# Advice on DL and back tension



## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Draw length and back tension are two of the most discussed topics on AT. The reason is that there are so many different ways to look at both of them. Also both are easy to learn, but difficult to master.

In general you want the nock of the arrow to be directly below your eye while at full draw. However, body type, posture, bow ATA, release length, alignment and a couple of other factors will result in variation from this. 

To be able to achieve back tension and execute smoothly, the DL needs to be within 1/4" of perfect. The best way to learn this is with a competent coach. Unfortunately, these are few & far between. There is a great article by George Ryals in the information section that describes BT as well as anyone. 

One good way to start is to begin with alignment. Straight line from point of arrow through release hand to your draw side elbow. Straight line in both the horizontal and vertical planes. Look for any breaks in the alignment of the forces. Breaks are where you are using muscle to maintain alignment instead of bone. Eliminate these so that you can relax as many muscles as possible. This will establish your anchor point on your face. 

You want to achieve three things with back tension:
One is drawing and holding - draw to anchors as much as possible with your back muscles and maintain the tension in your back. It's difficult to maintain tension when you reach the drop off of compound bows, but it's important that you do so.

Second is aiming - keep your alignment and use your back muscles to adjust and hold your aim.

Third is execution - maintain your aim and alignment increase the pressure in your back. This part is the one I have the most difficulty with. You want to keep your mental focus 100% on the target, while subconsciously increasing back pressure through follow through. Never think "release", always set up for a good follow through.

This third use of back tension is the one that we have to practice on a blank bale. Thousands of arrows executed the same way until it operates on a subconscious level. Then gradually work back, increasing your distance a couple of yards at a time until you can execute smoothly and subconsciously at a target at full distance.

There is a lot more to it than this. Core Archery by Larry Wise is a good resource for this.

Hope this helps,
Allen


----------



## Stubby'smom (Mar 20, 2010)

Good post! Depending on your release, you can practice all of this with your current trigger release too before taking the plunge and spending the $$$ on a good BT. Also, if you take aim and something doesn't feel right don't be afraid to let down and start over rather than just letting the arrow go. This is something I don't like to do, but if things don't feel right, they probably are not. When you aiming and holding sometimes at first it is hard to get the release to go off. Again, it's a good idea to start over if this happens to you. You can also have the opposit problem of the release going off too soon. I didn't blank bale but it would have been a good idea because I had some very wild shots at first. It's even a good idea to attach some string to a short section of PVC and practice your release with that before doing it for real.


----------

