Back Tension - Theory and Reality

As part of my rehabilitation as a born again recurve shooter, I have read quite a bit of literature regarding the draw, the application of back tension using the back muscles and scapulae and I believe I have a far grasp of what the theory is trying to achieve.

I have noticed during my personal practice thatachieving back tension using just the back muscles, but not involving the drawing arm in any active sense is one of the most mysterious processes I have ever come across.

In fact the only way I can get the arrow through the clicker is to actually draw it back using my right arm. Now whether my back muscles are involved in any active sort of way is a moot point because there is simply too much going on at this time for me to be aware of all of the nuances of feelings.

In an effort to try to further my uderstanding of this process I have taken to studying videos which I have found on the net, of recurve archers, mainly but not exclusively, top Korean archers and have noticed something which I found to be a bit of an eye opener.

What I have been looking for in these videos have been evidence of the movement of the drawing arm elbow in a backwards direction, movement of the drawing arm shoulder and movement of the bow arm towards the target - and I can discern none at all.

What appears to be happening is this. The archer draws the arrow through the clicker until just the barest tip of the point remains in contact with it.
The archer then aims at the target and applies the very tiniest bit of additional back movement of the arrow to cause the clicker to fall and then releases. This movement is so minute that I cannot detect any sign of it even in the close ups of the archer going through the process.

Equally the back views of the archers performing the same actions indicate no movement of any sort in the back or shoulder area, once again confirminig to me that any movement that is taking place is so miniscule as to be indiscernable.

Nowhere in any of the archery instructional texts is the draw, pull through the clicker and release descibed in such a fashion as to give a true indication of what should be happening. I have never seen any text describing drawing the arrow back through the clicker and holding the clicker cocked with just the tiniest portion of the arrow point.

Anyway the upshot of this is that because I never understood that this is how it is supposed to happen, I've been trying to train myself to do something that no good recurver seems to do ie I draw so that a good portion of the point still remains under the clicker and when I settle on aim, I then start a physical draw back to get the arrow clear of the clicker. This movement would be easily discernable because I can feel my right elbow travelling backwards quite markedly.

So, how many coaches are teaching their students to shoot the way the top archers are doing it and how many are teaching them to do it the way I have been mistakenly doing it. Is it important? You bet! It changes the whole way of executing the shot and debunks a lot of stuff that has been written about so-called back tension as the motivating agency in the draw.

If you want to see some of the videos I have been viewing you will find them at the following website: http://www.texasarchery.org/

When you get there, click on the "Photographs" heading on the left margin menu, then on that new page click on the "High Speed Video Library". Some of the videos take a while to download even with broadband, so if you have dial up modems you are going to be in for a long wait, regrettably.

The other thing worth checking when you view some of these videos is the depth of the hook these archers use. They don't look very deep to me and many of them appear to be the shallow type hook that I am now using. Once again I am forced to ask if we are being told the correct things about a proper hook because the difference between theory and actual practice seems to be very different.

[joetapley]

Nowhere in any of the archery instructional texts is the draw, pull through the clicker and release descibed in such a fashion as to give a true indication of what should be happening. I have never seen any text describing drawing the arrow back through the clicker and holding the clicker cocked with just the tiniest portion of the arrow point.

Total Archery and The Heretic Archer are two recent books describing "modern" technique. Lots of discussions on this topic in Sagi board also.

So, how many coaches are teaching their students to shoot the way the top archers are doing it

Very few I should imagine. The US is currently running their BEST program aimed at teaching coaches how to shoot a recurve. No doubt other countries will follow suit. This to some extent why so many countries are employing Korean coaches. At least their national squads get a coach that has some know how. Too bad about everybody else. Having folowed the same "self taught" route as yourself I don't believe it's possible to master the "back tension" approach without a coach.

[grantwomack]

It wasn't until I was receiving coaching that I fully understood back tension (or back pressure, since tension isn't really the right word). I would say that drawing until the tip of your point is under the clicker is one of the easiest ways to gain points. It requires so little pressure - but it must be pressure and not a flinch - to get it through the clicker, the shooter can wait until he/she is fully settled until they apply it and immediately get it through the clicker.
Recently I've been paying more attention to different aspects of my shot routine. Not trying to change things, just an awareness. I've found that I wait until I settle on the gold before continuing the expansion process. In this way, I score much higher than just having a steady expansion the whole way through the shot. However, this can lead to shot anticipation so you must be careful not to wait to settle then "pull" it through the clicker. That's how target panic can develop.
It's always such a fine balance!

[Murray]

No one I know of would coach such a method, but of course, what works for you, might be right for you. I went through a phase some years ago where I drew up very slightly short and as I pulled back into anchor, the clicker dropped and I shot the arrow. It was more to do with a phase of target/clicker panic than any reliable technique though (but it did help me shoot some nice arounds in an indoor team head-to-head!)

Back tension is a misnomer IMO, it's less about tension and more about "leverage" or "expansion" across the shoulders, with the front shoulder reaching out to the target, and the back shoulder moving (slightly round and back). It works for me ONLY if there's a small amount of movement necessary to drop the clicker (which means my line and head position needs to be consistent), but it can be very powerful, and allows the other muscles to relax (and hence clean up the release)

The problem with coaching such techniques is that it's VERY hard to describe the feeling, and it's also very hard to spot if the archer is performing the shot in exactly that way.

[WhitehartFB]

Re Back tension

The only way I have found to understand back tension if you do not have a coach to help identify when you are doing it right is to borrow or buy the Formaster Training aid it's not cheap. Both the rigid set up used for reversals and the elastic set up will tell you when and how it feels to use the back. If you shoot an arrow using the elastic set up and you are not using your back the foremaster will exagerate the collapse of the shot.

http://www.spin-wing.com/prod02.htm

I'm still none the wiser about this back tension issue. I was practising again today and carefully pulling my arrow through the clicker until just a tiny portion of the tip was holding it up. I actually tried to activate the muscles around the scapula to try to pull the arrow through the clicker but nothing would happen.

The only way I could get it through the clicker was by applying additional pressure using my drawing arm.

I understand some of the top archers advocate a foward thrust of the bow arm to achieve this result. This seems a little more easily understood and applied, to me.

I had a look at the Formaster and I apologise in advance for this but how is it supposed to work?

[geoffretired]

When archers consistently draw to the clicker and pull through the last 1mm it already means they have reached a high level of refinement in their technique. For most club level archers, getting consistently within 1cm of the clicker is quite difficult.To draw and settle and aim while so near the end of the pile requires a huge amount of skill and confidence. This can only come with hours of practice and good practice at that. Most archers do not practise drawing to a length. They practise shooting arrows. They reinforce disappointment as they are constantly trying to get better without following a set programme. If they,"shoot enough arrows they will improve," seems to be the only plan they follow.
I have felt for some time now, that the draw is far more important than most archers realise. For many, the important part doesn't start till they are trying to get on aim. I call the draw a journey made by the elbow. The journey needs careful planning so the same route is used every time. The starting place and the destination need to be planned in detail so the route can be repeated. Journey speed reduces as the distance increases. As the end is approached, the speed is almost zero. The last 1mm or so takes longer than the previous 50cm but that is when the references need to be found and settled into.( the sight being one of those references)
I think timujin's past technique would have been good enough in his early stages. Drawing 1cm through would be realistic in the early days. As he improved he could try to get within 5mm and slowly reduce that over time, with practise. He is right to ask whether coaches teach the minimum distance left under the clicker. I feel that it should be the ultimate objective, but for some it will never get less than 1cm or so as they cannot give the necessary time to perfecting that aspect.

[joetapley]

The only way I could get it through the clicker was by applying additional pressure using my drawing arm.

If you use the old maxim "shoulders back-chest out" this will provide the necessary expansion. (Think shoulder movement rather than scaplua movement)

I understand some of the top archers advocate a foward thrust of the bow arm to achieve this result. This seems a little more easily understood and applied, to me.

Pure push probably technically superior but technically more complex - probably needs a knowledgeable coach else a lot of trial and error.

[WhitehartFB]

Originally Posted by timujin

I had a look at the Formaster and I apologise in advance for this but how is it supposed to work?

Agreed and the simple but useless advice is to try it, I took mine down to my club and it has helped a few of our intermediate archers to stop using their arms and start shooting using thier back.

However here goes

Initially I would set up the foremaster with the rigid cord, you fix this to the bow string making sure that the length of the cord will enable you to pull your bow string back to your initial anchor point,not with your fingers but the harness on the elbow, this way you negate the ability to use your arms to pull the string back. It takes a bit of getting used to but you will find that when you are at full drawer it is your back holding the draw not your arms. It also helps to improve your line.

If you use the elastic instead and fix it in the same way to the string shoot an arrow (using your fingers as you normally shoot) into a boss at 5 Yrds, (most of the energy is absorbed by the elastic) if you are not using your back then you will feel all the forces in your arms collaping the shot.

Hope that is not as clear as mud, the instructions with the aid take 4 pages to answer the same and I don't have access to a scanner .

[Max]

Originally Posted by timujin

I'm still none the wiser about this back tension issue. I was practising again today and carefully pulling my arrow through the clicker until just a tiny portion of the tip was holding it up. I actually tried to activate the muscles around the scapula to try to pull the arrow through the clicker but nothing would happen.

I know exactly how you feel Timujin. It took me ages to isolate that particular muscle group - even to feel it, and I am not exactly sure I got it right even then. I found that I could not use, or feel those muscles if I tried to transfer the weight onto them late in the draw. I had to spend hours with a garden cane and a piece of string, just drawing up and feeling for the muscles - eventually it twigged, but it took a lot of effort.

Formaster helps because it transfers the load to the elbow and upper arm from the start. That forces the back muscles to take much more of the load - at least that is the theory.

I ended up pre-loading the shoulder muscles as part of the early draw stage and keelpng them in action as I pulled through. Maybe I got that wrong as well, but if helped a lot and I could tell that by arm muscles were having a much easier time of it.