Episode 11 | Recurve Execution

Transcript

00:00:15.57
We've looked at the posture and how the whole thing fits together - now I want to (as briefly as I can) discuss something that I think that far to much importance is put upon when shooting a recurve - how do you make it go click.

00:00:34.56
What I have tried to show you already, and what I will continue to stand by is that there can be no cognitive [effort], no movement that is driven by yourself to make it go click. If you set the body up right you are going to get that movement through the clicker. I work with a lot of recurve clients where they are looking for (their opening discussion about themselves) is all about how do I make this go click. Let us be clear, the actual execution of a recurve shot is a subconscious / non-cognitive set of movements. It is not driven by a direction to your muscles - now this would be [a] good [time] to do this. And why is that - it is because if you were to do that the reaction times are too slow within the body. Secondly you would have to have a trigger and that trigger would very rapidly develop into 'the sight is pointed in the right place - I have to make a movement' and you are moving something which is a well-learnt skill from non-cognitive execution to a cognitive execution.

00:01:57.97
So to recap where we are up to with respect to the other sections that you have seen. Because we're not putting anything on the front end (as it is just there to stop the bow coming back and smacking you in the face) you are working everything off the back end; and by that (as we have discussed) it isn't a rotation etc, it's just a closing movement. The really important stuff is that this has to fit in to here. And so you get what you see in very good archers, which is no apparent movement to execute a clicker.

00:02:44.56
What I'm saying is that if you get the clicker set up right- and you do this by trial and error starting with the drawlength too long (only talking by a little here) but you are looking to put your body in a position that is driven by this extension, that is driven by this physical parameter. This fits here - it is more likely that the shot will go off - that 1-2mm moves through the clicker than it is that you will get stuck or that it is that you will move forwards ie drift forwards.

00:03:28.64
Just to be absolutely clear what we are talking about here. If you push on this front end you move this out of position, and everything you're doing on the back end - this shoulder is just coming up towards you and there's nothing there to make that last mm. When we fit this together we are looking at this position to have set a tension within the muscles, which means hanging 40lb / 50lb (for some of the gents) on this system - it is more likely that it will move that mm. You cannot control that movement. What you are looking to do is put things together and let you body do it for you. And your body will. Your body will go - we're happy how this is set up, and it will execute. You have to have the posture and the platform, you have to have this position really to make sure that this is in a consistent position and to give you an ability to hold the aperture where you want to hold it - and it will just bob around, but if you can remove the conscious control of what you are trying to do, the shot will execute.

00:04:44.64
And that is the important part. If you try and make a movement (what many coaches talk about) - to make a transfer movement to execute the clicker you will engage a lot of little muscles, and they are all antagonistic to what you want to do. In the extremes you will see this shoulder climb. Just to give you an example of this (although we have all seen it) perhaps due to a push here, now all the time this shoulder rides up everything I put on the back isn't happening. Perhaps this shoulder stays good - we get to here; what am I going to do - so to try and make a movement I lock up little muscles - and it's never going to happen.

00:05:30.35
It's about trust. It's about believing that if you've set stuff up - let it happen. That you can have a position where you can check internally - have I got this right, have I got this right, have I got this right; if the answer is yes to those parts, its all about trust. It's all about letting thousands of repetitions, and even for the novice letting new experiences kick in and perform the action for you. And you have done this in many different parts of your life - many technical parts of driving a car are indicative of this. Technical aspects that while you try and control them cognitively you do not execute.

00:06:16.85
What I am saying here - and we will go into it in another parts is that you set the shots up, and then either you run out of breath or it will go. It is a fantastically freeing experience to understand that if you just stay with it the shot will go. And so as I say you see some long times at full draw amongst the top archers - but it is I've done enough, I've controlled enough - I've put myself in a position for it to execute, and it will just execute.