buckskin73

Shot at a 3D shoot today. Boy did I stink it up. ASA rules were in order ( scored 12,10,8,5). I shoot bowhunter class. With 25 targets I shot a 234. Man I can' t believe I just typed that. I was really embarassed. I normaly shot well. I can shoot 4" groups at 40 yards, 3" at 30 , and 2" at twenty. I feel like I should at least shoot 250. Here is the problems. I will shoot great one day and shoot bad the next.

Can anyone give me some suggestion for consistency. I know alot of practice will help but was hoping for some new ideas.

Thanks

walks with a gimp

A good solid anchor against your face or head, hold steady on the target, back tension, don' t peek and keep your head down and follow through, aiming until the arrow is in the target.

TFOX

Well this is a hard one but I would suggest getting a coach or taking measures of some sort to achieve perfect form.Without perfect form,consistency is impossible.Or it is for most.I would also suggest really working on yardage.


I would also like to know,were you shooting hard at 12' s or were you playing it safe?Shooting at 12' s can really hurt you if you are not really rock solid with your shooting and yardage judging skills.



I am not nearly as consistant as I would like but after getting to know a coach and picking his brain,I have started to become much more consistant and have started shooting pretty well as of late.


Don' t be too hard on yourself.A 234 on a 250 par course isn' t discracefull.

Don' t give up and keep plugging away.

Arthur P

Even if I knew the answer, I wouldn' t tell you. I' d figure out a way to bottle it and become a bazillionaire.

Pinwheel 12

First thing is to make sure you ae shooting a forgiving bow. Far too many guys get all caught up in the speed aspect when it comes to 3D, and try to use that as a crutch instead of learning numbers and shooting a forgiving setup with longer ATA and decent brace height. Nothing worse than a sub 36" ATA with less than 7" of Brace to quickly crush your accuracy and spirit . Don' t use a hunting bow to aggressively compete in 3D, doesn' t work. Most all top 3D shooters shoot a bow over 36" ATA and over 7" brace with speeds right around 275-290 IBO legal. You didn' t mention what you shot for equipment, so I figured I' d start there.

Second is that 3D is a game of two things--Accuracy with your equipment, and uncanny ability to judge yardage down to the foot. Find out which one is your downfall, and concentrate on that. If you consistently hit targets high or low out of the 12, 11, or 10, (or out of the 8, 5, or miss them) then that is a yardage issue, and you need to work on that instead of shoot. Grab your rangefinder and hit the woods to develop you brain, work that every day. If your shots are left/right/all over the place, then you need to be concerned with getting your form and shooting ability in line first, then tidy up any yardage issues you may have.

It isn' t easy, if it was everyone would be a World Champion. Back when I shot every day and was serious about my shooting I practiced numbers and shooting 3-4 hrs every day. EVERY day. That' s what it took to get me to the level of Local, State, Regional and World IBO Champion over a decade ago. Some don' t have to practice that much, but most of the top Pros and Staff shooters who are in the winners' circle consistently put that much time in. All depends on your priorities, and how much you want to win. Good luck. Pinwheel 12

buckskin73

Pinwheel 12,

My setup is not complex at all. I am shooting a legacy which is less then 36" AtoA. The brace height is over 7" so that helps out some. I don' t get all carried away with speed. I am shooting a good moderately weighted carbon that weighs in at about 371.5 grains. With a 64 lbs draw weight I am shooting 279-282 fps. I have a shoot through rest and a sniper extreme sight. The sight is a fixed pin sight with 4 .019 fiber optic pins. My F.O.C. is around 10%.

I have been shooting a bow for 17 years now. It has always been to tool for extra hunting time but the last two or three years have brought about new desires. I enjoy the competition of the 3D shoots and it has improved my accuracy. When I mentioned consistency, I meant from day to day. One day I will shoot a 250 (on a 250 par course). Next day I might shoot 234. I have tried to shoot safe. In other words I shoot for the center of the ring. I figure if I am a little low then all the better, I get a 12. If I am a little high, still a 10.

I think I have pretty good form. I have tuned by bow. I just can' t shoot good everytime I go out. Was wondering if there was a practice routine that anyone was using to combat this.

Hyawatha

I have that same problem. I started to stretch out before I shoot. I mean stretch out every muscle, even your legs. It helps tremendously. I also have been told my draw is too long(yesterday at my first 3D shoot)

My first shot of the day never hits it' s mark, still. But I am a heck of alot closer, at 2" compared to 8" from 30 yards.

Then I started noticing that my bowstring will react with the heat of the day. It will be dead on in the cool mornings, as I got this bow and set it up while the cool months were here. But come the afternoon heat and my shots will start to hit low. This is a fairly new bow, with a factory fairly new string(I shoot it a lot though)

Just my 2¢, from what I have experienced.
Practice, practice, practice! I know I do!

P.S. Forgot to say...

Yesterday at my first 3D, I was teamed up with an X-ring shooter. He was good!
He said, that single cam bows will shoot funny and all over the place if you don' t pull it to the wall. An in tune, dual cam bow will be more forgiving in this aspect. as you can creep as much as 3/4" and still be accurate. Made me love my dual cam even more!

CAJUNBOWHNTR

The key to 3d is judging distance.I don' t care how good your form is if you misjudge the yardage you won' t score well.If you can eliminate the zeros and really gross errors your scores will pick up.You don' t need a range finder to practice.Practice estimating distance and stepping off to see how close you are.After you learn to judge distance it comes down to shot execution.A consistent anchor,release and follow thru are important.Focus is big too.It takes a lot of concentration and focus to execute proper form over a 30 target course.Your legacy though a little short is not a bad bow for 3d.At this point I don' t think your bow is the limiting factor.If you are shooting hunter class use the max number of pins and set it up so you can cover the different yardages.There are many different ways to judge distance.I usually judge twenty,then in ten yd increments.I will also pick halfway and compare my numbers.Good luck and have fun.

CB

selway

concentration you think you are but maybe not. yardage would be my second bet. but without concentration you probaly won' t hit if you know the yardage.since you seem to shoot good and bad. then i think you loose concentration when you shoot bad.