Guest cj104 Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 My 8 year old neighbor randomly got a bow for his birthday. When his mom saw me in my backyard a couple weeks ago shooting my bow she got all excited and asked if I would teach Peter (the 8y/o) how to shoot his bow (his parents are divorced and dad lives in another county -- and is a bit of a sissy from what i've heard -- thats another story). of course I said I'd be glad to. I've been shooting a bow for almost 15 years so I didn't think I'd have any trouble teaching him. We had our first shooting session last night and it was a lot of fun. He probably took 50 shots from about 12 yards and only hit the target about 10 times, but he was so excited just to have hit the target. I kept telling him that the key to accuracy is being consistent. I taught him how to nock with the odd fletching out and I taught him to anchor his drawing hand to his cheek in the same place everytime. His bow came with one very cheap sight pin and an arrow rest (which makes it nicer than the bow I started with) but it has no nock point, so I'm planning to put one on it for him. I figure at that point he'll have a bow that he can learn to be consistent with. One big problem that he's having is that he'll aim really hard and then as he's releasing the arrow he picks his head up to watch the arrow go to the target which destroys his aiming efforts and sends the arrows all over the place. I pointed this out to him but he can't seem to help it. Any suggestions on how to fix this? i'm kinda hoping that it'll just go away as he becomes familiar with shooting -- maybe he was just too excited about shooting his new bow? What else do I need to focus on to keep him excited, keep him consistent, and make him better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kickingbear Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Hello CJ - What an incredible story. What a lucky kid! Very few people take the time to help a kid in need. Other than putting his nocking point on, you're doing it! Hit or miss the target--it doesn't matter as long as he's having fun--that's all that matters at his age. He's already had too much seriousness in his life from a broken home. If it's not fun for him and it's too serious about consistency, you'll create an opportunity of losing him to playing some video game or worse. Because of one man taking time to spend with me, he changed my life forever just as you are doing for this boy. I can still remember everything we did together--as a kid and a mentor. I honed my archery skills as this boy will, as his love grows for the sport. The Lord will bless you for your kind heart. Have fun with your new friend. Kicking Bear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clrj3514 Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 im 15 and i have a 7 year old cousin who ive recently started shooting my old bear youth bow with. to start with he did the same thing. dont worry, he'll stop. i also shoot the bow with him and we have contests. this makes him want to do better so he can beat me. another thing i have done with him is play hunting. let him pretend its a deer and teach him how to be careful and quite in a "stand". this excites my cousin and now everytime he comes over he wants to shoot the bow. I hope that can help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cj104 Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 thanks guys. I'm trying to make sure he has as much fun as possible. I think the pretend hunts will be a great way to mix things up once he starts hitting the target more. I was out of town last week and his mom said that he was still shooting by himself so I'd say that's a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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