DavidH
New member
I've been shooting very badly recently, with arrows flying everywhere except where intended. For sometime now I've been using 5/16 shafts with small fletches and following a disastrous shoot last weekend I started to go back to basics. I shot from about 5 yards without worrying about aim, with a short draw length and started to step back slowly increasing my draw length until I reached a normal draw. I tried to be totally relaxed and if you like was shooting instinctively. I started to concentrate on anchor position and drawlength and an archer I have respect for told me all looked good, but by the time I was back to 15 yards the groups were going haywire again.
As it happens, I'd taken some old 11/32 arrows with nice big fletches on. As soon as I swapped to these arrows, the groups tightened up considerably, and at 20 yards I started to group to about 8 inches diameter, not always in the gold, and with the odd arrow going astray but at least my form was back to what I was getting a couple of years back.
I know that large fletches will group better at short distances but the difference is so significant I wonder if there could be other reasons, maybe the shaft size also.
We talk a lot about instinctive shooting in these forums and I was totally focused on the gold throughout. I don't know how many arrows I shot but I was there a good 4 hours and about 2 of those totally on my own, without having to put up with the 60s club banter My last arrow, before being called away by a phone message was smack in the middle, a lovely way to end.
Although I was aware of the arrow point with every shot, it was the gold I concentrated on and dare I say, naturally compensated for a low or high arrow. I wonder if I was shooting instinctively
As it happens, I'd taken some old 11/32 arrows with nice big fletches on. As soon as I swapped to these arrows, the groups tightened up considerably, and at 20 yards I started to group to about 8 inches diameter, not always in the gold, and with the odd arrow going astray but at least my form was back to what I was getting a couple of years back.
I know that large fletches will group better at short distances but the difference is so significant I wonder if there could be other reasons, maybe the shaft size also.
We talk a lot about instinctive shooting in these forums and I was totally focused on the gold throughout. I don't know how many arrows I shot but I was there a good 4 hours and about 2 of those totally on my own, without having to put up with the 60s club banter My last arrow, before being called away by a phone message was smack in the middle, a lovely way to end.
Although I was aware of the arrow point with every shot, it was the gold I concentrated on and dare I say, naturally compensated for a low or high arrow. I wonder if I was shooting instinctively