back tension release

Thanks for the much better explanation of this shooting method, and I was a little too blase by saying "just pull the trigger". While I don't employ this method, I can say without reservation that I never know when my bow OR gun goes off. All my concentration is on my spot on my target, when I want the arrow or bullet to go it feels to me that it just "happens". When an arrow leaves my bow or a bullet(or slug) leaves my gun, they are both TOTAL surprises. I never even think about the trigger on either one. And they both go where I want. Another consideration is that the smoother the release/trigger is, the better you will shoot. That's why we are seeing more and more guns being made with adjustable triggers, makes a huge difference in your accuracy. Anyway, I applaud you on your knowledge of the back tension method, and while I'm at it, I have to give you a salute and a standing ovation for coming up with the"Dumbest Athlete Poll", that was absolutely great!!
PS: Don't forget about breathing when you shoot anything, probably the single most important facet of shooting any device!!

Spiker, you missed the sarcasm. I knew quite well what I was doing. I just didn't like doing it. For the majority of shooters, the back tension release is not what they are looking for in a HUNTING release. To start with,it requires too much concentration at a time when their mind is doing gymnastics. It is far better suited to the serious target archer. The key word being serious. You see, the tension release only marginally improves form and accuracy when the shooter is often in a hurry and does not have time to go through all the steps required. I suppose after a few years, it would become automatic if you can shoot a few dozen arrows a day. Most hunters can't and unlike the folks you mentioned above, most hunters have to buy their arrows and have jobs that make serious practice tough.

When we tested them and evaluated them, for the reasons stated above, we used different testers including some who were experienced with tension release method and some who were not. It was a new method at the time and we wanted to see how they would apply to hunters. As you stated, it requires a serious archer. Of course, this was before the time of the "serious" bowhunters you mentioned above. We used old men like Jim Dougherty, Judd Cooney and some old fart named Sloan, who couldn't figure out how to tense his back muscles. Back then, we didn't really have any TV stars to call on. We also just looked at tension releases from a hunting standpoint. Truth told, most of us...make that all of us, were finger shooters and some didn't even have some new fangled thing called a sight.

I'll stand by my statement. Heck after 35-years in the bowhunting industry, I was still shooting fingers and only one pin when I was forced to go to a crossbow. I hate that thing. :whistling:

I started thinking about it and felt I should get serious. A back tension release is used primarily to cure or at least help with target panic. Since I have never experienced this and being a finger shooter, I never saw a need for one.

I worked closely with a young man who had a terrible case of it. He got a back tension video that I made hinm throw away and we started working. First I had him shooting at a cotton bale at 3 yards with his eyes closed. For two weeks, that is all he did, concentrating on using his back muscles. I was slowly able to work him up to shooting 2" dots at 20-yards and he progressed from there. It took three months, shooting five days a week, from 20-40 times a day to get him to normal and once he was there, he went back to the regular style. As far as I know, he has never had a prblem since.

In my experience, target panic only occurs in people who shoot targets a lot. By a lot, I mean up to 50X a day. The problem being, you over concentrate and then start second guessing. This is all done subconciously. When I was testing bows, I often shot 100X a day but accuracy was not a big thing so I was never bothered. My job was to simply evaluate overall performance, not accuracy since that is the human end of things.

Just for testing, I shot a tension release for a couple weeks and could see the advantage of it for a target archer with a chance or case of TP. For hunting, I felt it was a handicap and required far more time than the average hunter has to spend shooting. I am a uge advocate of KISS.

That is all I was trying to point out. In testing and evaluating archery products for so many years, I often was troubled with the "building the better mousetrap" syndrome. For example, except for testing purposes and with only the hunter in mind, I never shot a release, used a stabilizer, trued a peep, saw a need for more than two sight pins or had any desire to shoot the fastest bow on the block. But I was soley a hunter, concerned only with hitting a softball size target and with no concern for a tight group. I only wanted my first shot to hit where I aimed every time.

Over the years, I coached or taught scores of men and women to shoot a bow. I taught them my style and let them proceed from there. Almost every one eventually had a release, a sight with 100 pins, a variety of stabilizers, peep sights, the fastest bow made and trouble killing deer.

The day I finally admited I had to go to a crossbow, I actually cried. The bow I hung up, had one pin-set dead on at 25-yards, no peep and shot a blistering 256fps. The last animal I killed was a fair bull elk at 45 yards. My 125gr. Thunderhead hit right where I aimed. In five years, I have missed more deer with a crossbow than I did in three decades with a vertical. Guess I'm just not a techie. My wife and I estimate I have killed around 300 animals with a bow. I won one tournament and that was because nobody else could shoot. I have never been a 12-ring shooter. However, I was perfectly comfortable taking a running shot if the conditions were right. I can't recall ever trying to stop a deer or any animal that not going faster than a trot. I saw no need to and still don't, even with that cussed X-bow. Obviously, for me, a back tension release was a severe handicap.


Final word on the back tension thing. If you are not having trouble with your current setup, why change? If you have TP, go for it.
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