An Archery Glossary

Some Basic Tips for Archery

If you are a beginner in archery, one important thing you will need to do is to make sure that you always wear an armguard. This will help to keep your bow arm from suffering from friction when you release the string. Whether you are practicing on your own or shooting in a competition, you will also want to use a clicker. A clicker is basically a finger that is spring loaded. When your arrow has been drawn to a repeatable distance, it will then give you a cue that you can hear to let you know. Also check how each set of arrows you release improves as you are practicing.

When you are practicing or involved in competing, having a leather finger tab is important to keep your string fingers protected as well. Keeping track of the fletching of your arrows in important as well and can prevent you from releasing mis-flights. If you are involved in a competitions, you will want to keep track of how you are doing. Each FITA round, which is a set of 144 arrows that you shoot at targets from different distances, should be kept track of so you know how you are doing.

Checking the condition of your bow, looking at the riser on either side, is important, whether you are going to enter a competition or you are going to do some practicing. Checking this will help you make sure that your string is held correctly. You should also make sure that you check the nocks of the arrows as well. This will help you ensure that they do not have any fissures or cracks, as well as ensuring that they do not cling too much to your string. Be sure to store your arrows in your quiver until you are ready to use them.

Compound bow users will usually use some type of a release aid instead of relying on their fingers. This will help them make sure that there is better fluidity of their release. When you are gripping the riser of your bow, be sure that your grip is relaxed as well and that the back of your riser is facing the target you are shooting at.

As you become more advanced at archery, more than likely you will want to begin to use a sight when you are shooting. This will help enhance your vision and your aim as well. When you are releasing the bow string, at times the string can actually cause torques in the bow, which will throw off the form of your follow through. If you want to avoid this, placing an extending weight on your bow can help. This is a vertical stabilizer, and it extends out from the riser to help you get rid of this negative problem.

The most advanced archers will want to try and actually release a second arrow so accurately that it splits open the shaft of the arrow that has already been shot into the target. This is an amazing moment that will probably make you feel like a modern day Robin Hood, and you’ll probably want to keep this arrow to display so others can see your amazing achievement in archery.