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GAP shooting???

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Wooden Spring:
My wife and I are Civil War Reenactors, and we have started a Civilian Archer's Society within the hobby... I've made about a dozen bows, and spend weekends teaching reenactors how to shoot primitive bows, and it's ALWAYS a big hit.

Here's my question... Since I'm always looking to find better ways of teaching folks how to shoot, are there any methods other than GAP shooting (which is what I teach) that would be easier for beginners to have success? Most of these people have never held a bow before, but after about 10 minutes of me showing them the basics, most folks are hitting bullseyes at 20 yards.

Below is a picture of one of my ladies shooting the GAP method. I've drawn in a sight line and arrow-to-target line to show how the GAP method works, and I use this picture often to show new folks how to shoot.

Are there any better ways???

paulsemp:
If newbies are hitting bulls eyes at 20 yards within 10 minutes I would say you're doing just fine.  maybe I could use a lesson  :o

Wooden Spring:

--- Quote from: paulsemp on January 17, 2014, 09:53:53 am ---If newbies are hitting bulls eyes at 20 yards within 10 minutes I would say you're doing just fine.  maybe I could use a lesson  :o

--- End quote ---

Nah... I mainly find it's like the folks who have never fired a rifle before - they don't have any bad habits to un-learn.

Everything I learned about GAP shooting was from reading "Become the Arrow" by Byron Ferguson. I just distill that down to about a 5 minute lesson, and about 5 minutes worth of shooting/teaching. After that, folks seem to take to it really quick. We have four foot diameter targets, and I tell them specifically what ring to aim for, and if they have the same sight picture every time, then they can hit it consistently.

Probably the most important thing to do is to get someone on a LIGHT weight bow first to learn the basics, then progress up to heavier bows. New folks tend to hold the bow at full draw for much longer than necessary while getting the correct sight picture, and if the bow is too heavy, the bow arm starts to shake, the shots go wild, and folks get discouraged. The woman in the picture is shooting about a 20 pound bow.

adb:
Once fundamentals are learned (stance, release, etc.) I teach instinctive shooting with target focus. Much like throwing a baseball. Both eyes open with complete focus only on the spot on the target you want to hit. Aim small, miss small.

PEARL DRUMS:
I started shooting a cotton ball on the ground 6 feet in front of me. That got my eyes and hand on the same page. Then over time extended my range. I still go through miserable streaks where I will force myself to start over on a cotton ball on the ground. I shoot 100% instinctive, never learned any other methods. I prefer to not care about specific yardages, rather just know if its too far.

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