12 STEPS TO THE PERFECT SHOT IN ARCHERY.

Perhaps the best thing about archery is that it is accessible to absolutely everyone. With the right equipment, anyone can learn the proper technique and begin accurately hitting targets in less than an hour. An important point to remember however, is that any bad habits you pick up early on will make your progress that much more difficult. As you progress in your archery training, it is important to have a strong grasp of the fundamentals. You will learn them here.

Coach Kisik Lee has coached archers like Simon Fairweather to an Olympic Gold and more recently Brady Ellison to win 6 World Cup medals. Many commentators in the sport credit Lee’s training method for the US Olympic men’s team ranking as the best in the world. His National Training System (NTS) is what every coach must learn before receiving their USA Archery certification. This system is based on body control, proper musculature mechanics, and complete concentration in order to produce a good shot.

Lee worked with biomechanical engineer Gary Yamaguchi, who had previously studied body mechanics and injuries in other sports, such as golf, tennis, and rock climbing to analyze the postures and movements of a well-placed shot. Gary and Coach Lee continue to work together to increase their understanding of archery’s biomechanics, in an effort to increase performance and reduce injuries.

The KSL Shot Cycle is the core component of the NTS, and breaks every shot down into twelve distinct, process-oriented, and repeatable steps. Many have scrutinized the technique, claiming that it hinders the innovation of technique that comes from natural experimentation. Proponents of the technique conjecture that it brings uniformity to the shot and makes incremental experiments possible and easier to measure. While this method has been controversial, the results cannot be denied.

By understanding and imitating the technique Olympic level pros like Brady Ellison use, beginner archery enthusiasts can quickly develop their skills while maintaining their firm rooting in fundamental archery mechanics. By ensuring consistency through every aspect of the shot, it is actually easier to make small corrections that will make you more accurate. This is the most important element of archery technique, and will do more for improving your skill quickly than anything else. As you shoot your consistency will allow you to incrementally correct your technique until you are consistently hitting 10s. Without further ado, here is the KSL Shot Cycle.

1. Stance – 1 second

Your stance serves as the foundation of your shot, providing you with stability, balance, and most importantly consistency. Traditionally Archers have used a closed stance, meaning both their feet are parallel and in line with the arrow’s travel path. Coach Lee recommends the open stance because it allows for greater lateral stability, especially in windy conditions. From the closed stance, you simply need to step back 45 degrees with your right foot. Keep your weight about 2/3 in the balls of your feet, and tuck your tailbone slightly, keeping the stomach tight.

2. Nocking the Arrow – 1 second

This simply refers to placing the arrow ‘nock’ on the string. How you nock the arrow is entirely a matter of personal preference, but the odd-colored fletching should always point away from the bow, and you should always nock the arrow in the same way every time as a part of your shot process.

3. Gripping the String – 1.5 seconds

You will use your index, middle, and ring fingers with a shooting tab or glove. Coach Lee recommends placing the string in the knuckle of the index and ring fingers, and just behind the knuckle of the middle finger. Some people prefer to hook the strings with the pads at the very tip of the finger. Put a little tension on the string, keeping your bow hand relaxed and allowing the bow handle to be pulled into it.

Alternatively, you might use a mechanical release when shooting. This device makes your shot incredible precise, because it eliminates interference from your fingers when you release the arrow, however it is not used in Olympic competition.

4. Mindset – 3 seconds

In short, mindset refers to your taking a Zen moment to set an intention as to what you hope to accomplish, and eliminate all other thoughts and distractions. It helps to take a few easy, yet deep, meditative breaths to clear your mind and completely relax the muscles of your face, neck and shoulders. This is a critical component of your technique and will help you avoid the competition jitters.

5. The Set-Up – 1 second

Again keep your weight in the balls of the feet, hips slightly opened to the target, and your abdominals and buttocks slightly flexed. This keeps your core tight and stable to support your shot. Keeping your shoulders low and away from your ears, raise the bow just high enough to set the position of your drawing side’s shoulder blade. You are not pulling the bow string back, but rather setting your shoulder blade so that your draw hand is in the correct position near the face.

6. Drawing the String – less than 1 second

With the rear shoulder blade set back, draw the string back to just below the chin keeping the drawing forearm and fingers as relaxed as possible without losing control of the arrow. It is recommended to inhale during this phase to create slight thoracic pressure and a feeling of strength.

7. Anchor – 1 second

Easily the most important part of the shot, you must use the same anchoring position every single time you shoot, allowing your head to be a reference point to help you aim. Move the whole drawing arm and hand up slightly to just below your jaw, letting the string come into contact with your mouth, chin, and nose. The drawing elbow should be in line with the arrow or slightly pointed up, and should be in a perfect line with the arrow when viewed from above.

8. Transfer and Loading – less than 1/2 second

When you drew the string in step 6, you were required to use your forearm, shoulder, and hand muscles, since your back muscles alone can not pull the string. In the transfer and loading stage, you are relaxing the tension in your arm and hand and transferring this energy to your lower back muscles and your bow hand. Essentially, your lower back is holding the arrow back, while the bow is kept at distance by the bones of your bow hand, arm, and shoulder. This phase of the shot cycle will be largely imperceptible to an observer, because this is an internal biomechanical movement.

9. Aiming – between 1 and 3 seconds

With your mind clear, your face and upper body relaxed, gaze through your sights at the target down range. Understand that aiming is just another part of the process, and should be approached without any anxiety whatsoever. Your sights will float around the aiming area. This is ok. Keep the majority of your focus on your deep back muscles, while allowing your aim to be more of a relaxed, semi-subconscious step. Allow the chest to expand slightly.

10. Release – less than 1/4 second

The release is accomplished by allowing the draw fingers to completely relax, letting the string slip forward. The mind is again with the core back muscles, rather than focused on consciously opening the hand.

11. Follow Through – occurs in conjunction with the release

The follow through occurs as a natural result of the release, rather than a separate movement. Since your back muscles are still engaged and your draw hand is totally relaxed, your shoulder blade should continue to rotate back, allowing your draw to trail in a straight line opposite the arrow’s direction of travel.

12. Relax and Feedback – as much time as needed

After the follow through, you need to prepare your mind and body for the next shot. Dissolve any tension, physical or mental, caused by the previous shot. Again, meditative breaths are ideal for this relaxation phase, and critical for approaching and analyzing each shot without emotion. Understandably, this is not always easy, especially after a bad shot. But there is no benefit or reason from developing emotion or anxiety. Instead, you should be rely solely on the actual location where the arrow hit the target for feedback on your shot, and what corrections need to be made, if any.

With these 12 steps, you should be well on your way to developing a consistently accurate shot. Remember always, consistency is key. Through diligent, process-oriented practice, you will be dominating the competition in no time.