Beginning Archery - Lesson 6: The Anchor

The anchor is where the hand is positioned on the jaw and the bowstring touches the face. It is vitally important that the index finger is firmly placed against the jaw, the thumb is tucked into the palm of the hand so it can be placed firmly against the neck and the bowstring is firmly touching the chin (and nose, if possible). The relationship between all these positions is important as it acts as the rear sight, so it is vital that it be as consistent as possible. It also acts as a consistent draw length position. Any variation in the position will effect the amount of force the bow will impart to the arrow.

Beginning Archery - Lesson 7: Holding and Aiming

Holding is where the tension is maintained in the back muscles and then the bow arm is moved to align the sight pin into the centre of the target. As the sight pin is moved into the centre of the target, the string alignment should be checked. String alignment, as shown in the picture on the left, is the alignment of the bowstring with the vertical alignment of the bow and the alignment with the sight pin. (As the bowstring is just in front of the eye, it will appear blurred).

When the bow is held in the correct vertical position, then the bowstring and edge of the bow will be parallel. If it is not, then the bow is tilted away from vertical. Just before full concentration is made on aiming, all the previous steps should be checked to make sure that everything is in the correct position. If any part of body feels out of place, then it is best to stop now, let the bowstring down and re-start again, rather than make a bad shot.

When aiming into the centre of the target, it is natural for sight pin to move around, as the muscles try to hold it steady. With practice, aiming will become more steady. Move the sight pin up if the arrow lands high, move down if the arrow lands low, move left if the arrow lands left and move right if the arrow lands right.