My thoughts on archery today

 A lot has changed since I've been away from competition. At least here in rural Appalachia anyway.

There's a lot of new terms I've learned.

A lot of new to me equipment I'd never heard of.

A lot of cry babies.

A lot of opinions..... and I have some of those myself....

Yep, it is still the most fun hobby I've ever had, but things sure have changed!

Float??? What is that?
Well if I'd known about float back 30 years ago I probably could have overcome target panic and continued shooting competitions.
You see, that's why I gave up shooting competitions years ago. I had gradually gotten worse and at the last, I couldn't force my sight pin on my intended target.  I won't bore you with more detail of how it started and how it progressed, but here in the rural area where I lived there was nobody to talk to that had a cure, nobody knew what to do for it. Nothing. 
So I quit. But I did however have in my possession something to fix the target panic if I'd only known how to use it.
A friend owned an archery shop and I went there one day and he gave me a release. I'd never seen anything like it. He had took it in on a trade and couldn't figure out how to use it, and nobody around here would buy it because everyone around here shot wrist strap index releases. It turned out to be a Stanislawski hinge release. I kept it for years. Trying to figure out how it worked but never could. I threw it in a box of archery junk and January of 2021 I was rounding up unused stuff and selling it on ebay. I came across the Stanislawski and sold it.
Jump forward to January 2023 and I learned that type of release would have been great to overcome my target panic.
But now I understand what float is and how to use it. If I could ever get my float small enough I'd be doing great!

Back wall?? I'd definitely heard of a compound bow having a valley at the low spot of the let-off. But I'd really never heard of the term Back Wall.
However, I don't care for all the hoop la of folks saying you have to be pulling hard against the back wall, and your release hand has to fly backward like a ballerina when you shoot.  
However, I have found on this new archery journey, that I shoot best at the "Back of the valley", (hence, the name of this blog), just barely against the wall without excessive force.

Don't shoot on command, or command a shot???? What the tarnation?
Now I'm not the sharpest tack in the box, but the moment you settle into your aim, you begin to shoot on command.
Yes, that's right and there ain't nobody gonna change my mind on it. And furthermore, commanding a shot ain't the reason for target panic!
When I used the Tru Ball X-Tension RT release, (a true back tension release), I had to pull against the wall to fire it. How did I do that without commanding a part of my body to pull against the wall?

When I shoot my hinge or my Whalen's Hooker release, I have to apply pressure and squeeze with my middle and/or ring finger to fire it, or if they're set hot enough, pull with my back muscles to fire them. If I don't command my fingers or back muscles to do something, I'll stand there until I'm too tired to hold my bow back and have to let down and they won't go off!

Thumb button release won't go off until you push the button. You gotta command your thumb to push it. Unless you're one of those people that instead of buying a hinge, you instead use a thumb button like a hinge and with your middle finger and/or ring finger and squeeze the release and rotate it into your thumb, triggering the release. But you know what? No matter which one of those ways you use to trigger a thumb button release, you just commanded a shot!

Index finger release? For some stupid reason this type of release gets the bad rap for being the devil and the main cause of target panic, and it's no good, etc,. But it's no worse, or no better than any other release. I find I prefer my B3 Hawk index release for hunting.

Everyone needs to find the release type they prefer and try to master it. And command it all day log, but here's the thing, when you get into the habit of panicking and punching the release, any release, to try to get your shot off before the aiming dot or sight pin moves off the bullseye, you're gonna end up with some form of target panic. And again I say, the release doesn't matter!
Learn about float, and do it! Let your sight hang there and float in the bullseye while you slowly command whatever type of release you're using to fire and you'll get better.

The subject of cry babies!
Oh my goodness! I remember before the internet anxiously waiting next years bows to be released and going to the local shops and checking them out, reading about them in magazines or seeing them at tournaments. And being happy with the upgrades they offered.
Nowadays the cry babies want something new every year and when the companies give it to them, they still cry!
The biggest foolishness I've read is people saying that since the crossbow world has achieved over 400 fps, why hasn't compound bows done the same thing?
For years compound bow manufacturers chased speed. and suddenly they're now working on bows that simply shoot well, shoot accurately, and smoothly. 
But I'd say that nearly every major compound bow manufacturer probably has the knowledge to build a 375-400 fps compound bow. But they also have the knowledge that it would be totally undependable, and most of all, totally unshootable if they made it. Ya'll should be happy some company hasn't got a stupid hankering to put something like that off on the archery public! Someday, it might be possible for the manufacturers to build a bow with that kind of speed if the right materials becomes available.  But I'm quite happy with the products on the market at this time. We live in a great era to be an archer!

Until next time........ quit your crying!