string picture

sylvanus333

New member
i need some help, last week i nearly threw in archery,sometimes shooting ;a portmouth round in my garden i can score 585 no problem this can go on for several weeks then suddenly my score will drop to under 500 then i start throwing things out of my pram i will change my stance change brace height clicker position every thing. after reading on the web about string picture it dawned on me i never see the string which it says acts as a back sight now i anchor on the centre of my chin i see the the string no problem. but now my arrows are 1.5 inches to long as my draw lenth is shorter any views to the drop in form
 

urbin

Member
It is usually possible to see the string if you are anchoring "Olympic" style under the front or side of the chin. Where did you anchor before you changed?

For example a side of chin plus front of nose anchor still puts the string in your line of sight.
 

Phil Reay

New member
Need to see the string out of the corner of your eye rather than a full blown "oh there it is!". As long as it is a consistent place, scores should be fine
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
String picture is important, and should repeat. However, I wouldn't make it line up with something for its own sake. Get your draw length back to where it was and try to find out where the string lines up. For some, it is down through the riser and can be hard to detect.
If you shoot a 585 P/mouth, it must have been consistent. Because it was out of sight, doesn't mean it was inconsistent, it just meant you weren't checking on it.
From what you say, when things go wrong you change the things that were working so well earlier. I would leave things as they are and try to change your form back to how it was on the good days.
In order to put things back as they were, you need to find out about the important aspects of your form so you can repeat those in the future.
I would start by putting the clicker back to where it was. Then get your draw working so you come through the clicker properly. After that, try to find where the string line is.
 

RichParker

New member
Personally if I have a sudden drop in scores it oftem means I am either tired, tense or not concentrating.
For example in a Portsmouth competition once I shot 10 and 9s for the first 2 dozen. Then suddenly an 8 then a 7. Now normally I would let this get into my head and start chasing the sight and tensing up.
Instead I took a few deep breaths and concentrated on my shot and realised I was losing alignment and not shooting off my back.
Took a few ends but I was soon back in the middle.
I put it down to getting blas? as I was shooting well, and not concentrating properly.
 

sylvanus333

New member
It is usually possible to see the string if you are anchoring "Olympic" style under the front or side of the chin. Where did you anchor before you changed?

For example a side of chin plus front of nose anchor still puts the string in your line of sight.

thanks for your reply, the problem is i think,is that i have had no formal training and shoot by instict you know when you throw a ball at something and you hit it without really aiming or thinking. i draw my bow until i reach the end of the clicker then move my hand to my face then release, so i am watching the clicker all through the draw if i dont ! i pull through the clicker then i have to start again
i was told to keep the string directly in my vision or it is like shooting a gun from the hip it was explained to me thats why compound archers have a peep sight in the string
 

sylvanus333

New member
thanks for your help if i shot bad all the time i could live with it, but it suddenly drops off and i really want to give up, sometimes i think i overshoot i have a range in the garden i will shoot about two hundred arrows a day maybe i expect too much
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
The way I look at it, from the depths of my sixteen months experience (😀), is that consistent alignment and anchor point mean that string picture will be consistent too. I think of it as a final check, not an end point. Is my alignment good? Am I anchored in the correct place? Is the string in the correct place to prove the alignment and anchor/head position are correct?

From an engineering point of view, with good alignment and anchor point, the string picture is irrelevant. If you have to come to full draw stance and then move around to get the string picture you want then you are doing something wrong.
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
A couple of things not directly associated with the original question...

... i have a range in the garden i will shoot about two hundred arrows a day maybe i expect too much
First... I think that people that expect too much are the people that get to the top.
Second... if you can invest the time to shoot 200 arrows/day you should invest in some quality coaching. I mean some serious quality coaching, the type that cost money, such as some time with Alistair Whittingham.
You want to be practicing with a good basic form and not reinforcing poor form with poor quality practice. You may hit on good form now and again to get the 585 portsmouth, but if you can't recognise the good from the bad you will practice both. It may be possible to learn to recognise the good from the bad but it will take a long time and you will have to break bad habits that form on the way. Don't waste all that practice time. It will save you years!
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
i draw my bow until i reach the end of the clicker then move my hand to my face then release, so i am watching the clicker all through the draw if i dont ! i pull through the clicker then i have to start again
i was told to keep the string directly in my vision or it is like shooting a gun from the hip it was explained to me thats why compound archers have a peep sight in the string
I think that part of the problem is written above.
Those who use a clicker well, draw to the face first. Draw some more while they aim, and release on the click.
There are some who watch the clicker just before it clicks,but the eyes are back on the gold before it goes off. I would say that the clicker is going off too soon for you because it is too far forwards and might be better adjusted further back... closer to the string.. so you draw more before it goes off.
It might be better when you shoot, if you ignore the string until you can draw to your face without bothering about the string. Move the clicker till it rarely goes off too soon , so you have time to aim for around a second or two while you draw through.
 

carl7

New member
I think that part of the problem is written above.
Those who use a clicker well, draw to the face first. Draw some more while they aim, and release on the click.
There are some who watch the clicker just before it clicks,but the eyes are back on the gold before it goes off. I would say that the clicker is going off too soon for you because it is too far forwards and might be better adjusted further back... closer to the string.. so you draw more before it goes off.
It might be better when you shoot, if you ignore the string until you can draw to your face without bothering about the string. Move the clicker till it rarely goes off too soon , so you have time to aim for around a second or two while you draw through.
As Geoff says. You need a lot more working with the clicker, a lot more. You have to feel, not by looking, when your within a couple mm of the clicker going off, this only comes from much practice and experimentation. it'd help you a lot of you set the clicker towards you until it does not go off at your stretched out max draw. Then make small changes away from you until you find where it goes off. Then fine tune from there finding where your comfortable.

Trying to watch the point and clicker as you draw will drive you crazy because the view is foreshortened and very difficult to tell 2-3mm.

You have to have a consistent anchor otherwise it's not much use trying to use a clicker.

Today they have super sharp closeups of the Oly competitors shooting, study them many times over and how they do things.
 

sylvanus333

New member
thanks great advice, this week i won the clubs 20 year anniversary championship,was i happy no its time for me to grow up, now i am thinking i am twisting my head to far round as i wear glasses causing the string to lock on the centre of my chin making it hard to pull through the clicker
 

carl7

New member
thanks great advice, this week i won the clubs 20 year anniversary championship,was i happy no its time for me to grow up, now i am thinking i am twisting my head to far round as i wear glasses causing the string to lock on the centre of my chin making it hard to pull through the clicker
Congrats on the win!
On expanding the draw for the clicker, don't forget to push with the bow arm at the same time continuing to draw, a balanced movement. You will get to the point where you can just "feel" just when the clicker is about to go off just as you anchor.
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
now i am thinking i am twisting my head to far round as i wear glasses causing the string to lock on the centre of my chin making it hard to pull through the clicker
The further you turn your head, the further round your aiming eye moves towards the bow shoulder. If you want to see the string beside the sight, you have to draw the string to the eye and that brings the string closer to the bow shoulder. Viewed from above, that can leave the draw elbow sticking out of line. That alignment is important so two things can happen, you draw further to bring the elbow round into line, or you allow the draw hand to rest the string on your chin further away from the bow shoulder; on the side of the chin and not the centre.
Sometimes working out where is best for you is made harder by the archer standing with an arched back; trying to be too upright.
 

sylvanus333

New member
The further you turn your head, the further round your aiming eye moves towards the bow shoulder. If you want to see the string beside the sight, you have to draw the string to the eye and that brings the string closer to the bow shoulder. Viewed from above, that can leave the draw elbow sticking out of line. That alignment is important so two things can happen, you draw further to bring the elbow round into line, or you allow the draw hand to rest the string on your chin further away from the bow shoulder; on the side of the chin and not the centre.
Sometimes working out where is best for you is made harder by the archer standing with an arched back; trying to be too upright.
thanks for your reply this morning i tried not turning my head so much which i sometimes do ,so my specs frame allow a smaller sight window to the target now i can just see my nose which is normal size i shot a part portmouth in the garden with five out of six arrows hitting the ten it seems to have done the trick that is today tomorrow it might be rubbish again
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
it seems to have done the trick that is today tomorrow it might be rubbish again
Hi Sylvanus.
It is worth looking at things in a slightly different way. Often, we get into a way of doing something and it works once or twice then it seems to turn into rubbish again. That could be telling us that the "way" we were using doesn't work all the time.
Ninety nine times out of a hundred, if it doesn't work the next time it's because we didn't use the same way next time, but a slightly blurred version of it.
What happened today can be repeated if you know what you did clearly enough.
Turn your head the same amount each time and that is progress; as it gets rid of a variable.
 
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