back tension releases

[Kuru]

I think I may of surcomed to all the hype these back tension releases produce.
I've never shot one before but I'm thinking of giving one a go, so whats recommended for someone who's never shot one, obvously they all pretty much do the same thing but whats good for a back tension newbie ?

Any help appreciated !

[Marcus]

I took one up back when I was 14. I had heaps of gold shyness and it looked like the only way out. I took my trigger releases and put them away at home, so the only release I had was a 2 finger stan release. I then shot a 2 day Fita. Didn't even break 1200 (was a 1300 shooter at the time). It was very frustrating. But I squeezed off each shot and in a few weeks was shooting personal bests.
So basically expect to decrease in scores, then you will learn to shoot it and shoot it well.
Don't use the click warning, these are very bad. Recurve shooters don't have a warning that their clicker will go off, why should a release shooter?
Also don't rip the release off, no matter what. Aim and just relax and wait. Be prepared to shoot bad and you will soon shoot very well with it.
Good luck.

[Bruce]

Gareth, the most important thing to do is to have some help setting the release up . you must not take the easy way out and set the release up fine so as it goes of easy . You need to get some work out of your back mucscles or it is a waste of time . try and get the release as deep as possible into your hand and remember no matter what to keep on pulling you should **** yourself each time the release goes off properly .

[Marcus]

I agree with most of that Bruce, however not with the so fine bit. I shoot mine pretty fine because if I start to move I get he same problem as shooting a trigger, I lock up. With my stan I have always just relaxed my release hand, maintained draw length by pulling with the back and without my knowledge it goes off.
I guess the thing is not to set it so fine you know when it's going off.

Also try to relax when you shoot it. Just let the dot of ring float on the target and make sure nothing is tense while you squeeze the release.

[James Park]

I set all of my releases as fine as I can set them without them accidentally going off.
For example, with the trigger release I used at the State Short Range (a Stanislowski), I turn the adjusting screw in until the release operates, and then back it out a sixteenth of a turn.
Leigh Cornish does the same. Bryce Lee does the same.
That is: for the way we shoot, the finer the better.

[mike]

I agree that relaxing is good. The thing you discover is that thumb trigger releases and backtension releases are basically shot the same way when shot well. Leigh Cornish for example has both his Stanislawski back tension and his Tru Ball trigger set frighteningly fine! I know, I've been standing next to him at the indoor when he has had a misfire!! (Its great to see someone like Leigh shoot one in to the protective curtain behind the targets!!! Reminds us that we are all human after all. The bugger was that it was the practise end --- he went on to win!)

I set my Stan in a 'medium position' , that is, not scary and not too hard to operate. This way, I have never (touch wood) hit myself in the face (except when the release rope broke, but thats different).

I think that a release aid should just go off whilst you are at the peak of your aim, usually about 2 - 4 seconds after you really start to aim at the 10. I am not saying that you know when it will go, but you would be suprised how predictable a 'suprise' release can be!!

I like to think of it as a 'floating' release, that is, as you aim, you are teetering or floating on the point of release, but you are steadily increasing tension, which will set it off very soon. It should not be a huge consious effort, instead a gradual increase in strain. That way, your brain knows its about to fire, but does not know precisely when -- forcing you to aim even harder at the 10. As a former national champion said to me once, you've got to really want the 10. IF the process plays itself out right, everything comes together at the point of fire -- your aiming at the 10, the tension causes the release to rotate past the point of fire and since you have been relaxed about the process and not tried to rip the string off the bow, your body cannot do anything to change the path of the arrow.

Hence not having the release set too coarse -- it forces an unatural amount of strain into the release action. Having said that, their is nothing wrong with holding a lot of poundage at the point of release, i would estimate I am pulling back about 25lbs by the time I goes off, whereas Clint Freeman has his bow set such that he is holding over 30lbs I beleive from his recent talks at DVA.

[Kuru]

I've found something better then a back tension release ! A heart rate monitor. I was shooting in south gippsland over the break, a couple of 1/4 panels in the boot and some awsome up and down hills. I take a reading of my heart rate before i shoot and set the monitor to go off at normal rate, so as I load the arrow my heart rate goes up and as I aim and relax my heart rate comes back down and bang the arrow floates into the middle ! If anyone ever gets a chance to try it, do it ! Because your trying to remain calm it brings your heart rate down, well it did for me anyway. It's a very good tool for mind aiming control

[Bruce]

Gareth , the heart rate monitor sounds like a good thing to try as a training aid .
Did you just get one of those watch thingys or something high tech

[Kuru]

Yeah Bruce it's just like a watch that reads your pulse, very interesting exercise. When I take it off I can feel myself calming down a bit more then before I thought of it so for me it's a success. It takes a little while to train yourself to just relax, sometimes I just couldn't get the pulse down but when I did it felt really good ! :)

[Marcus]

2 problems with that I can see
1) what if in a comp your heart rate doesn't change, could cause problems, especially if you are nervous.

2) Could be considered an electronic shooting aid and is thus illegal in competition. I'm a firm believer in practise like it's a comp, and thus shooting with something in practise and not in a comp will make getting into a grove harder.

Otherwise I think it's a great idea and a way to help make yourself settle down.

[James Park]

Several years ago the VIS attached heart rate monitors to Kate Hamond, Michelle Tremelling and me while we were shooting, and measured our heart rates while we shot lots of arrows, as well as what we scored.
Kate and Michelle were using recurves, I was using a (Hoyt!!) compound.
The results were quite interesting. My pulse rate was about 70 on average, when I drew the bow and started to go through my shooting routine my pulse rate fell to about 60, then immediately after I shot it went up to about 80. Then, as I went through my relaxation process it dropped back to 70 again. If I deliberately ignored my relaxation process it did not drop back to 70 but gradually the average got higher each shot and the scores got worse.
Michelle's results were the same as mine. Kate's differed a bit.

[Marcus]

I remember the AIS did a similar thing with Mandy McArdle and found her resting rate to be close to 100. When she got to full draw it dropped down to about 70. It was a huge drop comparred to the others and took everyone back a bit.

[Kuru]

I wouldn't use a monitor in comps, I'd assume it would be illegal but it was an interesting exercise and I picked up a few things which may help so for me it was a good thing

[mike]

How much is it to buy a basic heart rate monitor????

Sounds like quite a good aid to practise relaxation techniques. I have found that even a basic crappy breathing excersise performed between shots has a huge effect on your shooting form, particularly at high stress tournaments like the State Indoor.

I would be interested in refining the technique by monitoring how different breathing and I suppose mental visualisation excersizes {*i}really effect{i*} differences in heart rate

[Kuru]

You can buy a fairly cheap one from places like rebel sport, obvously it depends on what features you want buy you should be able to pick up one for under a hundred. If your interested in any other features that they come with let me know as I also use one for the gym for things like oxygen consumption and blood pressure