Instinctive Archery Insights: Revised Edition

I am a relative beginner to archery and this book has been unbelievably helpful. I think the title Instinctive may be a bit of a misnomer because you don't really rely on any instinct, but rather on programming the cerebellum of your brain to coordinate your shots based on information it receives from your eyes, much as you do when you are learning to throw a baseball accurately.I am getting back into archery mainly for hunting. I started out on this journey trying to remember archery lessons I had learned in grade school. The method Dr. Kidwell uses is much different than what you use in traditional target shooting, however, many of his lessons will apply to traditional target shooting as well as any other sport of which I can think. Chapter two is called "Physical and Mental Stages." In this chapter, he has a section that deals with the way our brains focus on multiple processes at the same time. My eight year old daughter plays soccer and this chapter has helped her focus on various tasks that are required of her in this sport.When I was going through this book, I read it one chapter at a time, practicing my archery after each chapter. As I was practicing a few minutes ago, I had an epiphany from one of the earlier chapters which, once again, improved my accuracy significantly.It is a relatively small book at only 127 pages, however the information contained in the relatively short chapters is extensive. Despite the information being crammed into a small amount of space the book reads fairly well. I found myself thinking about the lessons read the night I read them and sometimes into the next day. I re-read many of the chapters after practicing which has been very helpful.I am honestly surprised that a book has improved my archery as much as this one has. Highly recommended.

As a relatively new archery aficionado, my main hurdle was developing a proper aiming technique. This amazing book answered my questions and cleared my doubts. I am now shooting tighter groups and shooting with much more confidence.

While reading this book, I was very doubtful. I thought that this author was a bit "out there". Also, I wasn't thrilled with his writing style. But I listened to what he had to say, and in the end, I have to admit, my archery has greatly improved. I'm a relatively new archer, and he has helped me tremendously. I am very aware now of each step in the process of shooting an arrow. I am much more focused now. I think my archery has become more insightful. I have been using his techniques and not rushing the process. I especially like what he has to say about eliminating as many variable through consistency, and other techniques.In the end, I was very skeptical after reading the book. Maybe even dissapointed. But you can't argue with success. Now, I am thinking about reading the book again to let sink in, the things which maybe need to be reinforced. I am definitely hitting the mark much more than before I had read this book. I would recommend it highly.

This is an excellent book for the beginning archer as well as a helpful reminder for the more experienced. It will lead you through selecting the right equipment, understanding and tuning it correctly and suggest a sequence of practice exercises which will lead you to the level of performance you are capable of. The last chapters suggest simulated hunting exercises which will prove very helpful for those wishing to move from targets to game. Like the suggestions for improving accuracy on targets, these simulated hunting exercises will improve your hunting experiences. I appreciate the way the author presents every aspect in a positive, helpful manner. A very good read!

Almost all of Kidwell's insights on the mental aspects of shooting are things I never would have thought of and were the best and most useful aspects of the book. This book really helped my shot process/form and hence greatly reduced the size of my groups.Downsides: 1) It's a bit verbose on occasion for my tastes but the chapter summaries more than make up for it. 2) I'm having to replace busted nocks and split arrows a lot more often :-).FWIW Background: Started out instinctively shooting recurves 40+ years ago and gave it up after 8 years. Got back into shooting them a couple of years ago and a bit later took up wood longbows. Between changing my form for the longbows and trying gap shooting, my groups when to hell. I read the book with a beginner's mindset then went back and started implementing most of Kidwell's insights one at a time.

I think this is the best book on instinctive archery. I also have Fred Asbell's latest book -Advanced Instinctive ShootingFor Bowhunting, and it is also very good. I would suggest reading Mr. Asbell's book first, then get this book and follow it's very practical 3 step program. There are a few differences between the two authors. Fred uses a more open stance, and mentions using your dominant eye, while Kidwell believes eye dominance does not matter. If I could have only one book on instinctive archery this would be the one. Those wishing to learn "Gap shooting" would be better off getting Byron Ferguson's book, Be The Arrow. Kidwell's book is about true instinctive shooting.Another great source of info are Jeff Kavanagh's Youtube videos. They compliment this book perfectly.

I am enjoying this book and finding lots of useful information within it's pages.I have only just started putting the suggestions for curing 'target panic' into operation so I cannot yet say whether this part of the book will help me or not. I hope it will as I gave up archery many years ago because of 'target panic' and having returned to it recently, have found the problem to be still there. This time there is more help available so I am hopeful for the future and a cure for the dreaded 'target panic'.If you love the wonderful and historic sport of archery then I can recommend this book as a good read for you.

This is a slim volume and as such my first thought was that, for the price, it was a rip off. I read it right through almost without putting it down.It has a lot that I had heard before in various forms about various sports and some things I had not heard before and brings it all together. Whilst I have not put all of its tips and techniques into practice with my shooting I can see that it could have a great effect on my shooting.Pricey but don't judge a book by its cover (or size).

Instinctive archery is all about the archers mental state, it requires focus and plenty of practice to form the muscle memory. This book provides a lot of tips to help with mental preparation, I found it a great repository to dip into as needed.

I'm not an instincive archer, I do recurve, but my wife is. It helped her quite a lot, and in fact I got a lot out of it as well. Although the actual insights into instinctive archery (following the trajectory etc) were not directly usefol, the author is a psychology professor, and what he says about target panic, and how to treat it (and, importantly, how to avoid developing it in the first place) alone would make this worth the purchase price.

Best book on traditional archery I have read. Plenty of practical advice and entertainingly well written; especially for a subject that gets over-complicated. Of all the books I have read this one really made the difference.

Small, quite thin book, but with insughts (for me anyway) that make it well worth the money. Quick delivery as well.