Good form??

[Jack.L]

Gday guys i see that a lot of trad archery has to do with good form. So i was wondering what is good form? sorry for the dumb question but i was wondering

[NormGunston]

Not a dumb question at all- one of the best questions you could ask and one of the biggest, too. There's a lot to define and summarise, but I'm certain that a list of opinions on the basics will be posted. Here's a link to some books (I recommend Byron Fergusons's 'Become The Arrow') for you to read and interpret for yourself- sorry for being lame!
http://www.archeryshop.ashop.com.au/c/5260/1/books.html

[ed]

loads of info on the net, this is a good start; http://www.bridgewoods.archer.btinternet.co.uk/form.html#GOOD%20STYLE/TECHNIQUEÂ*

as for some of the form stuff I was talking about on other threads. I was mainly talking about the biomechanics of drawing a heavier bow. If you set your shoulders first and rely only on your drawing arm for power you will be limited by that ofcourse. If instead you keep your body in a bit more of an "open" position you can draw back with your arm first and then "close" your body position by bringing your shoulders into the normal body alignment.
All muscles can hold about 20% more than what they can move, so your draw arm muscles hold the weight of the bow past their "sticking point" (the angle and muscle length that makes further contraction most difficult). By twisting the upper body to close the shoulder position you are using much more powerful muscles to continue the draw, and from there can settle the stance to aim.

I hope that makes sense to you. It is not necessarily "strict" form for drawing a bow but will allow you to draw a heavier bow a lot easier, and at full draw with good arm alignment you should be able to hold it well. It feels a bit like pulling your arm back first and then pulling your shoulder back, and then your elbow.

[NormGunston]

Another link on release:
http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/practical_bowhunter/perfectrelease/index.html
This may be useful for grip, though written for compounders: http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/practical_bowhunter/grip/index.htm