Bow International

IMPROVE ALIGNMENT

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"YOUR BODY UNDERSTAND­S MOVEMENT MUCH MORE NATURALLY THAN TENSION."

This is a key ingredient to a great release that is, for some very bizarre reason, normally ignored. Your alignment can be understood best when viewed from above (Fig 6a/b). The left image shows good alignment, and the right shows poor alignment.

The impact this will have on the release is huge. If you are in line, the forces of the bow line up with your bone structure, which means you don't need to use much muscle tension to hold the bow or expand through the clicker. As a result, your expansion will be stable and you can continue your movement more easily. This will result in a clean release that stays close to the neck.

If you are out of line (Fig 6b), the force of the bow will constantly try to collapse you during the shot. It will be hard to expand in the right direction and you will probably have lost the string connection you worked so hard for earlier. Rather than allowing the fingers to be pushed out of the way, you will probably open them to release the string. The net result: a softer, more outward release.

In Fig 6b, notice how far away the draw elbow is from in alignment. Getting it closer to the line of the arrow (Fig 6a) will make a dramatic difference to your release. Some people argue that they simply can’t achieve this, and I used to be one of those people. But this is just an excuse. Almost everyone can get into alignment with hard work and perseveran­ce. And your release will thank you for it.

To work on your alignment, do draw ups with a band or light bow and use feedback. Trying it with your bow straight away is unlikely to be useful and could lead to injury. Ideally, overhead video feedback is the best, but facing into a mirror is also good. Getting the dots as close to the two straight lines (as shown in Fig 6a) is what you want to focus on achieving.

It's important to maintain your posture too, as losing this will compromise your shoulder movement.

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