POLL - How do you shoot? Instinctive/Hybrid/Gap

[MAGICMAN]

Im a gap shooter used to be hybrid but my scores on 3-d went up so much when I started gap shooting I never went back. In the field I range reference points so I know where my yardage is.

[DngrsDan]

Didn't answer this when I first ran across it because it had been SO long since I shot a bow I couldn't remember what I did. After getting a chance to shoot today after a 28+ year hiatus I discovered that I shoot instinctive. My muscles "feel" the draw weight and my brain, somehow, interprets/calculates the trajectory. Surprised myself I did on how much I wasn't even thinking about WHERE I was pointing the arrow. And, yes, I was hitting the target!   :D

[champ38]

Instinctive..I only see the "spot"...Ive tested this at night using a laser pointer in pitch darkness, and my groups improved; enough to convince me that all I need to do is "bore a hole"

[J-KID]

DangrsDan, Welcome back!

[DngrsDan]

Hi J-Kid.     Guess there was someone else who had my handle previously. Been DngrsDan for a lotta years in a lot of forums, but only been in Tradgang for a few weeks. Just getting back into archery after a llllooooonnngg absence. Read "Got to shoot" that I posted in PowWow.
Pleased to meetcha.
(Tried to send this to ya as a PM, but yer mailbox was full.)

Dan

[J-KID]

DngrsDan, Nice looking dog!  I read a lot of the forums but this is the only one I've joined.  I think the best of the bunch are right here and the wealth of info is amazing.  I'm kind of sporadic too.  I get busy writing a book or something and I can't get on here much.  Just finished a book a couple months ago and I'm on here everyday it seems.  Hope you enjoy the place and I'll clean out my mailbox!

[ishiwannabe]

Just read the majority of this and I have a lot to learn....I draw, anchor, pick my spot and have at it. Never see my arrow until it is airborn.

[J-KID]

I think a number of variables go into how one chooses to shoot.  For example, I shoot right handed and I'm left eye dominant.  if I were right eye dominant I might find over time that my arrow helps in my alignment at a conscious level.  I focus fully on the target because nothing on my end has ever proven useful to get the arrow to the mark and it does get there with my method.  I also enjoy getting my focus down range and "willing" my arrow to the spot.  Second, I don't shoot 3D etc.  If I did I might have to use some method of aiming just to stay competitive.  I don't really know because I have never competed.  My interest is in hunting and that one shot that really counts.  I don't know if my concentration would hold up over the course of a tournament.  In other words, many things dictate how we shoot as individuals.  It all comes down to doing what is necessary to really enjoy the sport as you like to play it.

[SHOOTO8S]

Originally posted by J-KID:
  I also enjoy getting my focus down range and "willing" my arrow to the spot.  

This is also one of the most important and often misunderstood aspects of gap shooting. IMO nothing is more conductive to consistent accuracy than total conscious focus on intended target.

[J-KID]

I'm not well versed in gap shooting so educate me here if you would.
 

IMO nothing is more conductive to consistent accuracy than total conscious focus on intended target.

Are you saying the subconscious is the part aware of the tip of the arrow?  If "total conscious focus" is 100% then there is no room left for the conscious to be aware of the reference point.  A handgun shooter focuses on the front sight as does an open-sight rifle shooter.  Consequently, the target is naturally a little out of focus.  Does a gap shooter do the opposite?  Is the target in focus and the reference point out of focus?

Also, a good instinctive shooter (using my classifications of focusing 100% on the target) can hit a spot just as a good gap shooter can hit a spot.  I think the gap shooter can hit the spot repetitively more often than an instinctive shooter which is why competition shooters often adopt this technique.  Do you agree with this?  I know I am confident in my ability to put the first couple arrows where I want, however, if I keep on shooting arrow after arrow my groups spread out because my ability to concentrate begins to fall off.  Maybe I just have an attention deficit problem.

[SHOOTO8S]

Jay, yes, even good compound sight shooters focus on target and allow the subconscious the mantain sight calibration.Lots of difference in needed follow through between firearm and arrows...even a relatively slow round such as 45 ACP@ 840 fps the projectile reaches the point of not being shooter influence( out the barrel) much faster than our arrows, so being totally involved in the shot at the point of intended impact (target) allows our subconscious to help . I call this getting out from behind the bow and going to target!

[J-KID]

Fascinating!  I never even considered the dynamic of projectile speed and it's influence on aiming.  I guess there is a problem with my gun/bow analogy.  That gives me something to ponder for a while.

I think the importance of "getting out from behind the bow and going to target" may be the single most important quality for accurate and consistent shooting.  To whatever degree one is focused on mechanics (behind the bow) to that same degree they cannot be focused on the target.  We can only consciously attend to a single thing at a time and we need to keep our attention  down range.  That's the wisdom behind blank bale work.  Good stuff.

[Shawn Leonard]

I could not answer, as I shoot split vision. I am aware of the point of my arrow and still focus on a spot but never think yardage. I pull the two together and shoot. Shawn