DON’T CUT YOUR ACCURACY SHORT! PULL & FINISH - School of Nock WEEK 7

Hey, it's an exciting time. We're finally at the last thing that I'm consciously thinking about in my shot process and my shot routine. Laid our foundation with our stance. We've got a torque-free grip. We've raised the bow, checked our shoulder position. Shoulders should be down and forward. Drawing back smooth till it stops, bringing that anchor into position. Then we're adjusting our head to just perfectly look through the peep. And at that point, our pin should be on the target. Our bow's level should be set. And we are aiming and we're trusting the float and we're being patient behind that pin. And that is when I start thinking of this last step, which is just pull, pull, pull, and finish. Pull, I'm thinking of the pull part until that release breaks. And once that release goes off and my shot breaks, I'm thinking of finish. So pull and finish. Okay, so let's look at the first part of that. And that's honestly why when people ask about the different releases we have, some are gonna teach you one thing, some are gonna teach you another. The hinge release really teaches you patience with your pin on target, patience on target. This guy, the Silverback, this you have to pull. It's tension release, so it's teaching to pull through. And it's teaching you this process. And honestly, that is why you saw me start this new season with my tension release, because it makes me shoot all the other ones better. So with this one, when I let my thumb off the safety, I am 100% thinking about this final part of the process and part of the routine, which is pull, pull, pull. And in my case right now, I'm always thinking about the tip of that elbow going from out here at 11 o'clock to pulling straight to something behind me. I'm trying to elbow that back wall. I'm just trying to pull a little bit harder on it till this release goes off. But I'm pulling through. And what's nice about this is if I'm static and I'm just waiting, and I'm trying to wait till this goes off or wait till I'm perfectly still, nothing happens. I have to be dynamic. And the dynamics is honestly the portion of this part of the process that so many people get close to, but they don't perfectly execute it. Coming through that shot and pulling, pulling, pulling, coming through that shot. And then once that release opens and the arrow's going, squeezing this bicep and bringing this release hand over the shoulder, it allows your string to continue to track on path to that target. Whereas if I'm just kind of sitting here static and I'm waiting, which some people do with the wrist strap release and index finger, they just kind of wait and do this. Well, that arrow went from here to here before it went out. I'm really wanting the pull. And when this goes off and this release hand is coming back over the shoulder, that string is still tracking right to that target. So this just teaches me the dynamics that I need to feel. And then when I change over to any other kind of release, I'm doing the same thing, pulling and finishing. Now, one thing that you've probably heard me talk about if you follow these different types of training, disciplines that I teach is in this pulling process, you do have the option to take that one step further. And as you're pulling, I personally am reciting a mantra and I've had several over the years. The one I use the most is I shoot X's because they make me feel good. That's what I say when I'm in here looking at X rings on an indoor target. In a hunting situation, a lot of times I'm thinking checkmate. Like I'm just like, checkmate, you're done. Checkmate, you're done. That's going through my head as I'm continuing to build until that goes off. And then right away, I'm thinking, finish my shot. Now, there's also times where I've actually thought about that last step at the very beginning. So if I have this elk that's coming in screaming and he's coming in, or there's actually a time I remember very vividly, my very first Arizona cup shooting at 70 meters in the wind. I remember telling myself, pull through, pull through, pull and finish, pull and finish. I was saying that before the shot process even began because I know how critical it is. If you don't do that very last thing and you're static, then you're kind of just rolling the dice. You really don't know where your accuracy is. You've got to come through that shot, okay? So once I've let off that safety, I'm looking through my P, pin's on target. I'm trusting that, I'm being patient with it. A lot of times that's when I'm saying my little mantra because what that does is distract my conscious thought from my pin being in the middle of the target, which sometimes weirds people out. It also is a voice talking over that little demon you might have on your shoulder that's like, hit it, hit it, you're there, go for it, let it go, let it go, now's the time. That little person, you can talk louder than him in your mind if you're saying a mantra. But again, as soon as that shot breaks, finish the shot, release hand, coming through over the shoulder. So let me just do this here, kind of visualize what I'm telling you that I'm thinking and what I'm doing. So right here, just to once again, drive this home, I'm looking right down at my front foot, looking back to my back foot. They look good, they feel good. Looking at the front hand, looks good. Relax the back, feels good. Shoulder, I can see it's not against my neck. It's down and forward, still feels good. Same thing, anchor, peep, good. Pulling, shoot it, feels good. That was a nice one. All right, and then as soon as that breaks, I'm finishing the shot. Now if I am in a tournament, or if I'm in a hunting situation where I'm nervous right now, and that's usually when you kind of are weak on the back end of that shot, I'm gonna tell myself, pull through, pull and finish, Dudley, pull and finish. There goes that arrow. That was a Robin Hood smash, by the way. Okay, so let me show you the same thing. Now I'm gonna change over to a trigger activated release. So now I've switched over to the Noctuit. I'm gonna literally perform the exact same thing. Now once I shape my thumb, again, watch that I'm building pressure, building pressure, and when the release goes off, I'm gonna have the same shot. I'm seeking the same shot regardless of the type of release. And that's all because consciously I'm thinking pull and finish, pull and finish. On target, shaping, now pull. Same shot, different release, focus on the pull and the finish. If you can complete that, and if you can put those other five steps in front of those, get them set, move to the next step, never think back, only think forward to that progress and the finish, man, your technique is gonna be as good as you need it to go as far as you want in the archery world. The key is just putting them together back to back, back to back. Those six steps, that's all I think about. That is the secret to my success, but it's gonna take reps and it's gonna take drilling and it's gonna take focusing on each one of those systematically until they become just part of your autopilot. But even when you're going and you're stroking and you've been doing this for months, still take the cognitive conscious thought of each one of those things, every arrow, and it will build you step by step into perfect technique and crushing arrows down range. Told you, damage incorporated right there. This is a time for inspection. Something was trashed on that, but no matter the release, if your technique's the same, you can repeat them in the target.