PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID RAVENNA MI PERMIT NO. 320

Greetings fellow archers:
new article here
Bruce Cull
Coach’s Corner
Due to the length of this subject it
has been broken down into three
parts. Part 1 appeared in the previous
issue. The third part will appear
in the next issue.
s stated in the last article,
consistently hitting
what you aim at
with a bow and arrow
is really hard to
do! This “predictable
accuracy”
that eludes so
many of us is an attainable goal,
but it’s never really achieved or
maintained without endless hours
of practice. For those of you who
would rather “pray for luck,” here’s
an old archery saying . . . “It takes
a lot of luck to succeed with a bow
and arrow . . . the more you practice,
the luckier you seem to get!” It
follows that if we’re going to have
to practice, we might as well make
it count. Like most good archers
eventually discover . . . practice
does not make perfect . . . perfect
practice makes perfect!
The best way to do that is to
have a qualified coach keep you on
track. By the way, besides teaching
the shooter’s school, I also do
private and group lessons at my
home.
The following is Part 2 of a
uniquely productive and accelerated
practice regimen. These “super
sessions” are for serious bowhunters
and target archers. With
the proper dedication, these do’s
and don’ts will greatly accelerate
your learning curve and your level
of understanding and accuracy
PERFECT PRACTICE, PART 2
The Do’s and Don’ts of An Accelerated Learning Curve
with a bow and arrow.
• DON’T waste time practicing
scenarios that won’t happen.
If you are going bowhunting for
whitetail this November, from a
treestand in zero degree weather,
you won’t be very well prepared
by shooting at a 3-D target on level
ground, in shorts and a tshirt in
August.
• DO try to duplicate whatever
situation you are preparing for as
closely as possible. You may not
be able to duplicate the weather
conditions, but you can duplicate
most of the other factors. Practice
from the same kind of treestand,
at the same height. Wear the same
clothes, shoot the same arrows
and broadheads, shoot at dawn
and at dusk (under low light situations),
shoot in the rain, shoot
your backup bow, shoot from a
sitting position, etc., etc. If you are
a bowhunter, don’t shoot at the
kill zones on 3-D animals. Most
are not anatomically correct at the
present time. Pick a spot, where
the real vitals are, and aim at it.
Find out what you and your equipment
will do under the above conditions
. . . before you find out the
expensive and hard way. You may
have to shoot straight down, or
pull your bow back while twisted
around or sitting down. Or, you
may have to draw and shoot after
running to cover after a long stalk.
Be prepared! Take an egg timer
and a magazine with you into the
treestand. Set the timer for fifteen
minutes and read the magazine
until the timer goes off. Shoot one
shot . . . then climb down! Do the
by Bernie Pellerite
©2008
same thing the next day! I’ll bet
the second day you’ll take more
time!
If you are a 3D or target archer,
simulate the stress of a tournament
as closely as possible. Shoot
against your buddies. Shoot the
same number of arrows as you
have to in the tournament, and
score them as they will be scored.
Put some pressure on yourself!
Shoot for a Pepsi or dinner, or
the registration of your truck . .
. whatever gets you stressed or
your adrenaline flowing! If you are
a bowhunter or 3D shooter, practice
with a good rangefinder. Set
continued on pg. 23
22 Archery Magazine April / May 2008 Archery Magazine April / May 2008 23