Could you comment as to my form?

[Odie]

Recently I hade some pictures taken from my shooting.
Could you pls comment on my form?
WHat shall I work on in order to be more consistent, ans shoot better groups?

http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h64/Odie11/

Cheers

[Little Miss Purple]

I would need to be able to shoot my own longbow first before giving anyone else advice!!

[JohnK]

Bear in mind that I'm not a qualified coach.

However, having looked at your pics, I think one of the obvious problems you can address immediately is your posture. Your back is extremely arched and your chest is sticking right out. This will stop you getting a good line and prevent your back muscles taking the load.

You need to think about keeping your body straight rather than putting a big arch into it. I suggest you get a light bow or exercise band and practice better posture. Before and during the shot you should think about tensing your stomach muscles a little, lowering the rib cage (rather than sticking it out) and perhaps even leaning forwards ever so slightly, putting a little more of your weight on your toes rather than your heels.

More importantly, you need to find a recommended coach in your area who can help you with stuff like this. Analysis of pictures over the net can be very useful, but there's no substitute for competent face-to-face coaching.

Good luck and good shooting

[robtattoo]

Just a little thing I noticed, either your nocking point is too low, or you're gripping the bow too high. In the first two pics it looks like your arrow is pointing slightly uppards. Also if you're shooting off your hand, it may benefeit you to cant your bow slightly. Bearing in mind I'm new to this meself, don't take it as gospel

[robtattoo]

Just had another look. Your bow has an arrow shelf cutaway. Use that instead of shooting off your hand!

[geoffretired]

The position of your arms in relation to each other looks sound. A good draw force line. I agree with JohnK that you arch your back perhaps more than necessary. Do you do that deliberately or are you not aware of it?
In the shots that show the loose and follow through, it looks like the elbow is being pulled down, and the hand is thrown up, while the head is thrown back.
This is a lot of movement and in different directions. Some of it may be connected to the arched back.
In order to be more accurate, I think it would be better to loose the arrow in a simpler way. If you imagine the movement of the drawing elbow from the start to reaching the references, it mainly follows a curve that it is coming round into line and it tends to end up slightly lower than the level it started from. When the string sets off, the elbow could just continue the movement; a bit further round and slightly down but not much.The string hand will end up on your shoulder, not up at eye level.
If you decide you want to go that way it would be a good idea to send me a PM with the suggestions put into your own words, that way I will know if I described the action well enough. You may get other advice you wish to follow. I would do the same with that; put the info into your own words and send a PM or reply. ( sometimes text doesn't always get the messages across as intended)
Great photos! What a great place to shoot!The word "envy" springs to mind.

[Odie]

Thx for feedback guys,

1. I fuly agree about the arched back. I was not aware I was doing that. I thing that may be related to the fact that I'm just a little bit overbowed. ANyways, I have a weaker bow at home, so I'll try to shoot that for a while.

2. Robtattoo - You may be on to something with thye nocking point position. I think that the main issues with my shooting are: form and not tuned equipment.

Yes the place to shoot is great, but it's guite far from where I live, so it's difficult to go over there on work days. I am searchng for a place closer to me home, where I will be shooting shorter distances and concentrate on form only.

[geoffretired]

You got the message, Odie. We must speak the same language!! Usually , when the elbow works well, the hand goes along with the decisions.
Let us know how you get on.

[Odie]

Sure, I'll keep you posted

CHeers

[JohnK]

Good luck Odie. Hope it goes well for you