help needed

[Tony_zelah]

I was asked to help a junior from another club last night. The problem is when they draw the bow, soon as the bows drawn a few inches their fingers just release the string, its a subconscious reaction. Any suggestions of how to help him please let me know.

[CPlater1]

Try to get them to hink of holding onto something they dont want to let go of. ie, try and get them to imagine tug-o-war or something similar where they need to keep hold. OR you could try a funny bow (if your club has one) which is a bow with no draw weight at all.

Get them to shoot at a black bail, and use a very light bow. Sounds like an extreem form of TP. I can relate to that as I had that from day one.

[mk1]

You can have him draw at a close boss, no target and if need be with eyes shut. You've probably already checked that the bow weight is OK. Once you can get him shooting - preferably at a close target biggest face, the target can be moved back in increments and then the target face size reduced.

Often at the initial stages some archers find it difficult to co-ordinate getting back to the chin aiming and letting go. The brain then gets into a short circuit of "see gold let go." Focus needs to be put on FINISHING the shot and in line with the target, NOT shooting for a score or even to hit the middle. Introducing a clicker is recommended as soon as you feel it could work for the archer. It does help mentally in finishing a shot (provided its in the correct place) as the archers knows he has to pull through it.

Remember all this may take several weeks of practise and progress may be slow. If old habits creep back in go back a stage.

[geoffretired]

Tony, has the junior been shooting long or not? The reason I ask is that he may have developed this after having had a fair technique, or he may never have reached his face yet!
If he has learnt how to let go so soon, he will have to learn something else rather then trying to "unlearn" the current form.
If space is available outside, I would suggest you get him to shoot arrows as FAR as he can.( NO target) He will soon be pulling back the extra length to get the extra distance.
Another idea is to stick some tape round the arrow, so far from the end. Ask him to pull as far as the tape reaching the rest, before letting go. Each time he succeeds, move the tape nearer the end. This will need to be done at close range so he can see the tape and still be confident of hitting the boss.

[madmac]

try getting them to draw with their eyes closed ,settle ,open eyes then release at a boss(not a target) not too far away or instead of releasing every draw get them to release every other draw just to get them too feel that they dont have to release on every draw with the lightest bow the club has and build up

[mk1]

Originally Posted by madmac

try getting them to draw with their eyes closed ,settle ,open eyes then release at a boss(not a target) not too far away

I'm sure you really didn't mean to say this

Originally Posted by madmac

or instead of releasing every draw get them to release every other draw just to get them too feel that they dont have to release on every draw with the lightest bow the club has and build up

getting someone with a snap shooting problem to practise NOT releasing when they see the target is the essence - it is part of the process that helps the archer regain control.

I do like geoffretired's ideas as they give the archer something completely different to do and by adding a "fun" element to the (re)training turn in into more of game than the serious exercise it really is

Gosh I've picked up some handy hints

[madmac]

The idea was to get the archer away from hitting gold and concentrate on his form and how it feels at full draw,then for him to open eyes aim and then release, the problem sometimes is that as soon as the eyes are open they release so to get them to open eyes and aim then to come down again and then back up to full draw is so that the archer is then in control and doesnt feel that if you are at full draw you have to release, part of my thinking came from kyudo where they start shoot at a straw boss (shaped like a barrel end on) at a very short distance to get the form and release correct and not scores or target hitsbefore going in longer distances.