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Sit Down or Take a Knee

Here’s a news flash: lower-body orientation directly affects upper-body form!

By Michael Corrigan

Shooting from unorthodox positions is not something I advocate. With enough practice you can probably master almost any tough shot, but the average working man or woman has a hard enough time fitting ordinary shooting practice into their busy schedule. Trick shooting should be left to the professionals, and has little place in the realm of bowhunting.

Shooting well from a standing position is vital. For many bow-hunters, so is shooting from a treestand. And if you hunt out west, shooting from a kneeling position is routine. So is shooting from a seated position if you bowhunt from ground blinds. In fact, when shooting from a ground blind you often have two options––shoot from a seated position or take a knee. In either case, placing an emphasis on good shooting form is the key to making the shot.

When shooting from a standing position, the orientation of your feet and legs relative to the target and to various parts of your body such as your hips and shoulders can have big implications on shot-to-shot accuracy. The same is true if you shoot from a seated or kneeling position. In either case your shoulders should remain square to your hips throughout the shot sequence. If you’re caught out of position and have to twist your body’s trunk, it’s likely that preloaded muscle tension in your torso will transfer to the bow riser at the shot in the form of hand torque.

A typical shooting stance sees the shooter’s feet set about shoulder-width apart with the toes touching an imaginary line that runs perpendicular to the target face. At full draw, the shoulders should be square to the hips and the draw-arm elbow should be pointed directly away from the target. This is referred to as a “square” stance.

The same “stance” can be replicated in the seated or kneeling position. Those new to shooting off the rump or knees frequently fail to properly align their lower body with their upper body before drawing the bow. This is particularly common with inexperienced ground-blind hunters. While seated in a chair for hours on end, the natural tendency is to sit facing the primary shooting window, as if watching television. Looking over one shoulder for a long period of time results in a pain in the neck. Facing the window head-on is simply more comfortable. Unfortunately, sitting square to the shooting window requires a significant adjustment in body position when a shot opportunity is presented. Rather than make the necessary lower-body adjustment, inexperienced ground-blind hunters will severely twist at the waist in an attempt to achieve adequate upper-body orientation to the shooting window. After the shot, they wonder why the hit was so far back. Here’s a news flash: lower-body orientation directly affects upper-body form!

It may be a pain in the neck, but sitting with your shoulders and legs oriented at a 90-degree angle to the primary shooting window is the correct technique. If you simply can’t stand it, then consider purchasing a chair or stool with a swivel design. With a swivel setup you can face the window comfortably during long sits and quickly align your lower and upper body for the shot with a quick shuffle of the feet.

Ground-blind hunters also have a tendency to “hunch” when shooting from a chair, especially when using a chair made of fabric, which sags under the weight of the body. Rather than making sure the spine and torso are straight and perpendicular to the ground, bowhunters will often lean into the bow. Doing this changes shooting-form geometry and the result can be missed shots or wounded animals. Taking steps to make certain that upper-body form is maintained will ensure that your arrow hits the mark.

When shooting from a ground blind, try sliding forward and sitting on the very edge of the chair. Doing so tends to make it easier to sit up straight and align the spine perpendi-cular to the hips.

Shooters new to kneeling often make the same mistake as those who shoot from seated positions. Shooting from a kneeling position is merely a chopped-down version of shooting from a standing position. Despite the witty title of this column, I am not an advocate of shooting from one knee with a compound bow. However, the one-knee-up technique works well for traditional shooters. Traditional shooters often like to cant the bow and bend forward slightly at the waist. For a right-handed traditional shooter, shooting with the right knee up affords the shooter the ability to hunch forward without falling over while at the same time providing maximum bowstring clearance.

On the other hand, keeping the spine straight and shoulders square to the hips is the name of the game for compound-bow shooters. Shooting with both knees on the ground affords a more stable four-point stance and requires no conscious sense of balance as opposed to a three-point stance with one knee up. Achieving a repeatable two-knees-down stance is made easy by first producing a repeatable standing position. Simply stand as you normally would with your feet about shoulder-width apart and then kneel to the ground in one fluid motion with both knees on the ground. In this position, your feet are still shoulder-width apart. If you look down, the inside of your thighs should resemble the shape of a “V.” The knees should be spaced apart about the same amount they would be if you were standing upright. This wide four-point stance is both stable and reproducible. To achieve a relaxed kneeling position and ensure the spine remains straight and torso muscles stay relaxed, sit back onto your heels with your rump touching your heels.

Remember, lower-body orientation directly affects upper-body form. Being able to shoot well from a standing, sitting and kneeling position will cover most all the bases in any bowhunting circumstance. Repeatable shooting form reinforced with short practice sessions is the key to accurate shooting.

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