It's really about archery !

[Bill Leslie]

Do you think that Arnold Palmer realy cared that his swing looked like he was chopping wood ? I would say not . Classic case of ," Doing what works for you."



Bill
:shooting:

[Viper]

Bill -

Like a wiser man than I once said, the only thing that really matters, is which part of the target you pull your arrows from. But from observation over the years the 99.5% of guys who look best shooting, are the same guys who look best retrieving their sticks. Exceptions, sure, but I ain't one of 'em!!!

Like the watch commercial says, styles might be different, but good form always looks like good form.

:cheers:

Viper out.

[thisbucks4u]

Bill,
Very Good point. But if you keep this up, Kentucky might ask you to move north into Ohio. LOL.

[Papabull]

Some excellent athletes in many different sports have had some very unorthodox styles. Sports are usually results oriented, and style is usually just a means to an end. I think it's important for archers to try different things and keep experimenting until they find what they like best and what works best. Of course, that means lifelong experimentation because you never know if the next thing you try might be better than what you're already doing! To me, a lot of the real magic of archery is the depth and breadth of the sport and the unlimited room for exploration. It keeps archery fresh and new for anyone who wants it to be that.

[The Gray Fox]

For many of us this activity--I was going to say sport, but for many of us it's much more than that--is often done as some form of prep for hunting. I used to participate in cowboy action shooting a lot. The tongue in cheek response to when a friend blazed away with negligible effect on the steel targets was, "Yeah, but he looked good doing it." Since the possibilty of the person ever encountering a desperado on the street is not too great it matters little if our friend ever improves his accuracy.

We could probably respond similarly on whichever target course we happened to be shooting in respect to a friend's shooting form--good or bad, but if the person's accuracy doesn't improve with time we have to wonder if he or she belongs in the woods that year. I know, the response can be that he always does well when the target has fur on it, but is that really the case? Just like I read somewhere recently, magazine writers seldom tell us about the shots they missed, and I doubt if most hunters do either.

[Desert Archer]

I used to be a firearms instructor (6 years in law enforcement and 10 years in private life). Just as with archery there is a proper or accepted form. My guidline was that if the student was hitting well I left them alone even if they looked kind of goofy (unless they asked for help or pointers). If they were having trouble hitting the intended target, then I offered some advice related to proper form.

An important thing I learned in training 400 armed personnel at my department was that all those people were built different. What worked for one person might not be suitable for someone with a different build or musculature.

I'm far from a archery expert but I suspect the same thing applies here. The length of your arms, the breadth of your shoulders, the shape of your face and any number of other things will dictate different form or technique for each one. Basic principles will apply but they have to work (be modified) for the individual.

Dave

[Eaglearcher]

While we all seem to be agreeing, i just thought that i would put in my two cents.
Although there is an accepted "ideal form" for shooting. It is rarely seen. As the previous posts have said. Whatever works for you, is usually better than trying to copy something that feels unnatural.
However odd your shooting stance may look, it will always work if it is consistant, and herein lies the secret. If your stance is comfortable and repeatable your shooting will improve, but it must be repeatable.
Whatever you do you will need a balanced body position, :2cents: a good anchor, and a solid bow arm. If you shoot a longbow or recurve with a bent bow arm, it is hard for the body to repeat the same position time after time and this is why the best shots seem to be the ones shooting with a straight arm. If your anchor is not solid against some point of reference on your face, it is hard for your brain to learn when it feels right, I often have problems teaching novice archers who seem to be afraid of the string, they anchor with the base of their thumbs on their chin and this allows their fingers to swing all over the place. As soon as i get them to push the sting and their fingertips into a point of refrence on their face their accuracy improves.
As long as the way you shoot is is easy for your "muscle memory" to learn. You will improve. But some ways of shooting will always be wrong.

[Bill Leslie]

"Archery really is very simple. You just have to do the same thing every time. " :) :) :)



Bill
:shooting:

"The truth really hurts sometimes."