one thing beginners tend to do way better than experienced archers: use the target to its fullest, experienced archers ravage the center of a target in training while leaving 90% of it nearly untouched, wasting a lot of paper
Exactly. Same thing with throwing blades. Hitting the center of the target is meaningless. What matters is hitting where you're aiming. You don't have to aim for the center.
Same thing kinda in Europe the target was a post if you hit it fine if you got real close that that was good too. In battle if you missed the human you are aiming at chances are you are going to hit his buddy behind or beside him.
*Common beginners' mistakes* 1. Being scared of the string 2. Aiming too high 3. Using too many fingers: - Always your second, middle and fourth fingers! 4. Knocking the arrow of: - Don't clamp the base of the arrow with your fingers! - Don't squeeze your fingers. Tip: check if your knuckles are showing 5. Not letting go 6. Aiming too much: - Aim for about 3-5 seconds - Aiming for too long will make you tire and decrease your accuracy 7. Don't move between shots 8. Only remembering one aspect of technique 9. Flinching 10. Bullseye photos: - Don't be complacent or arrogant Honourable mention: 1. Actually touch the corner of your mouth
I remember I was 11 years old. It was my first arrow ever... the first time I held a bow in my hand. I made the mistake to aim too high. And... ahem... the arrow missed the target, flew over and hit a pigeon in the throat. -_-' me: I missed the target! the instructor: ahem... yes, but you got another one.
Hah, reminds me of the the time when me and my brother were like 5-7 years old. At the time, we had never seen a movie where people use a bow. So when he actually had the chance to hold one, right after he nocks an arrow, my dad tells him to let it go. Since my brother didnt know about how to shoot the arrow and my dad never told my brother which part to let go, he instead let's go of the grip while still holding the string. My mom's eyes lit up with anger as she saw my brother's face with a bruise on his right eyebrow and cheek, and I was laughing my ass off. I'd never seen my dad look so scared in my life. Ah, good times.
As a new student a few lessons in, the most annoying thing so far to me are the people who pick their bows up and start loading arrows (and start to aim!) when there are still people out collecting their arrows at the targets. The instructor nearly got taken out by a 9 year old during the first day and she & a few others STILL do this.
@@grayblackhelm6468 Most ranges do tell you that, and even tell you to stop any time someone is downrange. I've taken many safety classes for the many industries I've worked in. Trust me. "Range Safety 101" won't stop some people from being a danger to themselves and others. No matter how obvious it would be to everyone else. Why do you even have to be told not to stick your head under a stuck elevator that is powered up, trying to move in the direction you've placed your head and you want to unstick. A guy died during a shutdown at my dad's refinery because a temporary elevator got stuck and he went in to fix it. No one was notified, lock-out-tag-out was ignored, the elevator was not shut down... But, hey. At least he fixed the elevator!... Right? On a related note: Brains do NOT make for effective machine lubricant, and killing your Archery Instructor will likely get you charged with Manslaughter - even if you weren't explicitly told not to.
As an instructor of archery for 10 years this is the best video. After watching I realized I know how to solve all of these problems but forget to mention them, due to the fact I know how to shoot so I automatically assume others should know too. I laughed so hard at this video cause I know how frustrating it can be for an instructor. I will take all of this and apply it to my pre shooting instructions. Best video!
I love your humility. Im sure you're an awesome instructor simply bc you care to keep learning and adjusting your teaching techniques. Your students are lucky. I wish i could learn with an instructor but im poor. Smh glad tidings to you n yours.
I learned that giving instructions is actually VERY difficult in school, we were told to write *exact* instructions to make a Peanut Butter Sandwich As in : open the bread bag, remove 2 slices of bread, place them down on a plate Open peanut butter Pick up the knife and carefully get the peanut butter on the side of the knife Yadda yadda , but I realized that what is natural to someone who has done a task repeatedly can be absolutely alien to another person And having to reduce the action to exact steps is more difficult than many realize! Good on you for applying this knowledge to your lessons 😊
Every time I listen to this guy I am amazed with how knowledgeable he is. And then, I realize how well he presents the information. It's no wonder he is an archery instructor; he's great at it.
Farit Mutugullin it's called dry firing sometimes the string can snap and it can get you seriously injured. wait where you being sarcastic if so i apologize)
Farit Mutugullin is is bad because usually the arrow absorbs all of the force from the draw, but when u dry fire the bow absorbs it, causing it to snap. So don't do it lol
I’v recently started archery for the first time and the guy that gave me lessons asked me on my first lesson what do you know about archery i told him you dont chose the bow with your hand right handed left handed but with your eye and then he asked me whats a right bow i said a bow that you hold in your left hand then he asked me how to pull back the arrow i said with 3 fingers and and even befor i starded he asked me are you sure its your first time 😉😉 all thx to this yt channel
Okay this video was hilarious. "We just keep saying "Let it go. Let it go!" and the more we do - the more liable we are to get sued by Disney." and "You got your stance, you got your shot, and then--- *releases forward*" Plus the part where he literally shuffles over to take a picture of his shot. This is AMAZING
lol i see this as somthing of a steam blow off for a disgruntled instructor.. im sure you dont say most of that stuff to students, but i just KNOW you want to...
I started learning to shoot left-handed as well (I'm normally right-handed). Try that and you will feel like a beginner despite knowing exactly what to do
I acually started doing that. It is such a pain to find where to aim when shooting from the other side. It feels so weird to draw back with my left hand instead of my right
Excellent tutorial. I've bought a new quality Recurve bow & accessories, but had NO IDEA AT ALL about techniques. This video is so clear, and funny, and Thanks for sharing. Ps. I'm an Instructor myself in a different field and I know it can really test patience, as some people just don't listen, even with repeated instructions. I can empathise with you. Thanks for sharing!!
@@andrebenoit404 Depends on what they do for a living and their health/musculature. I personally started at a 70lb draw and I'm content with it. Most of my family can't even pull it back. I'm just a bigger guy though, so really it depends what sort of body type you have. I do agree that it's very unlikely for a beginner, or even a lot of trained archers to comfortably pull back a 100lb draw.
@@deanclarke6953 Yeah. I don't normally do archery, not my sport (trying to get into it though), my draw is around 80lbs, but the last time I shot a bow was a year ago, and I wasn't as strong as I am now. This may seem like a lot, but not only have I been physically active since I was a kid, before COVID-19 I spent a considerable amount of time at the gym, or just working out in general. So while it doesn't look it, I have a lot of upper body strength and can comfortably draw 80lbs, and carry someone who weighs twice that on my shoulders and in a fireman's carry, in terms of an actual person.
Kyoza yeah like if u like an 80 pound than u do u but if u don’t feel like you can control it well enough than by all means move down there’s no shame in that and u can pretty much do anything u want hunting or anything with 60 pounds so if u need to move down than do it
As a bowhunter, one exercise I use is holding a full draw for a full two minutes before taking a shot. I do this at least once per practice session. When hunting you sometimes have no choice but to wait for the best shot.
I shot a children's 15# bow in my childhood and took archery as a Phy-ed credit in college. It wasn't until today at age 73 that while watching your video that I noticed that that you should use THREE fingers on your drawing hand. I always wondered why it was so difficult for me and hardly anyone else. My biggest fear was the string slapping my extended arm. Wish they had RU-vid back in the 50's. Good video, nice job.
You can't draw it slowly or what? I don't see any reason why holding it 2 minutes. ;-) You can hold half draw or something like that and full draw in moment then you want to shoot.
I'm getting my first recurve bow tomorrow, if I don't procrastinate again, I'm a little nervous about buying my first bow. Just curious, do you recommend getting a sight for it? How much do they help with aiming for a beginner?
Sights will make you more consistent. The question is whether you would rather go down the path of a traditional or barebow shooter or into the freestyle sighted shooting style.
I tried out for archery on Thursday and I scored a 190 out of 300 . I have never held a bow before and of was scared lol. But while watching this video I saw many things I did at the tryouts on this video 🤦♀️🤣 I aimed for to long which caused me many cramps in my arms. But I now know what I must fix. This was an extremely helpful video
I never realized how much of archery is learning to trust yourself and overcome these (relatively small) fears. That's very interesting. These are two things that I believe ever self-aware person faces in life, and as I watch more and more of these videos I'm starting to see and understand the parallels between archery and martial arts that I've heard you mention a few times. Brilliant.
Depending on the age of the beginner one has to first recondition one's brain from the toy archery set played with. That's where the chief struggle I think is. Unlearning and learning simultaneously. Many of us did not understand that projectiles such as arrows, darts and arrows travel in a parabola and the strength of the bow and how much you draw on it determine where on the parabola the focal point of the arrow on the target would be. I for one, held the arrow between index and thumb on draw. Yikes.
I've always been attracted to this sport, and I want to start to practice and invest in a good equipment. ( it's quite expensive lol) Thanks for the tips!!!
Afraid of the string? Nah, but I'm afraid of the arrow. My dad bought a hunting bow and a target quite a while ago... plus some decent arrows. The bow had quite a heavy draw weight, but it was pretty fun. Later he got some new arrows, especially since we lost quite a few before to the mud behind the target, never to be seen again. These other arrows ripped my skin open every single time. I later realised that the feathers didn't end flush with the shaft, but rather had a hard edge which was probably responsible. The bow also didn't have a place to rest the arrow, so resting it on your hand was pretty much the only option.
Also, in regards to taking photos, yes, it's silly to take photos of bullseyes, but photos can be used as a training tool. By taking photos of your groupings you can track your development. But, again, make it quick.
I'll probably never touch a bow (random YT video streak) but this was very interesting and very well presented. I've learned something new albeit not useful for me . Thank you and keep up the good work!
I'm 14 and I'm really hoping my Dad gets me a bow and arrow for Christmas! I have a good feling he will because I've been asking for awhile. Because my school doesn't have Archery and no where near me that I know of has cheap classes I am going to be relying on RU-vid and The Hunger Games to teach me. Is that unsafe? I'm making sure I learn as much as possible from my sources so I don't go in blindly.
I've literally never shot high because I put the tip on the arrow on the target If anything, I tend to shoot low Edit: Let me clarify, I don't aim like that, I never tried to either.
Right when I started I tried out my friends bow and I was pulling the string by pinching it with my index finger and thumb. The reason I didn’t realize it was wrong was because he gave me a 11 pound practice compound bow. When I got my own 30 pound recurve bow I was in for a huge surprise.
years ago i made a few bows and 1 day when practicing shooting someone stopped by and asked if he could try it out. this was my second bow and at 1 point id messed up and had to take alot more wood off to even it back out so it ended up only 18 pounds. so he took that 18 pound bow and put the arrow on the string and pinched the arrow between thumb and forefinger drew it back halfway and released and asked if that was a 100# pound bow, and this was a fit looking guy in his mid twenties. around the same time id heard a story from someone i knew about him being at an archery range with his 65 pound self bow, and an older guy about 65-70 came up admiring his bow and asked to take a shot, this guy did the same knocked an arrow and pinched it between thumb and forefinger, and before the guy could tell him, not like that, he drew it back to full draw released and hit the target right in the bullseye handed it back and said nice bow.
I remember when i was younger i always pinched the arrow and pulled, and now i kinda still do have the instict to do that, but now with a stornger bow i cant do that
It would help very much to use these exact words "2 fingers on the bottom of the arrow and1 finger on the top of the arrow ALWAYS". For instruction to be adequate we have to be ridiculously specific assuming the learner knows absolutely nothing at all should be the basis of any and all instruction. What I see often happening is the instructor does not word things in a way for a beginner to understand clearly enough. For example saying "3 fingers" would tend to confuse anyone.
That's fine, it just seemed that Nu expressed frustration when he said "3 fingers" which would confuse someone who has one finger on top as they would assume he means 3 fingers on bottom. If all 3 fingers are already on the bottom and that is how you shoot in that case saying 3 fingers would make a bit more sense but still I would say "3 fingers on the bottom of the arrow" specifically in that particular case. Good instruction without showing frustration is key to people wanting to continue interacting with a teacher. A persona may be trying their best to teach but if they show frustration and/or or an elitist attitude towards new students people will simply think; "Man, that guy was an asshole, he gives poor instructions and has little patience, I never want to go back there again". Happens all the time with other instructors I have seen.
Skoth Kovok yeah I don't envy archery instructors its not something that just clicks like riding a bike, you just work at it every day getting a little better all the time. At least that's how it was for me. I could def see someone walking Into thier first lesson expecting to walk out 2 weeks later hitting the 10 ring every time and getting really frustrated when thier progress is not what they expect.
Firstly the Tab,(the finger protective thing) is designed that way.However, to be fair it really might not come up as an issue,especially if the instruction was made clear at the out-set.unless the student's lower finger drifted away of course.Secondly there is more strength using 3/less stress on the fingers while pulling the string back with 2....Beginners bows are light (easy to draw,reletively)..than more powerful bows.so even if it could be pulled back with 2 fingers,the weight of poundage would be limited for any aspiring archer wishing to shoot more distances.Hope this helped.
I'm hoping to start lessons soon (I went to a have-a-go archery session this last weekend and was immediately in love with the sport) and this has been hugely helpful, both in giving me a bit of a headstart in learning what to do/what not to do and in calming a few fears. I admit, I was a bit nervous of getting hit by the string at that taster session, so it's reassuring to know that won't be the case as long as I use a proper technique. :)
I'm a big firearms enthusiast, I'm dipping my toes into archery and I am watching a lot of nu sensei. Its blowing my mind. So often he talks about similar archery is to guns but I'm not sure he even understands how much his advice is congruent to firearms. One thing is for sure. Nu sensei if you are ever in houston and you wanna go shoot guns. Hit me up.
your comment is a bit strange.... Cameron Stewart i loved the video was brilliant and so funny because i am an archery GB coach and have experienced everything said... do you jump to wrong conclusions often???
I'll break it down for you. Sentence 1: Yep! --I totally agree with your comment / assessment. Sentence 2: I've seen every problem, and then some. --As a coach myself, I have also seen my beginners make every mistake. Seems like I might not have used enough words the first time.
I just landed on your video from a Mongolian archer's lesson and found some of the points just matched. By the way, loved the lessons completely, and it's definitely one of the best videos on archery for beginners. Thank your time and effort, sire.
first time i shot a bow i did good and hit the target i then handed my bow off to my cousin who had braces and he shot the bow olympic style and the string caught on his braces and ripped then off
Sami is right. Stringwalking is permitted in barebow competition, but certain trad-only events (and longbow classifications) don't allow it. Regardless, it doesn't matter if the shooter isn't going to be doing 3D tournaments.
It's when you grab the string in different spots in order to shoot higher or lower. Basically the further down from the arrow you grab the lower you shoot.
Bert Fechner That's just his opinion. As long as you aren't interfering with someone else then who cares... Its not his place to say what you can and cant take pictures of unless youre at his range.
The point wasn't "You shouldn't be taking pictures." or "You're not allowed to take pictures.". His point was taking a picture of a more than likely luck shot, or close distance easy shot, every time you get a bullseye is a waste of time. Instead of taking a picture every five minutes, you could be getting another 2 arrows in every five minutes actually bringing you closer to pulling off shots worth noting.
This was hilariously. When I started a few years ago with recurves I had to teach myself, compound bows all over, this brings back memories of trying to overcome these issues. His videos helped immensely, and yes, I couldn’t seem to release the arrow 🤣 but wasn’t afraid to bring the string back to anchor.
I started doing archery recently and the string-not-touching-face-thing is not always about being "afraid". For couch potatoes like me it is really hard to draw the bow that far - even with a 20lbs bow and back tension. It might be better to help find those never used muscles and/or showing exercises to strengthen them instead of assuming something else ;)
This is true - 20# can be a bit much for some people. However, we mostly use 15-20# bows for beginners, and we might hand out the odd 24# bow to someone who's done archery before. The weights you use in beginners courses are well within what average people can handle, and more often than not it's a psychological hurdle rather than a strength issue. We can normally tell if someone is struggling with the weight.
My advice would be to practice drawing the bow back and then slowly letting the string back to its original position to develop the strength and mussle memory. Dont fry fire though because that will ruin the bow
MsDivale take a knee place one hand on the ground (the hand you hold the bow with) then with the hand you draw with grab a weight of your choosing you can work your way up in weight or go right to the draw weight of your bow. now pull it up to the height of your face and hold it do this multiple times just to get your back muscles used to the tension of that weight. i would recommend doing this with both arms regardless if you plan to shoot with both hands. i did this to go from my 35# to my 50# after a few days i was able to comfortably hold the tension on my bow which i could barely pull to my face when i started haha. i hope this helps you out good luck !
You'd be surprised. When I say "get your pinky off the string" the reply usually is a confused look, "it's not on the string", or "I did move it". People just have a hard time noticing where their pinky finger is, as it feels more natural to hold something with four fingers than with three, especially if they are gripping the string. Also the pinky has the natural tendency to follow the ring finger, so where they put the ring finger there goes the pinky as well, whether they notice or not.
I freaked out an instructer when I used the turkish thumb and ring method they didnt kniw what I was doing so they banned me from doing it even after I showed them a video of it
The let it go joke had me howling. I’m trying archery for the first time in Shanghai tomorrow and worried the instructor won’t speak English so thought I should learn the basics before just in case 😂 Thanks for sharing this very helpful video!
Hey NUSensei, I just started to get into archery and noticed I was knocking my arrows off the rest quite a bit.. it was definitely frustrating for me, however due to this video I realized that I was pinching the arrow and keeping that in mind I haven't had any more issues. I just want to say thank you for the advice and it has been very helpful
Looking to get into recreational target archery and discovered these videos. Thank you for covering the basics, from choosing a bow to technique. Will be keeping these matters in mind.
Day one you will have a fair few of these issues. Don't worry you won't iron all these out on your first session either, that's why it's practice. You will sort them out as time goes by. Also take that bullseye photo because that shit feels great when you're brand new.
Hi, your videos are being great, I made some PVC bows, strings and arrows I saw on BackyardBowyer but I didn't know how to shoot. Thanks to you, I'm already hitting the target 30 meters away with my PVC longbow. Thank you very much! Hugs from Brazil.
Yep. Such a nice guy, teaching neat stuff. I bought a Junxing recurve from AliExpress, hope it arrives! I'm crazy to shoot a real bow made of something other than PVC pipe (of my own, my colleagues don't feel very comfortable when I shoot their bows lol).
Most people don’t know how to loose an arrow. I use 65lbs @ 28.5 inch. (English long bow) However higher poundage bows are much more forgiving on mistakes with the release, finger roll isn’t as pronounced. I started with a heavy bow (50lbs recurve) and when I switch to a target bow (30lbs recurve) I found my release to be total shit, finger roll was awful. I should have started with the 30lbs and moved up. Once I got my release down my accuracy skyrocketed and was spot on consistent. My wife tells me that a drug addiction would have been cheaper as I own 11 recurve bows (30lbs - 55lbs) and 7 long bows (65lbs - 90lbs) my cheapest one was about $170 one of my long bows was almost $900 lol
I’m doing Archery for sport at school and I wanna know the techniques because last year when I did it at camp I was so bad and kept missing the target 😂 so I’m learning from my mistakes thanks for the tips :)
my first time shooting a bow i placed 1st out of 120 men. beginners luck? lol. i just feel like i’m in a different world when i pull back, not nervous or anything. everything just becomes so calm and soothing and i’m able to focus on what’s happening. i plan to get into archery asap.
I'm 12 and used a bow and arrow a few minutes ago, i sucked at first but made process. My granpa helped me out he hit the target a few times while i couldn't. I'll keep these in mind 😄
I got a bow for Christmas, And this is the first time I've own one. and shot it today, I may have done the most stupidest thing, but I'm learning I had my arm straight instead of curved, I got a brute for it but like I said I am learning and this is my very first time ever shooting a bow. But this video helped so much
"The more you say let it go, the higher the chances we get sued by Disney" "DO YOU NOT KNOW WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS?!" lmao Subscribed. Getting started on archery so thanks for the video!
No, the tip is used as the reference point. The "arbitrary point" under the target is actually what is used in the gap-shooting method. There is no need to sight along the entire shaft - having a steady anchor point means you already have an effective rear "sight", and the only thing that changes is position of the tip of the arrow. Changing where the tip is positioning changes the elevation of the shot.
@@cavemanjoe7972 he's saying that he didnt mean to put your eyes right behind the arrow but to rather create an imaginary line that extends from the arrow to the target rather than lining the tip of the arrow with the target.
@@Penguun I know, I was giving him grief, because extending the sight line does nothing unless you're able to visualize the flight path, and you can't do that accurately without practice, anyway.
These many people you talk about who don't have the sense to release a string that is holding tension to drive a projectile forward... You sure they should even be trusted with the knowledge? lol
I have this lanky friend of mine who likes to shoot shortbows from his side, just above his hip. And he somehow hits yellow most of the time, just built different i guess
I've struggled with all of these except aiming too high- I always aim too low because I already knew about the gap between my eyes and my bow. I end up overcompensating and hitting way below the target 😂
The internet is great. I'm an American interested in archery because of Persian battles against the Romans, so I'm learning from a Korean Australian who uses a Japanese title (sensei).
