For anyone looking to master the art of archery, they would be glad to learn just how helpful the advent of the compound bow is, and how it has helped the sport develop. While compound bows do make life easier by improving let-offs, with all their features and clever contraptions, learning how to properly use one takes some skill and lots of practice.
With the right guidance, however, learning how to shoot a compound bow can be done in no time, leaving an archer to focus solely on their aim.
Familiarization
The first step in mastering the perfect shot is to know your bow. A compound bow has many features and knowing how each of them works is essential in getting it right. For some pieces, such as adjustable sights, simply knowing what the piece does is of no use unless you understand the degree to which that particular part works.
Take your time familiarizing yourself with your bow, covering as much theoretical knowledge as you can before you start practicing. This will help you avoid getting discouraged by simply picking up the instrument, and as a consequence, failing miserably.
Naturally, the more you practice, the more you get to know your particular bow as each one is different.
Facing Your Target
The next step is to focus on your own body. A good archer does not have to be the bulkiest or most ripped person on the field, but knowing how to use those muscles is of some considerable importance.
The entire point behind a compound bow’s design is to alleviate the strain on an archer’s muscle, providing greater acceleration and steadiness with minimal effort, but knowing that you should draw an arrow back using your back muscles as opposed to your arms, for example, is crucial if you want to make the most out of your bow’s technology.
Knowing how to stand is important as well, where facing your target at a right angle, with the leg on the opposite end of the arm you use to draw slightly ahead of the other. So if you are a leftie, place your right foot slightly forward towards the target and leave the other behind.
Placement
Theoretical familiarization of your bow turns into practical familiarization even before you grab the arrow. The fact of the matter is that compound bows can get pretty bulky, despite generally having a light weight, but there are measures taken to make holding one easier, that is why knowing how to is important.
By placing your thumb through the handle, leave the other four fingers loose so as to avoid gripping the bow too hard and making it shake as a result.
Once you’ve handled the bow, and you can move it up and down with ease, you need to know how and where to place the arrow. Arrows come with splits at their ends and compound bows come with nocks where the bottom end of the arrow is fitted.
Once the arrows bottom end has clicked into the nock, an archer then angles his arm parallel to the ground, towards the target, before readying to let go and send the arrow flying.
Strategy
Finally, you need to find your anchor point. This is a fixed place where, with the arrow drawn back, the string touches on your chin and slightly on your nose, serving as an indicator for every draw.
Assuming your compound bow has come with a peep sight, and your arm runs parallel towards the ground, use this to point at your target. Once you release, assume your entire stance as if you are still aiming until the arrow hits its target. This is important as it guarantees that you do not disrupt the arrow along its way.
Conclusion
Having followed through all of the above, you should be able to feel the full power of the compound bow, made possible by its advanced features. Without feeling the strain, and with minimal effort, your arrows should be let off with a greater speed and a better direction than you would expect, especially if you are just getting started.
But for all the right guidance and all the advanced technology, an archer cannot expect perfect results unless they keep on practicing until all the aforementioned steps become second nature and hitting the target becomes the norm.