It's all in the form

I had read an article by the well known archery coach Terry Wunderle that has had a positive impact on my shooting as of late.

ADVOCACY & EDUCATION

Tom Rose

9/2/20132 min read

I had read an article by the well known archery coach Terry Wunderle that has had a positive impact on my shooting as of late. Mr. Wunderle's was speaking on the use of good form and the importance of focusing on form during each shot sequence.

For a long time I thought the road forward to archery shooting success was to first ingrain the form and then develop the mental aspects. I held some practice sessions working on form and the rest developing the mental concentration to aim. I was one of those guys who thought that once at full draw and settled in that form was then to be forgotten and to give myself over completely to aiming. Mr. Wunderle's article has changed that for me. He puts emphasis on focusing on form throughout the shot saying that most shots are missed because there was a mental break down in form and not because the pin wasn't on the target.

In my heart of hearts I had known this to be true even before I read the article, and I knew that I had to give myself over to focusing on form completely before I would improve much more at the sport.

First in foremost in my opinion is that a shooter must spend the hours developing good formand timing. After he/she has gotten that done, and has developed the act into a very good and positive feeling, it is only a matter of duplicating that same form with every shot. Focusing on consistently good form from shot to shot is calming because the focus is off the itty-bitty target and is on a feeling that is positive when it is executed properly. This effect has actually steadied me up more than days spent on practicing aiming. Now it seems that the pin has a way of simply anchoring itself onto the spot, and when there is some movement more often than not the brain has a way of putting the arrow right where it is needed.

I think that there is a very important caveat that goes along with focusing on form in a tournament situation and that is you must have your form to the point that your focusing on it as a complete package. What I mean here is that in my experience focusing on form has to be taken all together and that the focus has to be on the good feeling that form when correctly executed brings. I have fallen apart at times by focusing on one element of form - the release hand, the bow hand, of the tension in the back. I hope that is understood - that by focusing on any one thing might mean trouble.

I know plenty of guys who still drill a hole into the spot with complete focus on aiming and are successful - no shoe fits all. But maybe some who are struggling to get ahead might give this a try. It might save you time, panic, and stress, and will put the fun back where it should be --------> in the act of simply releasing the arrow!