I just read the book last week and am reading it again to make sure I did not miss anything.
I like what Fred had to say and I am attempting to adopt his style, however like many other books I have read it lacks in describing a regimented schedule of task to perform in getting proficent.
So, Mr. Asbell if you happen to read this can you please send me a practice regimet/schedule as what, how and frequency of tasks I should be practicing?
Also, anyone else have a schedule as to how they practice with this style?
That's a tough thing to ask for each practice is different each time and is hard to have a static regiment. I just shoot when I can and make it quality.
Rob DiStephano has a very good review on here somewhere.
I just read it for the second time. Some very good advice in there, particularly his repetition on push/pull. When I miss it is almost always because I'm holding when I should be pushing and pulling, or just plain dropping the bow. 4 out of 5 of my misses is a wobble in my bow hand that makes me miss to the right. I can tell it happens instantly and know my arrow is going to be a foot wide before it gets there.
I don't like his advice to open my stance. It is probably best to follow it, but I just can't make it work. (Old dog, new trick.) I guess I have to hope all the deer are on my left. And his workout advice is spot on. I work with weights instead of resistance bands though.
As for shooting, I think the best workout is to shoot a dozen arrows to warm up a bit longer distance than your hunting max and then shoot one arrow at 5 yards, then another at 10 and another at 15 so on. And just doing that over and over out to 40 or so. Then do what Mr. Asbel suggests and go out to 45 or more and just have some fun. Then 20-25 doesn't seem so far. But I definitely think he is right about varying your distance for accuracy and work on form up close.
Reading "Stalking & Stillhunting" for the first time now. My mistake not reading it earlier. This book is so good, hard to imagine Fred remiss w/any descriptive analysis. But, I'm not familiar w/his new book.
I geuss I am attempting to equate this to such things as preparring to run a marathon or a weight lifting program where you have certain activities you perform on a set frequency to gain proficiency. Maybe I can't, however I just think there has to be a better approach to it that will maximize the efforts instead of an unplanned effort to practicing.
I know someone will say "that is what a coach is for", but how may traditional archery coaches are readily available for hands on instruction on a continous basis?
I do appreciate the comments and feedback!
For most of us, we need to be our own coach. I don't think there is any prescibable regimen....some guys need to shoot every day, others just need to shoot often.
Once you have absorbed the book....shoot...think about the points in the book...have an open mind, allow yourself to be coached. Go back and read the book some more. I have a stack of books on my nightstand. 3 of them are Fred's. I refer to them often. Even when I'm shooting well.....
Slow and steady is the way to go... I've read many books myself and learned a bit from each one. Read all you can and watch the videos. Remember to put what you learn onto practice. In time, you will develop your own style.......
... mike ...
I've got the book on order, can't wait for it to get here...
I think specific regimens have been left out because everyone has different times and locations to practice. Some people can shoot in their backyard for hours, others can only pop out for a half hour to the range once a week. Trying to implement a regimen for those varying time slots would be pretty hard.