch while shooting. Seems like a hesitation to shoot but actually pulling the trigger. The other day I went out for a round of 3D, my warm was great, finished with a loonie sized group at 30 yards. Walked down to the first target and fired one over the target never to be seen again, I was shocked. Made me concentrate the rest of the round to hold on target until the arrow was in it. Had one minor blip at a small hanging ball. Kinda gets into your head, I was actually feeling abit of hyper tension that day??

I have been trying to cut back on coffee and especially salt lately and beer. I even switched releases but that flinch on Sat was the worst ever.
Are any types of releases better than others to loose a flinch? I need some help here. Cheers Roscoe

[Bow Walker]

It's a mild form (or just the beginnings of a full blown case) of what's called "target panic". Happens to everyone sooner or later.

There are several ways to get around a flinch - here's a couple....



Blind Bale shooting. Go to the practice range and stand about 5 - 8 yards in front of the target butt. Close if the butt id small - further away if it's a decent size. What you do is shoot 15 or 20 arrows into the target butt with your eyes closed. Come up to full draw - close your eyes - concentrate on the "feel" of the shot and release the arrow - listen or it to hit the butt. Concentrate on how it feels to shoot rather than on hitting the bulls eye.
Break down your shooting form into a number of steps and when you're at the shooting stake concentrate on each step as you prepare to shoot. For example...Step one would be feet and body placement/posture, step two would be your bow-hand placement on the riser, step three would be nocking the arrow and placing it on the rest, step four would be coming to full-draw and getting a solid anchor for your release hand, step five would be acquiring the target and adjusting your aim, step six would be controlling your breathing - take a deep breath and let half of it out, step seven would be your release - smooth, not jerky, unhurried, step eight would be the follow thru and the let down - after the arrow has struck the target.


Hopefully one of these two ways will stop the flinch in its tracks and also improve your shooting at the same time.

[hunter1993ap]

i recently noticed the same thing as you. can i ask you a question, have you done any shooting with a rifle that kicks hard or mabey skeet shooting? i just shot about 100 shot gun shells at christmas time and i developed a flinch. I will never shoot a shotgun again (for skeet) because i always get a flinch. i have put thousands of rounds through my pellet gun since then and lots of 22 and 223 to get rid of the flinch but it does take a lot of trigger time for me. the reason i'm saying this is because i started to flinch with my bow right after shooting the shotguns. ive got it under control now but it takes a lot of practice for me. i also went to an archery shop and he told me to pull the trigger with the second joint in my finger and not my first. this helped my release because it changes the motion of pulling the trigger to just slightly moving your arm back and releasing. another thing for me is when i rush my shots my release is not as smooth as a relaxed shot.

[REMINGTON JIM]

It's a mild form (or just the beginnings of a full blown case) of what's called "target panic". Happens to everyone sooner or later.

There are several ways to get around a flinch - here's a couple....



Blind Bale shooting. Go to the practice range and stand about 5 - 8 yards in front of the target butt. Close if the butt id small - further away if it's a decent size. What you do is shoot 15 or 20 arrows into the target butt with your eyes closed. Come up to full draw - close your eyes - concentrate on the "feel" of the shot and release the arrow - listen or it to hit the butt. Concentrate on how it feels to shoot rather than on hitting the bulls eye.
Break down your shooting form into a number of steps and when you're at the shooting stake concentrate on each step as you prepare to shoot. For example...Step one would be feet and body placement/posture, step two would be your bow-hand placement on the riser, step three would be nocking the arrow and placing it on the rest, step four would be coming to full-draw and getting a solid anchor for your release hand, step five would be acquiring the target and adjusting your aim, step six would be controlling your breathing - take a deep breath and let half of it out, step seven would be your release - smooth, not jerky, unhurried, step eight would be the follow thru and the let down - after the arrow has struck the target.


Hopefully one of these two ways will stop the flinch in its tracks and also improve your shooting at the same time.

Excellent info Bow Walker ! Thks for posting ! Cheers RJ

[Bowzone_Mikey]

Recently I have had the odd flinch while shooting. Seems like a hesitation to shoot but actually pulling the trigger. The other day I went out for a round of 3D, my warm was great, finished with a loonie sized group at 30 yards. Walked down to the first target and fired one over the target never to be seen again, I was shocked. Made me concentrate the rest of the round to hold on target until the arrow was in it. Had one minor blip at a small hanging ball. Kinda gets into your head, I was actually feeling abit of hyper tension that day??

I have been trying to cut back on coffee and especially salt lately and beer. I even switched releases but that flinch on Sat was the worst ever.
Are any types of releases better than others to loose a flinch? I need some help here. Cheers Roscoe

Great stuff said above ... But from your description I cant help but think you are becoming a member of Chief "Tookalooks" tribe .... By that I mean I think you are anticipating the shot and are excited to see where it its going ... not where it is ....
BW offers some great advice to combat this problem
I dont reccomend switching releases however ..... once you play that game ... you blame the equipment ....*hint* Its not the machines fault!!!

on the other hand ....
are you 100% convinced that you jacked the first target for the right distance .... I suspect the shooting stake was in in the sun and the target was in the shade .... optical illusion .. very common ... makes stuff look 10 yards further away ... I blew a clean round at Provincials last year by messing up and falling for that trick ... Riding the 10 train for first 10 or 11 targets ...and a zip over its back... a miss like that will skull F**K a person for a while if they let it.

[Bow Walker]

I need to add a few finishing thoughts to my original post.

After doing some Blind Bale shooting for a while, carry on with your normal practice routine. You should notice a huge difference in the way you shoot. Your mindset will be tuned. Blind Bale shooting is a great way to get the archer "tuned" into his/her bow and shooting form. By closing your eyes you are able to concentrate on (and feel) all the aspects of your shooting form. Great way do as Byron Ferguson says - "Become one with the bow".

On the other hand - concentrating on the separate steps that go into making up your shooting form is a great way to focus tightly and to tune out distractions when shooting "in public" like at 3d shoots or FITA tournaments and such. It's all about getting in the zone tuning out distractions and concentrating on the task at hand - something that the Canucks should be practicing a lot more of in the future........

[Bow Walker]

Chief Tookalook's people are famous for dropping their bow hand/arm to watch the flight of the arrow, and also famous for punching the trigger release. Habits that lead to consistently missing the 10-ring.

Good one Mikey...........

[RoscoeP]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments, and I will work on some of those ideas. Cheers Roscoe

[358win]

Listen to Bowzone Mikey and Bow walker. These guy's are pro's. I'm no bow expert. When this happened to me, I solved my jerk of the trigger by concentrating on holding the pin on target and s l o w l y relaxing my finger on the trigger.
The bow surprised me when it went off but I WAS on target.

[greybark]

Hey RoscoeP , I read an artical on aiming by Henderson the coach of the American Olympic Archery team . He stated that some forms of TP accurr when the archer is trying to time his pin on the center of the yellow . He further explained that it is impossible to hold the sight pin steady dead center of the yellow . Some archers experience their sight pin doing a small figeur eight over the center and others it was an oval motion and others a circular or sideways motion . It matters not what is your personnel motion.
He instructed his team to accept the small motion (some us shake or wobble) and relax during the following release .
He further stated that your mind thru your eye knew when the pin was dead center . The key was if it wasn`t your brain also knew and upon release it instinctively inclined to move the pin from the outermost swing to the center. This reduces the mental urgancy of trying to get the perfect sight picture which in most cases is a unattainable fleeting moment .
Often I had a great shot and don`t know why because my sight picture was off , that instintive centering took place.
Just something that stuck with me from my compound days to add to the good points above .
Cheers

[RoscoeP]

Thanks for all the great tips, I think Bowzone Mikey was right and I was becoming a member of the "Chief Tookalook Tribe" After I read that I started to think about what was hapenning when the bad shots occurred. I was starting to peek over the left side of the peep before the shot was gone. Lately I have been really concentrating on looking at the aim spot until the arrow is in it and it has been going really well. I just got back from the range and only had one minor peek but because I was still holding steady I still got the 8. Last three times out have been much better. Thanks for all the help everyone. Cheers Roscoe ex member of the Chief Tookalook Tribe.

[Bow Walker]

Congratulations. Not everyone can come to terms with their bad habits - and then overcome them.

Good for you.

[Bowzone_Mikey]

great News !!!!

now ... go and fill a freezer ;)

[Grantmac]

I've thought of putting a sticky note with "let it float" on the back of my upper limb except I'd worry that it would be considered "written memorandum" which is prohibited for Barebow.

-Grant

[kgriz]

Hey RoscoeP , I read an artical on aiming by Henderson the coach of the American Olympic Archery team . He stated that some forms of TP accurr when the archer is trying to time his pin on the center of the yellow . He further explained that it is impossible to hold the sight pin steady dead center of the yellow . Some archers experience their sight pin doing a small figeur eight over the center and others it was an oval motion and others a circular or sideways motion . It matters not what is your personnel motion.
He instructed his team to accept the small motion (some us shake or wobble) and relax during the following release .
He further stated that your mind thru your eye knew when the pin was dead center . The key was if it wasn`t your brain also knew and upon release it instinctively inclined to move the pin from the outermost swing to the center. This reduces the mental urgancy of trying to get the perfect sight picture which in most cases is a unattainable fleeting moment .
Often I had a great shot and don`t know why because my sight picture was off , that instintive centering took place.
Just something that stuck with me from my compound days to add to the good points above .
Cheers

I could not agree with this more.....when I used to compete at my best I shot unlimited compound but with a pin instead of a scope, when I tried to "keep up with the Jones" and use a scope, even though I was winning tournaments, the amount that the target moved through the scope unerved me enough that my scores went down. With the pin, coffee, nerves etc. wasn't as apparent and my confidence was not shaken and I shot my best.....I finally simply switched to olympic freestyle to match my technique

[boing-whap]

Scott Longhorn Hex, that will cure your target anticipation, two stage adjustable hybrid back tension with clicker, worked for me, I ll never go back to my caliper again.