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Getting started with a traditional bow – and having a lot of fun
 
(From African Archer March 2006)
   Stance
   Stance, slightly open
   Preparing to draw
   Preparing to draw, front view
  Preparing to draw, another person
   Start to draw
   Start to draw, another person
   Full draw
   Full draw, showing alignment
   Full draw, another person
   Full draw, front view
   Follow through
   Follow through

By Derek Nourse and Jaco Wessels

Let me state at the outset, shooting a traditional bow is a lot of fun. Once you have a bow and arrows, what is the best way to go about shooting this simple equipment? Nock an arrow, pull back the string and let go, while hoping that it does not miss the butt and disappear into long grass.

This could be the story for many of us when starting out, especially if you are alone. It was for me and I had to unlearn most of what I taught myself. Not an easy task by any means. Learning the correct way from the beginning is a much pleasanter journey. If you have been assailed by target panic, which can strike at any time for no reason at all, and usually does when one is experienced, then I sympathise with you. This can be a very frustrating time and can take an age to overcome. Wrap your bow around the nearest tree, hang in there, reprogramme your mind to rid itself of the warped programme and it will be possible to regain form. This takes a bit of work, in fact, it usually takes a lot of work! Again, I speak from experience.

This is a treatise on the subject, a way of going about learning to shoot a longbow or recurve. It is certainly not the only way, but if you follow the steps outlined below, you will learn to shoot proficiently. You may modify the process somewhat and if it works for you, fine, at least you have benefited, which is what this article is all about.

The progress you make depends on you, so do not compare yourself to someone else who might seem to be making faster progress. Above all, do not become impatient and take shortcuts.

Reading about Kyodo and how it is practised revealed that form is everything. This would seem to be self-evident, but how do you know if you have consistently good form? The answer is in where and how your arrow flies. The Kyodoka spends a great deal of time perfecting form, in fact, some take two years before being allowed to move from the makiwara or practise target shot from five paces, to the mato which is shot at 29 metres. I am not advocating this at all, but it does illustrate the point – take time to get your form correct and become consistent from shot to shot. You also need to establish how to draw the bow and where to anchor.

Before starting, it is important to note the following points:
• You must be able to draw your bow back easily to your mouth, even when bent over at the waist, and be able to hold at full draw for about ten seconds without excessive shaking.
• Your bow’s brace height should be correct, and not too low.
• Arrows will be matched to your draw weight (correctly spined).

There are a number of requirements for proper form:
• Stance and grip on the bow.
• Draw and anchoring.
• Aim, breath control, sight picture and release.
• Follow-through.

Remember, in shooting a traditional bow, a sequence of actions must be impressed on your subconscious mind so that everything happens without you actually thinking about it. A rhythm must be developed for this sequence. Thus in the beginning, draw the bow slowly so that the release can be at the same pace, i.e. all in rhythm, which will also allow time to give thought to these actions. It is essential to be able to stop briefly at anchor to align arrow, shoulders, head and body correctly before releasing. With repetition this will happen automatically. In any event, shooting at longer distances requires a slightly longer hesitation at anchor before release to achieve correct arrow trajectory to hit the spot.

Stance and grip
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, or slightly wider, toes turned out slightly, knees slightly flexed, (not locked straight), in front of a mirror large enough for you to see how you are drawing your bow, slightly less than at 90 degrees – with your right foot a little over to the right to open up your chest a little.

With the bow gripped in your left hand (right eye dominant, so right-handed; left-handers do everything the other way around), hang the bow arm at your side as though you were holding a suitcase.

The handle should be pressing against the fleshy part at the base of your thumb, which is in line with the bones in your wrist and forearm.

The bowstring should be touching the inside of your arm, but do not squeeze the bow as if strangling it, but hold it loosely so as not to torque the bow, which will cause poor arrow flight. The knuckles of your hand should make about a 30-degree angle to the bow.

You can also get the idea by using an outside corner of a wall or edge of a doorframe as your bow, placing the “V” formed by index finger and thumb on the corner so that your knuckles are at the above-mentioned angle.Not holding the bow correctly can be the cause of poor arrow flight, so it might be necessary to adjust your grip slightly in order to correctly align bow, arms, arrow and shoulders.

The stance is the platform from which all else happens so it should be stable.

Draw and anchor
Raise the bow arm a little so that the right hand can grip the string, one finger above and two below the nock point (Mediterranean release), no arrow at this stage, with the string located in the first groove of each of the three fingers to get a grip. Raise the bow to shoulder height while simultaneously pulling the string back, so that when the bow arm is pointing at the target centre the draw is about three-quarters complete. Keep drawing until your index or middle finger touches the corner of your mouth. If you use the three fingers under the arrow, place the index finger in the corner of your mouth.

Try both methods and choose the one you prefer and stick with it. The back of the right hand and arm must be in a straight line in this process. Your right elbow should be in line with your shoulders and behind the right ear at full draw and in line with it. Tension must be in the back muscles of your shoulder. Your shoulder and not your bicep must do all the work in getting the arm back.

To achieve this the right elbow at the start of drawing should be lifted up to about shoulder height so as to be able to end up in the correct position. Let the string down and practise drawing the bow a number of times until you can establish the anchor. Remember, there must be no tension in the wrist of your drawing hand or the rest of your arm, only in the back muscles of your shoulder.

Doing this in front of a mirror will allow you to see exactly how you are doing. Repeat this exercise with an arrow nocked, still standing in front of the mirror. Do this a number of times until you are comfortable with the anchor point. Place the thumb on the little finger to get them both out of the way, and to ensure your hand just touches your cheek when anchoring with the thumb close to your jaw so that the index finger can touch the corner of your mouth.

The arrow should be almost in line with the right eye, not away from your face and outside the line of your eye. Your head will be looking at the target and tilted slightly forward. Should the arrow keep falling off the arrow shelf, it is likely that your wrist is cocked during the draw, which tends to turn the bowstring out from the bow. If your wrist is kept in line with the forearm, the string is turned the opposite way by opening up your fingers ever so slightly, which keeps the arrow where it should be. Ensure good alignment, which means pulling the bowstring in line with the bow and aligning your shoulders accordingly. Your bow arm should be pushing as much as your right hand back muscles are pulling. At full draw your bow arm must be steady, as if it were held in a vice, which is what Howard Hill insisted on. Do not slacken tension in your back muscles because you are at full draw, but maintain the tension in order to pull through the shot.

Derek Nourse and Jaco Wessels continue their instruct­ions on shooting form with a traditional bow.

Aim, breath control, sight picture and release

All these actions are part of a continuous sequence so they are all grouped together.

At the start of the draw cycle, your eye must be fixed on a point on the butt/target that you wish to hit. Breath control must also be practised, as outlined in “One arrow one Life”. Inhale, extending your belly to draw breath into the bottom of your lungs before starting your draw. This also helps lower your centre of gravity for greater stability. Exhale slowly as the draw begins. On reaching full draw the point of the arrow should be in your secondary vision, your primary vision still being on the point at which you are aiming. Hold your breath while you align arrow with aim point. The bow arm should be pushing as much as the back muscles are pulling to keep the string hand on your anchor point, i.e. equal and opposite action and reaction.

The point of the arrow will be below the aim point. Pull in your belly, release and exhale. Releasing is simply relaxing the fingers of the string hand and keeping the hand relaxed in the follow-through. Stiff fingers after release are a sign of tension in the hand. If tension was in the back muscles the string hand should stay against your face, or at least move slightly to the rear of your jaw, but not away to the side of your face. If the draw was made with the arm, your hand after release will end up out to the side, away from your face.

Follow-through

Follow-through is holding your position at full draw. Do not drop your bow arm to see where the arrow went, for you can do nothing about it anyway. Simply keep it as if in the vice until the arrow strikes the target.

Do not worry about whether or not the mark was hit for you are still establishing a shooting pattern. Shoot only two arrows at a time and watch what happens to them. Do they strike the butt slightly sideways? Did the arrow fishtail or porpoise, or did it fly perfectly so that only the nock and back-end of the feathers were visible? Shoot at this short distance while building memory of your shooting sequence. Remember, you are trying to build consistency into your shooting sequence. Eventually, as the shooting pattern registers, you will make adjustments necessary to hit your mark, for example, a two-inch diameter circle.

Keep shooting at this short distance until you have embedded your shooting sequence into your subconscious mind and both arrows are flying perfectly each time, while grouping closely. When you can place arrows in this circle regularly and have done this over 100 times, then only should you move back to ten paces and go through the entire shooting sequence again. Remember to get a shooting sequence and rhythm, letting breath control be a part of it.

Remember the actions: stance, fix hit point and concentrate on it, breath control, drawing, anchoring, release, complete exhale, follow-through. This must be your routine for every shot, no matter where you are, whom you are shooting with or how much banter is going on. It is easy to fall out of this routine when conditions are different, such as with a bunch of other archers. Look at TV shots of golfers’ actions when addressing the ball. They focus intently. If their actions are inconsistent, they will never achieve good scores. Should you find that you are having difficulty with some aspect of the procedure, go back to five paces or where everything was fine and work out the problem. Again, do not be in a hurry to shoot from a longer distance before you have mastered shooting from the shorter distance. Make each increase in shooting distance not more than five paces.

You should still only be using two arrows and analysing each shot. A good shot usually feels that way from the moment of release. Remember to regularly draw your bow in front of a mirror, which will enable you to see exactly what you are doing so that appropriate corrections can be made. Remember, there is much input with a traditional bow – keeping it at full draw without the right arm creeping forward, timing the release, and following through without dropping the bow arm or having the string hand fly away from the face. It takes time to imprint all these actions on the subconscious. When the entire shooting sequence becomes a non-conscious action, and you do not have to consciously think about any aspect of it, then you will have made real progress.

When confident after having successfully repeated the programme at ten paces, move back another five, or three if you are uncertain. Again, repeat the entire sequence. Do not continue shooting when fatigued, as you will very likely develop bad habits. It is far better to shoot only a few well-executed shots than a heap of poorly executed ones. By well-executed I mean doing all that you should be doing during the shot, or at least attempting to and not simply shooting without concentration. Be aware of a lapse in your concentration, which can easily occur, especially if you are not shooting alone. At the start of your programme it might be a good idea to do this alone so that there are no external distractions.

Advanced practise

After having successfully competed the programme at 20 paces, a little advanced practise is necessary, making shots at different distances. Shoot one arrow from five paces, then 20, followed by one at 10 and one at 15. Record your results. If you had a problem at a specific distance, shoot more arrows from this distance until competent before moving on to the next one. You can also shoot from any distance within your effective range without pacing out these distances. When competent, you can move back past 20, but again in small increments only. Something to remember when starting a practise session is to firstly warm up a little by loosening the shoulders and drawing the bow back halfway a few times. Shoot your first few arrows from ten paces or less before moving back.

Subsequently, it will be beneficial to shoot at 3D or 2D targets where no marked zones are visible and you have to pick a spot on the target to shoot. Since a traditional bow can be shot from so many positions, it is good to practise from various positions, such as kneeling, sitting on the ground with legs crossed, lying on your stomach and shooting through a gap in a bush, or even from a car tyre positioned about halfway to the target.

Ensure that you are as stable as possible in all of these positions and that your lower bow tip will clear the ground or any obstacles that are close by. Shooting like this will put you under pressure, which is good, since if you want to hunt ultimately, you had best be competent in any position as it gives you more options. Even if hunting is not for you, should you shoot in a tournament or fun competition, you will probably have to take shots where standing is not possible.

At the start of any practise session, shoot a few arrows from a short distance to get your concentration going and ensure that the arrows are flying true. If you have access to a large tract of land, roving shooting (taking shots at random objects such as a clump of grass or flower) is a good way of improving your shooting under conditions that are very different from those on a shooting range. You will, however, require a point such as judo, rubber blunt, hex blunt to stop your arrow in a short distance and not lose it. Shooting a bow and arrow is fun, so enjoy yourself!
 
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Some useful hints on arrow making                                                                                             

(From Africa’s Bowhunter)

Prevent misaligned nocks when making wooden arrows
After glueing on plastic nocks, let your arrows stand in a vertical position till the glue inside the nocks has set. This will prevent the nocks from becoming misaligned. An easy way to mount your arrows vertically is to drill a series of arrow-diameter-sized holes into a 50 millimetre thick pine board, then stand the arrows in the holes.

Revive weather-beaten feather fletches
Are your feather fletches flattened after being shot through a damp bale of straw? Or perhaps you were brave enough to stump shoot in the rain and now your feathered arrows look like drowned rats. This can be remedied. Boil some water in a kettle or pot and slowly rotate the feathered ends over the steam. Steaming will cause the barbs and hooklets in the vanes to swell and straighten. Within seconds the feathers on your arrows will be revived and look as new. Allow them to dry naturally – or if you’re in a rush, use your wife’s hair dryer.

Give new feather fletches a neat and finished look
After you have fletched you arrows, taper down the leading edges of the feathers with a razor blade. Next, take another fieldpoint-tipped arrow and roll the rounded side of the field point over the tapered ends of the feathers using firm pressure. This creates a smooth transition of the feather edges onto the arrow shaft. Always apply a small bead of fletching glue to both ends of the feather. This will create a neat finish to your fletching and will also protect the leading edges from damage when the arrow is shot through underbrush and target butts.

 

After trimming the edges of the feathers, roll the rounded side of a field point over the tapered ends using firm pressure.

 

 
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Which bowyer, what bow? – a layman’s guide
A Hungarian horsebow made for the author by Johnny Snyman.
A number of traditional bows made by Johan van der Merwe. Two of bowyer Johnny Snyman’s designs.
 Johan van der Merwe’s 85-pound Monster  bow.
  A Norseman bow made by Derek Nourse.

Viktor Kuhn writes on South African bowyers, their skills, and their products.

(From Africa's Bowhunter)

It started when I was only five years old and I got my first pocket knife. It was a rusty old Okapi knife which I picked up while fishing for kurpers in the Kensington dam. I was not content with that knife for long, as I soon realised that there is no single knife suited for every purpose. I went through the same thing when I took up fishing. I could not find just one rod that could be a perfect allrounder. I needed different rods for different waters and different fish, and special “poacher” rods that are more suited for travelling.
Luckily the same applies to the traditional bow. There is not just one bow for the traditional archer. We tend to have more. Why? No one can tell. When you can answer that question you will also understand what women want – quite a feat… The traditional bow never sees the inside of a dusty cupboard or a safe. They are placed on display in padded places of comfort for everyone to see, much to the dismay of many a life partner who objects to the living room being turned into a medieval armoury. There was an article by Chris Green in Africa’s Bowhunter a few issues back entitled “Are you a gear junkie?”. I did not even have to read it. My answer was an immediate “yes, of course”. I knew that Chris was a traditional archer, plagued by the equipment demon.

Many compound archers who want to test drive the old ways, and new guys who want to take up the journey of stick and string, have asked me what type of bow they must buy and from which bowyer. Now this question is about as easy to answer as when your wife asks you “do these pants make me look fat?” The first straight answer I can give them is: don’t buy an imported mass-produced product. Our bowyers are easily the best you can find anywhere in the world, and their bows are certainly the most beautiful pieces of archery equipment found on the planet. A mass-produced imported bow may give you years of flawless performance and great pleasure, but it will be similar to being a university student and never living on campus. You are missing out on half of the experience!

Getting to know the bowyer and seeing your bow taking shape into a one-of-a-kind, tailor-made product is the best part of the buy! The etching on the woodwork shows your name, rather than the insignia of some far-off factory. It does not even hurt that much when you pay for your bow, and I will guarantee that you will always leave with a smirk on your face, thinking that you definitely got the better part of the deal!

I have been fortunate to have met most of our prominent bowyers and I own bows from most of them. In fact, I own several bows from several of them, with more on back order and more being worked into our budget. The reason for that is that their bows differ like night and day, but they all deliver flawless performance, exceptional beauty, and craftsmanship, with the back-up service and camaraderie obtainable only from a craftsman passionate about his vocation.

A simple example: I got a Norseman takedown longbow from an archer at the Sterkfontein Traditional shoot, and not directly from the bowyer. The particular individual had a shoulder injury preventing him from drawing the bow, and he had to part with it. After a lot of begging, sulking and bartering, I was the proud owner of a Norseman. A fine example of a world-class longbow that cannot be copied or improved upon.

My first hunting experience with this bow was in the jungle in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a hazardous journey through the creeper vines with my bow in one hand and a machete in the other resulted in a severed bowstring. I had another string but it was not custom made for the bow. I got on to our rickety satellite email system and after a short Google search I got hold of the bowyer, a Mr Derek Nourse. I sent him a panicky email with a brief description of the bow and the serial number. He got back to me immediately and he could recite the history, previous owners and specifications of my particular bow out of his head. He gave me the required advice on brace height, nocking points etc to enable me to fit the string. After an abortive hunt, where I just couldn’t hit the back of a barn, he sent motivational emails to cheer me up. I will always associate him with his words of “aim small, miss small”. And I have never met him face to face! Try to get that kind of service from the creator of a mass-produced product!

Another bowyer which is impossible to visit without placing an order is Johan van der Merwe from Combretum bows, just outside Pretoria. Upon your arrival he drops whatever he is doing and greets you around a Peterson pipe with “die kinders maak vir ons koffie, kom ons gooi 'n paar pyle.” He immediately makes you comfortable, and will tutor you on mistakes in your shooting form without being overbearing. Your quick pop into his workshop is never quick, and you find it difficult to leave. He never mentions his bows nor does he try and sell you one. Just one peek into his workshop and they sell themselves. (I already own four of his bows…) If you are looking for a bow that has woodwork beautiful enough to use as a screensaver on your computer (and good enough to drop a buffalo) he is the man to see. He can also assist you with almost any archery questions that you have, without even noticing if you have a bow from another bowyer in your hand. After a hunt on his game farm, as I was contemplating how to skin an impala (something I’m really not good at), three very young ladies, his daughters, gave me the same look my mother used to give me when she saw my report card. In no time at all they had helped me dress and butcher the entire carcass better than most seasoned hunters! This is the kind of experience you will miss out on if you order a product that is other than local.

Just a few kilometres from Johan van der Merwe’s place is the farm of Jaco Wessels of Timberpoint archery. He personifies the difference between any sport and traditional archery. In which sport can you frantically phone up the South African champion before a hunt, because your arrows won't tune correctly and you need a new fletching jig? Even as a relative stranger he would take a break in his busy schedule to help me with my equipment woes. After my purchase he ended the conversation with: “Hier is ’n teiken hier agter, kom ons gooi pyle.” He even has a dog that finds and returns your “flyers” that end up in the bush, with the minimum of chewing and slobber. His workshop is a financially challenging place as he has all the accoutrements and accessories that you could ever wish for! He has his own line of bows which are unique and look like no other. He also tutors novices on how to make their own bows from a single piece of wood. And if you wonder if his bows work, the line of medals on his workshop wall speak for themselves.

Johnny Snyman from Heartwood bows is for the more exotic archer. He makes the Scythian recurves that look similar to the bows that the Mongols used. They are shorter with more curves, making them ideal for men who used to shoot from horseback. His bows have even been used in a few Hollywood movies! Johnny’s bows may take a while to make, but he will keep you updated on how your bow is taking shape with regular photos and video clips over the internet! He is currently busy with a new line of bows, called the Nomad, which will remind you of an Egyptian pharaoh on a chariot hunt! He has even made me a one-off bow, the Hungarian horsebow, which will not form part of a line. It will be the only bow of its kind in the world. Try and get that kind of service from an overseas bowyer over the internet and I will eat my hat. (It is quite a large leather Akubra from Australia).
There are other bowyers who are still on my wish list, such as Pierre de Wet from Cupido bows. I have seen his wares at the annual Sterkfontein Traditional Shoot hosted by Henk du Plessis, another legendary bowyer. And there are also the likes of Johan Smit, well-known amongst the traditionalists. As soon as finances permit I will come a-knocking…
I don’t throw stones at the compound shooters or guys using factory-produced traditional gear. They are professionals in their own right. But I spend a lot of time in the archery shops, and a lot of good service and advice comes from guys such as Beyers from Archery Africa and the whole gang from The Bowshop in Pretoria (they are constantly reminding me that if we go hunting, they can shoot a buck with their compounds and we can cook it on my traditional bow). I’m just illustrating the “bacon and eggs” analogy made by Byron Ferguson: “The chicken makes a contribution, while the pig makes a total commitment.” If you want to try traditional archery, and if you want commitment, take a look at our local guys.

There comes a time when you want to move away from the mainstream, when you would rather fish with a split cane bamboo rod, with flies you tie yourself. You throw away cigarettes and smoke a hand-crafted Peterson. You enjoy wearing veldskoens, and you pay more attention to articles by Robin Barkes.
When that time comes, take up a stick and string, made in South Africa.

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Traditional Tips by Derek Nourse

Derek Nourse
 

(From Africa's Bowhunter)

Hand placement
Hand placement on your bow is important – very important, in fact. Incorrect placement can result in arrows going off to one side, which might be interpreted as incorrect arrow spine. Hand placement must be the same for each shot. This might seem self evident, but it can plague one at some or other stage.
Hold the bow as if picking up a suitcase, so that the knuckles of the bow hand are more or less 45 degrees to the handle. The pressure of the bow must be along the base of the pad of the thumb and in line with the bone in the forearm.

For recurves with a pistol grip, it is easy to get the grip a little too far to the left or right, which tends to give left or right-shooting arrows. If this is the case, try tucking fingers 3, 4, and 5 against the riser, thus holding the bow only with thumb and forefinger. This has a stabilising effect and generally centres the bow in one’s hand, taking care of the difficulty.

Carbon arrows
Try this, it could make a difference. Carbon arrows are very popular, even amongst traditionalists, although this is unlikely to be the case with diehard traditionalists in the primitive-bow category. And this makes sense, as an all-wood bow really requires an all-wood arrow. In this brief article I am promoting wood. It really is a good arrow material. There are a number of factors to consider.
Weight: Carbons lack mass, so they usually require weight tubes or some form of insert and/or heavy points, or both, in order to have enough weight for hunting purposes. I am referring to a weight of 600 to 650 grains. Wooden shafts can be found in many weight categories, the wood type dictating what the shaft weight will be. For example, hardwoods such as ash will be heavier than soft woods such as cedar. But even cedar will be heavier than most carbon shafts, and will yield an arrow weight as mentioned above.

Tapering: Wooden shafts can be tapered very easily over the last nine inches of the nock end to a diameter of 5/16ths of an inch, which gives improved arrow flight. This can even transform an arrow that tended to be a bit too stiff for a bow, into a perfectly flying one. In fact, tapering the shaft in this way makes a superior arrow. Note that the more expensive carbon hunting shafts are also tapered in this way.

Broadhead suitability: There are vast arrays of glue-on broadheads available that have been proven effective, since they were the first types of head made for the first types of shafts – wood.
Strength: Carbons are stronger than wood, but they are also more expensive. A well-made wooden hunting arrow gives nothing away to a carbon hunting arrow over the typical distance at which game is shot. Check the accompanying picture of arrows in the warthog. It was nearly dark, the hog just visible, but certainly not the arrow once it had been shot. Shooting distance was 18 paces (yards). The bow was a T/D recurve. The first two arrows shot were tapered carbons. The third shot was a tapered wooden arrow. Each arrow had hit the hog – that was clearly audible. But where? Well, the picture shows the result, the wooden arrow ending between the carbons!

Give wood a try. You could be pleasantly surprised.

Types of wooden shafts available: cedar, spruce, larch, ash, laminated birch, hexpine, hickory, ramin. This list is not complete by any means, but it is enough to start with. In another article I’ll go through preparing a shaft. In the meantime, may your arrows, whatever their type, fly true!

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Have you ever suffered with the tuning of you arrows?  Well, you might benefit from trying the Dynamic Spine Calculator from Stu Miller.  It is a very good starting point and will save you a lot of time, money and frustrations.

Stu created a calculator in to which you enter all the bow data and your draw  length and a number of other variables regarding your personal shooting - it will then tell you what dynamic spine you will require - it doesn't end there though because the other part of the calculator will tell you what bare shaft to take, how long to cut it, what weight point to use and even the size of Fletch that will give you an arrow as near to perfect as has ever been designed.

To download this calculator, follow this link...

(We would like to get some feedback from you regarding your findings on the use of this calculator)

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By - Rod Jenkins

Want to pickup 6-12 FPS at the same weight your currently drawing,
without buying a new bow?

Want to become much more consistent with your
shooting?

It's easy - learn to never stop pulling!


By far, the biggest form flaw I see with a majority of traditional archers
is "they stop pulling"!

Don' believe that? Break out the video cam and
shoot some footage of yourself, as well as your pals. Playback in
slow-mo and at the moment of release, you'll see the draw hand come
forward, often losing 1-2'' of draw before the fingers clear the
string, and often the fingers are getting scrubbed by string in the
process. Ever wonder why guys are buying thicker gloves and tabs?

Pulling in an archery shot is a 3 phase affair.

(1) Excessive pulling to anchor.

(2) Balanced pulling at anchor.

(3) Increased pulling (expansion) to shot conclusion.


No doubt it's a little more work to never stop pulling, but the dividends
are well worth the effort, and face it " guys shooting longbows and
recurves weren't looking for the easiest way to begin with"

 

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