Introduction

Introduction

Recreational... because there are no specific competitions, and this form is just good fun, and the style could be used for hunting, field shooting, 3D, or targets in club or "lawn" competitions. There are always people who fail to excel, so some of us do not like completions. It should be a participation sport, not one of rating the shooters. We need all levels of shooters.

I will say only once because the obvious is not always obvious to some. Do not harass the less skilled or slower developing out of the sport.  

Traditional... because it represents one of the early forms of archery, where the arrow was used for aiming. This is separate from the instinctive styles as instinctive require much more practice to become even proficient, on average. With each difference in style, something is given up, as with each improvement in bow, something is given up.  Sometimes there are improvements.

Modern... because we use modern equipment.  

Instinctive archers use whatever type of bow that is available and learn to aim as one learns to throw a ball. Instinctively. Well perhaps, however some use knuckles or picture aiming. It does not matter. The proof is how consistently they hit there target, and how close to the target the remainder of the time, or in target terms, their score.

The early bows did not have arrow ledges or hooks, for the arrow rested on the knuckle or the thumb, depending on how they had learned to shoot. There was often a band on the arrow, or the head could be felt on the hand, so the draw length was consistent. We lose that with modern equipment.

Instinctive archers often use floating anchors, that is not as consistent as a fixed point anchor. There are stories of Asian archers drawing to the center of their chest, and English drawing past there ears to the rear shoulder. There is no way to the arrow to aim from there, although they could establish a point blank distance. That is the point that the tip of the arrow is level with the point of impact.

There are generally five styles of shooting today. Instinctive, arrow aiming, bare bow, Olympic recurve, and compounds. Traditional arrow aiming and bare bow, as defined by FITA are not the same. FITA allows string walking, but not face walking, where traditional with arrow aiming has no place for string walking, but does use face walking. FITA barebow typically uses a stripped Olympic recurve. Traditional uses any kind of wood riser, or true traditional bows.

Now a word about accuracy. Traditional arrow aiming and instinctive will not group arrows as tightly as Olympic or compound. The repeatability is just not in the human or the equipment. But this is recreational, it does not matter, the purpose is in the action, not in the results. Tradition arrow aiming is quicker to learn and get good results. Instinctive is faster shooting, but requires much more practice to be good. Some people will never be good at either also. To be good, consistency is important, and that comes through much practice and muscle development. To become good also requires an exercise program that strengthens many more muscles than does just archery. Having "exercise bows", both left and right may also help. By exercise bows I mean bows that are stronger than your normal shooting weights.

If you wish to be accurate without as much practice, try Olympic or compounds, or crossbows.

Draw weights of bows are important for training. The draw weight of bows is normally taken at a draw of 28 inches, which is typical value of draw length. You should be shooting with a weight that you do not have to struggle with, yet after 30 or 60 shots leaves you tired. Finish off the day with a few shots of a heavier "exercise bow" Go to more shots before a stronger bow for shooting. Stop if you experience more than muscle pain.