You're Doing It Wrong: How to Shoot an Arrow

Think you know how to shoot a bow and arrow? Gotham Archery instructor Russell Johnson shows Men's Journal how it's really done-- along with some surprisingly common mistakes.

[a.harshvardhan]

I like your videos. Now i am lacking of a bow and a set of arrows

[juska]

Title: you're doing it wrong
Me: interesting..
Also me: I'm not doing it at all tho but I believe u

[originalkingdomhearts]

I tried archery for the first time today, I sadly was really tense and was taking a lot of time to try to aim. I accidentally ended up bruising my non dominant arm pretty bad. It's kinda hard to relax when It's pretty heavy for me to lift.

[stephpilot]

This is “one” of the many correct ways to shoot.

[nair.]

No comments?
No criticism?
Is this utube?
Joking aside.
Nice bow. Nice form.
Cheers.

[yarilich]

Good enough introduction for Men's Journal. I started learning archery and discovered it was a lot more involved. I was taught to draw up to my jaw to stay consistent. I am struggling with proper release, not just relaxing my fingers, but also pulling with my scapula further back. I was recently given a nice bow with a stabilizer (yes, it makes a difference). I am learning to handle a bow with a lanyard securing it to my aiming hand to keep me from squeezing the bow and throwing arrow off the course upon release.

[zmanauz]

This was a very vague explanation 😂
If this was someone’s first time or they’re extremely new to archery they’d be so confused

[HerMoisture]

I did an archery unit in my P.E. class and they taught us how to use a bow but they got a few things wrong and used high tension string bows which ended up making me way less accurate and only able to hit the target twice out of the 8 times I actually shot the bow. The high tension string made it much more difficult to properly pull back without hurting my fingers and I wouldn't have enough power for the arrow to end go near the target (And they told us to use two fingers, not three). The bows were also designed to have the arrow rest on the bow, but that made it go at an angle, so they put a thing on there that was meant to sort of spring up and change the arrow's trajectory to make it go at a more straight angle, but that just made it go at even MORE of a sidewalks angle, and apart from the fact that only one person in the entire 30 people class actually had decent experience using a bow, they also placed the targets about 12 feet away from us, which doesn't sound like much, but of course Texas likes to be windy on dry days, making the arrow move around a lot while airborne. We even did an activity on the last day of the unit which was trying to pop balloons that were on the target which had candy in them. Out of the 4 shots that everyone got, few of them even hit the target, and only one of them managed to pop a balloon. This video really helped me to find out what I was doing wrong (And what they were teaching incorrectly) and I definitely feel more confident when it comes to firing a bow. Thanks for the vid, guys!

[MrDeanbag]

Dude was like “bro, do you not know what an anchor point is :|”

[Fuerwahrhalunke]

That pulling technique is fine for me when it comes to lower poundages (Up to 60#). When I draw my heavier bows though, I personally tend to engage more of my back muscle by stepping forwards, placing my left food in the direction of the target, the other one sideways to the target, putting the bow down infront of my knee, relatively slowly engage in a "sitting position" and start pulling upwards (like I would, when I start a chain saw, for example(Whilst standing up again), until my elbow reaches the side of my head. After that I lower my elbow into a straight line with my left arm (Holding the bow in the left hand, keeping the left shoulder down). While pulling upwards though, I personally tend to keep my left arm at a small angle so I push and pull the bow, basically. That way it's easier for me to pull currently up to 120#.

[chillnVODS]

"then hold still, until you can break" - Man who breaks immediately

[bobbywilson]

Just from one avid researcher to any new archers, while he is not shooting badly, this form he shows is more for beginners as there are more advanced and more effective methods that you can combine together to shoot, nonetheless this is a great method for beginners.

[yugen]

Top olympic coaches teach that an anchor point is not enough for accuracy and consistency. You want to acquire "back tension", particularly the activation of the drawing arm rhomboid/lower trapezius so that your scapula fully retracts into bone on bone contact right before release. That, combined with at least one very reliable and repeatable anchor point are how you know you've pulled far enough. Many archers use a tooth or jawbone for consistency. Some use 3 anchor points.

[taco]

If you're hitting your target you're probably doing it right. "I learned one way to shoot an arrow and I'm going to tell everyone else they're doing it wrong." Bite me.

[aaronbreeds]

errr missed a lot of stuff, like how to set the fletching, when to release during the draw, feet... tons of basic stuff i came here to polish on my mechanics, im not a novice but wanted a refresher on a "if it was my first time shooting an arrow"

[Fishingiscool-wv]

THXs I just started archery really helps!

[Arger]

Using this for an idea of what to do in Blade and sorcery, a VR game. Thanks

[RandomGuy-ejgr]

There’s more than one correct way to shoot a bow lmao

[jeffparkinson]

Unfortunately you didn't mention how to aim the bow your aiming, i.e.. how you get your aiming point/picture....what you use for your reference, ... that was most of the reason why I clicked on the video, please make a video of how to aim the bow so that I can learn something in that regard.... thank you.

[megaddams]

I was tensing up quite a bit... Thank you 🖤