# How Much Practice is the Right Amount?



## guns_and_labs (Sep 3, 2012)

In the off season, or building up to the 3-D season, what is the typical practice regimen?

I'm only now getting into 3-D with a new compound bow, and I typically shoot 45-50 arrows per day at 20 and 30 yards (all I've got in the backyard). Is that about right? More than that and I seem to get sloppy, and I don't think I'm improving my form any.

I'm also trying to work up the draw weight gradually, though, so maybe I ought to muscle through with more arrows to build strength?


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Shooting at targets isn't practice. It's fun and can show you what you need to work on, but you won't get better any time soon unless you work on consistent form. The most effective way to do that is the blank bale and bridge. On the blank bale you focus on one part of your form at a time. For each arrow, ask yourself, "how did I set it and what did I get for it." Once you get each part of your form running consistently on the blank bale, you go to the bridge where you work back to full distance very slowly.

There is a more complete discussion of this in the book "Idiot Proof Archery".

I don't know where it came from or whether it is true, but 32 arrows is supposed to be the optimal number for each session with 2 or 3 sessions a day. Maybe it's accurate or maybe not. I've never tried it. Never had the time.

On building strength, check Olympic coach Kisik Lee's website. He has a couple of exercises that are very effective. Don't try to muscle through while shooting targets. You'll just start bad habits.

Allen


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

Good advice above.... Ill say it better to shoot 10 perfect arrows that to sling 35 so-so arrows..


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

mike 66 said:


> Good advice above.... Ill say it better to shoot 10 perfect arrows that to sling 35 so-so arrows..


I agree 100%.

Last night on PBS, there was a show on the human brain. They said that actions that we do over & over again, actually build physical pathways in the brain. One of the examples they used was golf. They hooked up a golfer to brain wave monitor. When he had a good swing, the readout was very different from when he "caught the yips". The theory was that the bad shots were due either to new pathways that were not developed properly or to not using the well built pathways. 

When you apply what they talked about to archery, the bale is how we develop the good pathways in our brains. And the bridge is how we learn to use these new pathways every time.

This is why a few good arrows is better than a high volume of arrows. Every repetition is contributing to the formation of new pathways in your brain. Good shots contribute to good pathways, bad shots contribute to not so good. 

It confirmed to me the things that Al Henderson and Len Cardinale were teaching long ago. They may not have been brain surgeons, but they had the practical side of this figured out long before the scientists.

JMHO,
Allen


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## [email protected] (Aug 3, 2010)

Absolutly that is also what your trying to achieve on the bail. The good feeling of a perfect execution. Rewarding and ingraining that feeling in your mind.Just like in golf your on the first tee and you stripe one its almost like it never happened. Same thing with your perfect archery shot all systems coordinated together not fighting for control but perfect harmony and shot breaks.Oh what a feeling.Thats the shot you try to duplicate one after another and your brain will crave that feeling shot after shot.


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## TheLongbowShoot (Mar 23, 2012)

I shoot for 6 hours at one time no breaks. But thats just me.


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## Stubby'smom (Mar 20, 2010)

I shoot around 4-6 days per week anywhere from an estimate about 40 to a couple hundred arrows at a crack. I alternate how many arrows I shoot or for how long. I will shoot 1-2 scoring rounds per week and the rest is spent shooting 7 yards in my basement. Until indoor starts anyway. I always end on a good shot for muscle memory. 10 good arrows are better than 30 so so ones but I am also looking to build on my endurance for target shooting.


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## subconsciously (Aug 22, 2009)

My regimen is to blank bale a few rounds the shoot 2 practice rounds (just like a tournament). Score 6 ends then finish with some blank bale. If I feel something ain't right I will try to correct it within a few shots. If not I roll it up and call it a day.


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