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"New" hinge shooter - trouble shooting uphill

2K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  SonnyThomas 
#1 ·
I dropped a lot of points, yesterday, shooting uphill shots.

1. What's the physics behind what makes these shots more difficult for me (new hinge shooter)?

2. How do I learn to improve on these? I understand practice....but, what are some tips to maybe straighten the learning curve on these particular shots?

I've been shooting a hinge for a total of 8 weeks. I haven't shot another release since picking up the hinge.

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Lots of people lean back when shooting on level ground. So when they have to lean back to make an uphill shot, there is no way that they can lean back far enough. So the form suffers.

Make sure that you never lean back on a level shot and when you have to lean back on uphill shots you will be able to maintain your form.

The other thing is that the bow is up high and wants to fall off to one side or the other. So the uphill shot is just unstable.

This is just my opinion.
 
#3 ·
Exactly ^ Also, some people stand up straight, but use their bow arm to elevate. Bow arm should be very close to the same angle from your body on every shot. For uphill and downhill shots, bend at the waist.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Spot on! I don't know what firing engine you are using but if you are trying to shoot with just BT it can be very difficult in varying conditions.
 
#4 ·
Poor footing and up hill and down hill shots change your geometry just enough that a hinge can fire quicker or slower,

1. Practice poor footing shots in your yard by putting a brick under the rear foot and the front foot.

2. Practice up hill and down hill shots

These two things will help a bunch so that when you go to a 3d shoot and something happens you are prepared for the shot. Basically to me you have to learn to get your body into that perfect position that you practice with on level ground so that the shots with poor footing feel the same even though the feet are screwed up. Keeping a perfect T position with your upper body really helps and doing so requires you to keep all the bending at the waist and not lowering the front arm to a funny angle. You want to soak up the poor footing with your lower half or the down hill angle with your lower half and leave the upper half perfect just like you are on level ground.
 
#5 ·
1) Stand straight, keep feet shoulder-width apart, bend at the waist and maintain as much of a good T-Form as possible (it is allowed [within reason] to dig in a little on a hill)

2) Make sure your DL is spot on

3) Make sure your 3rd axis is spot on

4) Check your bubble more often if needed

5) Practice much more shooting uneven terrain
 
#6 ·
Not always, but a good majority of times there is spreading your feet wider. Feet close, like sort of normal, one tends to bend one knee. Feet wider and one can have straight legs and still maintain the "T" form. Done it many times.
 
#11 ·
From a form standpoint check out the cartel pro archery series coverage good video of extreme up and down hill shots. Much to be learned here to be sure.
 
#12 ·
I realize your question is about the angle of the shot --- uphill.

Consider a downhill stance and an uphill shot. Talk about exaggerating the problem!

In this scenario, consider shooting off one knee. In this case, your back knee will be on the ground and your front leg will be extended. That will also help tilt your upper torso backward -- aligning the classic archer's "T" with the shot.

The others are right -- variations to your form that "take away" the room you require to pull through the shot are going to be a problem using a hinge release.

If you elevate the bow arm from the "normal" position, your draw side would have to go even further just to get to anchor, much less to pull through the shot. That will also mess with your anchor references.
 
#13 ·
For uphill shots I normally take a knee, rt knee is down and then I sit on my heel. Can easily keep the T form for in the shoulders and elbow on the draw then tilt hips to the angle needed. Works for me.
 
#14 ·
when i field shoot i carry an extra hinge marked and is set lighter for up hill shoots ,this seems to help me the most ,it also helps to use the lighter set hinge when i start to get tired. what the other archer`s have posted will help you also.good luck,Pete53
 
#15 ·
If you are still having trouble, get a TRUBALL Sweet Spot II. It has the unique feature of having the start point set after the safety release at the correct amount based on form angle. Hard to explain but a regular hinge release always has a break set at the same point regardless of form. The Sweet spot locks the start point before the break based shot angle. I normally shoot an and Inside/out X but use my sweet spot for 3 D specifically for that reason. It also works the same way for down hill shots. Visit TruBall for a better explanation of the geometry that makes it work.

Pat
 
#16 ·
You really do not have to go through a lot of strange gyrations and pick up new gear just to shoot hills. There are no ranges with hills severe enough in the eastern half of the country that would require those measures.

Just become comfortable shooting your hinge in a competition setting and shoot the hills as you would most other shots, but paying closer attention to the smaller details that could trip you up.
 
#18 ·
Just become comfortable shooting your hinge in a competition setting and shoot the hills as you would most other shots, but paying closer attention to the smaller details that could trip you up.
Agreed. And like Padgett, practice with a brick or any object that would give odd stances. Worst case I ever ran into, I had to kneel on one knee.
 
#17 ·
I posted earlier in this thread and i left out the one new thing that is really working awesome for me with poor footing and down or uphill shots. I have been setting up my hinge with a soft hand and soft index finger for a few months and during this setup I am setting it hot where the hinge fires with no firing engine just after letting off the thumb peg.

Now what this does is it allows me to then draw the hinge normally with a little tension on the index finger and release the thumb peg into the index finger with that little bit of tension on it and shoot with a perfect speed but when I come to a shot with poor footing or downhill and on my first attempt the angle of the shot has slowed down my hinge and it now won't fire I just let down and take a couple breaths and on the second attempt I simply come to anchor and I relax my index finger a little and now when i release the thumb peg this speeds up the hinge just a little and I can make the same normal effort to fire my hinge without doing extra work.

This has came from my Safety Slack thread that I started a couple months ago and it is really proving to be something that I am really really enjoying having as part of my shooting. Not only can I change the feel in my index finger on normal shots and alter the overall speed of my execution without changing my firing engine effort but it is allowing me to shoo these poor footing or down hill shots easily.
 
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