All-In ?

     "The longbow will bring you to this style (Hill style) or you will throw it away vowing never to touch it again"   John Schulz,  "Straight Shooting"

       To the person that finds the allure of shooting a longbow in the style perfected by Howard Hill, John Schulz and others over the years...and are frustrated in their attempts to emulate that cool, casual, fluid shooting form and accuracy...you have to make up your mind.

       Too many are the comments I've heard or read over the years that the Hill style of shooting is the most difficult to master, and the style lends itself to an increased risk of target panic among other ills.  I and plenty of other archers around the world are proof that this is not the truth.  However, you do have to decide...go all-in and enjoy success or just dabble and experience frustration. Mixed results will happen with mixed efforts.  Those people who say you can shoot any bow however you want, and you can shoot a Hill style longbow like a recurve, are not anyone to listen to for guidance. If you check their backgrounds, you'll find that their supposed knowledge of the Hill style shooting technique is sparse, and the fact is there that they rarely shoot a Hill style longbow and they never shoot it as a main bow style.  It's an honest fact that to learn the system you desire, seek out those who have shown a mastery of it.  Hill and his student John Schulz are the ones to learn from.  

        If you truly want to shoot a Hill style longbow well in the Hill style, you have to totally commit to it, practice it until it becomes second nature, and then trust it.  You cannot short-change the hours and thousands of shots it takes to learn the form to the level of complete trust.  You cannot try to shoot the Hill style all the while shooting other types of bows and other shooting methods.  It will not work.  You have to learn the feeling of the heel down grip on a straight or slightly dished handle until it is second nature.  Using other bows with a contour grip, pistol grip or otherwise will change your hand position, no matter how slight. Changing the hand position on the bow changes how it feels and thusly, how comfortable you are with the very beginning of the shot cycle.  You must ingrain the proper swing draw, release and follow through with a very controlled, very regimented practice routine.  No "winging it", no skipping steps.  Your practice at the close blank bales (with no target spot to look at) must be totally absorbing.  Every step ingrained by countless shots until you don't have to think about it.  If you are coming from a background of shooting other types of bows, you will have to put in more time than someone just learning.  

      A wise college professor once said about his teaching process.  "The first year is spent tearing down what the students think they know.  The second year is spent preparing a foundation.  The building process doesn't begin until the third year."   That is the exact process that learning the Hill style of shooting needs.  It is no different than learning another style of shooting from an archery instructor.  The easy, fluid nature of the shooting style as depicted by accomplished Hill-style longbowmen belies the work behind the scenes to get to that point.  

      For someone to try the system, and not have tried or learned the complete system in its entirety, and then bash it as something that will lead to target panic, shows that they never really committed to it. To publicly make comments to that fact shows how little they ever understood the process.

      I have two acquaintances that came from two different backgrounds and wanted to learn the Hill style: 

       East coast guy had target panic and was searching for answers via a public forum before giving up on the sport entirely.  I stepped in and asked how sincere he was to ridding himself of TP and learning the Hill style.  "Are you all-in?"  "Yessir".   He was.  This fellow did the work, step by step and didn't deviate from the Hill method as taught by John Schulz.  I kept referring him to lessons in Schulz's video and added some insight along the way that helped me.  A year or two later, I had the pleasure to shoot with this fellow after seeing his self videos and confidence mounting as he got better and better.  To watch him shoot in person and his great degree of accuracy without even the slightest hint of TP, was a great testiment to the efficacy of the Hill system. He has gone on to shoot game in the field and is an excellent field shot on stationary or moving targets. Pretty heady accomplishments from a guy just about ready to quit archery altogether. That was about ten years ago and he gets better every year.

       Southwest guy came from a background in shooting a compound, then recurve and deflex-reflex style of bows.  He'd adopted a way of shooting that was pretty static and laden with shooting faults and lack of confidence in the field.  He too came and asked for direction after hearing and seeing videos about Hill and Schulz.  It only took him about a year or two of dedicated practice and his Hill style shooting became so well ingrained, and confidence so high that he has shot multiple animals on the move in the field and quail on the wing.  I've shot with him as well and his lack of shooting fear and the confidence to make great shots in the field under all kinds of conditions makes him a Hill-style master student.

       Both these archers after dedicating themselves to the Hill system were able to take a Schulz bowhunting/shooting class to cement their commitment to the entire system.  But what made it all work?  They committed to learning the Hill style without any shortcuts.  They learned the rhythm of the cadence without trying to manipulate it to their wishes.  They learned to ingrain all the steps one by one until they flowed together seamlessly.  This didn't take a month or two.  It took a year or two.  

       To those people who want to learn this system and not just dabble in The Hill Style because they think it's cool as a recent fad...Immerse yourself in it.  Dedicate a year or more of your life to learning every step.  Don't put a timeline on it. Don't be in a rush to be a good shot "before hunting season".  Don't shoot any target in the field under pressure until your form is rock-solid and perfectly and totally ingrained into your muscle memory by as many hours as needed to ingrain it.  If you are coming from another archery discipline, don't go back and forth. You owe it to the Hill legacy as shown to us by Schulz to at the very least, give it your best.  Don't give excuses, just commit.  Learn to adjust your body to the cadence of the swing, starting out very slowly and methodically but not statically.  Be fluid, but like syrup or molasses...very slow.  Let the speeding up happen gradually.  Learn to trust yourself. Learn to build confidence. Let confidence breed success which in turn brings more confidence.

        Learn while using the equipment that goes hand in hand with the Hill style.  A straight or slightly dished grip longbow, backquiver and wood arrows if possible. Learn how to handle arrows confidently.  Learn how to move in the woods with arrows on your back.  Learn simplicity. Above all, don't change your equipment.  Pick a bow, glove, and quiver combo and stay with it.  Don't be as Schulz said about some..."they change tackle like I change my socks".  There is plenty of things to think about when practicing that the equipment shouldn't be one of them. 

       Another fellow archer that had gone the way of the lost, from compound to recurve and selfbow and ensuing target panic...came to me and we had a discussion about learning the Hill style of swing draw and affiliated equipment.  I mentioned something about being all-in.  He was.  That began a year-long commitment to learning the Hill style.  He learned so well, and it made such in impact on him, that he wrote two books that have helped a large number of people in learning the nuances behind the Hill style of shooting.  Steve Graf is his name. (Check out his books) I was extremely proud of the day he sent me a photo of a buck he'd shot...great food for his table...that happened in the space of a few seconds of time.  His total immersion in dedicated efforts to learn to shoot "all over again" paid off with a great, reflexively instinctive shot under pressure. 

       That, my friends, is what it takes...it takes making the decision to be "All-in"...and with that, you will

      Shoot Straight.