Who say you need Back Tenison (Pictures)

Who say you need Back Tension ????

About 99.9% of archers will shoot better with back tension. Tim can shoot without it but he is the exception to the rule. Besides, I've watched him on occasion trying to decide when to punch that trigger and he looks like he just received 220 volts. Kinda scary looking although he does get the job done! Congrats to Tim!

 

I shoot better with my BT release but at my level its just fun to shoot. Thanks for the pics DB it was, a little warm over there was'nt it? eace:

 

its all in what you are used to

Some people are just stronger mentally I think, When I was shooting my thumb trigger and would be shooting a good score coming to the end I would get punchy. But then again I have seen people rip on through their back tension release also.:noidea:

 

I just finished reading Larry Wises' book Core Archery and it is to my understanding that no matter what type of release you shoot or using fingers, proper shooting form still requires the squeezing of the larger back muscles, mainly the rhomboid. Just because a thumb style does not require you to let your back activiate the release does not mean back muscles are not being used. According to Larry's book, your arms, and back muscles should work in conjunction with each other or you will get tired and your shots will faulter. I am not critisizing anyones form of shooting, I just think that if you talk to the professional coaches and listen, they will agree with Larry Wise on this. If you have a breakdown in form then your shot will stray of target. So I believe there has to be some sort of back tension there. I am sure that all of these pro shooters have consulted one time or another with a professional coach on shooting forms and styles or they would not be where they are today. Last but not least, a big congrats to Tim Gillingham on his win and also his finish in the ESPN Hotshots. To all of the archers that are out ther representing our great sport and taking the time to help each other out with problems. Good luck and good shooting.

 

I think you will find that those shooters use back tension to shoot their trigger style releases. I have taken lessons with Michael Braden and know that while he uses and promotes the Carter 2 Shot, he does not pull the trigger with his finger. He does it by pulling his draw arm elbow back and pushing his bow forward. Using back tension is good with any style of release in my opinion. It is also possible to shoot a back tension release and "punch" it by rotating the hand.

 

DB,
I agree that you don't need to use back tension by the book to shoot well. Like Dean said, each of us develops their own way of manipulating the release. Some of us, myself included, do it like Larry Wise teaches. Others manipulate the release using their back a little differently. Some can do it without using their back muscles at all to manipulate the release.

The key to every method is to maintain a sameness from the time you settle into your anchor until the arrow clears the bow. The degree of sameness is the skill that separates the great archers like Dean, Terry & Frank from the rest of us.

Target panic, creeping, punching, and collapsing are some of the things that interfer with this sameness and result in inconsistency and poor accuracy.

I'd love to read Dean's thoughts on this. Can you get him to post here?

Thanks,
Allen

 

You don't have to have a "back tension" release (Hinge or spike) in order to use back tension. Even though many of the top shooters are using a thumb style release, I bet that most are using back tension to set it off. Back Tension is a process not a style of release

Darrel

 

Enlighten me...

Ok, All… I know that I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but what are the benefits of shooting a back tension release. If you don't have target panic and have good technique and not a trigger puncher, does it matter?

I was told by someone that “If you want to be a good shooter; use a trigger release, if you want to be better than that us a back tension” --- is this statement true? And if it is why?

 

All releases can be shot with back tension. BT is not so much a release as a technique of using your back muscles, specifically your rhomboids, to pull through the release of the arrow. This technique is the best method of staying still until the arrow clears the bow. This is because the rhomboids are short muscles and when they contract they don't cause a lot of movement. It's easier to hold steady on the target until the arrow clears.

The thing that BT avoids is contraction of the longer muscles in your arm. If these muscles are contracting, there is more movement. More movement makes it easier to pull the shot off target.

This gets back to my point about sameness. The more you can keep things the same from the time you can settle into your anchors until the arrow clears the bow, the more accurate you will be.

The hinge releases simply make it easier to keep this sameness. You can do this with a wrist trigger release. Michael Braden and others have been very successful with the wrist triggers. However, most of us will do better with the hinge or hand held thumb trigger releases.

I hope this answers your question.
Allen

 

Thanks,

Allen --
yes this does enlighten me and answers my question.

Thanks.