GMMAT

GREAT "catch", greg. I think I must have misspoke. What I WASN'T doing ....is rotating my hand ENOUGH. When duplicating the motion sitting here....I KNOW I don't go to full vertical. I think I would notice the strain in the forearm.

Thanks, though. That was a good catch. I think I meant (heck I dunno) I wasn't rotating until the back of my hand was against my face. I think I was not getting a solid anchor most times.

Rob/PA sent me a photo....and the other thing I had to watch for was getting the trigger mechanism too far out on my thumb. The photo Matt/PA posted shows the correct orientation of where the trigger mech. needs to be in your thumb "crevice".

Gonna be fun learning this new technique.

Matt / PA

2 indicators to tell if you are doing it correctly for a beginner.....

1. The shot startles you. Maybe REALLY startles you at first.
2. Your hand will flow freely toward your shoulder like you see Dave Cousins doing, this implies you are using back tension and following through.

If the shot doesn't at least "surprise" you andyour hand stays exactly where it was when you shot you did it wrong and without back tension........

I remember years ago when I was first learning to shoot one properly I was like a grenade with the pin pulled just wondering when the stinkin thing was going to go off. [:-]Until you get a real feel for it you will have some shots that go off way too quick and otehr times you are left at full draw wondering what is going on and why isn't this stupid thing going off? LOL
Until you learn how much to preload the trigger and how to get through the shot progression properly you will have some good ones and some bad ones but you will find a lot of times even the bad ones will be in the middle. If you just let that pin float and don't try to command the trigger the arrows find their mark like they have a mind of their own.

We are not machines and are incapable of holding the pin benchrest solid in the center of the target. If we strain and try to force it to stay there or punch the trigger when the pin is in the center, then the pin has nowhere to go but AWAY from the X ring. If we allow our mind and relaxed aiming to just let the pin float then themajority of the time it is moving back TOWARDS the X ring and the majority of the time a surprise release will make the arrow find the center.
It's like magic, there are many times when I thought I completely blew a shot only to find it somewhere in the X because I just concentrated on making a solid properly executed shot rather than worry about the pin sitting dead center as steady as I could make it.
That's not saying that you should be drawing circles all over the target with your pin, you should hold as steady and as small as your body will allow, but once you settle in the middle just relax and concentrate on where you are trying to hit and don't worry if the pin is bobbing a bit........at that point just pull the shot off properly.

Mikey S.

Without reading the rest of the posts......... this is how you want to shoot that thumb trigger. I switced to one a few years ago for hunting, and I'll NEVER use s wrist strap/index trigger again. I target shoot with a back tension, and using a thumb trigger for hunting makes the transition a breeze.

Rick James

To expand on this, and this is something you won't see in the book I sent you Jeff, my coach had me build into my shot sequence a destination contact point for my release hand to go to after the shot explodes. This way I'm pulling through the shot to a touch point/destination with that release hand to bring a more consistent finish/closure to the shot.When he was explaining this to me he actually used agolf analagy which may make a lot of sense to you. When you swing for the ball with a golf club, you will become more consistent if you are intending to end that swing with a destination (end of your follow through) rather than just ending it when you have hit the ball.

This is something that was VERY helpful to me that you won't see in that book, and you don't see in Dave's video clip that Matt shared. It brings closure to the execution of the shot in a MUCH more repeatable fashion (at least for me).

Hope this helps.....

Below is a quick clip showing my release handcoming to a destination point on my deltiod after the shot breaks.

GMMAT

I'm glad I'm not paying for all this.

(Thanks, Matt(s) )

TFOX

Matt,very good description of shot sequence and rick/matt,I have never really thought about the end point but I watched the clip of me with all 3 styles of releases and my hand ends at the same point with all 3.Go figure.

Elkcrazy8

Great advice here. The additional advice that I have is get used to shooting the release before tackling uphill and downhill shots. When you start shooting at hard angles up or down, its not going to take long to figure out if your draw length is correct or not.

GMMAT

I just got back from the indoor range. I'm about as frustrated with archery as I've ever been (targets). I'm so inconsistent with this thing right now. I hope it gets better

I went ahead and turned the #-age down on my bow as I left.....thinking I'm going to be shooting a LOT in the near future. I really hope I can be disciplined enough to put in the time it's gonna take to realize the benefits of this......but we'll see. I don't wanna do ANYTHING (again) in archery that seems like "work".

Again...to all....thanks for all the tips. And Matt (RJ)...I got the DVD and book last night. That might be why I'm so frustrated! That "push/pull" thing has probably taught me that my draw is too long. It's uncomfortable as hell. The 82nd I have on order is 1/2" shorter on the draw. I hope that makes it more comfortable.

We'll see how this unfolds!

TFOX

If you are still at the same draw as the pic you posted a while back then that will definately make things more difficult.

Hard to use the back muscles if they are already extended out too far.

GMMAT

Thanks, TFOX. YES.....I'm at the same draw. I ordered my 82nd 1/2" shorter. if that's not enough....I'll order more mods.

I'm committed to this.....I'm just anxious.

Thanks for your help