BOWHUNTING's Best Tips to Mastering the Release Aid

John Dudley walks you through the necessary steps to be flawless in your release hand.

Throughout my archery career, I have lost track of how many times I've been asked, "What is the secret to a perfect shot?" While it may sound cocky, I am certain I can tell you what the secret is. I vividly remember the day I mastered a perfect shot in archery: a mental imprint of that one shot is what I have strived for each day since that moment in 1997.

The key to archery perfection is shooting your release aid with a perfectly unanticipated, surprise shot. It's learning to trust your bow arm to aim while your rear arm maintains perfect control of your release aid and moves toward a shot that you don't know when will fire. Once you learn to do that on every shot, you will be amazed at the heights your archery skills can reach.

Keep in mind, your release hand is the very first thing to set your arrow free in flight, so any variation from that hand will determine the initial directional path of the arrow.