# Can't Hold Steady



## Dmiket (Jul 9, 2014)

I can't hold steady to save my life, and was hoping I could get some tips on it. I don't think I'm a terrible shot, 291 at league, but would like to hold steadier.


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## strandbowhunter (Jan 6, 2010)

Assuming that you shoot an Elite Answer... as your sig suggest. First question would what length stabs do you use with weights. Also what DL are you. I have a buddy that will add or take away twist in his string until he finds that perfect spot that allows him to hold. But I think I would begin with the stab and weights first.


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

Gonna need a little more info.
Some set-up info (Draw and holding weight, stab set up, choice of sight style etc)
How do you release...what is your firing engine?


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## montigre (Oct 13, 2008)

My first questions would be how long have you been shooting spots and how frequently do you practice on a regular basis?


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## Dmiket (Jul 9, 2014)

I have an 11" stab on the front with 3 oz, nothing on the back ($$$$) 29" draw, 65# draw, hold 13 lbs, shoot a Scott Longhorn 4, one pin sword scope, and I practice everyday, I really practice form and shot execution, but I can't get my pin to hover in the middle.


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

My first thought is that you might want to try to bump up the holding weight.
Many find something in the 18-22 pound range to be quite helpful.


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## montigre (Oct 13, 2008)

How long have you been shooting spots? Shooting spots requires a lot finer muscle control than it does to shoot a blank bag target or paper plate in the back yard.... if you have just recently become serious about shooting spots, it is going to take a significant amount of time for your "archery muscles" to become accustomed to holding a bow and aiming at a dime-sized or quarter-sized dot at 20 yards.

Don't rush the process, with time, smart practice and exposure to as many different shooting conditions as possible (like you will find with local league or tournament play) you will find that your hold will start to become much steadier. Then, when you're consistently pushing that 300 mark, or you've started shooting even on a 3d course, look into playing with your gear to improve your hold further. 

If you get all the high-end target gear before putting in enough string time for it to pay off for you, you'll just end up chasing your tail for quite a while until your body catches up....


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## EPLC (May 21, 2002)

OMG, there are just so many things that can impact float. I've never been one that has been rock solid but lately have been seeing a lot of improvement in my float due to a lot of work on it. On most days now I am floating within the gold on most shots and let down the ones that aren't (and I let down a lot).


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## James Teeslink (Jan 18, 2014)

Just have fun and don't forget that your brother will always be better than you.


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## Dmiket (Jul 9, 2014)

Thanks for the input, I'll try to bump up the holding weight a bit, and just be patient with it.


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

Honestly, this is one of the times that I would look as much at someone who if getting through it as much as I would a coach.
EPLC has made some big strides it seems in his quest for better float. Perhaps a search of his threads can find some mutual issues.


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## widnert (Feb 19, 2014)

One other thought to consider, and something I've seen here locally at our shoots too, is are you pulling too much weight? Just because you can actually pull it back, doesn't mean it's set correctly for your strength. Even with the let-off of the modern compound bows, I have watch sooooo many people struggle to pull their string back, then have serious float while holding and trying to aim. Mainly, they do this because everyone they shoot with is pulling 70lbs so they feel they have to also. Not sure what your situation is with your bow but, might be something to consider, to dial-back your draw weight a little and work your way back up gradually. There is nothing wrong with shooting a lighter draw weight, if it makes you a better shooter.

As an example, I'm 6'4" and weigh 280. When I got back into archery shooting some years ago, I was only pulling 55lbs. It took me 2 years to work my way up to 70lbs. And I'm not a small guy. Nothing wrong with backing off on the weight until you're more comfortable shooting it. But, like I said, I don't know enough about your situation so, this is just a suggestion.


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## thenson (Mar 23, 2004)

As already said, it could be one of hundreds of things or even an interaction between several things.

I saw something Nuts&Bolts either posted or e-mailed me about one guy he was helping seemed to be rocking back and forth just a little while he was aiming and they eventually found out that he had a subtle problem in his back...

It could be draw weight, your draw length could be too long or too short, it could just be physical fatigue. I heard another person say that over time they developed a bit of a tremor and fought it for many years and finally switched and started shooting left handed and could hold much steadier...

I would start with having someone like Nuts&Bolts critique your form to see if there are any basic, foundational issues. There are potentially hundreds of possible variables and best to start back at the beginning. Go back to the basics and make sure you have a strong foundation. Stance, draw length, body alignment, nock point, anchor point, elbow and arm position and alignment etc...

Take a look at a thread started by "LadyBowhunter12" that was started in November or December of last year... Hours of reading there...

good luck,
thenson


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## Topper1018 (Feb 19, 2013)

I come back to the same answer for almost every problem these days. as long as draw is decent and comfy and there are not radiating form flaws, one can acheive a decent aim, all this string twisting and other micro tuning stuff comes into play to help a 55x shooter bring their x count up to the next level. it really isnt for helping a 290 shooter become a 300 shooter. The biggest problem shooters always run into is smooth shot execution, and no anticipation. You can spend countless hours working your release on the blank or blind bale, i know ive done it, only to put pin to target and watch it dance like a drop of water on a fry pan. smooth slow, steady execution with no regard to what the pin is doing will actually ALLOW the pin to sit steadier. I stress allow because too many try to MAKE it sit still instead of ALLOWING it to float.


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## Lazarus (Sep 19, 2005)

Topper1018 said:


> The biggest problem shooters always run into is smooth shot execution, and no anticipation.


100% truth. I wish more people would share this message. Smooth shot execution has far more to do with a good hold than do stabilizers and weights. If you can bridge the 2" gap between your brain and your release hand your hold will go nearly dead still, no matter what the setup, provided that you are of average physical capabilities.


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## sky hunter (Jan 31, 2015)

idk if it will help but I practice indoors over the winter every day. put a small dot on the wall across the room say ten feet away and hold your pin on the dot see how long you can relax at full draw and hold center. eventually you will be able to do this longer and longer


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## bowman72 (Jan 13, 2009)

Search out padgett's articles. He has a float/ float shoot drill that could be helpful. 

If you can float better when you are not shooting- your float is being affected by anticipation of the shot.


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## EPLC (May 21, 2002)

All this is well and good, but I've discovered some important things about holding recently that I wasn't letting sink in. I now firmly believe that you first have to "learn" the simple act of putting the pin in the middle. So many skip right by this little tidbit and go right into execution, HW changes, DL changes, stabilizer changes, etc., etc., etc. I know because I've done it all and nothing helped my float because I was working on and trying to fix everything but. Over the years I learned to shoot around it and this "can" be somewhat effective... which in itself can be a double edge sword. It's only been since October that I have come to the realization that float is something that can be worked on and reduced successfully.

I had to change my priorities from being result driven to a more process driven attitude. I stopped scoring everything a while back and placed as much of my focus as I could on my process. I have also been studying my float and by doing so I have discovered a few things. The first thing I discovered was that I could actually float within the gold if that was my only goal. I then discovered that if I tried to execute within that float window I was pulling myself off center. So then I had to find a firing engine that did not mess with my float. I am still working on this but I am making progress. So far what I have found is that I cannot "pull" through the shot process using back tension or any other means. What I can do is use back tension to hold while executing the shot with some hand manipulation and/or relaxation of the thumb and index. Like I said this is a work in progress, but progress is being made. 

For the longest time I believed that your float was what it was and there wasn't much that could be done about it. This was a misconception on my part. What I did not understand was that when people were talking about not paying attention to the movement, they didn't mean the movement couldn't be worked on and made better. Actually very few actually ever said that, or if they did I was oblivious to it. What a novel idea!

I'm also going to mention that if I can do this at 69 years old, I believe anyone can. I did have to toss out some old preconceived notions about this whole idea and start with a clean slate.


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## Cris Anderson (Oct 22, 2014)

EPLC said:


> All this is well and good, but I've discovered some important things about holding recently that I wasn't letting sink in. I now firmly believe that you first have to "learn" the simple act of putting the pin in the middle. So many skip right by this little tidbit and go right into execution, HW changes, DL changes, stabilizer changes, etc., etc., etc. I know because I've done it all and nothing helped my float because I was working on and trying to fix everything but. Over the years I learned to shoot around it and this "can" be somewhat effective... which in itself can be a double edge sword. It's only been since October that I have come to the realization that float is something that can be worked on and reduced successfully.
> 
> I had to change my priorities from being result driven to a more process driven attitude. I stopped scoring everything a while back and placed as much of my focus as I could on my process. I have also been studying my float and by doing so I have discovered a few things. The first thing I discovered was that I could actually float within the gold if that was my only goal. I then discovered that if I tried to execute within that float window I was pulling myself off center. So then I had to find a firing engine that did not mess with my float. I am still working on this but I am making progress. *So far what I have found is that I cannot "pull" through the shot process using back tension or any other means.* What I can do is use back tension to hold while executing the shot with some hand manipulation and/or relaxation of the thumb and index. Like I said this is a work in progress, but progress is being made.
> 
> ...


The part in bold!! Absolutely!!

I'm using a Carter Chocolate Lite thumb trigger, with my thumb pad rested on the shelf, rather than the trigger. When I first started with this setup, it was wicked accurate (probably because I was subconsciously triggering the shot manually). In the time since however I've found that if I try to use 'back tension' to 'execute' the shot...I miss. Hard. Every time. My release arm has pressure applied, my bow arm is fighting the bow being pulled out of line, and when the release fires my bow arm explodes left from the release of pressure. It started me down a path of anticipation and correction to try to get my pin back in line before the shot actually went off. I finally gave up on the back tension and rested my thumb on the trigger and slowly...gently squeezed. This took the pressure out of the shot, and still allowed a somewhat unanticipated release. Tonight I found this firing engine on Padgett's blog, and it turns out it's a nice combination of the two:



> Two Finger firing engine for Thumb Triggers:
> I have came up with a really cool firing engine that may clean up your thumb trigger and give you a solid reliable release day in and day out. The biggest complaint about thumb triggers is that they start deadly accurate and then as soon as they hang up and don’t fire you feel the desire to just punch. This firing engine is really proving to be easy and smooth shot after shot day after day.
> 
> 1. Draw the bow with a nice relaxed hand that isn’t overly stiff and come to anchor and get your thumb wrapped around the trigger.
> ...


I'm going to start working with this tomorrow...along with the concentrated float work you mentioned (as you can imagine, my float SUCKED with all that battling back and forth between bow and release arms). I think between the two, my accuracy should improve dramatically.


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## grantmac (May 31, 2007)

Dmiket said:


> I have an 11" stab on the front with 3 oz


That length of stab with that little amount of weight is doing nothing for you unfortunately.

I'm not saying to throw money at a form problem, but expecting to float inside the spot without any stabilization and a low holding weight isn't a realistic goal.

-Grant


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## skiingcappy (May 17, 2013)

One thing that I did was take a target and set on my work bench and tied a piece of yarn on handle on bag and let hang to the bottom of bag, stand about 5 to 10 feet away. Holding in middle of bag and focus on hitting string while executing the shot.
This will help you execute the shot, learn this and then learn to focus on target and not the execution of the shot.


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## Brad Rega (Oct 31, 2002)

The biggest thing to help you hold "steady" is proper draw weight, draw length, and practice. I put steady in quotes here because there will always be some movement. It is important to have your muscles relaxed and use the least amount of muscle possible to get through the shot. If you're using too much muscle you will not hold steady. You can be using too much muscle if your draw weight is too high, or draw length causes unnecessary tension somewhere. Then you always need practice to get the muscle you do use to get used to the shot process without fatiguing and making you tremor or shake. 

It is also important to know what your sight picture looks like. Is your sight moving up and down? Left to right? Circular? Is it moving around fast? Or is it moving slow? There are many things you can try based on the answer to these questions that will save you a lot of time. For instance a draw length that is too long may result in a slower and wider circular "float", while a draw length that is too short can result in a faster and smaller "shake". 

Once you get all that down, you can then experiment with stabilizers and aiming apparatuses. For example if using a scope, experiment with different powers, different size dots, or even circles, anything that will make your sight picture more comfortable for you.


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## Dmiket (Jul 9, 2014)

Is my DL too short if it shakes really bad? I have quite a bit of bend in my elbow at full draw and feel more comfortable with less of a bend. Does this mean I need a little longer draw length?


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## Cris Anderson (Oct 22, 2014)

Dmiket said:


> Is my DL too short if it shakes really bad? I have quite a bit of bend in my elbow at full draw and feel more comfortable with less of a bend. Does this mean I need a little longer draw length?


Tie on a longer d loop and see.

For me the biggest sign of too short a draw length is huge expansion on the shot. If my bow arm is flying left on the shot, and my release arm is following through enough to smack a person 2' behind me...

...well, its probably too short .


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## strandbowhunter (Jan 6, 2010)

another question for ya. Do you pay attention to the pin or the target. I ask because im not perfect and i have some movement in my pin. Another one of my buddies told me to just focus on the target and the pin will be there. I've started this along with playing around with my weights and had a big jump in my total # of x in are weekly shoots.


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## JV NC (Dec 9, 2005)

I used to marvel at the guys who seemed to have their pin hover in the spot. Before 2 months ago, I'd never shot with a back bar. My "hunter" setup is the xtreme hunter from Bee Stinger. You may not be able to buy points, but you can damn sure buy steady.  I'm no fanboy to any mfr., though. I'm sure someone makes a similar product that's just as good. In fact, I've seen someone in this forum who had the competitor's setup and it looks awesome.

My DL was also too long. I'm 6'1" and I've been shooting a 29" draw for 10yrs. I went to 28.5". Still too long. I couldn't expand. I went to 28" and shortened my D loop. Really good. In the midst of all this, I picked up a target bow that has a 37+" ATA. I forgot how good that feels (I used to shoot a 40" ATA target bow several years ago).

Last thing.....I tried a lower wrist position than I've ever used before. I feel more stable in my hold than I ever have. Everything fits....now.

I am VERY MUCH on the intermediate side of this forum. Full disclosure. I just thought this might help other intermediates.


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## Cris Anderson (Oct 22, 2014)

strandbowhunter said:


> another question for ya. Do you pay attention to the pin or the target. I ask because im not perfect and i have some movement in my pin. Another one of my buddies told me to just focus on the target and the pin will be there. I've started this along with playing around with my weights and had a big jump in my total # of x in are weekly shoots.


I seem to shift my focus back and forth between my pin and the target one time after I'm at anchor. After that...I burn a hole in the x ring with my concentration, and hope the pin is there when the release goes off, lol. Most of the time it is.



JV NC said:


> I used to marvel at the guys who seemed to have their pin hover in the spot. Before 2 months ago, I'd never shot with a back bar. My "hunter" setup is the xtreme hunter from Bee Stinger. You may not be able to buy points, but you can damn sure buy steady.  I'm no fanboy to any mfr., though. I'm sure someone makes a similar product that's just as good. In fact, I've seen someone in this forum who had the competitor's setup and it looks awesome.












My back bar helped me tremendously. I haven't begun to tune it yet...but just its existence has helped stabilize my hold a TON.


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## JV NC (Dec 9, 2005)

^^Well, there ya go. Looks great.

My Hoyt was front-heavy to start with. It tilted forward on its own. Putting a stabilizer out in front (but not in back) was NOT going to help. The new (to me) target bow is just the opposite. But, moving weights, I got it set up pretty quickly.

I still think I need to tweak it a little. But, it's better than I've ever had.......or, even imagined. I also have a 30" front bar. I used to think that's all it took to be able to hold steady. Putting it, alone, on the front of my bow is NOWHERE NEAR as good as the hunter setup. Not even close.

This forum has been very informative to me. Thanks guys.


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## swbuckmaster (Dec 20, 2005)

things to look at first for sight all over the place

draw length
draw length
draw length
dloop, limbs, cams all in time and not fighting you
bow draw weight
bow mass weight
bow stabilizers
bow magnification
sight/dot/pin your eye is happy with


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Yes, you need to just get a rear bar 15 or 12 inches long and mount it in the lower mounting hole if possible. I would get the standard b-stinger rear mount and the competitor rear bar, it is affordable and really nice. I shoot a competitor front and rear and they work really good. Make sure you have at least 30 ounces of total weight so that you can lay it all out and actually do many combinations until you find the two that really feel good and then over a few weeks you can pick the best one.

I shoot 33 oz in the rear and 12 up front as my favorite combo and my second choice is 21 in the rear and 9 up front. I have a 15 inch rear bar and a 33 inch front.


Now here is the even more important part of this discussion, the stabilizer setup is done by virtually everyone and it is easy but the part I am going to talk about now is the hard part because it forces you to slow down and stop shooting. 

1. Every stinking day for 3 weeks you need to study your float during your warm up, this means doing at least 10 let downs before you shoot a arrow. Draw back and just come to anchor and watch your float and let it float on the x and see if it is inside the x the whole time or if it is leaving the x a lot or a little. Then let down.

2. After 10 of these let downs where you are studying your float then you are going to draw back and study your float and then let down and take a few breaths and then draw back and shoot the arrow, now here is the important part. Was it the same float that you were seeing when you knew you were going to let down because I have a feeling it isn't. The whole goal of this step is to prove to you that you aren't shooting with your true float, you are shooting with some float that has influences coming in from your efforts to fire the release and they are screwing with your float. We are going to learn how to disconnect our aiming from our execution of the release so that you can actually shoot with your real float.

3. Now over the 3 weeks you are going to start seeing the truth and I have a feeling it is going to be a awesome thing, for me I found out that I actually have a pro quality float pattern that with a .19 pin at 20 yards I can float well within a 5-spot x the whole time not touching the ring for the first 4 or so seconds and many times it just sits in the center. Now after 4 seconds I become a very average local guy. So what I have now done is defined my shot window into two distinct sections where the first half is pro quality where I am guaranteed to not miss a x and the second half I may get my x and I may miss.

This is what I enjoy about archery and hinge shooting because you can choose to take a close look at each of your systems such as form and floating and firing the release and you can see the truth in each of them and then use them to your advantage to develop a really nice shot. We do have a good discussion on "Disconnected" and it is in this forum and you can find it in the advanced search.


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## jelmore (Sep 24, 2013)

I noticed my float got WAY better after I opened up my stance about 40 degrees. I had to focus to make sure my hips were open too not just my feet.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Hey, last night I got to the shop and had plans of doing a creep tuning session but things didn't work out so I just shot x's and enjoyed talking to the guys. Now what did happen is that my float was weird, it was way more wiggly and quick than normal for the first 30 or so shots and what was cool was that I just kept banging x's. Two years ago there was no way I could have done this because i would have been freaking out and trying to fix the problem and I would have failed and my shooting would have sucked and I would have left the shop pizzed and trying to figure thing out. But i have changed as a shooter and I now realize that most of the time my float is very predictable but sometimes it is just different that day, it could be stress or muscle fatigue or anything but it doesn't have to affect my scoring. I shot for just over a hour last night and only missed 2 x's and most of my shots were inside out and that included changing the speed of my hinge two times. One of the misses happened right after speeding it up and it fired as I was releasing my thumb peg and hadn't really started my engine.

So make sure that right now you aren't in a funk of trying to overly control the float, your float is your float and levi morgan and jesse and reo have way freaking better floats than we do and trying to force our float to be as good as theirs is just not going to happen. Right now your first job is to stop shooting and study your float and learn what it actually looks like and then your second job is to learn to fire the release without messing up that natural float. Then and only then can you start to shoot closer to your potential and enjoy your shooting.


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## JV NC (Dec 9, 2005)

^^Like I said....I'm a former PGA Professional. Arriving to the course with the exact same swing...day in and day out....is a misnomer. Part of the fun and intrigue is playing what you brought....THAT DAY.


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## EPLC (May 21, 2002)

JV NC said:


> ^^Like I said....I'm a former PGA Professional. Arriving to the course with the exact same swing...day in and day out....is a misnomer. Part of the fun and intrigue is playing what you brought....THAT DAY.


So true.


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## JV NC (Dec 9, 2005)

I sometimes laugh at what you guys post. Before you get mad, hear me out.

It's hard for me to fathom (even with my background of building something repeat-able) being so precise with every single draw of the bow. I ran triathlons for a while, too. I could tell you my V02 max on every discipline. But, I couldn't tell you what I'd be able to do THAT DAY.....until (wait for it.....) THAT DAY.

So, when I read what some of you guys say you do.....I just shake my head. Foreign, to me. Ya'll remind me of my friends who don't drink. Part of the fun of life is lying in the bed in the AM and wondering what you're gonna feel like when you raise your head. 

I say all of this, respectfully.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Yeah, when my dad was a ultra endurance rider and we were on training rides that were 400 miles long from springfield mo to kansas city and back I can remember riding up to you tri guys and talking to you for a while and then leaving. One day we rode up on a group in harrisonville, mo and we caught this group of tri guys on their fully decked out tri bikes and they were trying to ride a century. At the time we were about 225 miles into our ride, we were cruising at a 18.5 mph average speed all day but anytime my dad saw a group of riders we would have to prove a point because that is the way my dad is so we bumped our cruising speed up to 24 or so and would catch them and then sit in their group and talk for a while. You should have seen the look on their face when they asked my dad what we were doing and he said we were 225 miles into the 400 mile ride. Soon after he would crank up the effort and we would have to drop them like a bad habit, it would literally kill me to ramp up my heart rate to the mid 170's knowing that I still had over 150 miles left to ride.


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## cbrunson (Oct 25, 2010)

JV NC said:


> I sometimes laugh at what you guys post. Before you get mad, hear me out.
> 
> It's hard for me to fathom (even with my background of building something repeat-able) being so precise with every single draw of the bow. I ran triathlons for a while, too. I could tell you my V02 max on every discipline. But, I couldn't tell you what I'd be able to do THAT DAY.....until (wait for it.....) THAT DAY.
> 
> ...


You will have many different views of nearly every aspect of this game. Each person knows only what they have experienced, or what they believe based on something they read or heard somewhere. 

What you gain, when you start to bridge that gap between intermediate and advanced, (from my interpretation of those) is the ability to know the difference between each new day, and recognize the deviation from your prefered sight picture before you start scoring, rather than somewhere in the middle or the end. When you can do that, and know what quick adjustments will get it within acceptable limits, you start getting really good.

You will see many good shooters and pros making adjustments on the line to both their bows, and their releases. It is not uncommon for me to move weights around in the middle of a game, and I move my sight a few clicks here and there throughout as well. Those things are done to adapt as you go.


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## JV NC (Dec 9, 2005)

^^Like I said......I said everything I did, respectfully. Good stuff, there.

BTW, Padgett.....you think you could go a day without speaking condescendingly to me?

Thanks.


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## Lazarus (Sep 19, 2005)

:happy1:


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## Dmiket (Jul 9, 2014)

Cannot find a decently cheap pair of stabilizers, might have to wait and spend the money on a good set.


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## jwilson48 (Apr 1, 2009)

Dmiket said:


> Cannot find a decently cheap pair of stabilizers, might have to wait and spend the money on a good set.


Check out a thread called "carbon stabilizers finally" Steveinaz makes some awesome stabs for cheap.


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## ron w (Jan 5, 2013)

one thing you have to realize, is as said earlier, stabilizers, can help get that mid-50x round into the high 50x-round world, but do little for someone who's shot is not developed to the point that, staying in the gold, or staying in the white, is a solidly consistent reality, first.
there so many things that can effect your hold, that it's hard to tell someone by text, much less without being in person, that one thing or another is their specific problem. at best, all someone can do is start at the fundamental level and relate what aspects contribute to a good hold. there are plenty of threads that discuss this issue, on the forum.
a large float can have it's foundation in muscular condition, or any aspect of form and bow fit, all the way down to and including the sight picture you see as you aim. no-one can say specifically what will help a person, without actually seeing them shoot and then, knowing how to apply the issues that contribute to good hold, as they see fit.
your best bet may be to bite the bullet and pay for a couple hours with a decent coach, for some "one-on-one" time . 
even doing a search and reading all you can, may not necessarily help, because, what we read and how we interpret it's application to our own shooting, is a matter of just how honestly and accurately we asses our own form and what we are doing, as we shoot, and we cannot see our selves, as we shoot. simply put, what you might feel as the right way to do something , or the right fit of your bow, is based on the interpretation of what you read.


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## Fury90flier (Jun 27, 2012)

back to basics if you want to get steadier. Most people try to find the quick fix solution (add stabilizer weight/change stab's etc). It will work but won't fix the real problem

1. take off the stabs...they're masking a problem. It could be DL, it could be grip, it could be follow through.
2. make a cheap long rod (about 24")- PVC- (No weights)this isn't for a stabilizer, it's to point out what is going on at the shot.

What you're wanting to do is to simply start shooting at dots (no groups)--one arrow per dot. While you're shooting, pay attention to what happens at the end of the shot...what is the plastic pointer doing? is it wiggling L/R, does it fall at the target? is there shaking when the pin/dot settles in the X?

once you find what problem you're having- remove the sight.

now go stand @ maybe 10yards and start dot shooting again...remember, no sights, no stabs. What you're wanting to do is smooth out the at the shot/after shot jitter. 

Maybe it's grip
maybe it's DL
maybe you're pulling too much into the wall
maybe stance

The first thing you have to do is break down the shot process. The next thing is to identify inconsistencies in that process.
maybe you're focusing too hard and not letting the shot happen.


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## unclejane (Jul 22, 2012)

JV NC said:


> It's hard for me to fathom (even with my background of building something repeat-able) being so precise with every single draw of the bow. I ran triathlons for a while, too. I could tell you my V02 max on every discipline. But, I couldn't tell you what I'd be able to do THAT DAY.....until (wait for it.....) THAT DAY.


Yep agreed. In fact, a good test for what I'm doing is how well it works on a "gray" day, when things are at a low point. That is, if I'm tired or mentally not as sharp as normal, etc. If I have wide swings between "good days" and "gray days", that usually indicates I have a problem. I'm not doing something right or something in my equipment setup isn't right is usually what the good day/gray day syndrome points to (for me).

For example, I had wide swings in this regard when I shot a hinge. On good days, the good-shot rate ran really close to 100%, but there were a lot of gray days where that dropped down literally into the 60% or so range. When I was on, I was on, but when I was off, I really did suffer a good 30 to 40% of the time. So I went back to my pull-through releases as a diagnostic and these swings practically went away. When I'm on, I'm near 100%, but when I'm off, I literally only drop to about 97%. I'll collapse on the front end or creep away from the face on a couple shots after 50 or 60 arrows or so. I let down, retry and pop. 

The other issue was mass weight on my bows. When I have too much weight on the bow, I do much worse on "gray" days. So I took off my longrod and just put on one of my 12" side bars. Viola, I can still hold respectably well and generally put it in the gold on a "gray" day, rather than drop here and there into the red.

And so forth. So really, the bad/gray days are where the rubber meets the road for me. Like I said, if there are wide swings, that usually means there's a problem that needs fixing.

LS


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