The downbeat...Starting the shot

       Sometimes, I liken shooting a Longbow to a good classical song. There's a beautiful rhythm to the shot cadence of shooting in the Hill style.  We discuss a fluid, natural, rhythmic and flowing shooting form, and that's all wonderful.  But every song, every symphony, every jingle has to have a starting point.  That key moment when everything starts.  

       Watch the musicians at a symphony sometime.  All eyes are on the conductor, waiting for the downbeat.  Count one. It's the split second where every single part of the entire sum of moving parts is moving in complete unison.  After that downbeat, all the instruments do their coordinated, practiced motions that bring about a synchronized sound.  So too with shooting in the Hill style.  There has to be that initial split second of focus, when all the attention aka concentration of the mind is on the spot for the arrow to go; that split second when the entire body is trained to begin the shot. Having been a musician in an orchestra, and understanding the importance of that initial downbeat to start the music, it's easy to carry that feeling over to beginning my longbow shot process.  However, it's not just in orchestral music.  Every musician, whether playing alone or with others, has to sync their motions with the others to get the song in perfect timing.  Sometimes the song cadence is all in the solo musician's head and he/she keeps the rhythm going by learned practice...but it still is a cadence that is beat in the musician's mind and body.

      Shooting the longbow in the Hill style works best if a rhythm is practiced. Schulz said in his famous video that Hill taught him a Four Count cadence to draw the bow and shoot with. This is very helpful to learn a shooting rhythm.  The Four Count can be faster, like flowing water, or slower like flowing syrup. It's probably best to begin like syrup in one's approach and as the shooting progresses, the form can be sped up like water....or in Schulz's words...practice the motion until you're finally, fast.

     But something that Schulz shows, and doesn't say.  The Downbeat to begin the whole thing.  Watch him and you'll see it.  It's the downward swing of the bow arm.  He even does it when he was speed shooting.  He told me that this motion was the start of his shot cycle.  The "forward press" if you will.  I prefer to think of it as the downbeat to start the song.  That instant where the focus on the spot to hit transforms from being static into a dynamic part of the shot.  We all have to have that moment.  In other sports they call it "go time" or something similar.  We must recognize that perhaps we've been thinking of other things, maybe watching our friends shoot, or watching a game animal approach into shooting range, or something...and now we must stop every other thought, and instantly focus on nothing but the spot and allow the body and mind to make the shot.  It's hard to make that mental shift, without doing something definite to start the motion. A way to begin that mental shift is a very quick, very soft and short exhale. Almost like a "phew" that lasts a microsecond. Anything that triggers your shot to happen now, all focus is intense right now and Now is when we have to shoot.  This doesn't mean the shot cycle is fast...it can still be syrupy even with this intense split second of focus.

      That "trigger" in my shooting, is not the downward swing of the arm, although I do this every shot.  For me, I imagine an audible "boom" as commanding my attention, like a kettle drum beat was matching the conductor's downbeat with the baton.  That boom moment when I know the shot is starting and all my attention is focused on the spot and my shot is happening. The "boom" is a very split second of time, but it's the split second that my mind tells my body it's "go time" and the entire shot cycle happens in about one more second.  I do the same thing when shooting at a moving target.  It's the second that I decide to shoot, decide to track the animal or target, but the "boom" is the exact split second where all my concentration starts to be focused intently and the shot happens. The "boom" is Count One of the four count.

       I believe this is the moment that most archers who have difficulty with the Hill style fall apart.  They don't have a definite "boom" start to the shot.  They kinda just start the swing, they kinda start looking where they want the arrow to go and they take too long acquiring the target to shoot at. They've lost focus before they even start, or at best there is a soft focus. Don't allow your eyes to wander around as you begin the draw.  Stop all wandering, stare intently. You mean this, this shot is important. You only have to concentrate this intently for a second or two and then it's over and the mind can relax.

       Think hard about this.  There has to be that split second of target focus and in that split second the shot has to start, or concentration will wander and the arrow will too.  Start your shot with a "boom" in your head, or something that tells your mind that "now" is the shot. No hesitation, just "now". 

      "Boom"...and then Shoot Straight.