short distance shooting

[coxxie]

of late i've found that at the shorter distances im tensing up and my scores at short distances ar really suffering particularly 30 meters, what mental training techneics would help me to overcome this glitch.

[dbjac]

wow thats bizzare, generally the reverse happens.

It may be that you are over-aiming. As you get closer, the target appears bigger (duh!) but i find this causes me to be too obsesive about my aiming. i find i try to hold rock solid ON the X. Obviously this isnt easy, even in the best conditions, so i keep fighting the aim, holding for longer and longer. This results in a very stressed, prolonged, horrible shot. Best advice is just focus on relaxing your arms, dont tense up, get to the gold quickly, dont float around or do it slowly, and try and make it quick.

[coxxie]

your right it was taking a long time for these bad shots to go off but the x's just flowed off nicely.

[Marcus]

I know how you feel coxxie.
90m I am super relaxed, but as I get closer I get more tense. I know I can shoot 10's at close range and worry too much about missing.
The key is to practise and practise the short stuff and concentrating on aiming tight and staying relaxed. Give it time, months even, only way you can combat it is to actively work on it.

[coxxie]

i see others training at the shorter distances alot lately, but have been told the shoot is won or lost at 90 not so for me lately.

[coxxie]

thanks to both of you the help is welcome.....

[Zoe]

Would agree with dbjac and Marcus regarding the cause and that it might help to practice the short stuff a bit. Perhaps do some 30m work after a Saturday shoot (to try and replicate a bit of tiredness) and focus on relaxing the bow arm and letting the aim settle, so your release can work as fluently as it usually does. That way maybe you can start to ingrain a 'this is the way I shoot 30m' process and automate it a bit.
Another option would be to stop shooting such damn impressive 90m scores (state record today I believe) - then you might not give a rats what you shot at 30m :)

(and what happened to your avatar? It used to be so cute :()

[lewkowski]

I think that there was some voodoo going on at the grounds today. I shot recurve with you on the 30m, scored a 160 for the first half of the 30m (absolute crap, dropped 20 points), then shot a 177 for the second half of the 30m (brilliant dropped only 3 points), What's going on ????#!@##!?

I think there was too much negative attitude between you and Jason, and it bought all our scores down :-(

[NOCK HUNTER]

I would say with the closer distances you are probably over aiming which adds tension in the arms

which brings more muscles in to play

which affects stability and accuracy

[Marcus]

i see others training at the shorter distances alot lately, but have been told the shoot is won or lost at 90 not so for me lately.
I wish. While getting a good lead at 90m is very important, you still gotta hold it through to the end.
I have led a number of shoots in Vic after 90m this year and not taken it out.

Another thing to watch is fatigue. Make sure you are shooting 150-200 arrows at least once per weekend to help with that.

[Sandy Hancock]

I feel your pain Coxxie.
Last FITA I shot was great at 90 and 30, but average at 70 and 50. So....lots of practice at 70 and 50.
Today - Launceston. PB at 50, blew up at 30. Couldn't hold still, couldn't ease through the clicker, a real struggle. Scored only twelve more than at 50 :mad:
Which range will fall to bits next?

[andrewf87]

I had a similar problem Coxxie, i found that my 30 scores were below wat i would have expected them to be by a fair amount i think that was mainly because there is more pressure on yourself at 30 m to go well. I found then one day, i was shooting 30 m in a fita had a bad start and though " this isn't going to be anything special" and all the pressure was off that day i ended up beating my pb by 12 points and the next time i shot 30 metres, it was easier again as i knew i could shoot the scores.

[primal]

Key word here is RELAX. if you tense up your aim will suffer, your endurance will suffer and you will induce torque or your bow grip because you are tense.

another thing i note when shooting shorter distances is that when i miss a ten (which i know i should hit) i can get frustrated by it and TRY REALLY HARD, but thats not what will help, relaxing will help. its one thing i have notice in one or two younger archers is there inability to let go of the bad shot and relax and focus on doing the next one right.

so relax and practice, as your familiarity with a distance will help you maintain your cool. (also its just a good excuse to shoot)

[hoyt for life 2]

I'm the same as dbjack ATM blowing apart the centre on sunday at 18m today was lucky to get 1 yellow an end from 70

[Tegs]

My 45 120cm face is 2 points better then my 25m 80cm face :lol:

[Purple Hats]

I agree with what's been said previously. Another thing to remember with relaxing your bow arm is that it needs to stay relaxed all the way through the shot. I found when I shoot poorly at 30m, it is usually due to tension in the bow arm. I would relax it before I started aiming, however during the aiming process it tensed up again, without me really noticing.

So, focus on keeping your bow arm and hand relaxed all the way through the shot (I did this by consciously relaxing it for about 30 arrows and not even worrying about aiming). Since it stayed relaxed throughout the whole lot, it wasn't surprising I shot a 296 (good for me).

[The One]

I agree, relax

[txhog]

I thought 30-40 meters was about max range, 90 meters is triple that, Ive been practicing at 30m and have it spot on, at 90m is this normal, as sounds like a long shot, and is enough energy still in arrow to penetrate vitals?

i set my sight pins at 10m 20m and 30m (about)

Im only new to Archery and mainly only read American stuff about 30-40 meter shots being the normal.

[Marcus]

90m is usually only for target shooting.

[txhog]

For hunting what should 3 sight pins be set at? and what is traditional Max range, thanks

[Purple Hats]

To be honest, if shooting 90m (decently), I'd be using a target sight - with a magnifying scope if you're shooting compound. Whilst not impossible to shoot it with pins, I'm not sure if you would get the necessary clearance and whether it would be very accurate - although I suppose the recurvers manage quite well.

With regards to penetrating vitals - I don't know - My arrows penetrate the target, so whether that counts or not...

[Bia]

It happens to me too. But for me is that I get into that "50/30 is so close, I can't miss" thing. I obviously get tense because I wound't want to miss at 30.

What I'm doing now is try not to think, just concentrate on my shooting technique. I aim, but concentrate more on my body and if I'm feling my muscles on the right "position"

[Dave Shannon]

It happens to me too. But for me is that I get into that "50/30 is so close, I can't miss" thing. I obviously get tense because I wound't want to miss at 30.

What I'm doing now is try not to think, just concentrate on my shooting technique. I aim, but concentrate more on my body and if I'm feling my muscles on the right "position"

I have been through this myself. You focus harder at the further distances and when you get closer you tend to over relax and that is when you end up missing.
I would suggest that you should focus all your concentration on aiming rather than your form when competitng. If you shift your focus away from aiming, your score is going to drop, regardless of the distance.
Practice your form on a blank butt then slowly bring aiming into the equation.
Once at anchor your full concentration should be placed on aiming rather than thinking "is my bow shoulder down, am i holding the bow the same way, is my tension equalised etc.", then allow the shot to happen, dont force it.

[NOCK HUNTER]

Good call Dave!!!!!!!!!

[Robin Dud]

I seem to the opposite, but with the same problem. At 90 get tensed up very quickly if I make a poor shot, but when I get to the lower distances my psyc hology changes to "oh well, i've stuffed up my chances might as well just try out a few things" and bingo, it all comes together.