Rick Welch Shooting School - A Review

A review that I posted on another site after taking Rick's class.
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After significant travel and tribulations involved in catching up missed work, I wanted to give a review of the 2-day one-on-one archery clinic I attended with Rick Welch last weekend.

As background, I switched to stickbows about 3 years ago. I don't shoot 3D because until last weekend I didn't have the confidence to hit the targets reliably. On the other hand, I typically attend 2-4 pistol/rifle/shotgun clinics every year, and I have had broad experience with what makes a good teacher. I'm also a university professor, which gives me further experience with assessing teaching.

Rick is an incredible teacher. After almost 3 years of shooting on my own with help from videos, books, and the internet, I had acquired the world's biggest collection of form problems that kept me from consistently hitting targets and, more importantly, from diagnosing the problems in my form and fixing them.

Rick starts with a videotape of your shooting on 20 3D targets. Ranges vary and are not marked. He then spends the next 5-7 hours teaching you his shooting system. I don't know about any other systems, but Rick's is (1) simple, (2) consistently repeatable, (3) diagnosable, and (4) effective. I improved 40 points between the 1st morning and the 2d on his 20-target course. For me that's proof enough that his system works. Even more, since I've gotten back, it's still working for me and I'm still improving. Plus, when I screw up, I can diagnose the problem and fix it in the next shot.

Beyond the effectiveness of his system -- which works for hunting and tournament applications -- Rick is extraordinarily talented at information transfer. Unlike many of my university colleagues, there's no "hide the ball". What you see is what you get, and you can watch him shoot using exactly the same steps he's teaching you.

You spend 90% of the shooting time wandering his 3D course, shooting at targets at varying and uncertain distances. About half that he's shooting with you (albeit generally at longer distances and with incredible accuracy), so you can watch his form.

He also spent a lot of time on my equipment - a bear montana -- and showed me how to tune it to shoot where I was looking. He also let me shoot one of his dakota bows. Be warned that you'll probably order one if you shoot it -- these are amazing bows.

Finally, I was amazed at his patience. Like I said before, I had accumulated an amazing collection of form problems over the last 3 years. Rick took the entire first day spotting and fixing every one of my form problems. Realize that some of these were hidden by others, so sometimes he'd fix one and it would reveal another. He never showed a second of frustration, which in my book puts him somewhere up near Job in patience.

Bottom line - totally worth the price (currently $500). As with the gun sports, you can spend all the money in the world on equipment and ammo trying to find the perfect combination, but until you buy the training a gun or a bow is just a half-finished tool. This is the real deal.

How do you tune your bow to shoot where you are looking. I am having a lot of problems with tuning right now. if i cant my bow a little it shoots better but if i shoot with my bow close to vertical the arrows wag an dont fly good. i want to shoot more vertical because it is easier for me to use back tension.
any help with the tuning would be appreciated. i got his video coming in the mail and am really excited.
thanks dc

You probably want to post this question in the more general forums. Rick explained that you tune a bow by changing the material on the shelf that the arrow rests on and on the side of the bow against which the arrow rests. Hard material like leather makes the arrow hit left, soft material makes it hit right. I think that's right, but you can experiment to make sure -- just get some fiberglass backed double sided tape and use it on the strips of shelf material.

You also want to make sure the arrow nock is set right so that it doesn't cause porpoising of the arrow in flight.

Rick is amazingly responsive to questions, esp. from his students.

I posted my situation on the forum and have recieved no replys. I just got the vol3 video and am very excited to hone in. I really appreiciate your advice and i will try it out.
thanks again
dc

Ok, let me try to add a little more. Realize, though, that I haven't had to mess with my old Bear longbow since Rick tuned it, other than to replace the shelf plate with a new piece of hard leather, and I haven't had to mess with my Dakota pro hunter recurve since I got it from Rick. But here goes.

Apparently, there's only a limited number of things you can do to change how the bow shoots, assuming you're shooting right. Brace height, nocking point, shelf plate, and side plate.

Brace height is set by the mfg for most bows. My bear longbow has an 8.5" brace height. I can vary that a little, but below 8 the arrow is unpredictable. Follow the manufacturer's rec.

Nocking point -- Rick recommended making one out of serving. This allows you to kind of screw it up and down on your bowstring. There is a range within which moving the nocking point down or up on the bowstring will simply cause the arrow to hit higher or lower respectively. Outside of that range, however, the arrow will porpoise up and down during flight.

On the shelf and side plates -- Rick mentioned three different materials he uses for the plates to cause the arrow to impact higher or lower or leftward or rightward. On my dakota bow, both plates are fur. On my longbow, the side plate is fur and the shelf plate is hard leather. Rick also mentioned using velcro strips. Softer side plates make the arrow impact to the right, harder side plates make it hit left. Hard shelf plates hit high, soft lower.

You'll need to experiment, but it's absolutely worth it.

thanks a million!
dc

Does Rick recommend shooting with the dominant eye even if it means switching hands?

I'm switching to traditional equipment, instinctive shooting and want to know before I buy a bow and rick's videos.

There is so many opinions about this, but I'm going to committ to Rick's method and want to start off with the correct bow.

Then Rick's school in the spring.


Thanks for any help

Kurt

I don't know about the dominant eye.

On bow choice, I'd suggest calling Rick and asking if you can try one of his recurves during the class. Then borrow or buy a cheap bow. If you have a friend who knows trad equipment, get them to help you buy a used bow to play with before the class.

After the class, odds are that you'll want one of his bows and you'll be glad you saved your money. They're that much better than anything I've ever shot. And his customer service is unbelievable.

All the information on here regarding Rick's school, teaching ability, and of course shooting ability is a FACT! I attended Rick's school in August 2011. It was amazing to me and gave me a rush of adrenaline that came with each shot I took. I have been shooting archery for over 23 years now and bowhunted almost all of them. My consistency in the past with traditional equipment was not where I wanted to be. After 1 day with Rick with little to change on my form as he said when we reviewed the video, I found myself wanting to push the distances further from the targets and coming up with the same results! It is amazing to gain so much confidence and it has caused me to convert to something I have wanted to do for years!! Become a traditional archer only and feel that I actually have an advantage in the woods as opposed to feeling like I was at a disadvantage in the past. Additionally, if you shoot one of Rick's bows, you will want one!!! It's that simple. I finalized my order last night and sent payment in full. I cannot wait until the completion of the bow and take it to the woods. Of course the deer in my area are in no hurry to put it in my hands.......they can rest for now!!

Dakota Pro Hunter Recurve 64" 48 lbs. @ 30.5 in. Zebra wood limbs, Brazilian Ebony and Zebra wood riser.

Rick's Shooting School - Archery 101 - The Real Deal - Back Tension - Solid Front Solid Back - Anchor Point - Pad the Bow Shelf - Two Point Anchor - Appreciate Your Site Picture - Read the Angles - Hit where your Looking - Your Routine - Do you know what you Did then Just Move Forward Make the needed correction - Distance to Target Don't Know and Don't Care - Hold, Hold & Hold...... 3 of these will by you 2seconds.

How should someone define these terms or the experience one departs with after leaving Rick's School.  I will be 62 this year, and have been shooting since i was 12 and for the first time in all that time i can define what the mechanics\love of archery really is.  Thanks Rick so Kindly for just putting your self out there and teaching by example and results!

PS - don't wait until you are 62....................

Ray Ettinger