Mikey S.

Josh, how long have you been shooting the Bt release? If it's working for you one out of 7 shots, that's better than some stubborn "punch" shooters who give up after an hour of trying..

Practicing on a blank bale may help you some, but the one big thing about these releases is that they teach you to focus on you pin and your target, and not the release. That's your goal: a perfect release while being completely focused on your target/sight pin, whichever you do. Turning your wrist to fire the release is cheating the release, which sounds to me like what you may be doing and not even realizing it. When you draw back, try to keep all of the pressure on your index finger, keep it there, tighten you back muscles slightly,set your anchor, concentrate on your pin, then start to relax your index finger, transferring the pressure to the middle finger, while slightly squeezing the shoulders together. Also, "push" the bow towards the target with your arm that's holding the bow. You make want to try different ways of holding the release: possibly rotating your hand so your knuckles are up against your face, or keeping the knuckles facing the floor. Gripping the release differently may help also. Some guys bury the release all the way in their hands, almost in a fist, while some guys like me shoot it while holding it just behind the first knuckle, barely behind the fingertips. I had to tie a piece of string to mine and loop it around my wrist because I kept dropping it after my shot, which tells you how relaxed my hand is when it fires.

Just keep trying. One day you'll pick it up and will feel so good, you wonder how you ever shot a bow and hit anything before without it. And once you do learn, it's really like riding a bike, you'll never forget.......but you will forget about target panic!

BGfisher

Josh, I might not be right but here's something to play with. Back tension releases are much more sensitive to correct drawlength of the bow. If your bows drawlength is too long it's very hard to shoot BT. You can try shortening your draw a little at a time. The other guys got good advice, too. But I took a while to make the transistion from a caliper/trigger years ago and will never shoot one again.

JoshKeller

Thanks BGfisher, I took your advice in my other post about my form and got the 29.5" and 29" module. They are calling for over an inch of rain tomorrow, so it may be tuesday before I get to tinker with my draw.

Bigpapascout

in order to keep the release from going off prematurely during the draw cycle use only your first 2 fingers to draw. when you are at full draw you can begin to put back pressure with youre other 2 fingers.

Blodg

Josh, I was reading some of those back tension notes I sent you. I just wanted to make sure you knew it was a collection of various articles and message board posts all put together. It does not really flow together and that makes it hard to read but it does have a bunch of good information.

Also, I think the suggestions above to make sure your draw length is not too long are good ones. Measure your arm span tip-to-tip and divide by 2.5 and you should be fairly close to that number. If your an inch or more longer than that number your too long. You also suggestd yourself to lower your bow poundage and that is a great idea and will help while you are learning.

JoshKeller

I jsut measured my arm span. Came out to 75 1/4", and I'm shooting a 30" draw. I do have a Hoyt Havoc that I used in high school that is set around 55 lbs and 28" I may give that one a shot.

Elkcrazy8

With figuring back tension draw length I like to go a little on the short side. It makes it easier to pull through the shot. Terry Ragsdale has always made mention that one should spend the most time on adjusting the bow to the proper draw length. It is one of the most important issues when it comes to tack driving accuracy. I still shoot a caliper for hunting and for tournaments but use the back tension in practice to keep my game clean. I modified a scott little bitty goose to be shot with back tension. I lengthened the trigger and adjusted the setting so that when I pull through the shot and rotate my hand in the same manner as the back tension, the bow will fire without anticipation. Most of our shoots are in the open desert with ALOT of wind and there are instances where I need to pass shoot. If I were to use strictly back tension I may run into problems, especially when it comes time to let down. When I shoot indoor spot leagues I will always use my back tension release. One thing that may help in using the back tension release would be the use of a finger sling. A finger sling gives you extra assurance that the bow will not fly out of your hand. It is important to keep the hand in a relaxed position through the shot.

Straightarrow

Is that 30" draw measured, or what is written on the bow? It may actually be much longer than 30" if you didn't measure the actual draw length.

It took me a full winter of shooting back tension to get so I could shoot even close to what I can by trigger command shooting. I also found out it is quite easy to learn how to "command" any release. I ended up shooting best, when I learned how to get a surprise release on my regular index release. That took a lot of work and far less consistant in getting the surprise, but I am most comfortable shooting that way. I also have found that when hunting, I will miss opportunities if I cannot command a release in some situations.

Lady Forge

Also there are times when your just sitting watching TV etc that you can be practiceing back tension.
Get yourself a bow grip and put a cord or elastic cord through the grip where the grip goes on the riser and attach your back tension release to the cord and draw back, close your eyes and Practice, Practice,Practice.
Its a great way to practice when your not shooting and your entire focus is on back tension and not the target or pin.

AllenRead

Josh,

Some good advice above. I can add a few points:
1) visualize a straight line from the point of the arrow through your hand and to your elbow. then imagine moving your elbow back in a straight line until the release goes off. Of course, if you are built with bones in your arm like most of us this is only mental imagery. You are really moving your elbow back perpedicular to the line of the arrow. This visualization works for some, maybe it will help you.
2) the draw length suggestion is a good idea. Most of the really good tournement shooters set their release up with a lot of travel so that they really have to get on it to make it go off. To do this they have to have their draw length set up exactly right. Here's a good link to a discussion on draw length: http://www.huntersfriend.com/drawlength.htm
3) Bernie Pellerite's book is a good resource for back tension. There's a lot of bs and self promotion in the book, but if you can ignore that, there's a lot of good information, especially on getting started with a BT release.
Hope this helps
Allen