Shooting Back Tension in the Wind

Max

New member
Having just been cured of flinching by practicing the surprise release (see the techniques described in Geoffretired's journal), I am using back tension to trigger a conventional button release with some success. However I find that it can be difficult to aim well in the wind while waiting for the shot to go off.

Having settled on the gold and hooked my thumb in front of the trigger, I start increasing back pressure. In my head I am thinking "it's going, it's going...", but all the time I am being blown off the gold.

I have started to think my way through this and am coming to the conclusion that I am probably trying far too hard to keep on the gold which is putting a lot of tension into my bow arm. Is there any other advice that I and others might use to help the situation?
 
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rgsphoto

Guest
It seems to me "surprise" and "wind" don't mix. I have come to the conclusion that to get a good shot off in the wind it has to be a predicted shot, well almost. The final tiny tiny part of the release has to be done when you want it to be, or we end up shooting worms:boggled: Keeeerching. I need a new release aid:melodrama
 

Marcus26

Well-known member
The great windy shooters don't punch. What they do is speed up their squeeze.
When I have shot my best in the wind I have held on the gold for 1-2 seconds and had the release fire in that time. It's tough to do and you simply must accept that sometimes you will miss.

Here is an example from a few years ago. 90m and it was tough wind. I squeezed every shot and shot 316 at 90m, only one over 300 (and there were quality guys there.
This end I shot 10 10 9 10 5 9
Now the 5 sucked, but I'll take 53's in the wind at 90m anyday. Just be strong and patient and the final score will be good.
 
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geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
I wonder if the punch and the surprise are the best words to use. Perhaps they convey the wrong messages. Surprise seems as if it is out of control and that is not something many of us want. I would have agreed with that until recently;but not any more. Surprise is not out of control. The archer is in control of what is happening, very much in control too.
The archer has to control the build up of pressure on the trigger or handle. The only unknown quantity is the exact time of release. The follow through is a natural reaction to losing all those pounds. Natural, because there is no time to do any forced or unnatural things.
Marcus said that in the wind the pressure can be increased more quickly. That is control.
Increasing the pressure on the trigger can be done very slowly, slowly, quite slowly etc etc all the way to quickly. It seems to me that we are talking about different positions on the same scale. Is that the term I'm looking for?
The speed of build up may not be as important as the the purity of that build up. ( I can't get the right word here so "purity"will have to do for now. I'm sure someone will come up with the word I'm looking for)
What I mean by purity is that nothing unwanted get thrown into the mix. When the build up is too quick, there is a danger that twitches and flinches and anticipations can get thrown in. These are drowned out by the speed of the release but show up in the poor groups. It's as if the technique is sound but the arrows are determined to mess about.
I wonder if some of those who say the surprise is not for them are actually surprise shooters who build up pressure but more quickly.
 
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timujin

Guest
I agree with what Marcus says re the correct technique to use in wind but we differ in our use of semantics to describe what we do. He calls his release a quick squeeze, I call mine a controlled punch. Marcus's description is probably more accurate. The older I get the more I realise how careful one has to be with the use of words when others might be listening or reading you.

In truth I could neither call my release in the wind a "punch" (which has all sorts of mad conontations) nor a squeeze (which to me, anyway, implies of BT type release).

I believe that the first thing to do is to find out how much pre pressure you can load your trigger release with, before it fires. Do this on a blank bale and practice it at home of a night using a length of cord and your actual release hooked into it. Do it while you are watching TV. Get so used to it that you can take up the preload without any fear of a premature release. You will find things a lot easier if you make your trigger "heavier" ie you need to apply considerable pressure to make it fire. You will find it far easier to control with this type of trigger when you are tense as you will be when the wind is really blowing.

Now, in a wind, you simply apply the preload that you have practised and then as your sights settle into the aiming area (and you musn't try for too great a degree of precision here because, in a wind, you aren't likely to get it).

As soon as you settle into your aiming area, confidently, smoothly and rapidly increase the pressure on the preloaded trigger and zing! off it goes.

If you make this final pressure too drawn out you are going to miss. As I said, with the preload on, a rapid increase in pressure is what you need.

Marcus gets this by squeezing in extra back pressure (if I read him correctly) whereas I get it by simply increasing the direct pressure on the trigger because I am accustomed to doing it that way.

Either way works, when you get comfortable with it. Neither will work if you "punch" or "jerk" the release.

One final word of advice. Don't avoid shooting on really windy days. Welcome them as a means of practising something difficult and practice with your release aid so much that you don't have to think about the release - it will happen almost automatically if you have worked enough on it.
 

Max

New member
timujin said:
One final word of advice. Don't avoid shooting on really windy days. Welcome them as a means of practising something difficult and practice with your release aid so much that you don't have to think about the release - it will happen almost automatically if you have worked enough on it.
Thank you so much for responding Timujin and also to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I do practice in the wind - its kind of hard to avoid it where we shoot! Our club field is right at the edge of a natural escarpment so it gets it from all directions - no danger of lack of practice.

I now have a toolbox of ideas that I can feed into my shooting a bit at a time. Firstly, I adapted my release to beat a bad flinch. Now I am slowly gaining confidence with the release and the bow itself, so that I can feel the button as the tension comes on - it will be a careful program to take the lessons learned and learn to control the rate that the pressure is applied and to gain confidence with the idea of pre-tension. I don't intend to rush this, just enjoy the slow progress.

Cheers All
Max
 
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