Get out there and shoot!! Its all about getting out there and shooting right? Right? What does that mean? Where do you start, whats the first step? Do I just get up to the line and fling an arrow with all my might and hope it hits home?  Well if you are the beginning archery and your just starting to shoot this post is going to give you a very basic lesson and a great starting point. If you are an experienced shooter and just want a recap on what you need to do to put it all together prior to the release this may be a great refresher lesson.

Before you can just get up and pull back and let the arrow go you must first work on your stance.  I like the open stance myself as it makes me use my back muscles more and primarily, and the term back-tension is thrown around a lot in archery shooting.  Stand up to the line with your back foots instep facing your target, take your front foot and put the toe in the instep of your back foot, now move that foot forward to should with apart.  You should instantly feel that you have most of your weight balanced now and on the balls of your feet, you do not want to be putting to much pressure on the back foot or front foot it needs to be evenly distributed. Next step, move your feet 30 degrees towards the target.

Next step is to take your arrow and put it on the string, this is called knocking an arrow.  Next step is to put your release onto the bow loop or D-Loop, now that your arrow is knocked your feet are in the right position and your release is on it is time to pull back, right? NOPE! Now we are going to concentrate on your grip. The key is to take your hand and line the bow arm up with the rest of the body, the riser should rest between your thumb and forefinger, with the weight of the bow being pushed against the meaty part of your hand.  Now we take a look at the elbow, it should be in a perfect line with your arrow no higher, no lower.  Now you want to create a bubble with your elbow as you bring it back rotating only your chest to square off the body.  Anchor and sight in the target, now slowly and steadily began raising the elbow up and pulling it back with your back muscles until the shoot is triggered.  If you are using a tension release this is the way it goes off, the key word being tension and you must have back tension.

If you are using a trigger style release before you begin this step after you have anchored and sighted in, put your finger or thumb (depending on the style of release you have) on the trigger then began to use back tension to set off the release.  It should startle you if done correctly.  Now those a few of the steps it take to put a shot together correctly.

This is going to take practice and at first probably wont feel natural but you will see with practice preparing for the shot is much more important then taking the shot.  Good luck and Happy shooting.  Next we will be discussing the mental aspect of the game and  …More at Get Out & Shoot