I have done some of my own research on the topic of timing. Timing of course is very important. However, it is hard to establish good timing alone. One can make progress in this area much faster with the help of a coach or fellow archer.

In terms of what your timing should be, we have all heard the common position that shots should fall within a 4-6 seconds from the time you make contact with your rear sight position (anchor) to the time you release. However, I think there is a need for further study in this area. I have observed that there are many fine archers who have holding times much longer on average and also much less on average than the 4-6 second range. Japan's Masafumi Makiyama had an average shot of over 10 seconds (some as along as 14 seconds) in the 2000 Olympics,  while Balzhinima Tsyrempilov of Russia had a average within the two second range and many well under two seconds.

What I believe is more important than how long you take to execute your shot is the consistency and the range of time you shots fall within.

To perfect an archers consistency, I would stand near them as they practiced. I would start my stopwatch as soon as the string makes contact with the acrher's face. If we decided that we were focusing on a range of 4-6 seconds, than I would stop the archer every time he surpassed the 6 second limit and make him start over. This way he never completed a shot that went beyond the 6 second range. Eventually, the archer develops an inner clock and I seldom have to stop his shot process.

The other important  aspect is that an archer's shots fall within a range of time, so if an archers average is 4 seconds, it is important that all of his shots fall within a 2 second range of that average, plus or minus. So a shot at 2 seconds is not necessarily bad, nor is a 6 second shot. Both are within the archers acceptable range. I think most polished archers have a range of 1.5 to 2 seconds of there average. So with that in mind it's not a bad idea to focus on achieving a 4-6 second average because it gives a fairly good latitude of range from which an archer can operate. If your average is like Mr. Tsyrempilov of Russia, you will have some shots that are close to under a second in length, as he does. Which doesn't give too much of a range. I definitely don't recommend a lower than 4 second average because of the shots that will fall within that low range. A little cushion starting out is good. If after some time it is discovered that you operate best at a lower average, then make that change, but for now don't try produce an average lower than 4 seconds.

Developing good timing is important. One way to establish your timing could be to chart your arrows/timing to corresponding scores. You'll need help to do so. I would say do this over a period of roughly 1000 shots. You will start to see patterns where shots that fall within such and such range do not produce ideal scores for you, and that shots within another range produce the highest. Say 5 second shots produce the highest averages for you. So this gives you a range of  3-7 seconds in which you will still be able to get high scores. under 3 seconds and over 7 seconds and you're asking for trouble.

But rather than go through all that work, it might be best to just focus on developing a 4-6 second average. by following the routine I mentioned above.

Another thing that will help is to walk with a high pace to your target to retrieve arrows. Even running can be effective. You will find that it is more difficult to execute your shots when your heart is pumping, but eventually, you will adapt.

As far as how many arrows to shoot at a target, I would stick to the tournament format for the most part, but sometimes its not bad to stray and shoot 12 arrows at a time just for time's sake. But you may experience fatigue faster this way.

Anyhow, I hope this was of some help.

-Dan



David Hummel <hikinout@...> wrote:

Dan,

Thinking about shooting lots of arrows each practice session got me thinking about my setup etc.  I go through a mental checklist of about 9-10 things each time I shoot an arrow.  Consequently, I am only shooting about 3 to 4 arrows per minute.  This translates into about 140 shots per hour or less when you include time to retrieve the arrows.  I have shot a lot of 3D competitions this year but would like to get into some Olympic/FITA style events.  Would it be more beneficial to tweak my routine so I shoot more quickly or just leave things as they are?

 Also, I am shooting about 8 arrows per end during practice.  Do you suggest using more arrows so I don't have to retrieve them as often?  The only problem is the target gets cluttered if i use too many arrows.

Regards,
Dave (HikinOut)

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