Help Correcting Vertical Movement

[AlabamaMountainMan]

I think you’re still dealing with target panic, but may have other issues too.

Stabilizers work, but they won’t solve your problem if you’ve got fundamental flaws in your form, shot process, and your bow isn’t set up properly.

Fast forward to 6:15 in this video, and you will get an explanation of the target panic you dealt/are dealing with.

Assuming your draw length is correct and you're not over-bowed, the draw arm shoulder is most often the culprit of a pin that floats excessively. Whether its up and down float or left and right float is a result of how one grips the bow, when the culprit is the shoulder.

We're all a little different in how we do things, but here the routine I use that helps reduce pin float from a high shoulder:

After placing my bow hand on the grip where it needs to be, I ensure my release is placed correctly in my hand. I raise my bow arm and draw arm and expand from the chest while straightening my arms, and come to full draw. Before anchoring and looking through my peep, I tell myself to "settle my shoulders". That's when I let my shoulders relax and allow the head of the humerus to settle in to shoulder socket, and then I relax in that position. I then anchor my draw hand, nose on the string ever so lightly, and finally anchor through the peep. My draw hand is positioned and ready to execute my shot. My pin is on the target. I apply the slightest of forward pressure with my bow hand. Just enough that the pin settles as much as it will. I then begin to pull through my shot. There are several ways of thinking about how to pull through a shot. It all depends on what the steps mean to you in your mind. But it's all accomplished the same way. Some people think about pulling their elbow straight back. Some people think about pulling the clavicle in towards the spine. Some people think about expanding from the chest. Or maybe you're a command shooter, which is perfectly fine so long as you consistently stay fully against the wall of valley. If you're a command shooter, slowly squeeze the trigger while you're focused on the pin over dot. But focus on aiming more than focusing on squeezing the trigger.

There's some argument over weather focusing on the pin or focusing on the target is correct. The Marine Corps taught me to focus on the clear tip of the front sight post, so because of that I focus on the pin with a slightly blurry target - you do what works for you. For me, with focusing on the pin and having a blurry target, I perceive less movement of the pin, which helps relieve any anxiety over executing the shot when the pin is just over the dot on the target. But you'll need to experiment and find what works for you.

I have been trying to work on pulling through more than attempting to command shoot since I felt like i might be punching on some shots. However, I honestly have not noticed any difference in grouping. I shoot about the same. I did have better luck last night when I stayed focused on the target and really focused on keep pressure when I hit my wall. I noticed I was not always keeping the proper tension and would start to move a good bit. I was able to hold much more steady when I focused on those 2. Still not sure what release method I prefer though. It feels like I am pulling really far reward when I don't try to command shoot.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

For anyone who reads this discussion later, three things helped reduce the vertical movement.
1.) Target focusing instead of pin focus. I still verify that the pin is not far away, but it is blurry and generally am locking in on the target.
2.) I really focused in on making sure I had proper tension at full draw. I noticed I was inconsistent on keeping pressure with my drawing arm. When I hold good tension, the pin stays much more still. If I relax on tension, the pin moves way more.
3.) I realized I was still compensating moving the bow with my arm some and not fully committed to moving my waist.

When I focus in on all 3 of these, the issue is basically gone. If I notice the pin starting to move, I noticed I am slacking on one of these 3.

 

[dtrkyman]

 

[3forks]

I have been trying to work on pulling through more than attempting to command shoot since I felt like i might be punching on some shots. However, I honestly have not noticed any difference in grouping. I shoot about the same. I did have better luck last night when I stayed focused on the target and really focused on keep pressure when I hit my wall. I noticed I was not always keeping the proper tension and would start to move a good bit. I was able to hold much more steady when I focused on those 2. Still not sure what release method I prefer though. It feels like I am pulling really far reward when I don't try to command shoot.

You’re draw length may be a little long if you feel like you’re not able to get your shot to break, but most likely, you’re not expanding enough or not pushing your bow hand forward while pulling/expanding back. If your front shoulder comes back at all when you’re pulling because you’re not pushing, you will never feel like you’re getting enough pressure in your back wall.

Learning to shoot well is a long process, but if you don’t get impatient and take short cuts, you will become very accurate.

You can be relatively accurate with bad form, but the flaws in your shot process will really show up at further distances.

None of us in this discussion can give you more than some tips that will help you, but they aren’t going to make you much better than you currently are. The best course of action is to ensure you’ve got the correct draw length and basic form/grip and have a coach assist you with that and your shot process.

If you’re reinforcing the wrong things when you’re shooting now, it will be very hard to correct them later. So, before you get too far down the road doing the wrong things, accept mediocrity, or quit archery out of frustration, I’d highly recommend getting coaching from a USA Archery certified coach. There are also coaches who can coach you online in real time using FaceTime or something like that. A few coaching sessions will be the best investment you ever make in archery, and I’d suggest you do that before spending another nickel on anything else.