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Lets face it, most of us don’t have massive, safely secured gardens that are suitable for an archery set up and because of that we find ourselves unable to shoot due to the covid-19 lockdown. There are things you can do at home though to keep your skills practiced that way when lockdown is lifted you can go back to shooting as normal.
One thing you can do is use resistance bands to practice your form. This helps you ensure your body is in the correct position as if you were actually taking a shot as well as work the same muscle groups that you use when doing archery.
Resistance bands come in different levels of resistance and you can also change the resistance by folding or tying them up to make them shorter. Here are some photos showing you how to use a resistance band to practice your form.
First take a resistance band and fold it in half like in this picture.
Next place the folded end in the crook of your left elbow (assuming you shoot right handed, if you are left handed you would use your right arm), don’t pull the band tight at this stage. Pinch where your thumb is and this will give you the correct length.
Thread the loose end between your fingers like the photo below, this makes the band easier to hold.
Put your three fingers into the looped end just like you would use when shooting an arrow then prepare to draw.
Then pull to your anchor point and hold for a few seconds. You can let go as if you were firing an arrow but the band will slap your hand so your better option is to release this position slowly without letting go of the band.
Practicing this several times will work the same muscles as shooting arrows does and allow you to practice your form.
We will have some more ideas for how to keep your archery hobby going during lockdown in the coming weeks and look our for some videos too!