SUFFERING FROM WIND?

hellsfinest · SUFFERING FROM WIND?

gotta be a technique for this . . . . . was shooting all day wednesday, nice day apart from the wind. not talking about the wind changing the course of the arrow i mean the wind blowing my bow arm all over the place, when it blew my arm to the right i'd compensate by pushing to the left, then it would stop & my arm would go too far left! are some bows more prone to being blown around? do skeleton frame risers allow the wind to pass by easier than solid ones? are longer bows blown around more than shorter ones? is there a technique for dealing with the wind or is everyone rubbish when its windy?

Ratfighter

pretty much everybody is prone to the affects of the wind. You can weight your bow up to lessen the effect, you can aim off, you can cant the bubble and study the flag but it's a lottery in the end. Heavy thin arrows, such as X10's can cut through a bit better than lighter, thicker ones but if you are going for a score or a group you're on to a loser

Chedawan

Just one more thing to add to the Ratfighter's answer. Get out there and practice in it. I love target competitions when it's windy and it's raining. Not necessarily because I'm the best technically pure archer out there, but because I'm stood on the practice line come what may, and hardly anyone else bothers. If you don't shoot in the wind and rain, you won't shoot well in competition when these circumstances arise... end of. Most folks pack up when it gets too windy, but if you practice, and can put six arrows on the butt at eighty yards in a gale, I guarentee you're in with a fighting chance. You just have to accept, in the wind your group will never be as good as it will be in better conditions, but fortunately (unless it's a postal) the conditions are the same for everyone, and at the end of the day the medals don't always go to who's best, but to who performed the best on the day.

woozle

Have to admite to crying off when it blows. I know i should have gone on weds to my ground to get used to strong winds and shoot longer and try harder

Celtic Dragon

Its a little windy that unpredictable up at Avalon today.

I used the let go and pray method

And it seems to be working for me!! First comp and I've shot a 718!

pafc1886

Great score Celtic Dragon.

Well done mate.

Íjász

Got to agree with Chedawan, about practicing in all conditions. When I used to run in fell races and mountain marathons I always seemed to get better results when the weather was filthiest. Probalby because living in West Argyll, if I didn't train (run) in the wind and rain I wouldn't have trained at all, so I was probalby just more psychologically prepared for the weather during the event itself. Now standing in a field doing archery when the midges are at their worst, that a different story

Bushy

Chedawan has got the right idea I must say due to the fact that we have got all sorts of weathers in the uk and should be prepared to shoot in any of them Scottish Champs this year on the first day was terrilby windy in the morning on the top corner of A course and you could really see the wind taking the arrow accross

Bjorn

Just a few tips from a compound archer. I totally agree that training in poor conditions is crucial for success in the same.
But before practising in the wind a few tips doesn't hurt.
Many archers start to hesitate and loose pressure in the bowarm as soon as it starts blowing. The cure is to do the opposite add more preassure and work through the shot with the release hand. Done properly you will find that the arrows start hitting even when the bow is bobbing around in the wind. The trick is to try and somewhat ignore the aiming and concentrate more on working through the shot.
Shorter bows are less sensitive in the wind since the top of the bow is less prone to tip over in the wind direction.

hellsfinest

thanks all, Bjorn, sounds like a technique, what do you mean add pressure to the bow arm? could you elaborate on that point please?

Bjorn

It's basically always a balance between pulling backwards with your release hand and keeping pressure forwards in the bowarm. But to me it's more a mental feeling, when it's windy it feels like I'm relaxing the bowarm a little bit (in reality I'm stopping the pull backwards with the release hand as well) So if I concentrate on maintaining the pressure forwards in the bowarm it helps me keeping the overall pressure up. I suspect this is very much an individual thing but that's how it is for me.