# Tips On Elevation?



## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

After much practice I am showing definite signs of improving across the board, fork hits are gone and I am satisfied with windage although I am not to card cutting yet. Now most of my misses are due to elevation. I shoot gangster style with a 31” draw anchoring to my jaw. Does anyone have a tip for adjusting for elevation?


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## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

if everything is the same, than its my guess you are misjudging the distance, i noticed today while shooting i got a nasty hand slap, from that point until i caught myself i missed all my shots because i was flinching. i guess the point i am trying to make is from draw to release it has to be exact motion every time.......... adjusting for wind and elevation, but since its not sighted those adjustments are made in your mind.


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Practice Practice and then Practice some more. Keep it fun at the same time!


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## pop shot (Sep 29, 2011)

shoot the same bandset every time. same anchor, make sure you can see the projectile in flight.


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## bbshooter (Jun 3, 2010)

If my anchor point is to low, the impact point is high. If my anchor point is to high, the impact point is low.
Or...use a slingshot with a wider distance between the forks.


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## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

pgandy said:


> After much practice I am showing definite signs of improving across the board, fork hits are gone and I am satisfied with windage although I am not to card cutting yet. Now most of my misses are due to elevation. I shoot gangster style with a 31" draw anchoring to my jaw. Does anyone have a tip for adjusting for elevation?


It took me a long time to figure out how to consciously aim with the gangsta style. I actually gave up several times but kept coming back with hopes of getting some sort of accuracy. I was experiencing the same vertical POI variations. My remedy was to find a better anchor point that I could replicate. I ended up going with an ear lobe anchor point. My thumb knuckle touches my ear lobe and rests right under that little piece of cartilage at the bottom of the ear hole.

Hope this helps,
Northerner


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## AKLEIN (Jan 28, 2012)

I'm no card cutter myself, but i know all factors have to be the same, like anchorpoint,release bandsets.

And alot of practice

Noticed myself shooting different when i just had placed a new bandset( which wasn't well cut),
the steelies were in the catchbox but not hitting the target, one band was slightly narrower than the other.

New bandset made and problem was solved.

-Arne-


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## hawk2009 (Dec 30, 2009)

I had to much to write so here is a video on what I do it may or may not work for you who knows.


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## Knoll (Nov 10, 2011)

Thanks to all for their input. I am, however, getting a bit worried ... I can now understand Hawks accent. Just sayin'.


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## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your input and certainly I welcome any additional posts. After reviewing the information carefully I see several points to work one as it is probably a combination of factors.

Newconvert brings out misjudging distance. An excellent point as I do not shoot from a fixed distance but mix them up as I am not a paper puncher and have no idea at what range I will shoot.

Treefork's "practice" is no surprise and is done daily and will continue. However, practicing with a bad technique can enforce the technique, something to beware of.

The other points pointed out are not the problem.

And Hawk, a picture is worth a thousand words. What more can I say? You pointed out something that I became aware of the other day and am working on. I noticed that sometimes the forks are less than perpendicular to the target, being off slightly but not enough for a fork hit.

I am reasonably satisfied with my performance although there is room for improvement. Perhaps I think it should more closely match my blowpipe but know it never will. Ranges for me are not great. Most blowpipe kills have been less than 15', and have made only 3 at greater than 20', 32 being the farthest. In my country things are close together with much vegetation. The 4 "business" shots I made with a slingshot were 5-20', all connected. I content myself with shooting bottoms of drink cans, pill bottles, and such. The groups are elongated vertically and therefore I need to work on the elevation.

Again, thanks all.


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## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

A double post. Sorry.


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## Kipken (Feb 6, 2012)

bbshooter said:


> If my anchor point is to low, the impact point is high. If my anchor point is to high, the impact point is low.
> Or...use a slingshot with a wider distance between the forks.


I believe this is the key to evelation problems... I have many different designs of slingshots, including pfs, I shoot them all side style.. my anchor point is at my earlobe with the slingshot held level with my anchor point...I recently got a recurve hunter from Roger, to my dismay it shot low, several inches low, my windage was spot on.. I was about to message Roger and ask him what I could be doing wrong when I watched a video he sent me and saw his anchor point was lower than mine.. I grabbed my recurve and ran back outside.. I lowered my anchor point to my jaw line and also lowered the recurve so it was dead level with my anchor point and presto problem solved... I'm no card cutter, or match lighter, but I can hit a paint ball from about 35 feet, not every time but when I miss it ain't by much...I've always heard keep the same anchor point, but I found that different designs demand different set ups...
Kip


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

That is a very good point Kip, and one I usually neglect to explain well enough in my videos.
When I pull the pouch back it is well beyond my ear, so I generally just barely touch the top band with my cheekbone.... which works perfect for 7-10 meters... but when shooting longer distances I barely touch lower parts of my cheek, sometimes all the way down to my jaw or even below for very long shots. For real close shots I touch higher on the cheekbone.
Again, what I'm calling a touch is really just the fine hairs on that area making contact, rarely does any actual skin touch.

Windage alignment is always dead on, all you have to do is line up the bands... elevation takes a little practice at different distances and with different points to contact against, and will become "intuitive" after a while.


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## Rockape66 (Dec 18, 2011)

*Mr. Hayes, this sounds similar to what they call 'string walking' in archery. Is this so? I shoot my bow strictly instinctive, and have not really researched string walking or other aiming techniques.*


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## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

hawk2009 said:


> I had to much to write so here is a video on what I do it may or may not work for you who knows.


good vids Hawk, the basics and firm foundation coupled with proper handling of the ss is hard to do, but at the same time with thought it will become natural. often times people make things to difficult over thinking the process, and thats when things get going away from the initial objective, watching your vid and B.H.;s vids on basic shooting you two basically say the same thing, more than that you dont need, and i seldomly see the shot in flight either for the basic reason that i am looking at the target.


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## reppans (May 13, 2012)

Kind of interesting all the comments about adjusting anchor point.... especially Bill using that to adjust trajectory for distance shots. Then there's Rufus "the slingshot man" who says in his video that it doesn't matter what you do with your anchor hand... the shot is controlled from the forward hand.

How could you argue with either.... they're about the two best shooters on YouTube!


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## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

reppans said:


> Kind of interesting all the comments about adjusting anchor point.... especially Bill using that to adjust trajectory for distance shots. Then there's Rufus "the slingshot man" who says in his video that it doesn't matter what you do with your anchor hand... the shot is controlled from the forward hand.
> 
> How could you argue with either.... they're about the two best shooters on YouTube!


everyone has their shooting style


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

The way I adjust for elevation is purely instinctual. All I know is that when I start loading heavier ammo (say 1/2") into my pouch after shooting 3/8" I am automatically going to _aim high_. Or if I am shooting at 20 yards as opposed to my habitual 10, I am going to _aim high_. It might take a few shots to find the target at first, but once I do I'm in there at my normal level of accuracy.

I tried analyzing things like where my anchor point was and where the fork should be in relation to it and all that did was make me shoot worse. I just aim a bit higher than where I want to hit, and if that ain't enough, I aim a bit higher than that. Works for me.


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## lightgeoduck (Apr 3, 2011)

There already has been very helpful tips suggested, and I am sure either one, or a combination could be the solution since there are few factors that are involved when dealing with elevation. It seems like have an initial knowledge of shooting since you provided detailed on how you shoot I.e. gangster, draw length, anchor, etc. . I gather by you stating that you(just?)over came fork hits that you are still working on getting what feels right for you, and you might not have found your "spot" yet.

If you still feel that you are not getting to where you wnat to be you may find this thread to be interesting http://slingshotforum.com/topic/16285-raw-duck-challenge-improving-your-game/ it may help you or others pinpoint some "trouble areas" if any.

LGD


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## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

Thanks Lightgeoduck


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## lightgeoduck (Apr 3, 2011)

reppans said:


> Kind of interesting all the comments about adjusting anchor point.... especially Bill using that to adjust trajectory for distance shots. Then there's Rufus "the slingshot man" who says in his video that it doesn't matter what you do with your anchor hand... the shot is controlled from the forward hand.
> 
> How could you argue with either.... they're about the two best shooters on YouTube!


That's true, but the two differing advice don't contradict each other. To expound on newcomer's comment "everyone has their shooting style", Rufus was more of an instictive shooter, and he was right it doesn't matter where your anchor is,, it's the front controls the shot. However, when you are using some part of the slingshot to aim (usually a point on the fork) the anchor has alot to do with adjusting the direction of your shot-to-target. There is a point when aim where you just can't move your slingshot any farther up or down from your target, so the option would be to change anchor. The slightest change will place that shot in a conciderably different place on target.

I know that was long winded







I just figured to add this tid bit to the thread in general.

LGD


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## faca (Dec 24, 2009)

hi I don´t use gangster style I use vertical hammer grip and have the same problem.
The way I use to solve it is keeping my attention over the pouch trying to imagine a line between pouch target , it´s a littel difficult to explain ;-(


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

I never change anchor. I gap shoot using the bands as a reference. But when I miss.... It toobis usually an elevation issue.


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## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

A little tidbit of info I acquired a long time ago from a gentleman by the name of Jack Weaver, by way of a friend of his, Col. Jeff Cooper. (not directly, much to my regret, although I had several chances to visit Paulden, AZ when staying with relatives a couple of hours away in Kingman).

Accurate tracking of elevation when shooting is more difficult than side to side, due to a couple of factors. One is that the shoulders are usually coplanar with the ground and the target, where as they are separated by some distance in the side to side orientation regarding the target. So, the only thing holding the hands at the same height from the ground (and therefore relative to the target) is muscle, vs, the rigid support of bones stabilizing the hands in the side to side plane. Nothing can be done about that really, except practice and training to strengthen the muscles.

The second issue has to do with the bodies orthopedic methods for maintaining balance and stability while standing. When the bodies weight begins to transfer from the heels toward the front, there is a built in mechanism for correcting this movement. the calves tense, pulling up on the rear of the calcaneus, or heel bone, by way of the Achilles tendon. which forces the ball of the foot and toes down. However when the opposite transfer happens, and the weight begins to transfer to the rear, there is no such mechanism, and the body almost automatically compensates by raising the arms, transferring weight back to the front. This reflex is very difficult to control. One of the best ways to keep the weight stable is to utilize a three point stance with the heel and ball of the front foot supporting most of the weight, and raising the heel of the back foot off the ground. This centers the bodies mass mostly over the front foot, and enables the bodies normal sway due to the hearts pumping, to be compensated for by the core muscles and the hips, rather than the calves, This helps to minimizes the tendency to raise the arms, and helps keep shots from varying up and down in a vertical line.

That's the theory, I can't vouch for it, since I still can't hit jack with a slingshot. However It's as good a try as anything to try, assuming that your fliers are about evenly distributed above and below the intended target. If you are shooting consistently high or low, it may not help much if at all.

As always, YMMV.


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## pop shot (Sep 29, 2011)

I adjust the fork tip, keeping my anchor (earlobe) consistent. For me it's easier to know how much adjustment was made if its on the fork rather than adjusting my anchor which I can't see/feel accurately. That's just what works for me.


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