I don't know how many times I've watched this. This was one of the first videos I found when I got interested in archery a few years back, and I keep coming back to it. It's just a great video full of information and insight. Thank you for doing this one. Probably one of the best videos that anyone can watch to learn about instinctive shooting.
Your metaphor of instinctive archery being like throwing a baseball is really fantastic. I bet it will change my shooting. Thank you for sharing this great insight.
What a great way to bond with your child! Giving me ideas of how to do so with my son when he gets older along with great tips on how to hit a moving target. Thank you Mr. Kavanagh 👍🏽😊
Great idea to throw the ball before shooting! I'll have to adopt and integrate that with my shooting lessons, just like the second anchor point! Thanks again, Jeff!
I am watching this video in 2017 and I cant help to notice how much you had aged through these years Jeff! You are such a great father and coach to your children, I have learned a lot from you since I got into archery. Greeting all the way from Malaysia.
I have seen a few of your videos and have been enjoying them. I am also learning to shoot instinctive and these are great videos. I currently shoot a Bear recurve made in the late 1960s. It's still in good shape.
This is such a great video Jeff .This going to help instruct my daughter this summer who is crossing over from compound to To long bow.The bonds we create with our children are magical and I commend you and the time you spend with your children.
Thanks Jeff, this was really cool to see. I'm just beginning archery and I'm learning a lot from your videos, and it looks like you're a great coach to your kids too.
Thank you Jeff for this real educational video and also thank you Will for your part in this. I saw in another video that you don't really like camera :-)
I just got done shooting some targets, came inside, was in archery mode and started browsing youtube, now after watching this, I'm going bak out to shoot some more!!! Awesome videos! you make me want to get better and keep practicing! Thanks so much man!
I do know this video is a few years old, but wow. You use a lot of potentially tricky information and cook it up so my 5 year old could understand it. Stuff, people my age can struggle to take in and "understand". Brilliant instructional video. You sir are an inspiration. finally subbed the channel after using so many of your videos to improve... I like the way Will gives you feedback here. he is really in to it.
You are a good teacher. I understand pretty well what you mean on that moving target and focus on one spot everything will synchronize and that will make a a good shooter Thanks bro
This is an excellent video. I wish you would make more videos like this with your kids; if they're willing. I think it would be great for other kids to see this video, and even adults who may lack confidence in their own ability, and realize they can learn to shoot like this as well. I think it is important to spread the archery bug. It's good exercise and there is something for everyone in archery. Again, it's an excellent video. I do hope you continue to make more like it. Thanks. :)
Just got a 25 lb recurve bow for my wife. Teaching her to shoot instinctive, to take out the drudgery of specific anchor points, & the mental games that can cause. Told her to pull the arrow back, in the most comfortable way possible, & her brain will eventually put everything together. Shooting is supposed to be something that's fun. I plan to take her out, & go do some stump shooting, with flu flu arrows & judo points for both fun & training. Thrown tennis balls along the ground, make for good targets too. I like your method of a swinging target!
Thanks. I did that with a my son almost three years ago now. I don;t talk about having a proper anchor point very much in this video though. I have another video which covers that more in depth that you might find interesting.
Im a dad, my son is 15. Im very proud of my son, hes a great kid. I wish i had jeff "dad skills". Cool video. Frinds and family trump money and power any day of the week. Teach these kids well.
Very good archery instruction....i will be heading down to the range to practice some of the tips ive learned so far from watching your videos...(Martin Jaguar Takedown Recurve 45# @ 28'')
Good job dad, nice to see you're taking time to do this kind of stuff with your son. Not enough of that these days. How's your daughter's shooting coming along?
Wow then forget everything just focus on target. That’s true and i can imagine you are already hitting where your eyes was focusing. That’s the secret of instinctive shooting ill apply that on my handgun thanks bro
Thanks for the video Jeff. I have a question. How come are you holding the bow in an angel instead of the Olympic vertical technic when shooting instinctive?
Is that a PSE Razorback? I have one--the first I bought after not having shot for a number of years and having injured my shoulder. I bought a 62" model, 25-pound draw, as I wasn't sure how my shoulder could handle it. t have a few others now, but I often warm up with the Razorback, which I still enjoy shooting.
For the money is isn't a bad bow. I believe ours is called the "Heritage"? I will have to check. I think I paid only about $135 for it. It is 35lbs. I wasn't sure if my son was going to like traditional archery yet so I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money. Now he has some higher quality bows. That was only the second time my son shot a recurve bow. I did this video originally as a project for a coaching course I was taking at York University. We had to film a "practice" and the justify what it was about and why I planned things the way I did. I was lucky that the prof let me do it about archery and not tournament style archery but traditional instinctive archery. That was the first video I ever made. My son was 11 at the time.
Jeff Kavanagh I thought I detected a Canadian accent! It is an excellent video. I think that "Heritage" is a term for PSE's line of traditional bows. I paid a little less for mine--but that's because I live in the States (Minnesota). Some people recommend the Vista/Samick Sage as a starter bow. From my experience, this PSE is also an excellent choice. And a general comment: I am enjoying all of your videos and learning immensely from them! Thank you!
Will Kavanagh or William Tell? Quite the archer. Like the shotgun wingshooting analogy. Let the brain make the calculations. After all, it's a super computer.
I'm surprised how fast you are having your son shoot. I'm a total beginner, never had a lesson, and I'm teaching myself. I find myself wanting to hold the bow until I feel like I have the shot right, even though I'm trying to shoot instinctively and not "aim." Should I try not to hold at anchor so long and just come to anchor and release in a fluid motion?
Hi Nathan. There are different shooting styles. The shooting style we like here is instinctive because it fits nicely with bird hunting and wing shooting. Doing that there is no time to aim and hold but it has to be more fluid. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but for learning to shoot instinctively it works well because it teaches one to concentrate all of their focus on the target. For target shooting I'd put it as a definite no to do.
Thanks for your reply! I really appreciate your channel. I've learned a LOT from you and Grizzly Jim over at Merlin. I'm not exactly sure why you say learning to shoot fast is good for bird hunting but not for target shooting. What inspired me to get into archery was practical reasons--I want to hunt the longer seasons and be able to get a cow elk in my area instead of 3pt or better bull. Looking for high quality meat in the freezer that I can afford. But as I started looking into archery more, I was really turned off by the culture and gear of compound. Too many extra bells and whistles, too much focus on instant gratification. I'd rather work harder for longer, enjoy what I'm doing, and learn a skill that is simple and beautiful. So, to traditional archery I go. Then, in my research, I was a little disappointed in the "scientific" aiming methods like gap shooting, string crawl, etc. I just want a simple, beautiful bow that is an extension of my body, and one I can shoot quickly and accurately without having to carefully judge distance and modify my aiming accordingly. When I found Grizzly Jim and you on UA-cam, I decided instinctive traditional archery is for me, and I'm willing to put in the work to get good at it. Thank you so much for all your videos! All that being said, would you advise me to practice (I'm REALLY new at this) with a slowly executed shot sequence so I can focus on the individual components of my form and sequence, or would you recommend I try for a more fluid shot sequence like you are practicing with your son here?
Break your shot sequence down individually at the start. Then you can control your shot more and also you will be able to focus on specific aspects of your shot sequence that way and isolate them for practice as well doing things like blind bale shooting. As you practice and improve your shot sequence will become more fluid on its own. I have a video on that topic called, Developing a shot sequence. I think that's what it's called.
If you want to be a good "target shooter" then I would not recommend shooting instinctively. I good gap shooter will beat an instinctive shooter ever time at the target line.
Right. That makes good sense for competition shooting at set distances. My purpose is for hunting, and I think I'll mostly be doing it on the ground. The more videos I watch, the more convinced I am that instinctive is the way to go if you have the patience and discipline to get good at it. I'm prepared to practice regularly for a couple years before even trying to hunt (will wait for confidence in my ability to make ethical shots). Until then I'll stick to rifle seasons. Thanks for all you do to share this sport and your expertise!
Another remark: I've a;ways been an "instinctive shooter"and never had a problem with it, but there's a lot of nonsense written about how there is no such thing. You can see right there that there is absolutely such a thing and it is in my view the best way to shoot.
hello Jeff Kavanagh not wait to get my son to be the size of your very beautiful mingling of the two of you. good luck hugs. Luiz Fernando e seu recurvo Mamae vai nos matar!!!
I don't know how many times I've watched this. This was one of the first videos I found when I got interested in archery a few years back, and I keep coming back to it. It's just a great video full of information and insight. Thank you for doing this one. Probably one of the best videos that anyone can watch to learn about instinctive shooting.
Jeff, it's nice to see a dad spending quality time with his kids..not to mention you're a natural coach!:-)..keep it up!
Your metaphor of instinctive archery being like throwing a baseball is really fantastic. I bet it will change my shooting. Thank you for sharing this great insight.
What a great way to bond with your child! Giving me ideas of how to do so with my son when he gets older along with great tips on how to hit a moving target. Thank you Mr. Kavanagh 👍🏽😊
This is a good instructional video. Thank you for uploading this. You also seem like a great dad.
Great idea to throw the ball before shooting! I'll have to adopt and integrate that with my shooting lessons, just like the second anchor point! Thanks again, Jeff!
I am watching this video in 2017 and I cant help to notice how much you had aged through these years Jeff! You are such a great father and coach to your children, I have learned a lot from you since I got into archery. Greeting all the way from Malaysia.
I have seen a few of your videos and have been enjoying them. I am also learning to shoot instinctive and these are great videos.
I currently shoot a Bear recurve made in the late 1960s. It's still in good shape.
You and your son helped my kids and me immensely. Thank you for posting this.
The kids a natural. Thanks for the video. It will help me in the training. Cheers.
wonderful video jeff you are a good dad and teacher
This is a great instructional video . Great technique and hand release (perfect ) .
This is such a great video Jeff .This going to help instruct my daughter this summer who is crossing over from compound to
To long bow.The bonds we create with our children are magical and I commend you and the time you spend with your children.
Thanks Jeff, this was really cool to see. I'm just beginning archery and I'm learning a lot from your videos, and it looks like you're a great coach to your kids too.
Thank you Jeff for this real educational video and also thank you Will for your part in this. I saw in another video that you don't really like camera :-)
What a team! Nice kid. Mellow dad. Cool barn. Cute sister playing piano. Thanks for the videos you make.
This video is really great..you both have done a fantastic job....thank you.
this is excellent on so many levels. great work, once again, Jeff, and thank you for sharing this.
It's Aug 2019.... yep....still watching it. Great video as always...simple yet concise
You are excellent teacher Jeff, i'v enjoyed watching!
I just got done shooting some targets, came inside, was in archery mode and started browsing youtube, now after watching this, I'm going bak out to shoot some more!!! Awesome videos! you make me want to get better and keep practicing! Thanks so much man!
I do know this video is a few years old, but wow. You use a lot of potentially tricky information and cook it up so my 5 year old could understand it. Stuff, people my age can struggle to take in and "understand". Brilliant instructional video. You sir are an inspiration. finally subbed the channel after using so many of your videos to improve... I like the way Will gives you feedback here. he is really in to it.
you are an exellent teacher and your son is an amazing archer . thums up for both of you
You are a good teacher. I understand pretty well what you mean on that moving target and focus on one spot everything will synchronize and that will make a a good shooter Thanks bro
Great video guys. I love it especially getting young kids into archery! Our future right there.
I’m teaching myself, I would give so much to have my father teach me these things.
Great bounding, great training, good work!
This is an excellent video. I wish you would make more videos like this with your kids; if they're willing. I think it would be great for other kids to see this video, and even adults who may lack confidence in their own ability, and realize they can learn to shoot like this as well. I think it is important to spread the archery bug. It's good exercise and there is something for everyone in archery. Again, it's an excellent video. I do hope you continue to make more like it. Thanks. :)
A great video. It looks like Jeff hs him shooting plastic-fletched arrows, too. That is definitely a surprise.
Just got a 25 lb recurve bow for my wife. Teaching her to shoot instinctive, to take out the drudgery of specific anchor points, & the mental games that can cause. Told her to pull the arrow back, in the most comfortable way possible, & her brain will eventually put everything together.
Shooting is supposed to be something that's fun.
I plan to take her out, & go do some stump shooting, with flu flu arrows & judo points for both fun & training. Thrown tennis balls along the ground, make for good targets too.
I like your method of a swinging target!
Thanks for the Video Jeff! I will use these techniques myself and pass them on to my daughter(4yo) who is in the process of learning the basics!
Thanks. I did that with a my son almost three years ago now.
I don;t talk about having a proper anchor point very much in this video though. I have another video which covers that more in depth that you might find interesting.
lucky kids brother!!! you seem like a wonderful dad and truly blessed..
This is a wonderful video, I am just starting out in archery and am looking forward to applying these teachings in my next shoot.
What an awesome teacher! Wish I could get some lessons from you!
What an amazing father.
Im a dad, my son is 15.
Im very proud of my son, hes a great kid.
I wish i had jeff "dad skills".
Cool video. Frinds and family trump money and power any day of the week.
Teach these kids well.
Very good archery instruction....i will be heading down to the range to practice some of the tips ive learned so far from watching your videos...(Martin Jaguar Takedown Recurve 45# @ 28'')
Good job dad, nice to see you're taking time to do this kind of stuff with your son. Not enough of that these days. How's your daughter's shooting coming along?
Wow then forget everything just focus on target. That’s true and i can imagine you are already hitting where your eyes was focusing. That’s the secret of instinctive shooting ill apply that on my handgun thanks bro
What a special boy!!
Awsome video!!! Great dad
This is very impressive!
Thanks for the video Jeff.
I have a question. How come are you holding the bow in an angel instead of the Olympic vertical technic when shooting instinctive?
Is that a PSE Razorback? I have one--the first I bought after not having shot for a number of years and having injured my shoulder. I bought a 62" model, 25-pound draw, as I wasn't sure how my shoulder could handle it. t have a few others now, but I often warm up with the Razorback, which I still enjoy shooting.
For the money is isn't a bad bow. I believe ours is called the "Heritage"? I will have to check. I think I paid only about $135 for it. It is 35lbs. I wasn't sure if my son was going to like traditional archery yet so I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money. Now he has some higher quality bows. That was only the second time my son shot a recurve bow.
I did this video originally as a project for a coaching course I was taking at York University. We had to film a "practice" and the justify what it was about and why I planned things the way I did. I was lucky that the prof let me do it about archery and not tournament style archery but traditional instinctive archery. That was the first video I ever made. My son was 11 at the time.
Jeff Kavanagh I thought I detected a Canadian accent! It is an excellent video.
I think that "Heritage" is a term for PSE's line of traditional bows. I paid a little less for mine--but that's because I live in the States (Minnesota).
Some people recommend the Vista/Samick Sage as a starter bow. From my experience, this PSE is also an excellent choice.
And a general comment: I am enjoying all of your videos and learning immensely from them! Thank you!
Will Kavanagh or William Tell? Quite the archer. Like the shotgun wingshooting analogy. Let the brain make the calculations. After all, it's a super computer.
Great video . Thanks
very good instructive video thank u
I like it! Very cool!
I'm surprised how fast you are having your son shoot. I'm a total beginner, never had a lesson, and I'm teaching myself. I find myself wanting to hold the bow until I feel like I have the shot right, even though I'm trying to shoot instinctively and not "aim." Should I try not to hold at anchor so long and just come to anchor and release in a fluid motion?
Hi Nathan. There are different shooting styles. The shooting style we like here is instinctive because it fits nicely with bird hunting and wing shooting. Doing that there is no time to aim and hold but it has to be more fluid. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but for learning to shoot instinctively it works well because it teaches one to concentrate all of their focus on the target. For target shooting I'd put it as a definite no to do.
Thanks for your reply! I really appreciate your channel. I've learned a LOT from you and Grizzly Jim over at Merlin. I'm not exactly sure why you say learning to shoot fast is good for bird hunting but not for target shooting. What inspired me to get into archery was practical reasons--I want to hunt the longer seasons and be able to get a cow elk in my area instead of 3pt or better bull. Looking for high quality meat in the freezer that I can afford. But as I started looking into archery more, I was really turned off by the culture and gear of compound. Too many extra bells and whistles, too much focus on instant gratification. I'd rather work harder for longer, enjoy what I'm doing, and learn a skill that is simple and beautiful. So, to traditional archery I go. Then, in my research, I was a little disappointed in the "scientific" aiming methods like gap shooting, string crawl, etc. I just want a simple, beautiful bow that is an extension of my body, and one I can shoot quickly and accurately without having to carefully judge distance and modify my aiming accordingly. When I found Grizzly Jim and you on UA-cam, I decided instinctive traditional archery is for me, and I'm willing to put in the work to get good at it. Thank you so much for all your videos! All that being said, would you advise me to practice (I'm REALLY new at this) with a slowly executed shot sequence so I can focus on the individual components of my form and sequence, or would you recommend I try for a more fluid shot sequence like you are practicing with your son here?
Break your shot sequence down individually at the start. Then you can control your shot more and also you will be able to focus on specific aspects of your shot sequence that way and isolate them for practice as well doing things like blind bale shooting. As you practice and improve your shot sequence will become more fluid on its own. I have a video on that topic called, Developing a shot sequence. I think that's what it's called.
If you want to be a good "target shooter" then I would not recommend shooting instinctively. I good gap shooter will beat an instinctive shooter ever time at the target line.
Right. That makes good sense for competition shooting at set distances. My purpose is for hunting, and I think I'll mostly be doing it on the ground. The more videos I watch, the more convinced I am that instinctive is the way to go if you have the patience and discipline to get good at it. I'm prepared to practice regularly for a couple years before even trying to hunt (will wait for confidence in my ability to make ethical shots). Until then I'll stick to rifle seasons. Thanks for all you do to share this sport and your expertise!
Did you know how lucky you are, Mr. Will.
You watch couple of his vids and he becomes a friend you have know for some time.
I'm 39 yrs old but would volunteer for adoption if this is what I can expect. 😎
AWESOME!!Thanks!
Is that the pilot from Firefly?
Amazing
Skills!!!
Another remark: I've a;ways been an "instinctive shooter"and never had a problem with it, but there's a lot of nonsense written about how there is no such thing. You can see right there that there is absolutely such a thing and it is in my view the best way to shoot.
nice
hello Jeff Kavanagh not wait to get my son to be the size of your very beautiful mingling of the two of you. good luck hugs. Luiz Fernando e seu recurvo Mamae vai nos matar!!!
Very good!
🏹👍👍
Heritage is the distinction of your bloodline/genus or ancestry
you look a bit like jamie lanister