Colchester And District Archery Club
Etiquette and Shooting Technique
Etiquette
A good archer:
- Does not talk in a loud voice whilst others are shooting.
- Does not talk to another competitor who obviously prefers to remain silent.
- Does not make any exclamation on the shooting line which might disconcert a fellow archer in the act of shooting.
- Does not go behind the target to retrieve their arrows before their score has been recorded.
- Does not touch anyone else's equipment without permission.
- When calling scores, points to their own arrows and calls in sets of three, starting with the highest score e.g. "9-7-7" pause "5-5-3".
- On breaking another's arrow through their own carelessness pays for it on the spot.
- Thanks the Target Captain at the end of each round for the work on their behalf.
Shooting Technique
The essence of good shooting is concentration and control. When in doubt, do not hesitate to ask: not asking a simple question may create big problems in the future.
The following list applies mainly to recurve shooting but can be applied with some modification to other bow types.
| 1) Body position | Feet in the same spot each time Body upright, shoulders back |
| 2) Nocking the bow | Arrow nocked with the cock feather facing in Fingers correctly on the string Back of the hand and wrist relaxed and flat |
| 3) Pre draw | Bow held vertically Pressure on the bow hand in the correct spot Bow arm, wrist and fingers relaxed Bow shoulder back and down, elbow rotated Draw force-line correct Head turned to correct position Teeth together, lips closed, bow eye closed Arrow tip lined up with target |
| 4) Draw | Control breathing Pull from the drawing arm's elbow Shoulder blades move together Bow shoulder kept back and down |
| 5) Anchor | Index finger of drawing hand under the jawbone String touching nose and centre of chin |
| 6) Hold and aim | Tension between shoulder blades maintained String alignment still correct Steady sight on aiming point |
| 7) Release | Maintain tension between shoulder blades Relax fingers of string hand |
| 8) Follow through | Aiming eye still focused on target Tension between the shoulder blades maintained Bow up and fingers relaxed Bow hand in relaxed position |
| 9) Relaxation | Slowly relax bow arm Breath deeply Start preparing for the next shot |
Each time you shoot, concentrate on repeating the good shots - what went well? Overcome the not so good shots by focusing on the technique in your mind.
Copyright © 2006 Colchester and District Archery Club