# What is the #1 thing you did that helped



## erdman41 (May 6, 2009)

Stopped trying to find X's and points in equipment. Including tuning (slight high left tear at 15' all I want), string twist draw length changes.

There was a lot more score to find working on me (mostly mental) than I ever found in equipment. Realize archery is a level playing field and "natural talent" is BS.

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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

Bow fit. Next up, smooth execution and tons of practice and then learned practice with a purpose.

Equipment, most is personal preference. I probably shot my best with a 30" stab with 3 ounces on front. Fully rigged with Bee Stinger stabs front and back I only feel better balance....Still have the old 30" $80 Cartel, old enough to vote and still gets the job done so long as I don't push it for weight. 

Diet. What you're use to eating and drinking. Unless a health problem maintaining your body is foremost. During a 3D I drink only water.....


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## webenic (Sep 15, 2012)

Verifier in my peep is #1. My eyes suck unfortunately and I struggle keeping the pins in focus while trying to focus on the target. 

Close #2 is learning how to work on and keep my bow in tune and make adjustment so it "fits" me properly.


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## Stash (Jun 1, 2002)

Stopped worrying about my score and concentrated on only the current shot.

I used to set a “goal” for a tournament, either a score or a PB. But I found that if I started off poorly for whatever reason, and the goal I had set was now unobtainable, I would lose interest or even hate the rest of the day. And if I started off exceptionally well, I would find myself coasting and getting careless.

Concentrating on just one shot at a time, and making an extra effort to be aware of that, helped me a lot.


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## mseganti (Sep 15, 2017)

I worry about putting each shot in individually not just shooting arrows and worrying abt where they go when I go pull them. I also don’t shoot with a pin, I shoot with a big ring that goes in the general area of the target, for some reason it makes you focus less on aiming, and improves my scores.


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## lees (Feb 10, 2017)

Shot more. Even during down times like now I still just shoot as much as I possibly can. The more I shoot, the faster I find problems and am able to work them out. Most of the time what I run into is something I never would have imagined or even thought wasn’t quite right. 

Nothing specific really, just shooting and shooting with a focus.

Lee


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## lees (Feb 10, 2017)

PS: I should also mention learning the surprise release; left out that little detail above. But it was still shooting as much as possible that enabled me to discover it and learn it. Now that I don't have to release bowstrings anymore, that's probably the most major improvement in my quality of life on the shooting line to date.....

lee.


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## Rick! (Aug 10, 2008)

Acquired an acute case of target panic, tore my whole shot process down and rebuilt it from the ground up. Learned how to really tune a bow and make it fit me, added a little bit of professional coaching and stopped listening to advice from AT's resident experts.


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## Bobmuley (Jan 14, 2004)

Attitude. 

Everything after that was because of a change in attitude.


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## cbrunson (Oct 25, 2010)

Shooting with people that are really good.


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## dbd1313 (Oct 28, 2015)

1. Shooting. A lot.
2. Coaching/YouTube/research
3. Applying #2 to and doing more #1.
4. Tuning my own equipment and getting the bow to fit ME. 
5. Shoot more. 

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## adamdillon (Jan 29, 2012)

For years I tried to increase my scores by buying better equipment which is nesessary to have but won’t fix a poor shot. I also made the mistake of taking advice from a lot of guys who didn’t know sh%#! about how to execute a good shot. I did my research and went and spent some time with an accomplished coach which took me to a whole new level. My advice is to spend your money on a good coach and not get caught up in buying the lastest and greatest bow every year.


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## Scottspot50 (Nov 21, 2017)

Follow through. If my follow through is good, my shot is good. If I can watch my arrow through the scope to the target I’m golden.


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## David99907 (Apr 2, 2018)

I've only been shooting a year, so this maybe won't be as useful of information, but I find that over 60 or 72 arrows for score I'm always much more shaky and fatigued shooting the last end compared to the first couple ends.
So most of my practice right now is focused on getting stronger on the bow through SPT exercises.


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

Alphadawg said:


> What do you remember doing or changing that help increase your scores? I wanna know whether it be , equipment,pre shot ritual, diet, or just and specific practice techniques. I wanna know.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Cured my target panic with a hinge.


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## *SWITCH (Nov 27, 2007)

If I have to say one thing, then its would have to be your grip.

This is the main contact point with the bow, and has the most influence on it, therefore it needs to be consistent, and most importantly as torque free as possible. Even if everything else is perfect, but you have a inconsistent or torquey grip it will severely limit any progress.

I still fall back into some old bad habits with my grip, and when I do it all goes to sh:zip:


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## CamoQuest (Mar 3, 2012)

Reading “With Winning in Mind” probably had more impact on my scores than any other one single thing. Having good equipment, coaching, and purposeful practice and training were part of the foundation, but me getting in my own head was my biggest hurdle. I used to hate keeping score or knowing my score. I swear, I could keep running ‘what if’ algebraic equations running through my head during a 3D round, trying to figure out how many shots were left, how many 12s I hit, how many so and so hit, how many I needed to hit... get the picture? It was bad. That book completely changed the way I mentally approached archery. It has had a positive effect on every aspect of my life, to be honest. I’m a visual learner, and even though I had heard in person some of the concepts covered in the book, they didn’t sink in until I read them myself and started applying them. I’m embarrassed by how slow I was, but better late than never!


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## 19hunt92 (Jun 25, 2014)

The one thing i did a few years back was started blank bailing and starting to fell my shot cycle rather than just draw, settle, aim shoot. Actually feel the tension and pressure and muscle control. Helped me get a finite routine down


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## john218 (Jan 14, 2012)

Ditched the glasses for contacts


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## subconsciously (Aug 22, 2009)

Workimg towards and keeping the mental framework of what I want to accomplish, not what I am trying to avoid. 

Write it down 

Learning to shoot at the edge of my ability and try to find the sweet spot.


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## Rugby (Feb 13, 2003)

I see a lot of shooters want the "1" thing, the silver bullet that lets shoot well.

The truth is there are dozens on "1" things you need to master/work out. As your shooting improves different "1" things become apparent/necessary.

Finding someone who can guide you through/to all of the "1" things you need to shoot well is a big "1" thing but not the only one.


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## Rugby (Feb 13, 2003)

I see a lot of shooters want the "1" thing, the silver bullet that lets them shoot well.

The truth is there are dozens of "1" things you need to master/work out. As your shooting improves different "1" things become apparent/necessary.

Finding someone who can guide you through/to all of the "1" things you need to shoot well is a big "1" thing but not the only one.

(I need to slow down and proof my replies better)


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## boothm (Nov 8, 2015)

Each of these significantly tightened my score at a point in time--additive to the sequence:
1)bow fit--shortened my draw length so arm properly bent for good form (overdrawing is huge newbie error)
2)find repeatable non-torqued hand-hold (people without benefit of bony hands have more problems to work out--which happen to be true for me)
3)use multi-point anchor(3 min) to execute shot so head in same position relative bow everytime (use kisser to same gum/tooth line--national rated shooter taught me that--really tightened me up)
4)moved to spothogg sight--I like to shoot off thin vertical wire and just use pins as yardage reference--always had trouble with parallex & glare with pin shooting 
5)aim fine where you want to hit (i shoot at a tack) and align sight in background--sight is not in primary focal plane--CONCENTRATE TO HOLD THE SIGHT PICTURE TILL SHOT SEQUENCE EXECUTED
6)paper tune rough--then fine tune by grouping old style fixed broadhead with field tips
7)practice makes perfect but perfect practice makes you even better and you do that by shooting very long distance...I shoot 200meters regularly....it magnifies your form issues. When you can shoot good at that distance--moving to 50 meters seems like a chip shot. Work up by doubling the distance from which you can shoot 1 minute of angle accuracy consistently.


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## pherrley (Jan 24, 2015)

I think this is a good thread. Though I'd like to see more of measurable differences stated. I've talked to several people that did something that has "helped them", which had zero impact in score. 

Biggest improvements in order:
#1 - arrow diameter. Granted I've only shot 1 game with outdoor arrows, it was a 37X. My next game with X27s was 48X. Last year I shot a vegas score of 299 with outdoor arrows, so maybe it wouldn't matter as much anymore. 
#2 - shooting a surprise shot. Its harder to measure, but I stopped shooting 4s (or 8s), which I struggled with a bit in the beginning
#3 - shooting more. Through indoor season, I've normally increased 1-2 X's on average

Things that didn't make any difference for me:
- draw length. I've shot 31.5 - 32.5 with no change in scores
- arrows. I switched from X27s to Triple Xs with no change
- sight aperture. I've shot a fiber, small dot, big dot, and ring. All same scores


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## lees (Feb 10, 2017)

pherrley said:


> I think this is a good thread. Though I'd like to see more of measurable differences stated. I've talked to several people that did something that has "helped them", which had zero impact in score.
> 
> Biggest improvements in order:
> #1 - arrow diameter. Granted I've only shot 1 game with outdoor arrows, it was a 37X. My next game with X27s was 48X. Last year I shot a vegas score of 299 with outdoor arrows, so maybe it wouldn't matter as much anymore.
> ...


This past summer, I did your #1 sort of when I bought a set of X23 2312's for my shootdown. 

This was the only known and actually recorded in front of other people instance in the entire human history of archery where spending money on gear improved an archer's score. By 4 points - the best I'd done with that bow with my ACE's was a 292 14 or so x on a Vegas face at 20 yards. With the 2312's I shot a PB 296 16x with a recurve sight and 10" stab on it - that was in our local adult JOAD with witnesses, other shooters on the line, etc., and not alone in practice either. I even got the eveeedence posted below.

No, I know, that's not competitive on compound even in bowhunter class, but the competition with myself, the really important match, I went from a low-290's shooter to a mid 290's shooter for the low low price of about $160.

So don't listen to anyone that says you can't buy your way into being a better shooter.....









lee.


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## Jguy3348 (Feb 20, 2016)

Had to change things due to lack of progress. Did a lot of shooting but not with much purpose. I now shoot for score each practice session and keep a record. Removed lens for 20yd spots and the pin just sits for me. My scores impressively improved. Still looking to add to a more meaningful practice. Just set up 10yd blank bale in cellar, and joining leagues (competition). Shooting for score shows flaws, then off to the blank bale!


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

pherrley said:


> I think this is a good thread. Though I'd like to see more of measurable differences stated. I've talked to several people that did something that has "helped them", which had zero impact in score.
> 
> Biggest improvements in order:
> #1 - arrow diameter. Granted I've only shot 1 game with outdoor arrows, it was a 37X. My next game with X27s was 48X. Last year I shot a vegas score of 299 with outdoor arrows, so maybe it wouldn't matter as much anymore.
> ...


Some of these go WAY back in time, so exact scores are few and far between. I’ll try to keep them in order of relevance.

#1 Cured TP with a hinge (and to a lesser extent, with a ring instead of a dot). At the time (over 30 years ago) I was getting 298-295 on indoor 5 spots. Not horrible, but not great. I REALLY wanted that 300, and started worrying about not missing than hitting. Note: I was shooting too long of a DL, and a cinch I style release with a long, crappy trigger). For me, this was the perfect storm for developing TP. Is started taking longer and longer. Sometimes a full minute at full draw for one arrow. I couldn’t pull the trigger, and I couldn’t lift the pin to the target. It was BAD. I eventually sold my bow, as I could no longer shoot. That didn’t last long. I loved archery too much. So I got my bow back, and started doing research. Not much out there... and I struggled. Then I found AT. Look at my anniversary date to see when that was.
Many will say to ignore the “AT experts“, I say listen to everyone, and find what makes sense.
I got a hinge release, and started to learn a surprise shot. Well, to be accurate, I started learning to shoot with “back tension”, which is either the worst description I can think of, or the worst explained topic in AT. As such, I still struggled, but was moving forward. Much of the rest is explained in later things that helped, but properly learning to use a hinge was the #1 thing that saved my archery shooting.

2. Learning a “proper, and repeatable” form. I put that in quotes as I normally don’t attribute “proper” form with any level of success (search how many times people tried saying Reo has “bad” form). My bow was too long, my shoulder was too high, and the previous release put my release elbow too low (feel free to put quotes over every time I say “too” if you disagree).
I went from a 33” bow (yes, I know) to a proper fitting 31.25” bow (44” ATA). Dropped my shoulder to where it needs to be, stopped hyper extending my bow arm, and learned some “anchor points” better called “contact points”. 

Now I could hold, and not freak out. I was still inconsistent but I could shoot without the horrible TP. The consistency still let some anticipation creep into my mind.

3/4.A “good” thumb release. (Virtually zero travel trigger). I had everything else I needed worked out save for my release engine. I was still hearing it described poorly to my ears (I take things very literally). I was squeezing those shoulder blades, and nothing happened. (Because I wouldn’t let the release move and “mess up” my contact points). 
Going to a thumb release let me keep pulling, and the shot would go off (hallelujah!), I was back! Or I though I was. Until I found that in time, I could punch the trigger (If you REALLY want to get TP, shoot a lot of video archery!). Luckily, I still had my hinge and found I could knock the TP back down quite quickly. So I used the trigger most of the time, and the hinge to “get my mind right”.

3/4. One source of input. While I did make strides from my lowest point, I wasn’t quite there. I got a video from Micheal Braden. I forget the title (straight talk or something like that). I learned from one source how to train to eliminate TP, and improve my shooting. Eventually, things started clicking (Note, this is not all chronological. Some of these things happened at the same time, some less important or less significant are listed lower, not just because they were newer). Listening to ONE dude say it, and show it helped.

5. Putting it all together.
One again, back to AT. Now I could ask “better” questions, and better understand the answers. This continues today. Learning some small things that people never said because they thought some internet hero would shoot them down. Things like “it’s ok to use your hand to fire the hinge”, or “you always want back tension, but just squeezing your shoulder blades isn’t how it works”. I think it was the Braden video that turned on a light bulb in my head. It went something like “imaging there is a post behind you, pull like you are trying to touch the post.”. Oh!!!! I CAN move my elbow? Ding ding ding!
Now a lot of the other stuff made sense!
I could use that for every release I wanted, and did! I could now shoot my hinge, thumb trigger, and even a wrist/index trigger release. (Can’t really use it on a concho, but I will never buy one of those again!)

6. Ring vs Dot.
While much of the above was going on, and I found more of the causes of TP, I finally tried a ring instead of a Dot. Not worrying about having that pin perfectly on the X seemed much more calming, and scores went up.

7. Keep learning. While I think I have things pretty well figured out, I always want to know more. I was able to go from needing only 1 expert opinion to benefitting from many. Bruce Lee one said to learn everything that you can, use what works for you, and throw away the rest. For that to work, you have to learn 1 thing first. If you study 20 different martial arts all at once, you will have trouble progressing. But once you have a strong grasp on that first art ( say black belt or wherever) learning others becomes easier and you can then focus on what works best for you.
I’ve had a few here watch me shoot, or look at pics of certain aspects of my shooting. Always there is feedback, and I can usually find a nugget here and there that I can incorporate.
Hell, even though they can get a little steamy, some of the back tension/ release hand manipulation debates/arguments here got me to look at things a little differently.

In the end as mentioned, what works for me might not work for you. You may have different issues you need to work on, or around. 

I ended up with around a 50x average, with minimal real “practice” time. Right now, that is my main holding back issue. I don’t have the time to put in the time I need to be a 58-60x shooter.

Obviously, I have made a ton of mistakes. Not all were learning moments, most could be avoided. With access to AT, and YouTube, I would have gotten much better much faster, but In the 80s info was harder to come by, and finding a coach was never even looked at as a starter.


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## erdman41 (May 6, 2009)

pherrley said:


> I think this is a good thread. Though I'd like to see more of measurable differences stated. I've talked to several people that did something that has "helped them", which had zero impact


I plateaued at about a 54-55x blue face shooter when I was trying to find the other 5-6 x's in equipment, string twists, sight picture, stab weights, draw length ect..

Granted had full freestyle rig with 27 dia arrows and shooting a hinge but...

I was sick of shooting those scores and figured I would do something different. Old saying if you don't like how you are shooting change it. I wanted all 60.

I set a goal of 6 months of no changes to equipment. NONE

Worked solely on mental game and shot execution.

Mental game of following a process not just sometimes but everytime. Mentally changed my thinking of what my allowable float should be. (Float shrunk just by changing my attitude about aiming)

Build confidence KNOW that if you do what you are suppose to the arrow goes in the middle. Pretty comforting thought to me.

Now I'm a 58x or better shooter. The times that I drop 1 or 2 x's is just a lack of focus. The more I get to shoot the more 
"or better" scores happen. But shooting once a week I can stay right around the 58x mark. 

To be the automatic 60x everytime guy would take more time than what I have. Not sure I would want to do it even if I did have the time. But have upmost respect for those that do.

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## AKDoug (Aug 27, 2003)

Nothing improved my scores more than following Lanny Basshams program, starting with Winning in Mind.


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## RCR_III (Mar 19, 2011)

Not coming on AT and reading all the messes. 

In seriousness though, getting a bow press and starting down the road to working on my own equipment. It helped me learn how everything functioned and what I needed to do in order to get a bow fit properly to myself, my shooting style, and what I wanted from it. 

Not conforming to certain mass instructed, "Have to's" while shooting. Knowing that I need to do what works best for me and gives me the best repeatable outcomes. 

Increasing front weight bias on my stabilizers. 

These are very ground level on areas that have helped me break through plateaus over the years and there are a ton of other things that have helped, but these stood out as the ones that helped the most in their time.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

Naming one and I got to thinking....You get over one and there's another looking at you and then the first one didn't seem all that hard to get over. You gain confidence...Knowing you can get over one gives that little extra to journey on.....


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## MasterCraft (Jan 22, 2011)

keeping both wrists completely relaxed allows everything to stay inline. Most of my error.


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## enderson (Apr 21, 2015)

MasterCraft said:


> keeping both wrists completely relaxed allows everything to stay inline. Most of my error.


This has been huge for me also. Anytime shots are feeling even slightly forced, varied tension or pressing forward/down in the bow hand or wrist messes with the flow and float. 

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## hydnawaab (Apr 19, 2019)

First and foremost, I make sure the bow is perfectly tuned for the shooter. In doing so, I try to minimize the impact of most of the external variables. Then, it boils down to the shooter and his individual variables.


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## SoddenSlimeball (Jan 20, 2019)

The thing that made the biggest difference for me was learning to hold and hover over the target before shooting instead of letting go as soon as I hit anchor. I was stuck in a rut for a while as I would always release my arrow before my sight was even settled on the target, and it was only fixed once a coach told me to just draw, hold for three seconds, and then let-down. I still do this every once in a while when I notice I'm becoming too trigger-happy.


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## NoviceAddicted (Dec 25, 2015)

Alphadawg said:


> What do you remember doing or changing that help increase your scores? I wanna know whether it be , equipment,pre shot ritual, diet, or just and specific practice techniques. I wanna know.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


#1 thing. Being a student of Archery. That would include doing all your own work on your equipment, including tuning, Arrow building, string building, everything with the exception of a rare occasion of sending back to manufacturer. Learning to disseminate information, who to read or watch, what methods work best for you, watching the Pros shoot and picking apart one thing you are working on when watching. Finding as much information as you can from a top Coach. Purposeful practice. Raising your comfort level, realistic expectations of results obtained when you shoot. Above all relax, have fun and find better jokes than mine.


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## Polythermic (May 22, 2019)

What helped me a lot as a beginner was learning about my shot process. I needed to learn exactly where my anchor point was, how I was holding my elbow, if I was focusing on the target or sight pin, my stance, etc. I realized when I was just starting, I didn't really know what I was doing when shooting, I was just flinging arrows. After I focused on getting my form and shot process tight, my scores started increasing.

I also learned a lot about tuning and learned about every part of my setup. Confidence in my bow to shoot a good shot helped me shoot good shots, too.


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