Archery by the 11 …12 … Whatever … Steps

Archery has been around a long time and throughout that time there have been teachers and students. Part of relaying a teachers archery knowledge on to their students was breaking the process down into more manageable steps that the student can focus on while learning. My own quick Google search returned anywhere from 5 to 12 steps for the instruction of the archery shot cycle depending on archery discipline, nationality, and even club.

As an S3DA club we follow the NTS (National Training System) Steps of Shooting but have a number of archers who entered the sport via the NASP program and learned NASP’s 11 Steps to Archery Success. The goal of this article is to describe the basics of the NTS Steps of Shooting, and to provide a quick comparison of NTS to NASP showing how both systems ultimately train the archer to perform very similar tasks during the shot sequence.

The National Training System (NTS) is the method of shooting used by USA Archery for instruction of archers. This method provides a consistent shot process for archers to follow which helps prevent injury through the use of biomechanics and also helps prevent target panic. All USA Archery instructors & coaches, and S3DA instructors are required to learn NTS as part of the certification process.

Here are the NTS Steps of Shooting with the Level 1 Steps of Shooting shown in parenthesis where there are name differences. Details of the steps, such as how open is my stance, where are my hands placed, etc. will change as archers advance and develop their own “personal style” through working with their coach, but the basics are always there …

1. Stance

Place one foot on each side of the shooting line. Your feet should be about shoulder width apart and positioned for an open stance toward the target. Work with your coach to find the stance which works best for you. This step is the foundation for the whole shot process and does not change once you move on to the next steps.

2. Nock

Take an arrow from your quiver, orient it correctly for you bow setup, and “click” it onto the string of the bow. Be sure the arrow clicks on the string to prevent it from falling out of your bow. Your index vane may face away from the riser or up depending on your equipment configuration and shooting style. Arrow position on the string should be at your nocking point whether it’s inside a D-Loop, over/under a tied on or brass nocking point, etc. The nocking point helps ensure the arrow is placed on the string in a consistent location.

3. Hook and Grip

This step involves hand placement on the string and riser … be sure to set your hands correctly in this step, they should not move once you move on.

Start with “Hook” which is placing your draw hand on the bowstring or hooking your release aide onto the D-Loop. If using a finger release, use the first knuckle on your first three fingers as your reference and place your fingers either under the arrow (3-under) or your index finger above the arrow and your next two fingers below the arrow (split finger). Make sure your fingers are on the string as instructed by your coach. Your thumb and pinky finger are folded back toward your palm for both hooks. For a release aide, hook your release onto the D-Loop and get the release placed in your hand as desired. Make sure placement is consistent.

Next comes “Grip” … this refers to hand position on the bow’s grip, not actually gripping the bow. With your fingers or release aid already connected to the bowstring position your hand on the grip in its final position for completing the shot. Variation in hand position needs to be avoided as this can impact the quality of your shot. Work with your coach to find your optimal and consistent hand placement.

Your hands remain in these positions throughout the rest of the shot. Fidgeting and “adjusting” your hands once the bow is raised can lead to variability in shot placement and release mis-fires.

4. Set (*Posture / Alignment)

Start off by doublechecking your Stance and Hook & Grip, they should not change for the rest of the shot sequence. Keep your shoulders low and straight, turn your head to squarely look at the target, establishing your point of focus, and fully extend your bow arm. You will be putting slight pressure on the bowstring to accomplish this. Focus on the target, take a deep breath, and commit to the rest of the shot process.

5. Set-up (*Raise Bow)

With you bow arm fully extended from the last step, “hinge” at your shoulder to raise the bow. Allow your bow arm to lead this motion, the draw arm should naturally follow because you are hooked to the bowstring. Recurve archers will rotate their shoulders about the spine to establish a straight line from the bow hand to the draw shoulder called “The Barrel of the Gun”; increasing tension on the bowstring. Compound archers will accomplish this in the next step while drawing. After raising the bow your sight will be slightly above the target.

6. Draw to Load (*Draw)

Compound archers will establish “The Barrel of the Gun” during this step and draw the bow. Draw the bow by rotating your elbow around your draw shoulder. This utilizes back and shoulder muscles and may cause your bow to rotate in your hand toward the target. Visualize moving a sticker on the back of your upper arm around your shoulder while drawing. Drawing your bow with a low elbow, or very high elbow, increases your chance of muscular injury during this step.

7. Anchor

A consistent anchor point is key to consistent arrow placement on the target. Depending on your shooting style you may anchor at the corner of your mouth, with fingers under the jaw, knuckles under the jaw, etc. Being consistent in your anchor position is the important piece. As with every other step, work with you coach to find the anchor point / method that works best for your style of shooting.

8. Transfer to Hold

Transfer to hold is a subtle movement where almost all of the work being done to hold the bow at full draw gets transferred to your back. This subtle movement completes your alignment for the shot …. You’ve achieved Holding Position. You are skeletally aligned and the correct muscles are being used to withstand the force of the drawn bow. While the physical aspects of getting to this point have been covered, this is also a mental step …. You know everything “feels” right to complete the shot.

9. Expand / Aim (Aim)

After completing the previous steps the pin should be on, or at least very near, the point of focus you established in Step 4 (Set). With your sight at your point of focus on the target, expansion begins. We move that imaginary sticker on the back of our upper arm from Step 6 further toward our back resulting in expansion. This motion will cause the arrow to pull through the clicker for a recurve archer, or bring the release near activation for a compound archer. Stay focused on the target and aim through the expansion process.

10. Release / Follow Through

This step should blend with Expand / Aim … for finger shooters your fingers relax as the arrow pulls through the clicker, release shooters will have their release activate (without punching) as a natural “consequence” of your expansion. Our muscles are still expanding when the string is released resulting in a natural follow through … all the bow pressure we’ve been holding is suddenly gone, and much more quickly that our muscles can react to the sudden loss of resistance. The bow hand naturally extends toward the target while our draw hand goes back.

11. Feedback

Time to review our shot … Our review of the shot is centered on how well we executed the shot sequence, not where the arrow impacted the target. Think about what you did well and what felt good in the shot sequence. What items do you feel like you need to work on, or ask your coach to help with? Honest and unemotional feedback and evaluation is the key to this step.

As easy as 1 through 11 … right? If it were easy everyone would do it and there would be a lot more perfect scores. Work with your coaches on the finer points of these steps, what’s written above is only a brief overview. The steps will become more meaningful as you practice and take advice from your coaches. Remember we are all unique and the advice you hear someone else getting may not work for you … ask the questions and put in the quality practice to improve, just flinging arrows won’t work.

NTS Steps of Shooting vs. NASP’s 11 Steps to Archery Success

NTS and NASP use different terminology and look at the shot process a little differently. For example, NTS wants you to expand your chest in “Expand / Aim” while NASP wants you to squeeze your shoulders in “Shot Setup”. NTS calls it “Hook & Grip” as a single step while NASP uses “Draw Hand Set” and “Bow Hand Set” as two steps. One groups Follow Through with Release and the other groups it with Reflection. Differences aside, they are both giving beginners a set of steps to learn how to effectively shoot a bow and are reconciled by working with a trained instructor or coach to help you learn the finer points of shooting your bow.

Hopefully you enjoyed this article on the NTS Steps of Shooting. Please remember that working with an instructor or coach is the best way to prevent accidents and injury while you learn archery. Hopefully I’ve piqued your interest and we’ll see you on the range soon.

#archerysteps #instruction