Fed-up new archer - Is it me?

[komtox]

Hi David, Glad to hear that your getting sorted, stick with it & all will come good in the end. We have a junior join our club 18 months ago, she was having all the same problems. She now shoots for the county junior squad & holds 4 county records (junior). What one can do others can follow..........

[div_ad]

I have improved a bit so thank you for all your advice and encouragement. My last 3 shoots have seen a steady (though not miraculous) improvement.

I probably do most of the bad things you suggest but all at different times. ie consistently inconsistent.

I have taken advice from a number of club members as well.

I think my draw and my anchor point is better and a softer button has helped but I think I am inclined to snatch at the string, wobble during aiming and creep forward with my right hand. I have stamina problems too which mean that my second half is always worst and a bad psychological problem which has led to my last 3 arrows being the worst score of the round for the last 3 shoots.

Apart from that ........

[bite_me]

I've been doing archery for less than a year and i've had the same problems. I started getting consistent with the bow before I really adjusted it but I should have done it earlier, still I knew that my shooting method was fairly consistent so that helped.

Firstly I had the poundage increased as I struggled to reach 60yds (it was only 28lbs, i'm only small), then I got the centre shot sorted, then I spent 3 days tuning the button properly shooting at 20yds until it was acceptable and since then it's been fine but it was all a case of trial and error.

None of this was done without advice though or I would never have been able to do it. You just have to keep trying and it all comes right in the end.

[bigalpendry]

I had a similar experience when I started. It came down to changes in my stance and inconsistencies in my anchor point.

Don't lose faith!

[Desert Archer]

The thing about cliches is, they are often true...

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it!

Dave

[div_ad]

Hi there.

Not so fed up now. Scored 495 for a Portsmouth last night.

It would have been better if I had ignored the advice to change my sights which some kind soul suggested but then...

For the first time I feel I have a consistent draw length. Must work on the release now.

I'm still shooting left but not quite so badly.

[FlourPower]

Excellent, 495 is not to be sniffed at when you're starting out on new kit.

How much do you want those extra 5 points though?

[HelenT]

Originally Posted by div_ad

Hi there.

Not so fed up now. Scored 495 for a Portsmouth last night.

It would have been better if I had ignored the advice to change my sights which some kind soul suggested but then...

For the first time I feel I have a consistent draw length. Must work on the release now.

I'm still shooting left but not quite so badly.

If it helps, I found that my arrows were too stiff for the bow, which sent them off to the left. No amount of changing the button worked. Had to get new arrows to solve it.

[Veronika]

David, I also had a problem with arrows going consistently off to one side (left, I am right-handed) after getting a new (magnetic) arrow rest. It took three sessions of fiddling with it by three club members before they adjusted it but it solved the problem.

What arrow rest are you using? If it's one of the cheap stick-on things, this might well be a problem because arrows won't align properly and it cannot be adjusted, except perhaps by putting it on a thicker/thinner spacer (the thing that is between the riser and the arrow rest and determines how far to one side it is from the riser).

It took me months before I got more consistent results with my new (i.e., first "real") bow. Keep at it, it'll work eventually, it just may take longer than you expect.

[grahamc]

back to the original problem... how do you aim? a fellow member at my club had a similar issue this morning, where he was aiming at the left target, but kept hitting the right one. sight was at it limits, etc.

his issue was that he was not the lining the string up with something like the sight or riser (window). So even though the sight was on the correct target (arrows were not) his rear hand movement would destroy the shot.

After a couple of ends trying this and changing his sight, all started to come together nicely.

Good luck... its all well worth it when it all comes together properly