Having a good archery technician

So I went to range yesterday, and I discovered that not only did my form feel better, but my bow did too.

The reason for this is a simple one; South Nation Archery has a solid bowyer, right on site.  After my one hour lesson with Kathy Millar, her husband took a look at my equipment, and it turned out that I had some problems.

1) My Hoyt was in "reverse tiller" - I had no idea what this meant, and to be brutally honest, I still don't.  The tech explained it to me that the distance between the top and bottom of my riser (the Hoyt Horizon is a 25" riser) relative to my bowstring should be slightly further on top when compared to the bottom.  My bow has this reversed; the bottom tiller measurement was slightly further than the top tiller measurement - "reverse tiller".  The tech made a few adjustments to the ILF bolts on my riser, and the entire rig shot 100% better the next day at practice.

2) Nocking point - after a few shots, Kathy was able to tell that my nocking point was wrong.  Not only that, but she told me that I would need some kind of aid to make sure that I was bringing my anchor back to the same point each time.  Most people would recommend a "kisser button", but Kathy instead recommended that I have a nocking point set, that at full draw would just brush under the tip of my nose.  Kathy said that some archers defeat the advantages of the kisser button by puckering up their lips (see this poor individual).  The nock point under the nose is more consistent, and certainly helped my practice yesterday.

3) Bow square - I already had one of these, but I certainly wasn't using it to it's full advantage - a quick discussion with the tech, and I understood exactly what the settings for tiller, brace height and my nock point were for my particular rig.  The tech even made a couple of marks on my square so that I would be consistent when working with my rig in future.

All in all, it was a worthwhile hour at South Nation Archery.  I am looking forward to taking advanced courses with Kathy in the new year!