Episode 10 | Compound Execution

Transcript

00:00:00.72
Were going to look at now release aids, and the important parts of what you need to be aware of, and how you are going to use them. We're going to start with something fairly straightforward - this is the Carter Insatiable with a standard nut on it.

00:00:35.64
First things first. A lot of people shooting a compound don't understand that your ability to shoot this trigger is based on the consistency with which you balance the weight across your fingers, and on how that balance moves - and let me say right now you're looking for that balance not to move from the start of the draw. You'll see a lot of people draw a bow, manipulate the release aid, come back to here and manipulate it a bit more, put their thumb on the trigger and shoot it.

00:01:03.56
There are some very good archers can do that, but it's tricky to learn - and there's no need for it. Let's also talk about, if you're going to use a trigger nut like this. I've got a few release aids to show you. Some are back tension, some are the newer 'true' back tensions so we'll look at all these.

00:01:28.44
Starting with this. This only functional way to execute this trigger is to have - rather like we've talked about in an earlier episode about not putting the fat part of your thumb on a grip - you see a lot of people resting the fat part of their thumb on this trigger. It's not consistent. It doesn't give you the feedback and feel that you require, and it is going to drive you towards punching. We're going to look for a balance - I'm going to get to that in a second - and you're looking to make a hook with the thumb so that you have a feeling of bone on trigger (whatever kind of release aid it is) and it's going to let you shoot the shot. I'm going to show you some back tension release aids but nothing is going to change about how I execute these shots, and you should really just pick a preference.

00:02:26.32
You don't care about how the release aid goes off to be fair, much as I don't like the term I'm going to talk about 'surprise' releases. Given my background in psychology I'd prefer to talk about non-cognitive execution of the release aid.

00:02:43.84
Punching - if you've got in your head any idea that there is going to be a picture to look through - scope, gold - now I'm going to make a movement - it's going to end in tears. Your body will take care of that for you. Later on in a different episode we may talk about some of the theories behind this, but for the moment we're just going to work on a principle that is comfortable, repeatable and then you don't care how that release aid goes off. Having said that - so that you are clear in your head - there are one of two ways that this release aid is going to go off. It's either going to go off because when I'm in this position with my thumb wrapped round the trigger I'm going to 'make a movement', but we're talking about a relatively light trigger - heavy enough for me to be comfortable round the trigger - I'm going to make a movement in that direction, and that movement is going to cause these 2 parts of my hand to come together and is going to cause the release aid to go off. Conversely I've got this reasonably tight, while I'm at full draw the smallest of movements of the actual release aid is going to pull it against that hook and it's going to go. Like I say you don't care.

00:03:56.32
Balance and how you hold it. This is a 4 finger release aid. Two of the best archers in the world when discussing whether they would use a 4 finger or a 3 finger release aid: One of them said I would use a 4 finger release aid because I can't control what I do with my little finger - the other one said I use a 3 finger release aid because I can't control what I do with my little finger. What you get from this is that the best way for you to locate that balance is actually through what you are going to do here. The index finger is too close to what you are doing here with the trigger and it will influence how you get to the trigger. So we've got to let that sit in a natural position. I like using a 4 finger release aid. If you're using a 3 finger, that little finger is going to be laid off. On a 4 finger it's going to be here. Whatever you do it remains tight in the position here. And as I've said already you can't move that as you draw the bow.

00:05:03.36
So just with the standard Carter we're going to have a look at that to start. And all I'm going to do is roll my thumb into a position bone on bone and fit this together so that the natural movement will make the shot. So your looking to see that there is no movement in my hands as I draw the bow and also to see that this little finger is going to stay quite tight rather than some people would put the tightness on the index finger. And there you see, comfortable on the trigger. No perceptible movement and I'm just waiting for the shot to go off. My body (and we've talked about this in earlier editions) - the postures good, the dot sits still and I'm just waiting for the shot to go off.

00:06:05.68
Slightly different - without the nut. Again Carter. What we're going to do here - for those of you that aren't particularly comfortable about what am I doing with that thumb, where am I going. And that can lead people to drifting forward. What we're going to do with this is we're going to put the fat part of the thumb on to the housing here, and that trigger is going to sit back on to the bone, and that's the critical part when using a thumb trigger - is we're looking for it to site on the bone, that's a positive position and any movement's going to set that off. So again with this you're going to see (it's a slightly different shaped release aid) we're going to keep that little finger tight, and again no perceptible movement -bone on trigger but rested nicely here so we're removed so of that tension of what am I doing with this finger.

00:07:00.04
Next out of the bag - back tension. This is a TruBall back tension with a safety catch. Exactly the same movements are involved. With a back tension release it is vitally crucial that you keep the balance within your hand. You see a lot of people shooting these so that it's 'I'll draw it on my index finger' and then 'I'll rotate it here' and it ends up with a rotation away from your face. Again it should be an absolutely no perceptible movement to set the release off. The same rules as with the thumb release, and I would ask you to look and see again that we keep the little finger tight. If you're going to shoot this as a 3 finger you're looking to put the finger tight within the hand. And it's just pulling against it. No idea of a rotation. As i say you see with the safely catch, I would personally shoot this with a thumb post on, take the safety catch off and wrap my thumb around the post - that's just personal but it helps me with the balance of it.

00:08:21.72
Finally, the newer breed of true back tension. This is the Loesch. It's executed by - there's a safety catch - and then the weight against the stops is going to set it away. These are a fantastically valuable training aid. They allow individuals who for example have punched all their lives to see what it is like to shoot a real shot. This one is set at about 29lbs, and this [bow] is 22lb on the back wall. The reason I say that is that really to functionally shoot this (or some of the other true back tensions), you are looking for it work like a 'long travel' release aid. What I'm going to do here is I'm going to take the safety catch off and then you will see people going 'heave, heave' and losing a lot of posture - I'm going to set this up hard enough that when I take the safety catch off it's just going to work like a long travel trigger and the shot will go. Just like that.

00:09:52.32
Let me say just a couple of things to finish up about why I've said how to shoot them like this. What it comes down to is this. When you shoot a release aid, to form this non-cognitive surprise release you are looking to open a window of opportunity for the release aid to go off. That's very different from wrapping it and punching it because you see a picture. It totally changes the way that you focus on the shot. You are back to full draw, you set the shot up. You put - be it a dot or a ring - within the area that you want it to be, and then you move your thumb on to a trigger or you start to take the safety catch off on one of these. This opens a window of opportunity - a small amount of time for the release to go off. It is not driven by a picture because with respect to drawlength etc this is not going to be driven by seeing a picture. Dot's not going to go anywhere. So, up / wrap it, and you're just going to keep that dot or circle sitting in the middle of the gold and wait for the shot to go off. As I say we'll discuss this in later issues that basically once you're comfortable with this as a method your body will shoot the shot for you. These things don't go by accident - they're not surprises - your body goes 'yep, I like the balance, I like the feel, I'm happy with where the dot is - let's make this shot go' - but it is not cognitive.

00:11:31.16
This means that one archer to the next archer may look like they are at full draw for a long time - it is what they are comfortable with. So just to show you finally, and as I say pay attention to this idea of a window of opportunity.