We all experience it at some point. The frustration and disappointment of not being able to hit the center of the target. Perhaps you were shooting terrific and then all of a sudden it’s seems to completely fall apart. Or maybe you are just starting your archery journey and are having difficulty getting better. Don’t worry, chances are you are making at least one of these 10 very common mistakes. Read on to find out what they are and how to fix them.
Arrgh…I can’t seem to hit anything…what’s going on???
Mistake #1 – Over Bowed
This is an important one! Over bowed means the draw weight of the bow is too heavy. Being over bowed does not mean you can’t pull your bow back! Instead, it refers to the inability to draw the bow properly using effective form because the draw weight is too high. It doesn’t have to be much, just a couple pounds too heavy and it becomes extremely difficult if not impossible to shoot with proper form, especially when you are first starting. Being over bowed will also lead to shaky shots, and fatigue. You will also have a much higher probability of shooting too quickly. Competition archery is a sport of precision and endurance NOT power. If your goal is to repeatedly hit bulls-eyes you need to be in full command of your bow and it’s draw weight. For a quick draw weight diagnosis, try this simple 7 second test. With proper form and muscle engagement, draw you bow back to anchor and hold it there for at least 7 seconds.
- If you feel any shaking, fatigue or muscle failure, you are over bowed. Try a bow that is 5lbs lighter until you find a draw weight you can hold steady for at least 7 seconds. This is a more appropriate draw weight for you at this time.
- If you do not feel any shaking or fatigue, you may be at a manageable draw weight for the form you are currently using. Keep in mind, this only supports the idea that you are using a manageable draw weight for that one particular form. It does not support the idea that the current draw weight is appropriate for other forms or techniques!
If you are a bowhunter this test may be problematic. In hunting, power is important. You may need a heavier draw weight for hunting than you would for target shooting. Try reducing the time from 7 seconds to 3-5 seconds. If you are unable to hold steady for at least 3 seconds with proper form and muscle engagement using the lowest draw weight necessary to hunt, I strongly urge you to reconsider bow hunting at this time. You may not be able to make the shot with enough confidence, stability, and accuracy to ethically hunt. You do not have to give it up, just work on strength training until you are ready. The US National team uses specific physical training (SPT) drills to increase strength, stamina, and power. Click here to learn how to use the SPTs for your training.
For those of you just starting in archery, I highly recommend reading my article “How draw weight kills potential”. I also have more information about selecting an appropriate draw weight in my article “The controversial draw weight agenda”.
Mistake #2 – Neglecting Eye Dominance
Your eye dominance is the tendency to prefer visual input from one eye over the other. To avoid major aiming difficulties it is important to determine your eye dominance so you can make appropriate corrections if they are necessary. Click here for a short video on how to determine your eye dominance and if you should be shooting right or left handed.
When shooting, the arrow is placed on the side of your face. It is imperative for only the eye directly above the arrow to aim. For a right handed archer, it is your right eye. If you shoot right handed but you are left eye dominant, you are cross dominant. There are two corrections for cross dominance.
- Close, cover, or obstruct your dominant eye, so that the eye above the arrow can aim
- Learn to shoot with the opposite hand so your dominant eye is above the arrow
If you do not have a clearly dominant eye, shoot the direction you are most comfortable and take appropriate measures make sure only the eye above the arrow is aiming.
Mistake #3 – Unreliable Aiming Technique
Ironically, I believe you will have better results if you operate from the mind set that a good shot is 99% form (body positioning) and only 1% aim. If you do not have a decent amount of consistency in your form, the effectiveness of any aiming technique will be drastically reduced. I talk more about this in my article “The form pyramid”. However without a reliable aiming technique, exceptional results can never be achieved.
To illustrate this point, take a look at the following visual representation of common results arising from different combinations of form and aim.
Having good form will allow you to be more precise. The better your form is, the easier it will be to group your arrows together. While good form is imperative, aim should not be overlooked. Having good aim will allow you to be more accurate. The better your aim is, the easier it will be to hit the center of the target. Notice in the diagram above, even without having good form, the results are better if you have good aim.
Learning and using a reliable aiming technique will only help you. As your form gets better, so will your results.
There are multiple aiming apparatuses and techniques. If you are not using a sight and/or just starting out, I recommend you start with a technique called Gap shooting. Gap shooting uses reference points to help you hit the bullseye. For an in-depth tutorial on how to gap shoot, I recommend downloading my free “Gap Shooting Guide”
Mistake #4 – Incorrect Arrow Spine
The spine of the arrow is how flexible the shaft of the arrow is. An arrow must flex just the right amount to shoot straight. If it does not flex enough it is too “stiff” or over spined, conversely if it flexes too much it is too “weak” or under spined. The most common problem especially for recurve archers with carbon arrows is over spine.
For a right handed archer, an over spined arrow will impact to the left even when you aim at the center. To fix this problem you need an arrow with a weaker spine. The spine of the arrow is labeled on the shaft of the arrow. Generally, the larger the number the weaker the spine. In the example below the spine of the arrow is labeled “600”
This is actually a 0.600″ (six hundred thousandths of an inch) deflection. Be aware, the number labeled is not necessarily the spine deflection. Check the manufactures spine chart to determine the actual spine of the arrow. For example an aluminum arrow commonly labeled as “2013”, is close to a 600 spine.
There are numerous factors that effect how much the spine will actually bend when the arrow is shot. To get the arrow to flex just right, I recommend starting by finding a reasonable spine and tuning from there. To find a reasonable starting spine you can use spine charts. To appropriately use the chart, you will need to know the length of your arrow and your actual draw weight. To find the arrow length, measure from the valley of the nock to the end of the shaft (excluding the point).
To find your actual draw weight you can use a bow scale or calculate your actual draw weight using the equation from my article “How your draw length affects your draw weight“. With these two measurements you can use spine charts like Easton Archery’s spine chart or shaft selector to find an appropriate spine for you.
Click Here for Easton Archery’s spine chart.
Click Here for Easton Archery’s spine selector. Note: When entering “Bow Weight” this is your actual draw weight (see above).
Below is a very quick reference you can use to see if your arrows are close to an appropriate spine rating: (quick reference is based on a 29” arrow with 100gr point)
- 15 lbs…..1400 spine
- 20 lbs…..1000 spine
- 30 lbs…..700 spine
- 40 lbs…..600 spine
- 50 lbs…..500 spine
- 60 lbs…..400 spine
- 70 lbs…..300 spine
- 80 lbs…..200 spine
Be careful, It is possible to have an arrow so weak you may be at risk of injury from your arrow breaking under the the force of the bows draw weight. If you are concerned that your arrows are too weak, please feel free to contact me or take your equipment to your local archery pro shop.
Mistake #5 – Inappropriate Nock Locator Height
The nock locator or nock set is a tiny brass clamp or an additional bit of string tied in knots on the center serving of the string to locate the placement of the arrow nock onto the string. There can be one or two nock locators.
The height of the nock locator is very important. I recommend archers shooting 3 under should start with the lowest part of the nock locator attached to the string at 1/2″ above the height of the arrow rest. Archers shooting split finger should start with the lowest part of the nock locator attached to the string 3/8″ above the height of the arrow rest. If you are shooting a compound bow with a “d loop”, the d loop should be roughly at the same height as the arrow rest bolt hole.
Use a bow square to make sure your placement is exact. Clip the bow square on the string then slide it down until the arm gently touches the arrow rest. Using the measurements on the bow square, attach your nock locator at the correct height.
Mistake #6 – Using Vanes Instead Of Feathers
I see this quite often. If you are using a traditional bow, shooting off of the shelf of the bow or using an inexpensive plastic stick on arrow rest, chances are you should be using real feathers on your arrows and not plastic vanes. It takes a very specific type of arrow rest and bow set up to successfully use arrows with vanes.
The plastic vanes are rigid and if they make contact with the bow, arrow rest, or shelf when the arrow is shot it can cause the arrow to “kick” resulting in very poor arrow flight and inconsistent results on the target. Feathers have the ability to compress and will fold out of the way if needed.
Mistake #7 – Shooting Too Fast
I know how fun it is to channel your inner Katniss Everdeen or Legolas and shoot as fast as possible. But the fact is, a slow, steady, and thoughtful shot will make you more accurate. Slowing down will allow you more time to analyze the shot and make corrections which will help you to get better in a shorter period of time. A good shot can take up to 15 seconds to complete an entire shot sequence. Slow down, try to relax, think about your process. For more information on the shooting process I teach all my students, check out my article “Learn to shoot with the form pyramid“.
Mistake #8 – Variable Anchor Position
Why is the anchor so important? The direction of the path of your arrow is entirely determined by the alignment of the nock and point end of the arrow. Each can be adjusted independently. Moving the bow will adjust the position of the point end. Moving the string will adjust the position of the nock end. If both bow position and string position are changing from shot to shot, so will the arrow alignment. This makes it next to impossible to have consistent results on the target. Because of this, you must eliminate as best as you can any variability in the positioning of the string. This is what an anchor does. Your anchor is a specific spot on your face where your hand comes to rest at full draw. Your anchor needs to be extremely consistent and repeatable. There are different anchors for different styles of shooting but they all have reference points for precision.
Again if you are new to archery and you do not already have a specific anchor for a recurve, I recommend starting with a barebow anchor. Rest your hand on your cheek so your cheek bone sits directly on top of your index finger, touch the back corner of your mouth with the tip of your index finger, and hook your thumb around the back of your jaw bone.
Make sure your anchor hand is pressing firmly into your face. Notice how the string is on the side of my nose. This can be intimidating for many beginning archers. However, I assure you the string will not tear your face off.
If you do not have a consistent anchor on your face or your hand floats in the air, “floating anchor” you will have less than ideal results on the target.
There are different anchor positions for other styles of archery. For example, Olympic recurve shooters use an under the chin style of anchor with the string touching the tip of the nose. For compound archers, the anchor is at the back of the jaw and can also depend on the type of release you use.
Mistake #9 – Pinching The Arrow
I does not matter if you shoot “3 under” or “split finger”, if you pinch or apply pressure to the arrow while it is on the string you will likely have poor results. In extreme cases you can actually push or pull the arrow off the rest while you are shooting. Which can be extremely dangerous!
Not touching the arrow is counter intuitive, many beginning archers believe they need to hold the arrow on the string. This is not true. Modern arrow nocks are designed to have a friction fit on the string so they do not fall off.
If you shoot 3 under and hook directly below the arrow, make sure that you do not also apply upward pressure into the arrow.
If you shoot split finger, separate your fingers so they are not pinching the arrow. Olympic style archers use a tab with a finger spacer.
The spacer forces your fingers apart so you do not accidentally pinch the arrow between your index and middle finger.
Mistake #10 – “Gripping” the bow
This one is tricky. The worst grip you can have on your bow is a tight and tense fist grip, with your fingers wrapping around like you are holding the handle of a hammer.
When there are multiple points of contact from you hand touching the bow especially when they are wrapped around and tensed, they can all apply opposing and inconsistent directions of force to the bow resulting in erratic and uncontrollable aiming and arrow flight. Ironically the best grip on a bow is no grip at all
There are two parts to a good grip. Position and tension.
With a good grip there should be no tension in your fingers. The fingers should be relaxed and curled and remain relaxed through the entire shot. There should be no gripping or squeezing at any time.
A common question I get asked is “If I am not squeezing and grabbing the bow won’t it fall out of my hand when I shoot?” The answer to this questions is “yes”. Which is exactly what it should do with a good grip. That is why archers use a finger or wrist sling. The sling is an additional piece of string that wraps around the front of your bow and attaches to your fingers or your wrist. When you shoot, the bow is caught by the sling so it does not fall to the ground. If you do not use a sling it is still possible to train yourself to grip the bow properly without squeezing, but it often takes a lot of training to maintain that loose grip once the arrow is shot.
The position of a good grip has two components. The first component is engaging the pressure point. The pressure point is a specific point of focus on your hand which you use to press the bow away from you. The recommended pressure point is in the center of the muscular mound at the base of your thumb (thenar eminence). This point, and this point alone, should be the only focus point pressing into the back of the grip. To engage the pressure point, flex your wrist backwards like you are telling someone to “stop” and press the pressure point into the center of the back of the grip.
The second component of good grip position, is the angle of your knuckles. Your knuckles should be rotated out so they form an approximate 45 degree angle to the arrow shelf. When you achieve this angle in your knuckles it often feels like your plam is facing the ground. Notice in the photo, to achieve the 45 degree angle, the archer’s last three fingers are off to the side of the bow not contacting the grip at all. The index finger is on the front of the grip pointing down towards the ground.
These are the top 10 mistakes I often see archers making. What are some common mistakes you have seen, and what do you think is the best solution? Please feel free to comment below. If you have any questions you can always contact me.