Looking for compound bow shooting tips for beginners?
You need to have a good technique and great foundations in place when shooting with a compound bow. Before you shoot your first arrow, the best advice is to seek help from an archery instructor. That said you can learn the basics without a private tutor. Not everyone can join an archery group or club, so we recommend that you ensure you are using the equipment safely whenever you are practicing shooting.
In this post, I will share with you everything you need to know about compound bow shooting tips for beginners.
Advice: Look After Your Gear
Taking good care of your bow is essential to your progress. Great string maintenance is critical for you to make sure that your bowstring lasts for as long as possible. This will mean that you won’t need to replace it annually, especially if you shoot regularly.
Bow String Wax is really useful in protecting the health of your string. This wax is available to buy at any archery shop. All you need to do is take a small amount of wax and rub it evenly into the string.
Continue rubbing until it completely disappears. Your strings will look as good as new. Also, regular and careful maintenance will ensure that your bow works correctly. We recommend a periodic inspection by a professional to ensure that your bow is in optimal condition.
If your bowstring gets covered in rough and abrasive dirt once the wax is applied, then your only option will be to replace your string. Be careful if you need to replace the string. When they snap, they can hurt or injure you quite severely.
Beginners Guide: Compound Bow Shooting
1. Use a Proper Bow Sling
Both inexperienced and experienced shooters alike, torque their bow using the hand they hold the bow with. For example, if you hold your bow with your right hand (for left-handed users), and you release your arrow with the left hand, you will naturally torque your bow to one side.
This is where a sling can be useful. The sling should be attached to the stabilizer. This will also ensure that you do not drop your bow. This is a worry for a lot of people. They are concerned that they will drop their bow as they shoot, the bow falling as they release.
The sling helps archers hold on to and stabilize their bow. This means you will be safe from losing your bow during a hunt. This product will also work to protect your cables, cams, and strings.
Overall, this is an excellent way to keep your bow in tip-top condition. We have found that this is essential on rough terrain. Using this, you will be able to climb slopes and hills freely or scan a terrain using your binoculars. We found this bit of kit indispensable, and we know you will too.
2. Do not Punch the Trigger
Beginners often struggle with this. They punch the trigger no matter how hard they try not to. It is always tricky to get over this particular hurdle. One thing that you could try is to draw each time with your finger that usually stands behind the trigger of the release. The archery market sells a variety of releases. You need one!
The trigger release is a very light trigger. This is what makes it so handy. All you need to do is lightly press it and it will trigger. Most archers do use a trigger release, especially for bowhunting. There are occasions when it is acceptable to grip hard. This is usually when you are going to full draw. To create an excellent, rubber grip, place the center of your hand on the trigger. The center being the part between your index finger and thumb.
3. Anchor Points
Anchoring is the position a draw-hand takes on the string as we pull back a bowstring. Bear in mind, however, that there is no such thing as an identical shooting. Every archer has their own unique anchor.
There are many types of anchor. One way is to place your draw hand on your cheek, near your jaw. Whatever anchor point you use, everybody’s anchor point will have to rest on the same spot on their face.
This will apply for every shot. As they often say, practice makes perfect. So keep practicing and make sure your own anchor point is always in the same place. When you are training, make sure you do this over and over again. OK, repetition is tedious and annoying, but this is the only way to improve this essential skill.
To reach your anchor point, first, take your stance. Nock the arrow and slowly pull back to your anchor point. No archer was born with this knowledge, but in the end, you will get used to it. Keep practicing, and you will see the benefits.
4. The Correct Stance
In archery, the stance is how you align your body and feet before taking your shot. A lot of beginners overlook this, but it is critical if you want to become a better shooter. Any person can get a bow and arrow and start shooting.
Using the proper stance will make the whole process more comfortable and a lot easier. The stance is fundamental in archery, so do not neglect it. Another reason why this is important is that later down the line you will have to adapt it to different kinds of archery. Using the proper stance, you will find each type easier to learn.
The easiest way to learn the correct position is to practice without your bow and arrow. First, draw a line on the floor, which will be your “shooting line.” Then imagine a straight line that runs from the middle of your target to where you are standing.
In archery, we call this the “target line”. These lines are helpful when you are learning how to stand.
We will now try the open stance and the square stance. These are the two most common stances.
- The Square Stance
For this stance, place one foot on each side of your shooting line. Space your feet somewhere between shoulder-width up to hip-width apart.
This will feel more stable than keeping your feet together. Your feet and the target line must align. The name of the stance derives from the fact that the feet are square to your target. This stance provides ease and flexibility when shooting.
- The Open Stance
This is quite similar to the square stance. Bring your rear foot forward. It should be that the ball of your foot bisects the target line. Then put your front foot 2” behind the target line. The rear foot should be in front of your front foot.
Pivot to the target about 20-25 degrees with your hips and feet slightly open towards the target. Your shoulders should be facing forward.
The position ensures that your waist is open and that it aligns the target with your shoulders. This will provide more control and stability when shooting your arrow.
5. Aim Correctly
Before you work on this step, you need to ensure you know how to do these things:-
- A comfortable stance
- Gripping the bow correctly
- Nocking the arrow
- Drawing the bowstring
- Finding your anchor point
Once you have done this, you are now ready to take your first aim at your target.
The process of taking aim involves transferring your weight into your back muscles. Once you anchor, you need to shift weight from the arms into the back muscles. To do this correctly, you must move your draw arm’s muscles.
These muscles are found at your scapula toward your spine and the triceps along the backs of your arms. It is a bit like drawing a circle using your shoulder blade. This practice allows you to comfortably and easily hold the bow steady.
Once you have learned how to transfer your weight, the draw elbow should be in line with your arrow. If you are doing this right, it will feel like you could hold the bow forever. Now you can proceed to the aiming process. Look directly at your target. Then watch the pin glide around the center.
Never force your pin to hold steady. Forcing it won’t help as it will never appear completely still on your target. This can also create unnecessary tension in the bow arm as you try to hold it too still.
Once you have taken aim, you are now in a position to release the shot. You need to maintain enough tension in your back muscles, while at the same time create a feeling of your chest expanding.
This will allow you to make consistent releases every time you shoot. As we described in the anchoring step, having a consistent shot methodology is what will put arrows straight into that bullseye.
6. Become Stronger
Archery is fantastic and great fun, but it also requires a lot of strength. Training will help with that, especially as archery becomes part of your daily routine. But as a starter, there are other ways you can improve your strength to improve faster.
You can do exercises that are known to help archers. These include squats, planking, the military press, push-ups, and lunges.
Running is also good. A cardio workout is beneficial for your general health and heart but also for you as an archer. Eventually, it will work to lower your resting heart rate. Why is this important? Let’s say that you are at the archery range or on guard in a tree stand, a strong heart and calm nerves are key to your success. Swimming is another form of cardio you could indulge in.
Your lower trapezius muscles are a significant group of muscles that are needed in archery. Kayaking and rowing and can assist with their development. Unfortunately, not everybody has easy access to a waterway or lake, but you could use a rowing machine at the gym or lat pull-down machines which will mimic the motions you need.
Dumbbells are also recommended to build strength in archers. This is because they force you to use your smaller auxiliary muscles and fine motor motions. Training these smaller muscles will refine your strength by improving balance and control, which is obviously essential for a steady stance and grip.
After each practice, draw your bow multiple times. This will also create a constant movement, improving your muscle memory. Pull the bow back to where you like to use it in your preferred situation, like hunting. Now extend your arm fully in front of you and pull the string to your anchor point. We recommend using your release aid instead of your fingers to pull the bow. Do not do this with an arrow on the string. Try and hold this position for as long as possible.
7. Find Joy in Archery
Love archery. This will motivate you to attain all your goals with archery, and perhaps other sports. Once you have determined what motivates you, align any archery practice habits with the way you think to create a timetable to practice and an inspirational environment for you to continue to learn.
There will be times when you feel unmotivated to shoot. This is perfectly normal. This means that your shooting philosophy is not aligned with what you are currently doing. Your reasons for loving archery will be different from your friends’ reasons. Find your reason, your motivation – and success will come.
Conclusion
Nobody is born with knowledge or born perfect at anything. You will feel down on occasion when practicing, but you cannot allow the negativity to overshadow you. After practice, you will improve, and you must remember that.
You now have your own compound bow, so don’t hesitate to schedule those practice sessions. All the money that you have spent on it should not go to waste. Keep going until you are happy with your progress at each training session.
When you practice with your compound bow, you will improve your physique, your mental health, and shooting will become a great source of joy for you. So ultimately, all the practice will be worthwhile. Good luck with becoming a better archer – we know you can do it.