As a beginner archer, it can often seem overwhelming when first learning how to properly shoot a bow. The skill of archery, however, is something that takes a lot of time and practice in order to master. Even archers who have spent countless hours shooting will experience difficulties. But a beginner who follows these 11 steps of archery can shoot a bow properly and hit the bullseye.

The key to learning how to shoot a bow is first understanding that it’s not just about firing an arrow. Everything from your stance, your grip, and your aim are very important. Overall, you can break it down into 11 simple steps to ensure you experience success from the start.

1. Stance

First let’s start off with your stance. To begin, stand with your shoulders perpendicular to your target. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart. From there, you have two different options with your feet. The first stance is called a squared stance. This stance has both of your feet parallel to the direction your shoulders are facing. This foot placement is usually best for beginners because it’s simple and provides good results.

After some practice, many consider using an open stance. This stance involves opening your lead foot to shift your hips slightly towards the target. To give this a try, stand with both feet inline and perpendicular to the target. Next, move your leading foot back a few inches. Your body now turns slightly towards your target, opening your stance.

While this stance is great for shooting on uneven ground, it does have its drawbacks. One such drawback is that it will make you more likely to use your arms to draw instead of your back muscles. This leads to premature fatigue and the likelihood of user error. As a beginner, I recommend a squared stance. Set your feet and legs in a comfortable position and get ready for the next step of the process.

2. Nock

Nocking an arrow is the action of placing the arrow on your string. First, place the arrow shaft on the arrow rest of your bow. Now attach the arrow’s nock to the bowstring (you should hear a click). This is the plastic, grooved part at the end of the arrow.

Most bowstrings have an indicator of where the arrow should be placed. This ensures that you nock the arrow at the same location every time you shoot. This indicator is called a “string nock”. So to clarify, there is an arrow nock and string nock. Place your arrow below the string nock.

Many arrows have what is called an index feather. This is the off color arrow vane out of the rest of the arrow vanes. Most archers will place this index feather facing out/away from the riser. If all the colors are the same, it generally doesn’t matter how you load it.

3. Hook and Grip

The next step is to place the bow in your non-dominant hand. Your grip on the bow is very important. The best hand placement has the bow resting right on the pad of your thumb. This will help ensure that you don’t squeeze too hard. Squeezing the bow handle causes torque, which decreases consistency and accuracy.

Torquing the bow can also cause your forearm to be in-line with the string, causing painful slaps from the bowstring. A good way to check your grip on the bow is to see if your knuckles create a 45-degree angle on the grip. If your hand is in this position then you most likely have the bow placed correctly on your thumb pad. You want to squeeze the bow with as little pressure as possible while still maintaining a decent grip on it.

Many archers don’t even squeeze the bow at all with the use of a wrist sling or bow leash. The sling goes around your wrist or the leash around two fingers and helps prevent you from dropping the bow. Because of this, you can hold the bow without introducing torque from gripping.

This is also the point where you want to either grip the bowstring or connect your release aid. With your dominant hand, properly grip the bowstring with three fingers or hook on your release aid to prepare for the shot.

4. Posture and Alignment

With a proper stance, you must now ensure that the rest of your body has proper posture. Any inconsistencies in your torso can affect your shot and accuracy. Proper posture includes your torso being straight up, with your collarbone parallel with the arrow. Your hips shouldn’t bend forward, backward, into or away from your bow. Your body should closely resemble a “T” when shooting. If you’re having any trouble here, it’s helpful to have someone take photos of your posture at full draw and adjust as necessary.

5. Raise the Bow

The next step is to raise your bow arm as you prepare to draw. To do this, extend your bow arm and raise it inline with the target. Be sure to keep your release-hand elbow up as you raise the bow. This gives you perfect form in preparation to draw the bow.

6. Draw Down

When many people draw their bow, they tend to overuse their arms. This will only cause fatigue and create inconsistencies in your shooting. The key is to draw back primarily using your back muscles. As you pull, try bringing your shoulder blades together and pull with your back.

Be careful not to raise or lower the bow as you draw. Instead, try and keep it out in front of you at a level position. Make sure to keep your elbow up while you draw back. If you draw with your elbow down, you’ll lose power and won’t be utilizing your back muscles as much.

7. Anchor

Draw your bowstring back to your anchor point. An anchor point is a consistent point of reference on your face that you draw your string back to. This ensures that you draw the same way every single time. The anchor point that you use is entirely up to your personal preference.

You can use your nose as an anchor point and draw the string until it touches a certain spot. You could use your index finger near your ear lobe or corner of the mouth. Whatever you decide to use for your anchor point, use it every single time. If you need help finding your anchor point, check out our article on how to find your anchor point. Draw your bowstring back until you have reached your anchor and we’ll move on to the next step.

8. Transfer to Hold

As you draw the string back to your anchor point, you will use a little shoulder, forearm, and hand muscles in the process. In order to transfer to a holding position, tension from these muscles must be transferred into your back muscles. This part of the process takes only half a second, but transferring to a holding position is critical for accuracy. The holding position focuses on maintaining the draw through the use of your back muscles.

9. Aim

Now it is time to aim at your intended target. Depending on the style of bow that you are shooting, you may be aiming with pins or without. Focus your eyes on your target. Place the pins or point of aim over your target. Breathe and hold steady as you naturally float around the bullseye.

10. Release/Follow Through

Keeping the bow steady and your eyes on the target, you can now begin the process of your release. If you are shooting with a tab or finger gloves, simply relax your fingers and allow the bowstring to slide off with back tension. If using a release aid, apply steady pressure to the trigger with back tension until the shot goes off. The release should come as a surprise to reduce human error and maintain the highest level of accuracy.

Along with your release comes follow-through. Follow-through is an important step in reducing inconsistencies. After you release the bowstring, your draw hand/arm should drop back behind you. Keep the bow held up with your non-dominant arm until the arrow reaches its target. These two simple things will increase accuracy by allowing the arrow to clear your riser before you can introduce any errors. You have now successfully made your shot!

11. Feedback

This final step involves evaluating how the shot felt and where it impacted. If your arrow didn’t go where you intended, consider what went wrong during the shot process. After evaluation, you can now try the shot again, correcting any potential mistakes that you made during the previous shot. Consider things like form, stance, release/follow-through, and point of aim. If you need some help, check out our article on archery form and technique. Think about where you can make improvements and solidify what went well through the shot process as well.

Conclusion

When you are just beginning to learn archery, try not to take it too fast. It takes plenty of time and practice to become a skilled archer. If you need a visual reminder of these steps, there’s a great steps of shooting poster over on USA archery that you can post on your wall. By following and practicing these simple steps of archery, you will improve your abilities and become an accurate shooter in no time.