# The cbrunson method - Reader's Digest Version



## EPLC

The Step by Step Instruction:



cbrunson said:


> Ok I'll go through a fairly detailed description of how I started working on improving my hold. It all started after shooting a hunting bow only league we do right before hunting season. I was starting to get a good feel for the shorter speed bow after not shooting it since the previous hunting season. Things were starting to feel good. I pulled up on a 43 yard 3D target and the pin just froze right in the center of the X ring. We count them as 11s. I made a conscious effort to make my release as smooth as possible to not move the pin, and drilled it. That shot felt good. We shoot two arrows at each target, so I drew the next arrow and it did the same thing. It sat there appearing motionless with the pin covering the nock of my first arrow. I focused again on a smooth release while watching the pin not move. At 43 yards with a 6” brace 35” ATA hunting bow I smashed the nock of my first arrow and I knew instantly that in wasn't by trusting some movement and an act of random chance. I watched the pin through the shot process and it didn't move. I was also using a hinge release.
> I was holding very well that day and repeated that good hold several more times. At ranges from 20-35 yards I tore off vanes and busted two more nocks. I had to finish the last two targets with one arrow missing a vane because I only brought six arrows with me. This got me thinking afterwards. How could a common speed bow without the long stabilizers and scope be held that steady for that many shots. There were some bad ones, but I couldn't stop thinking about the good ones. That was the last shoot before hunting season so I was left with those thoughts. I didn't think about it when I shot my deer either.
> Indoor season starts right after the close of general archery season here so it was still fresh in my mind when I pulled the pro comp out and started setting it up for spots again. I made several adjustments trying to figure out where it felt the best, and got it shooting pretty good. I was fairly consistent at 47-53 Xs, but my hold was nothing like I remembered from the day with my hunting bow. It was easy to justify considering the fact that the sight picture is a lot different with a magnified lens than without. I kept telling myself that it was moving the same, I just couldn't see it without the lens. But then I couldn't stop thinking about how solid it was for two consecutive shots at 43 yards and the second shot smashing the first arrow. I just felt like there had to be a way to repeat that hold. That is when I decided to study the dot movement without shooting. I pulled out my safety hinge and started drawing the bow (arrow loaded of course), an trying to hold it in the center as long as I could. I learned more doing this than any other thing I've experimented with in archery.
> For the purpose of broadening the subject, I will explain the steps in instructional format to include multiple issues that I know some other people have experienced. This is of course all my opinion since I don't claim to be a professional or a coach, or a book writer. Take it for what you will. If you shoot as well or better than me using another concept or set of ideas, and disagree with my statements, I will not argue whether one way is better than the other. I do believe there are many successful approaches to this subject, and not one exclusive preferred method, so let's try to keep the arguments to a minimum, thanks. This assumes that you do not have any target panic issues. In fact you may find that you actually do have some minor issues. This will also help you with those.
> First step.
> Take out your favorite backup release and rotate the moon around so it can't fire. If you only have one release do it anyway, because you're likely going to change it anyway, even if you've spent countless hours perfecting your release at the blind bale. You'll see why in a moment. If you use a trigger, plan on parking your thumb behind it and not being temped to push the button. Then hang a clean target face at 20 yards. (That's where we shoot, not 8 or 10) Now you're going to go through all of the motions like you normally would if you were warming up to shoot a practice game. Draw the bow and hold it like you normally would. Pay close attention to what the dot is doing when you try to hold it in the center of the spot. Think about when you would normally fire it. Then let down and count to 15 slowly. Draw again and do the same thing. Consciously watch your dot move and set it up like you are going to execute the shot. Pay close attention to where it was when you know it would have gone off. Let down and count to 15. Repeat this for five or six ends of three arrows each. Take a mental note of any changes in movement as your muscles warm up, or if you find yourself thinking ahead and trying to skip steps. This is very important. Don't skip this step.
> Now, being honest with yourself, because you are the only person this matters to, ask yourself these simple questions:
> 1.	How was the dot moving?
> 2.	Was is fast and jerky?
> 3.	Was it slow but moving around a lot?
> 4.	Was it mostly vertical, or mostly horizontal, or both?
> 5.	Was it circular, or figure eight?
> 6.	How long did you try to hold it there? 3 seconds? 10seconds?
> 7.	Did it improve while you held it there, an and what point?
> 8.	If it improved, how long did it hold at its best “float”?
> 9.	At what point of the hold did you decide you would execute the shot?
> 
> Those are pretty basic and that's good. You want to know where you're coming from before you try to go somewhere new. Now it's time to study changes to your basic holding techniques that you have ingrained into your muscle memory. I'm not talking about basic form as you should have that down by now. I'm talking about fine adjustments to muscle tension and maybe a little body position. This is where it gets a little conflicting with everything you hear and read daily about equipment setup and fine tuning your bow to make you shoot better. Those things are important, but if you're not holding the bow correctly in the first place, you won't see the benefits of a twist or two on the strings. Same with loop length. This can be a sensitive argument for some individuals here which is okay, we are all at different levels for the most part. We take for granted some of the finer details of things we learned a log time ago and now consider remedial.
> Now set up the shot again by going to your normal stance, drawing the bow, and holding as close to the center as you can. Start your release execution. The release is set so it can't fire, so nothing will happen other than you watching how your normally executed release affects the movement of the dot. (Thumb triggers just pull with the same tension you believe you normally would). What happened?
> 1.	Did it slow down and settle in during the simulated shot process?
> 2.	Did it get worse?
> 3.	Did it have a moment where the tension was good, then got worse?
> 4.	Did it change at all? (More commonly not, with a static release arm)
> 
> Do this repeatedly for six more ends of three arrows each. By now the other guys at the range are wondering what the heck you're doing just drawing and letting down. A few have probably already asked.
> What did you see as an overall pattern? Did your hold improve at certain points? You may not know exactly why some were better than others yet, but you are looking now, so the first step is covered.
> Second step.
> Little changes. It is likely that up to this point you have traded a half dozen or more releases, moved your bars around, added and removed weights, changed draw length and weight, many, many times trying to find the perfect recipe for shooting Xs. I can say with absolute certainty that my opinion is very simple regarding this. Set it up to be comfortable. That's it. It just needs to feel good. There is no magic combination or formula to get the bow fit perfect for you. At least not if you follow this process of learning how to hold the bow.
> 
> The first part of this step is to get the bow arm relaxed. If you shoot with a bent elbow and have learned to push/pull as you fire the release, or are committed to a high wrist grip, you might as well stop reading this post. It won't help you, unless you decide to abandon your current method. Again, not arguing that method. I've seen that it works well for some very good shooters, it's just not how I do it, and not addressed in this post. Now when you get set up and ready to go again, be consciously aware of what your dot is doing again. It's important to be fresh and rested for the first few attempts at this. You want to be strong enough to hold it longer than normal.
> Draw the bow and hold it in the center like you've been doing. Make sure you have you're good low grip with no induced torque and straighten your arm. Don't worry about drawing it that way, you have no investment in time for the moment. Now starting with your hand, completely relax it. Let the bow just sit there. Don't look at the bubble yet, just watch the dot and let your hand relax. Next let your arm muscles relax. If your elbow tries to bend, straighten it until it stops but don't force it straight. If it still tries to bend, you are not pulling hard enough with your release hand. Make sure your shoulder is down and pull as hard as necessary to get the arm to stay locked straight with absolutely no tension in the bow arm muscles. If you have a normal arm, it works. It will lock straight and you can relax your bow arm completely. What happened to the movement of the dot? Maybe nothing yet because it took so long to get it to relax this time and your shoulder started burning so you let down. That's okay. Rest for a good 20 seconds or more and try it again. This time it happens faster and you can watch the dot a little closer. If you're like me, your dot just went from floating around inside the nine ring, to almost dead still wherever it stopped when I became completely relaxed with my bow arm. This is looking through a 4X lens. The light just clicked on. It can be done, but for how long? And more importantly, it's not in the center, how do I move it and keep the same hold? This is where it gets more personal so I will discuss the effects of different release methods that I know and how they affect it. The general concept should be broad enough to apply to others I think.
> Keep practicing holding and relaxing the bow arm for a few more ends and then start introducing your shot execution with the release still unable to fire. Don't worry about whether it's perfectly in the middle when you start to execute, just make sure it is sitting calm and still the way you just got it to sit with a totally relaxed bow arm. You may still see some movement, but it should be very minimal. If not, something is very off with your basic form or bow set up. Remember this is assuming that you are already at the 40-50x level in your shooting. Those basic fundamentals should be covered.
> Study the changes in your dot movement with your release execution while maintaining a perfectly relaxed bow arm now. If you're like me, you will see it move a lot at first. When it does, your bow arm and hand will want to tense up to control the movement. That is a natural reaction that you have to mentally conquer to move forward from this point. You have to focus on keeping the arm relaxed through the execution process. It can be very difficult. Keeping the release unable to fire will at least eliminate the shot anticipation from the equation while you are training your mind to see what you want for a sight picture, and learning the amount of pull required to keep your bow arm relaxed. You need to work on this for a while. Not just a few minutes and then go fling some arrows. You are trying to retrain your body and mind. It doesn't happen in 15 minutes. That doesn't mean you can't introduce the shot into the process, but depending on your issues with shot anticipation, you may struggle to stay focused on what you are trying to achieve. I know I did. The next step is learning to control the movement of the dot during the release execution. I will have to add the next step later because it's Saturday and I'm going outside to play.


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## EPLC

Continued:



cbrunson said:


> Third step.
> It is very important that you spent enough time pulling with varied tension, and watching the dot before starting to introduce the shot into the process. All of the questions from before should be answered. You should also have checked to see where the bubble is on your level. Not adjusted for it, just checked it.
> Now you can spend some time moving weight around. If your movement (float) was mostly vertical, add some weight to the front bar, until you can hold the bow with the same relaxed bow arm, pulling like you would to shoot, and most (not all) of the vertical movement is gone. Then check your bubble again. Move your side/ back bar in or out until the bubble sits level at full draw and stays there when you pull harder. You should not be trying to twist, or hold the bow level at the grip. Your hand needs to be completely relaxed. This may take a combination of added weight, and moving the bar. I like to run a lot of back weight to keep my bow dead level at the shot, so I will shoot a few to make sure it is close. By the time this set up is done, I get very little jump forward and no tipping forward or back, after the shot.
> If you still have horizontal movement, or the dot is still jumpy, now is the time to start twisting, or untwisting rather. Since you’ve gotten past all of the “how’s my form” threads, you know now that your draw length is always an inch too long. Haha. Now you can start going the other way and find the balance point, where your perfect spot is. Start slow, taking out a twist at a time until the jumpiness is almost gone, but not completely. Stop there. Any further and then you will start having problems with your shoulder wanting to collapse, or you will start creeping off the stops. After that you need to check/ adjust cam timing. Now with just a little jumpiness, start adding mass weight to the riser. I add mine to the hole right below my grip on the back of the riser. It has very minimal effect on the balance I’ve already established. It doesn’t take much and the dot slows down and I can hold it almost perfectly still in the center now. Don’t add more than the minimum it takes to stop the movement.
> Now you’re ready to test it out. Go through the same routine to make sure everything still sits correctly, and feels right with your bow arm completely relaxed. Pull through the shot without the release firing a few times to get comfortable watching the dot again. Now on to step four, where you adjust your release.
> Fourth step.
> Get your favorite release back out and rotate the moon around to slightly colder than you had it before, or a lot colder if you had it set really hot. Now depending on how you fire the release, you will go through your motions during this step, but I will go through it with my method.
> Draw the bow and go through all of the motions required to settle in with your relaxed bow arm. Make sure you are comfortable holding it in the middle again. If you’re not, and it is moving more than before, you are struggling with some anticipation issues. Those can be fixed at this step, but you’re going to have to take it slow, and keep your release really cold for a while until you can handle it. You may also have a recurring low hold issue at this point. If you do, go back to the second step, and practice until you can hold it in the center through a simulated shot execution for a while.
> Now set up for your first end of three arrows. Don’t expect to score, or even shoot Xs yet. Just get set up, making sure you follow all of the steps to put the dot in the center with a fully relaxed bow arm, and start pulling (or relaxing the index). Watch the dot. I know, everyone says to stare at the spot, but I can’t see the X behind my 1/8” dot. I can see the rings around it, so keep my focus in the center. It is a much better sight picture for me. Start pulling or rotating to execute the shot and when it reaches that point where you know the picture is the best, stop. Hold it there as long as you can and then let down. Adjust your release in small increments, repeatedly until it fires right in that “best” picture window. I want mine to go on the back end of it, so there is less chance of it firing early, and I know it is a strong shot. You may want it in the middle or closer to the front end to help out with fatigue later into the process, but for now, keep it cold and slow. Take longer rests between shots. I will count to fifteen between shots, and when I start getting tired, I might extend it to twenty.
> The important thing is making sure that everything is exactly right every time. If you don’t focus on softening up the bow arm, or not watching the dot and seeing exactly what it’s doing, you will quickly fall back into the same form you had before and trying to just “feel” the shot. You won’t notice yourself tensing up again, and you won’t notice when you need to make some minor adjustments until it’s too late and you have to guess at what you needed to do. It is not uncommon for me to add or remove mass weight from my bow during a game, even in competition. The only thing affected by it with the way my bow is set up, is the motion of the dot. If it’s too heavy, it wants to sag. Too light, it moves too much. With it set up the way I described, it will sit almost perfectly still 75% of the time. The other 25%, I should have let down. More often than not, my misses are from not being patient and letting everything settle in before executing the shot, or not paying full attention to the process.
> There are probably several deviations from this set up that work great, and several that are completely different. I’ll acknowledge other methods as being successful alternatives to the way I do it. The only thing I will say, is for those who believe that there is no possible way to get zero perceived dot or pin movement, that if you put in the time and effort to get it there, you will see that you absolutely can. There is no reason to keep telling people to stop trying to aim and just “trust your float”, unless you are going to tell them how to get their “float” inside the ten ring throughout the release execution.
> As always...... Just my opinion.


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## Padgett

Nice, and very well explained. I enjoy reading those posts and have done so a few times, to me he goes well past the "Set it really slow and blank bale" concept and actually spends the time going through how he goes through his entire approach to achieve good shooting.


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## cbrunson

I'm glad it has been helping you EPLC.


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## gofast

great post thanks saving for later reference.


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## dlehnert

Tag


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## "TheBlindArcher"

Wondering about making it 'dumb blind guy' friendly... First thought is mounting the laser and having someone analyze the movement, but more experienced thoughts, opinions, theories welcome.


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## ride394

ShootingBlind said:


> Wondering about making it 'dumb blind guy' friendly... First thought is mounting the laser and having someone analyze the movement, but more experienced thoughts, opinions, theories welcome.


I would think no for 2 reasons. 

1. You won't be watching the pin, which is what you would be watching when you actually shoot so you're not really replicating your shot. 

2. No matter how still you hold your pin that laser is still going to show quite a bit of movement at 20yds.


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## cbrunson

It would be very difficult to recognize what is happening at precise moments if you can't see the movement. I don't think it would be helpful.


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## johnny liggett

Tag


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## redman

eplc thanks for post great info


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## bugeaterNE

pin float tag


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## Shogun1

ride394 said:


> I would think no for 2 reasons.
> 
> 1. You won't be watching the pin, which is what you would be watching when you actually shoot so you're not really replicating your shot.
> 
> 2. No matter how still you hold your pin that laser is still going to show quite a bit of movement at 20yds.


Don't forget the stem of his question. The person asking this question can't see the pins when he shoots!

So his question remains -- can Brunson's methods be adapted for a blind shooter?

If he is depending an feedback from an observer, what could the observer be looking at and for that would provide similar information?


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## fanio

Eplc how is this working for you after a couple of weeks.?


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## EPLC

fanio said:


> Eplc how is this working for you after a couple of weeks.?


Actually I've been working on this since March and it was working out quite well. Moving outdoors is proving a challenge for me this year so far... but it's not the process, it's me.


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## fanio

Do you think the "completely relaxed" bow arm is causing some of your problems outside (e.g. in the wind or on hills)? Or is there something else that is making shooting outdoors more difficult than usual?


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## aread

fanio said:


> Do you think the "completely relaxed" bow arm is causing some of your problems outside (e.g. in the wind or on hills)? Or is there something else that is making shooting outdoors more difficult than usual?


I'm also working on my form in accordance with cbrunson's methods and find that the relaxed bow arm cures more problems than it causes. It's just taking me a while to overcome deeply ingrained bad habits.


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## Trykon Mike

I will have to work on that


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## SonnyThomas

Don't get carried away with a "fully relaxed" bow arm. It still should be strong as well as relaxed.


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## cbrunson

aread said:


> I'm also working on my form in accordance with cbrunson's methods and find that the relaxed bow arm cures more problems than it causes. It's just taking me a while to overcome deeply ingrained bad habits.


It takes time and practice. Our natural reaction to correct unwanted movement is to tense up to hold tighter, which is hard to re-program. Once you get it, even just a few times, it's amazing how steady you can hold.


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## shawn_in_MA

cbrunson said:


> It takes time and practice. Our natural reaction to correct unwanted movement is to tense up to hold tighter, which is hard to re-program. Once you get it, even just a few times, it's amazing how steady you can hold.


I've always said (right or wrong) that I make a different shot indoors than I do outdoors. Indoors you can get away with a lot more unwanted tension in bow arm, bow shoulder etc. Outside shooting long distance has to be a more relaxed shot if you want to have any consistency JMO


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## aread

cbrunson said:


> It takes time and practice. Our natural reaction to correct unwanted movement is to tense up to hold tighter, which is hard to re-program. Once you get it, even just a few times, it's amazing how steady you can hold.


Thank you! The times that I can get all the parts and pieces of my form and brain to work together, it is amazing how steady it is. I almost don't want to let the arrow go. 
It's so good that I've decided that this steadiness is a goal well worth pursuing. It's all I work on now when I'm shooting. I'm very happy with what I've achieved so far and am excited about what is possible when I finally overcome the bad habits.
Thank you for your help with this!!
Allen


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## cbrunson

aread said:


> Thank you! The times that I can get all the parts and pieces of my form and brain to work together, it is amazing how steady it is. I almost don't want to let the arrow go.
> It's so good that I've decided that this steadiness is a goal well worth pursuing. It's all I work on now when I'm shooting. I'm very happy with what I've achieved so far and am excited about what is possible when I finally overcome the bad habits.
> Thank you for your help with this!!
> Allen


You're welcome! I fall victim to those bad habits myself. The important thing for me is to not expect this style of shooting to become second nature. The whole purpose *IS* to read and control every shot.

One thing I would add to what Shawn in MA said above, shooting outside distances will really show the benefits of this style of shooting. I don't know him personally, but I've seen him shoot and I would definately consider any advice he gave.


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## Ned250

cbrunson said:


> The important thing for me is to not expect this style of shooting to become second nature. The whole purpose *IS* to read and control every shot.


That's gold.


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## EPLC

fanio said:


> Do you think the "completely relaxed" bow arm is causing some of your problems outside (e.g. in the wind or on hills)? Or is there something else that is making shooting outdoors more difficult than usual?


No, just the opposite as I'm having more difficulty relaxing outside than I was indoors. I've changed bows for outdoors as well and haven't really found that sweet spot yet with the bow, sight picture, etc. I also have this thumb thing going on that is a real distraction. It started last winter (you can see it in some of my videos). I can get rid of it but it takes unwanted tension to do that.


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## Mennes

Tag


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## ILOVE3D

Tagged


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## SNAPTHIS

tag


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## Mainefella

Tagged


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## MN Archery Guy

Great read!!! tagged

Im exactly where this might help me. Im hanging right around that 48-53X and i found a spot at full draw where i can hold very steady but haven't figured out how to replicate it yet...if that makes sense haha!! I'm gonna give it a try!!!


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## lvetohunt

Tag

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## Big Rack Buck

Tagged...Thanks for sharing!


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## redman

Great info


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## ArrowStar1

Subscribed


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## xavier102772

Tagged.


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## dant

i would like to print this out is there a way to download this. thanks dan t


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## cbrunson

Easiest way would be to copy and paste into a word document. You could also double space for paragraphs like the OP should have done to make it easier to read.


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## Padgett

When you go back and read this stuff that cbrunson has put together you can get more out of it once you realize certain things, what he wrote is not point of impact based. When you are a beginning shooter or even a decent amateur shooter everything is based on point of impact, all of your training and decisions are based on it. You draw back and you pull the trigger and you see if the arrow hit perfectly or not and then you try and pull the trigger even better than you did the next time and you check to see if the arrow hit perfect. 

When you read his description you will notice that his focus is on the feel of the bow and the look of the sight pin and how to go about improving the feel and the look of the sight pin. It breaks down your shooting into fact finding missions where you are focused on what areas of your shooting can be tweaked to offer you a even better hold on the target over and over to where it becomes second nature.

Perfect point of impact becomes the icing on the cake that you get to enjoy because you did the work to earn the right to enjoy it.


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## aread

dant said:


> i would like to print this out is there a way to download this. thanks dan t


You can also go up to Thread Tools & click Show Printable Version.
It's near the top, just above the first post on the page.
Then copy and paste to word or other text document program.
Then you can edit it to show paragraphs, etc to make it easier to read.

Allen


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## wv hoyt man

Tagged


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## Rick!

cbrunson said:


> Easiest way would be to copy and paste into a word document. You could also double space for paragraphs like the OP should have done to make it easier to read.


Dun. Double space is too inefficient, 1.5 is the optimal spacing. :darkbeer:


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## TPG

Rick! said:


> Dun. Double space is too inefficient, 1.5 is the optimal spacing. :darkbeer:


This is great, thank you to cbrunson (and you for pdf'ing it!)


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## cbrunson

Thanks Rick! You do good work.


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## wv hoyt man

Thanks!!!!


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## dant

thanks for info i now have printed copy thanks everything for your response


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## Reverend

Thanks EPLC... and CBrunson. I can really relate to CB's opening story on holding your hunting bow rock steady. This is where I am. It's driving me batty that I cannot seem to duplicate that hold on my target rig. I even went so far as to sell my comp bow for a bow with the exact same cams as my hunting rig to see if it would improve. (Sold my PCE w/ Spirals and bought a HyperEdge). Right now,"nada." 
Me thinks I must try these steps.


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## SonnyThomas

Rev, start with nothing but sights on the bow. Get it fitted to you before you start adding to it....


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## stromdidilly

Start with selling your HyperEdge


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## cbrunson

Reverend said:


> Thanks EPLC... and CBrunson. I can really relate to CB's opening story on holding your hunting bow rock steady. This is where I am. It's driving me batty that I cannot seem to duplicate that hold on my target rig. I even went so far as to sell my comp bow for a bow with the exact same cams as my hunting rig to see if it would improve. (Sold my PCE w/ Spirals and bought a HyperEdge). Right now,"nada."
> Me thinks I must try these steps.


At risk of being flamed forever, ignore all the fitment nonsense. A lot of the process comes with building strength and comfort. Get comfortable with what you see and you'll be surprised how much your fitment can vary and still be able to get it to hold. The mentality of needing to get your DL precise to 1/16" or 1/8" *keeps a lot of valuable practice time from happening*. And you likely don't even no where it needs to be because you haven't gotten good enough to really see the difference. When you get it to work when it doesn't seem to want to, and know how you got it, a light will click on and you will learn that practicing it without equipment changes will get you there faster than anything else.

The tiny adjustments come later when you know exactly what produces a good shot, but want to make it easier or faster to acquire the look you know you can get. From my experience this can lead to a rabbit hole though. Make sure you can always get it back to where it was.


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## Rick!

cbrunson said:


> At risk of being flamed forever, ignore all the fitment nonsense. A lot of the process comes with building strength and comfort. Get comfortable with what you see and you'll be surprised how much your fitment can vary and still be able to get it to hold. The mentality of needing to get your DL precise to 1/16" or 1/8" *keeps a lot of valuable practice time from happening*. And you likely don't even no where it needs to be because you haven't gotten good enough to really see the difference. When you get it to work when it doesn't seem to want to, and know how you got it, a light will click on and you will learn that practicing it without equipment changes will get you there faster than anything else.
> 
> The tiny adjustments come later when you know exactly what produces a good shot, but want to make it easier or faster to acquire the look you know you can get. From my experience this can lead to a rabbit hole though. Make sure you can always get it back to where it was.


But, but, but...Reo says it's really important. (Mistake #8)

To your point, though, DL adjustment should be a familiar task and able to be done in two ends and less than two minutes on a press in between ends. 
You get it close, spent another end or two going in or out a turn or two on the limb screws and go back to work on the aiming drill after noting the changes in your log book.
If it's looked at as being laborious, then one hasn't spent enough time working on bows to become adept at such a routine adjustment.

I find that my hold isn't so much affected by being a 1/16" off as my release execution is.


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## cbrunson

Rick! said:


> But, but, but...


By all means, do whatever makes sense, or seems more right for you. I won't argue another guy's take on things. All I did was explain what made a significant difference in my own shooting. 

This all came from a belief that trusting your shot is only as good as the results you have been getting.


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## rjoe

tag


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## Abriz

Good post, tagged


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## bunnybrew

cbrunson said:


> At risk of being flamed forever, ignore all the fitment nonsense. A lot of the process comes with building strength and comfort. Get comfortable with what you see and you'll be surprised how much your fitment can vary and still be able to get it to hold. The mentality of needing to get your DL precise to 1/16" or 1/8" *keeps a lot of valuable practice time from happening*. And you likely don't even no where it needs to be because you haven't gotten good enough to really see the difference. When you get it to work when it doesn't seem to want to, and know how you got it, a light will click on and you will learn that practicing it without equipment changes will get you there faster than anything else.
> 
> The tiny adjustments come later when you know exactly what produces a good shot, but want to make it easier or faster to acquire the look you know you can get. From my experience this can lead to a rabbit hole though. Make sure you can always get it back to where it was.


I learned this to be true when my coach took my bow, a 1 inch shorter DL than his (not to mention a totally different rig) and held it twice as steady as I could. He was better and holding the bow on target, from lots and lots of aiming drills.


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## cougarIIInow

Subscribed for later 


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## cbrunson

bunnybrew said:


> I learned this to be true when my coach took my bow, a 1 inch shorter DL than his (not to mention a totally different rig) and held it twice as steady as I could. He was better and holding the bow on target, from lots and lots of aiming drills.


It’s all about knowing that you can hold it really well. I’m positive the thing that holds most people back is doubt. Doubting their own ability, questioning their set up, and believing that there is a finite setting or adjustment that eludes them.


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## NP Archery

cbrunson said:


> It’s all about knowing that you can hold it really well. I’m positive the thing that holds most people back is doubt. Doubting their own ability, questioning their set up, and believing that there is a finite setting or adjustment that eludes them.


Just let this sink in for a few minutes..... Good stuff cbrunson!


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## bhutso

I don’t post here usually but I do a lot of reading 

I just want to say to cbrunson and all who contributed to this thread THANK YOU!

I didn’t take every single word and apply it exactly as it’s written but I got so much out of this 
the last few weeks have been the best shooting of my life 
My hold is there day after day 
My execution is on day after day 
It’s consistent and it works under pressure 
Shot my first ASA since 2014 
K45 you know the competition is crazy in that class but I shot a personal best 410 (five up both days) in fort Benning GA 

You noticed I had a 5 both days.... well yeah there are 2 arrows i really wish I would’ve let down but outside of that it was the most enjoyable 2 days of competition I’ve ever had 
I was 10 up with 2 to go when I shot my 5 the first day and had a total of 15 12s for the weekend 
Clean up two horrible shots out of 40 and I would have been close to being in the money 

Anyway I really appreciate it, I hope to just continue to improve and clean up mistakes and really start competing wherever I go 
It was the first time since I started shooting a surprise release that I stepped up to the first target, with all the nerves and my pin just sat in the 10 ring


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## Bobmuley

bhutso said:


> I don’t post here usually but I do a lot of reading
> 
> I just want to say to cbrunson and all who contributed to this thread THANK YOU!
> 
> I didn’t take every single word and apply it exactly as it’s written but I got so much out of this
> the last few weeks have been the best shooting of my life
> My hold is there day after day
> My execution is on day after day
> It’s consistent and it works under pressure
> Shot my first ASA since 2014
> K45 you know the competition is crazy in that class but I shot a personal best 410 (five up both days) in fort Benning GA
> 
> You noticed I had a 5 both days.... well yeah there are 2 arrows i really wish I would’ve let down but outside of that it was the most enjoyable 2 days of competition I’ve ever had
> I was 10 up with 2 to go when I shot my 5 the first day and had a total of 15 12s for the weekend
> Clean up two horrible shots out of 40 and I would have been close to being in the money
> 
> Anyway I really appreciate it, I hope to just continue to improve and clean up mistakes and really start competing wherever I go
> It was the first time since I started shooting a surprise release that I stepped up to the first target, with all the nerves and my pin just sat in the 10 ring


Atta boy!


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## cbrunson

bhutso said:


> I don’t post here usually but I do a lot of reading
> 
> I just want to say to cbrunson and all who contributed to this thread THANK YOU!
> 
> I didn’t take every single word and apply it exactly as it’s written but I got so much out of this
> the last few weeks have been the best shooting of my life
> My hold is there day after day
> My execution is on day after day
> It’s consistent and it works under pressure
> Shot my first ASA since 2014
> K45 you know the competition is crazy in that class but I shot a personal best 410 (five up both days) in fort Benning GA
> 
> You noticed I had a 5 both days.... well yeah there are 2 arrows i really wish I would’ve let down but outside of that it was the most enjoyable 2 days of competition I’ve ever had
> I was 10 up with 2 to go when I shot my 5 the first day and had a total of 15 12s for the weekend
> Clean up two horrible shots out of 40 and I would have been close to being in the money
> 
> Anyway I really appreciate it, I hope to just continue to improve and clean up mistakes and really start competing wherever I go
> It was the first time since I started shooting a surprise release that I stepped up to the first target, with all the nerves and my pin just sat in the 10 ring


That’s awesome. 

The best part of gaining that kind of confidence is when you can isolate those bad shots from your overall performance. Cleaning those up is just a matter of discipline. Discipline and recognizing your good shot isn’t there before you let it go. I’m pretty sure the discipline is the hardest part. I’ve seen the some of the best shooters out there cuss themselves as they walk away from the line for letting a bad one go.


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## bhutso

cbrunson said:


> That’s awesome.
> 
> The best part of gaining that kind of confidence is when you can isolate those bad shots from your overall performance. Cleaning those up is just a matter of discipline. Discipline and recognizing your good shot isn’t there before you let it go. I’m pretty sure the discipline is the hardest part. I’ve seen the some of the best shooters out there cuss themselves as they walk away from the line for letting a bad one go.


Very true 
The first one I was on the 12 ring on a 42 yard javelina 
It had a nice dark spot from a shadow right on the 12, my pin just sat on it 
My execution stalled and instead of abandoning the shot I tried to work through it 
Right as my pin floated way off the spot the shot broke 
The second one was really just a tough shot 
They had us standing on the side of a hill, could not get stable footing 
3 of the 4 in my group took a 5 on that one 

I shot an ASA qualifier in Illinois earlier this year and shot 36 down indoors on 20 targets 
I’m not that bad typically 
I’m usually in the range of even to a couple up 
But that performance sent me searching for how to improve 
I’ve only shot two other shoots since but in those two I shot 10 up at the ASA and 18 up at a local shoot where they score the center 12 

It went from never wanting to shoot again to a lot of fun really quick largely thanks to your write up 
Thanks again !


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## cbrunson

You’re welcome.


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## donix

Tagged for later


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## gsteve

great read !


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## Gc265

Thank you CBrunson...tagged


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## reddogjack

thanks, great info.


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## Sir SickALot

Tag


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## Hyde72

Tag


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## reddogjack

thank you - very helpful
gotta lov it when a plan comes together


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## SimonRL

Replying so I can return to this post later


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## BeecherDan

Great information, thanks!

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## Tallybowman

tagged


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## Tblodg

This is good stuff and I am glad someone dug this old thread up (and now I am commenting on it). 

I saw this earlier today before my practice round so I tried aiming without firing a shot and getting a read on my normal pin float. I didn’t do near as many rounds as cbrunson recommended but I did do 3 or 4 ends of 3 arrows each. I think it helped to relax the bow arm without the stress of executing the shot. 

I will continue to work on this as I want to learn what type of shot works better for me. This method of settling the pin on the X and limiting movement seems to work well for me when I am not pulling into the wall as hard. But I can also pull hard with the pin floating more and as long as I focus hard on the spot I shoot well with that method also.


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## reddogjack

ttt


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## Fernlicht

Tag


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