Beginner’s Guide to Traditional Archery

Beginner’s Guide to Traditional Archery by Brian J. Sorrells

‘Beginner’s Guide’ is Brian J. Sorrells work intended primarily for those looking to develop or try out instinctive shooting with traditional archery equipment, and it lays out a program for doing so. In reference to developing the proper “feel”, or sight picture, he says “It’s just a matter of harnessing this instinct and guiding it through a structured program that will assist the archer in developing that natural ability to its fullest potential. This book is intended to do just that.” Much of the book is written for the new or aspiring archer, but the sections on practice and accuracy exercises are a place where everyone can find something that applies to them. Like Become the Arrow by Byron Ferguson, this is another short book (110 pgs) that can easily be handled over the course of a weekend.

Brian starts out the book with a topic that everybody struggles with at some point or another – practice. It is not so much a practice regimine as it is a warning or guideline for the rest of the book: cheating, fatigue, and frustration ought to be avoided during practice regardless of your shooting ability. If you are tempted to skip steps in the program he lays out (cheating), are too tired to focus or perform properly, or become frustrated, it is best to put your bow down and come back to it tomorrow.

After that caveat, he jumps into proper equipment selection (everything from bows to bow cases). This chapter actually makes up a good chunk of the book (40 pages), but covers the requirements and considerations for choosing just about every piece of equipment that a person might need to start out their archery career. This section of the book is good information especially for those who are just getting into archery but do not yet have their own gear.

After buying your equipment, the next necessary step is tuning your equipment – and Sorrells follows that logical step. The chapter on tuning your bow covers bareshaft tuning, starting with selection of arrows and proceeding on through nock placement and and determining proper arrow length.

The real meat of the book starts with chapter 4, Correct Shooting Form. As the author points out, proper form is the solid foundation of a successful archer. A large number of descriptive photos help to illustrate the 9 basic form requirements covered. Shooting Form exercises help the reader make these second nature after some practice (OK, so a lot of practice. But that’s to be expected since we are aiming for instinct!).

Basic and advanced accuracy exercises also help to develop that instinct. The idea behind these is to help your mind adjust to the sight picture at different distances so your body begins to know where to point. You start out by shooting from increasing distances, then you make it tricky by mixing distances between shots. Following the procedure laid out here should give the reader solid shooting ability within their practiced range.

Instinctive bowhunting exercises throw in a few more loops, shooting from odd positions and past obstacles. Really this is what it is all about – simulating hunting conditions not only gives you practice, it gives you the confidence needed to execute successful shots in the field.

Overall, Beginner’s Guide to Traditional Archery provides a solid foundation for new archers to build upon. If you are looking for information on a particular style of aiming, then this is probably not the end of your search. But if you are looking for an overview of instinctive shooting, or a program for improving your instinctive shooting, then this is the book for you. One thing I would like to point out is the absence of a warning (primarily for beginning archers) to ease into their practicing. Chaffed forearms, sore fingertips, and sore arms are just a few things a new archer can experience as they start out. Don’t be afraid to take a day off between sessions, especially if things start to get sore. Maybe that is implied with his first discussion on practice, but it never hurts to say it outright.

Be aware that despite the small size of this book, the program it lays out is not a brief one. It will take substantially longer to work your way through his exercises that it will to read the book itself. Don’t let that deter you from picking up a copy though because we all need to practice; this should just help you do it more effectively.

Author: Brian J. Sorrells

ISBN: 0811731332

Date: 2004

Pages: 106

Chapters: