# back tension shooting tips?



## abruno25 (Feb 12, 2010)

i see i'm starting to develop some target pannic, i'm looking to start shooting with a back tension realease to cure this, also just to gain on my form...

any tips or ideas on where to look to learn what i need to do?


----------



## bowhunter3131 (Oct 28, 2009)

blind bail as much as you can. thats what i was told when in your situation and it helped me so much.


----------



## da white shoe (Mar 10, 2009)

*Little late, but I hope this helps*

How to shoot with back tension and a surprise release 
If you're useing an index finger triggered release, you need to touch the trigger with the 2nd pad back from the tip of your finger. (Don't use the tip of your finger. It is too sensitive and easy to move.) To do this, you have to keep your release shortened up. With some releases you will have to keep the strap very tight and with others, not so much. For target panic, nothing beats a true back tension release, so get one.

Before you draw, position your hand on the grip and start pulling back to put pressure on the string. You are trying to find the exact spot for your bowhand to be in. On your bow hand, you want to feel all the pressure from the bow at full draw, at one point on your palm. Pretend there is a steel rod running parallel and exactly between the two bones in your forearm. Where that rod would exit your palm is where this point is. If you find this spot, it will help keep you from torqueing the bow handle. Once you start your draw, do not move your bow hand AT ALL.

At full draw, your release hand, as well as your bow hand, should be completely relaxed. That means that you don't want to be grasping or squeezeing the barrel of the release with that hand, or the grip of your bow handle with the other. Also, do not force either of your hands open. Your fingers should be hanging limp. I lightly touch my first finger and my thumb together around the handle, but some people use a wrist sling.

Use the bones in your arms and your back muscles to hold as much of the weight of the bow at full draw as you can. Relax every muscle in your arms that you don't need to use to stay at full draw. That goes for the muscles in your torso and legs, too. Remember; tension in your muscles is what causes your sights to wobble and jump around. If you can learn to relax everything that isn't needed to hold at full draw, your sights will barely even move. Your draw length must not be too long. If it is, you will have a hard time relaxing fully. 

Next thing to work on is getting a surprise release. After you have learned to relax at full draw and your sight pins are fairly still, teach yourself to aim while slowly squeezeing the trigger until the bow goes off. Better yet, learn to do it by squeezeing the muscles of your back so that your shoulder blades are trying to touch. Put as much pressure on the trigger as you can without making it fire and then squeeze just your back muscles until it goes off. 

To aim, reach full draw, line up your bubble level, (yes, you need one!), pick the right pin and center it, (or the sight housing, which ever you do), in the peep. Next, move your whole upper body to get on target. You don't want to just move your arm up and down or side to side. At full draw, your upper body and arms should at all times form a perfect T shape. When the pin is on the spot, concentrate on relaxing and then start your squeeze. The pin will still seem to float around the spot, but you need to forget about the pin. You will naturally try to keep it on the spot without even thinking about it. You should be focusing on the spot and nothing else. It helps to shoot with both eyes open if you can do it without your off eye taking over. Keep your concentration while slowly squeezing off the shot, making sure to follow through after the release. The first few times the bow goes off, it will scare the heck out of you. Keep at it! You will get used to it and it is important to do. You will know you are doing it right when the arrow goes dead center even when you think the pin was not on the spot at the time your bow went off.

When you "follow through" after the bow goes off, people say you should try to keep the pin on the target or keep aiming until the arrow hits. I've always felt that that was a bad way to describe it. You can't keep aiming or even see the pin once you shoot. What I would say is... keep your T form until the arrow hits, do not drop your bow arm or move your head, stay relaxed and let the bow go where it wants to with out grabbing it. Good follow through takes practice.

When you start trying all of this for the first time, it will speed up the process if you do it with your eyes closed at first. Your target needs to be at the same height as your arrow. I hang my target from a rafter and stand close, so that the tip of my arrow is about 3 feet away from the target at full draw. After you reach full draw and have lined everything up, close your eyes and think through every step of the shot. 

When that feels comfortable, move to a blank target that is 3 yards away and start shooting with your eyes open, but use no spot and try not to aim for a spot on the target. When you have the hang of it, move to 5 yards with a spot and try it all while aiming. Work your way out to longer and longer distances, but if you feel yourself slipping back to doing something wrong, don't be afraid to get close again.

The philosophy you want, is to think of yourself as a bow shooting machine. You have to stay out of the way to allow the arrow to leave the bow with no outside influences working against it. Do everything listed here, do it the same everytime and you will not only cure your target panic, you will be looking for a sight that has 7 or 8 pins. Once you reach this point, if you had target panic and you're a hunter, you need to re-learn to do this with your hunting release. If you ever feel yourself slipping, go back to the BT release for a bit and it will go away.

I had TP very bad at one point and nearly gave up bowhunting. Now I use a BT release in the summer and switch to a caliper for hunting. "It" has never returned in 10 years. 
__________________


----------



## Cheerioette (Apr 16, 2010)

bowhunter3131 said:


> blind bail as much as you can. thats what i was told when in your situation and it helped me so much.


I agree... I've been blind bale shooting before I actually take aim at a target, for the past week and a half now. It helps me get back into the feel of the "surprise" release.

Another thing is, be sure you are actually using your back muscles! Something I have to remind myself of... it's very easy to compensate with other muscles/movement.


----------

