Expansion, Aim, and Follow-Through
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As a sport rooted in accuracy, the most common misconception is that aiming is the important step in the shot cycle. Aiming is actually the least important and is the final step to execute before shot-completion. Your eyes naturally know where the center of the target is, so there’s very little work required to complete this step. Accuracy comes from consistency in form. If all the steps leading up to aiming are repeated uniformly, hitting the gold gets that much easier!
The step that archers tend to struggle with most is the one right before aiming: expansion. Much of the power in your shot comes from expansion after full-draw is accomplished. Another common misconception is that once full-draw is accomplished, movement stops. A powerful shot is one of continuous motion.
One way to imagine what really happens is to think about how energy flows through a circuit in one direction. It moves around from the draw-hand, following a path through the draw-arm, the rear scapula, and out through the bow-hand directed toward the target. This movement continues throughout the shot until the arrow is released. The short video below from Online Archery Academy depicts exactly how small a movement one needs to expand.
Note: If you’re using a clicker, try to get the point of the arrow within around a quarter inch of the clicker at full-draw so that you’re only expanding a small amount.
To expand, maintain your anchor, while moving the rear scapula toward the spine. Keep the lats (latissimus dorsi muscles) engaged to maintain low shoulders and to reach toward the target with the bow-arm. A great way to be mindful of this without devoting too much attention to that particular area is to focus on reaching into the pressure from the grip on meat of the thumb. The thumb should point toward the target while the rest of the bow-hand remains relaxed.
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Continue this small push/pull motion while imagining a squeezing sensation between the draw-forearm and biceps; this will keep the draw hand in close contact with the neck upon follow-through. One way to practice this is to use a thin cylindrical object like a pen or an arrow and have someone place it in the crook of the draw-arm elbow when shooting (or when using a stretch band); keeping this object in place during release reinforces the feeling needed to keep the draw-hand tucked close to the neck.
When following through, keep in mind that the fingers of the draw-hand should relax around the string. The fingers essentially roll off the string so the string’s trajectory continues forward rather than pulled out away from the neck (also known as plucking).
Plucking is a more conscious and deliberate release of the string which means the hand pulls it out and away from the anchor. Plucking causes the bow to turn minutely to the outside of the body which usually causes arrows to veer to the left. To avoid this, focus on relaxing the fingers around the string so the string gently pushes the fingers out of its path. A great example of this is Online Archery Academy’s slow-motion video of Korea’s Kim Woojin. Notice how relaxed his draw-hand is upon release in the video below.
Follow-Through without a Stabilizer
The tendency for many is to try to grip the riser, but a better practice is to maintain the grip position (Hook, Grip, and the Bow-Arm) until the last moment, just after the arrow has cleared the riser. Do your best to avoid dropping your riser as it can damage the bow’s limbs. It might help to gently touch your middle and index fingers to the front of the riser to maintain a certain amount of control, just be careful not to grip the riser tightly.
Follow-Through with a Finger Sling and Stabilizer
During follow-through, the bow-hand should be relaxed and allow the grip to drop away from the hand into the sling as the weight of the stabilizer drags it down. Keep the bow-arm rigid like a metal rod as the bow comes down so it swings from the fingers.
Make sure to let us know how your training is going on Facebook or Instagram using #oasarchery in your archery posts! If you’d like help analyzing your shot, send a message to @oasarchery on Instagram, the League Administrator is here to help! Stay safe and healthy, see you next time!