# Basement practice



## Daave (Jul 22, 2005)

I have only about 14 yards to practice with in my basement. Any routine that would help me shoot better?


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## wc651 (Apr 23, 2009)

I only have 10 feet. I consider it blank baling. Kind of boring, like all blank baling, but probably better in the long run.


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2353281
http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2350084


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## Lazarus (Sep 19, 2005)

14 yards is a perfect distance to develop a strong shot. It's very simple, shoot lots of arrows at whatever size dot you want. Just as long as you never, ever, ever think about "score" at short distances. Why? Because it means nothing. What you're trying to accomplish is nothing more than developing a strong shot. You want to condition your mind to stop thinking in terms of "hits" or "misses." You want it to think in terms of strong shots, the reward is the feeling of the strong shot, not where it hits on the target. Develop a strong shot at 14 yards and you can take it to any distance you choose. Yes, it's pretty much that simple.


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## Beat~ (Jun 24, 2014)

would you be so kind as to explain in detail what is this "strong shot"?


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## ron w (Jan 5, 2013)

a "strong shot", is one that is well executed. with a deliberate and somewhat aggressive process. simply put, it is you, who is in command of the shot. you make it happen when you want it to happen, by running your shot process cleanly and correctly. the hard part of this, is to detach your conscious process from the shot and run the shot from your sub conscious process. that is what all the short yardage training and various short baling drills, you read about, is for.


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## Lazarus (Sep 19, 2005)

Beat~ said:


> would you be so kind as to explain in detail what is this "strong shot"?


Ron did a pretty good job of describing it above. The "strong shot" will very from individual. Explaining it much further than ronw did above is like trying to explain what a banana tastes like. Why? Because it will vary from person to person. A strong shot is a repeatable shot, because that's the ONLY thing that counts in archery, not how pretty it is, not how textbook it is, not even how in line with the current popular "style" it is. The short bale is where you develop all of these things individually.


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

"The arrow doesn't know how far away the target is." Darren McCutcheon

14 yards is a lot more than most have in their basement. It's more than enough to develop a consistent shot sequence and deeply ingrain it into your subconscious. Read Jacob's & GRIV's posts on the short yardage game. You can do a lot at 14 yards. 

The two threads that Mahly posted above have a lot of good information too.

Allen


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## ron w (Jan 5, 2013)

exactly,....you shoot a long shot any differently than a short shot.


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## Daave (Jul 22, 2005)

Shot sequence seems to be what is coming to mind after reading posts,
1. Eye on target
2. Bow draw and sight to target.
3. Push pull.
4. Float pin
5. Surprise release

What's yours?


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## mainehunt (Sep 11, 2006)

my buddy and I shoot in his garage at 13 yards, 13 is only 65% of 20 yards. So, we took 5 spot targets and shrunk them on a photo-copier until they were 35% smaller.

We have a good time while practicing.


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## brad91x (Jul 12, 2013)

I have about 13 yards to shoot in my garage so what I do is buy those stick on orange targets and use the medium sized ones they close to the same size as the x in a 5 spot..


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## Bees (Jan 28, 2003)

dbow said:


> I have only about 14 yards to practice with in my basement. Any routine that would help me shoot better?


it's enough room, just learn what a strong shot feels like and only practice strong shots.

I wasted almost a year because I developed a weak shot that worked really good up close, but fell apart at longer distances.

that's the danger of up close, it is easy to get lazy and sloppy and slouchy , and end up practicing an accurate, but slouched up weak shot.



> Shot sequence seems to be what is coming to mind after reading posts,
> 1. Eye on target
> 2. Bow draw and sight to target.
> 3. Push pull.
> ...


Different, I incorporate watching my float and practice shooting the arrow without disturbing my float in any way.
I wouldn't exactly say my release is a surprise, I know when it should go within a half second or so. 

which is different than my aiming exercise at 20 yards, where, 
I ignore my float and practice looking into the center with my eyes and shoot the shot.


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## Pete53 (Dec 5, 2011)

what these gentlemen have posted is all true and good for you to remember, i would like to add one little thing after you have been shooting target archery for a while and have read some books on back tension or got a coach,you will be able tell when you have shot a strong shot or just got lucky with an x. a real good book for all of us to read and reread which i do is "idiot proof archery" by bernie pellerite. yes some of the book is boring but helpful,i think just understanding what type of person you are is important ,like myself i am a type A mostly, my son ia a type B mostly and so on.i have to shoot a hinge release because i am a type A to shoot better,my son can shoot any release and always beats me because he is a type B. good luck and have a fun archery season ! Pete53


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## Bees (Jan 28, 2003)

The biggest mistake I made was practicing aiming up close. 
That only led me to the lazy, weak bow arm, slouchy shot.
although I was very accurate up close, It didn't work out for me at longer distances.

that's why I invented my watch the float and shoot drill. 
up close (13 yards) my float is about the size of the X ring on the 5 spot.
(after a lot or bow arm, posture, and alignment work)
I have to shoot my strong shot in order to get thru it without making the float any bigger. 
If I slouch the float gets bigger and I know I'm headed in the wrong direction.

Now when I go to my aiming drill at 20 yards, I use the same strong shot process. 
But, I change my frame of mind to ignore the float (instead of watching my float) 
I just focus in on the center of the target. 
This is where a lot of trust comes in.
I have to trust that I can shoot my strong shot without disturbing my sight picture.
So when I focus in on the center and just shoot the shot the arrow usually goes in the center. 

So, when I go to a tournament 
I'm just running my aiming drill. 
while everyone else is shooting for score at the tournament... 

there you have it, in a nut shell.....


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