What is the single most important piece of archery shooting advice that you can practice for this bowseason? To shoot with a relaxed archery grip. The success of your grip will not boil down to a certain hand position on your grip, but instead if your grip is simply relaxed...or not.
*If you like reading about mature buck hunting strategies, make sure that you check out my 1st book, "Whitetail Success By Design".
Relaxed Archery Grip Exercises
There are 3 exercises that I would like you to try, to help illustrate how important it is to shoot with a relaxed archery grip every time that you fire your bow.
Exercise #1:
Grab your bow, and vary your grip. Relax your grip, tighten your grip and notice how far your entire bow moves with each extremity.
Exercise #2:
Instead of a relaxed grip, squeeze the grip extremely hard while holding that grip for several seconds. You should notice that the tighter you grip and the longer that you hold your grip, the more the bow shakes.
Exercise #3:
Now hold your bow as relaxed as you possibly can, without dropping your bow. Make sure that your elbow is slightly bent and completely relax. Your bow should shake very little, and reveal just exactly why shooting with a relaxed archery grip is critical to attaining your ultimate level of accuracy.
*A relaxed archery grip is a large portion of potential accuracy, but it is only part of it. Make sure to read these 3 articles for a complete guide to the highest levels of accuracy that you can attain.
*How To Cure Target Panic
*Bowhunting Shooting Form
*5 Ways To Shoot Like A Pro
A Critical Shooting Technique
There have been two significant events that helped to mold and shape my target archery and bowhunting careers:
1. In the early 90s when I cured my target panic.
2. In the late 80s when shooting with a relaxed archery grip improved my horizontal accuracy from 6-8" at 20 yards, down to 1-2".
A simple tip from a friendly professional target archer, named Rick Hotchkiss at the Oakland County Sportsman's Club in Waterford MI, paved the way for a lifetime of higher accuracy. I had tried to hold my grip in a certain manner, in a particular position, when really all that it came down to was making sure that my hand was relaxed.
Conclusion
By not gripping your bow until after the shot, you eliminate the incredible accuracy inconsistency caused by placing random amounts of pressure on your grip. If you are shooting correctly, your bow should jump out of your hand if you do not use a wrist sling. Regardess of the position of your hand, if your hand is relaxed when holding up your bow, you will find success.
If you don't practice any other form of improved shooting form this year, other than a relaxed archery grip, you will experience the single most single piece of archery shooting advice that can improve your bowhunting accuracy this season. Give it a try, and enjoy a much higher potential of success when you cross paths with a buck of a lifetime this Fall.