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This is John Jackson, founder of Archery Tag.
So I want to explain the origin story here, just how we met.
John: I'm still curious myself. Tim: I think it was...was it Delta?
Tim: American Airlines...in the actual... the inflight magazine... John: Oh! Delta Airlines! Yeah, Sky Magazine. Tim: So I'm with my
girlfriend
Flipping through the magazine like I always do in the airplane because I'm not allowed to touch my electronics
because they'll kick me in the throat and uh... So I'm flipping through it and and I see this thing called Archery Tag
And I'm just like *gasp*
oh. my. god.
It's like paintball but with
bows and arrows
But I'm extremely fascinated by archery. I actually own a bow; I still have not
ah... I put string on but I haven't even drawn and shot it because I don't have
I don't know the technical foundation.
John: That's why I'm here today. Tim: And that's why you're here today so I was uh...
very eager to maybe go through some of the technique
to talk about a little bit of the origin. That's great; and I think we have
what, about twenty minutes? And uh... John: That's all I need. Tim: And then I'd love to have you
maybe shoot something off my head.
I happened to find an apple here.
Okay. Should we do that first? What do you think?
Yeah, why not?
Tim: So we have not met before. This is not something we've rehearsed. John: No, never met the guy!
Alright!
Now don't move!
John: Can you can stand still? Tim: I can stand still. John: Sure? Tim: I'm incentivized to not move.
Are you scared?
Tim: A little bit, yeah. John: Good.
What I'll do is I'll go ahead and shoot the apple off Tim's head and that'll kind of illustrate and
I'm gonna ask for couple of volunteers
that can come up here and we're gonna basically teach you how to do the same
thing in twenty minutes.
We're going to see if we can knock that apple off his head....
Oh I'm
I'm totally sorry!
I was not focused on the proper target.
I'm like shaking! I need someone to put this on my head.
Alright, let's try...
John: You alright there, buddy? Tim: I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.
Alright, okay.
So the key is to focus on that
that apple - in my case I'm looking at that little white dot
the sticker
And you draw back and you identify your apple...
Good sport! Alright, so can I get a couple of volunteers and we're gonna get
targets set up over here...
So what we're going to do is teach the most important thing about
archery --
just like basketball -- shooting a basketball -- is form.
Understanding
how to get that arrow to the target. Okay?
We're going to start out simple. We're gonna take the center out of the target.
And then we're going to work our way down. So I like to start
with a larger target and then shrink that down to shrink your focus.
We're looking at the target...
You don't want to --
a lot of the mistakes that I see new
new archers make
is they try to sight down that arrow.
Okay? And that's a poor technique.
The other thing they do is they keep their wrist down. Okay?
And they do that.
That's kinda like Rick was talking about throwing a basketball.
You want to keep your shoulders kind of in line and level with the target.
Take your finger off the arrow
and draw that black
elbow up...
Okay, bring that right up to your mouth...
Go ahead and just pull through. Keep pulling your fingers back and release.
Let go of your fingers.
Let go of your fingers. Ok, that's a good shot. You hit the target!
John, how far do you tend to angle the bow?
To one side?
John: Just so you have got a clear sight window. Tim: And you're anchoring the actual nock
here to the corner of the mouth?
Yeah, I use my finger right up here.
Like a fish.
So what I want you to do is once you
get that arrow up under your eye, that's going to help your left and
right.
Okay?
And then when you're looking down at arrow, I want you to focus all your energy
on that circle. Don't look at your-- Don't worry about the tip of your arrow.
That should be in your peripheral vision. Okay?
And you're going to see that sitting under the target. Kinda like when you shoot a gun
you're looking at the sights, the target sits on top of the sights.
John: So that hole will actually sit on top of this point. Christine: So it should be the whole circle on top of it? John: Yeah.
Let me illustrate again.
Pulled the bow back, just like this...
And you see how
You see how my eye is in line with that arrow
Okay and I just
I kind of
straighten out my back. Okay?
John: And you release the pressure on your fingers. Tim: How much do your fingers
move?
Tim: Do they stay right here when you release or do they actually come back? John: You kinda bring them back.
Now the other thing
Okay, you got close!
Here's your bow.
We're gonna get you guys getting through the target.
Relax
your fingers and straighten your back.
See, you're getting
getting smaller target now. K?
When you say straighten your back? Like when I'm here am I...?
Okay, when you're
when you're pulling back like that, you just kinda
like that, okay?
And then you relax your fingers. Okay?
And you keep your head like Rick was talking about with shooting the basket, you know
don't move your head to see you were the arrow's going. And also hold your bow still
until that arrow
hits the target. Because a lot of people will
will do this to see where that arrow goes. And that'll affect the flight.
Alright, and women their elbow pivots in more. So if they stand lined up with the
target like this they're going to hit their arm.
When you hold your
your bow out there
don't totally extend your arm out.
Okay? Because you're more likely to hit your
your uh... forearm.
See how it's kind of bent?
And so I hold my bow up, lined up with the target... Think of it like pointing
your finger at the target.
When you point your finger at the target,
it's the same thing with holding your bow.
See, if you hold your finger out there,
you're going to line that up
with that target.
Okay? So every time you should be able to get that
through the hole.
Now what you did is you moved at the last second! Okay?
The other thing to...
The other thing that's really key: if you watch me shoot
I don't hold it there very long.
I usually pull back,
identify your target; again
think of it like pointing your finger at that target.
You bring that up,
you draw back,
fine-tune, and
and pull through the shot.
Yayyy!
I'm gonna try left handed.
That was close!
John: I'm not good left handed. Tim: It's so counter-- What's counter-intuitive to me is that
it seems like I'm aiming so low
to have it
Tim: ...down here basically John: I tell a lot of people
don't focus on the arrow. Focus on the target. Now when you pull back, again
once you get lined up with your eye, you're good this way. If you're, if you're off
on your left and right, that's form. The up and down is just a matter of
gauging, you know, where your arrow flight's going to be. But left and right, that's all form.
I like a challenge!
I like a challenge. You guys are going to be so tickled by the end of this
section.
Draw back and bring this finger right up by your mouth.
Oh, you hit the edge! See!
John: Alright, alright! We're gettin' there! We're gettin' there! Tim: You know, and this is our point: as long as you're trending in the right
direction
you're making progress! I'm serious!
The other thing that's really key to-- We've got five minutes left so we gotta work fast ladies....
The key is attitude.
Having that attitude.
Focus on that target.
Oh, right on the edge!
Ok, we're going to get this.
Elbow straight.
Pull through, good.
YAAAAAAYYYY!!!
She's moving up to the red ring! C'mon now! Focus on that center hole.
Aim small, miss small.
One more, c'mon one more!
C'mon!
Alright, alright. Yeeeeaaaaahh! Tim: I just had to take that last shot. One more, coach! One more!
Oh, that was exciting!
That was like a Disney sports movie ending!
Again, attitude...
repetitive...
working on that form...
...and practice. Muscle memory. That's what-- I was
shooting in my hotel room this morning.
Probably made the neighbors wonder what I was doing.
But uh...
I shoot my arrows everywhere I go; that's the nice thing
about these foam-tipped arrows. They're really safe.
Cool. Thank you very much, John. Thank you very much! That was great. Thank you!