There are plenty of ways to practice archery. You can shoot more arrows, spend more time at longer distances, or chase tighter groups on the target. All of those things have their place, but sometimes the fastest way to improve isn't to focus more on where the arrow lands.
It's to focus on what happens before the arrow ever leaves the bow.
That's where purposeful training comes in.
The STAN training peg gives you the ability to turn the same release you shoot every day into a dedicated training tool in seconds. Instead of picking up a separate release with a different shape, grip, or feel, you're able to work on your shot process using the exact form factor you trust when it's time to shoot.
That consistency opens the door to a number of useful drills. Whether you're preparing for a target tournament, getting ready for hunting season, or simply trying to clean up your execution, the training peg gives you an opportunity to slow the shot down and focus on the parts of the process that are easy to overlook when every arrow has a score attached to it.
Start by Taking the Target Out of the Equation
One of the simplest—and most effective—ways to use the training peg is also one of the oldest concepts in archery: remove the pressure of aiming.
Set up close to a blank bale or target where you're comfortable shooting without worrying about where the arrow lands. The goal isn't to shoot a group. In fact, don't pay attention to your group at all.
Instead, run through your normal shot process exactly as you would during regular practice.
Set your grip. Draw the bow. Come into anchor. Settle. Begin your execution.
With the training peg installed, you can spend time feeling the shot without being concerned about the release actually firing. That gives you an opportunity to pay attention to the things that are often happening too quickly to notice during a normal shot.
Are you settling into your anchor consistently? Are you maintaining tension through the shot? Are you beginning to rush as soon as your sight picture looks good? Are you staying connected and continuing through your process?
A few minutes of intentional work like this can be more valuable than sending dozens of arrows downrange without paying attention to how those arrows are being executed.
For target archers, this makes a great way to begin or end a practice session. For hunters, it's an easy drill to work into a few short practice sessions throughout the week without turning every evening into a full shooting session.
The Hold Drill: Learn to Stay in the Shot
One of the easiest habits to develop in archery is rushing.
The pin settles near the center, your mind sees an opportunity, and suddenly the rest of your shot process speeds up. Instead of continuing through the shot, you're trying to make the release happen before the sight picture changes.
The training peg is a great tool for slowing that entire process down.
Draw the bow and come into your normal anchor. Once you're settled, hold your sight on the target and begin working through your normal execution sequence. Instead of firing the shot, use the training peg to stay in that position and continue focusing on your movement and control.
The key is to avoid simply holding your bow at full draw until you're tired. This isn't a strength competition. You're practicing what it feels like to remain in the shot without feeling the need to immediately force the release.
For a target shooter, this can help reinforce patience when aiming becomes uncomfortable or the pin refuses to sit perfectly still. For a hunter, it can be especially useful for those moments when an animal is approaching, but the shot window hasn't opened yet.
You may not get to choose exactly when the opportunity arrives in the field. Learning how to stay composed at full draw can make those moments feel much more familiar.
The Hunting Scenario Drill
Most bowhunters practice under the same conditions: standing in the backyard, shooting at a stationary target, with as much time as they need to settle into the shot.
Then hunting season arrives.
Now you're wearing different clothes. You're in a tree stand, kneeling behind cover, or trying to get drawn while an animal is walking into range. Your heart rate is elevated, the opportunity may disappear at any moment, and suddenly the shot process you've practiced all summer feels very different.
The training peg can help bridge that gap.
Instead of immediately shooting an arrow, create the situations you're likely to encounter during the season. Sit in your stand. Practice drawing from the position you'll actually hunt from. Wear your pack. Get into awkward positions. Take a short walk or climb a hill before coming to full draw.
Once you're there, run through the shot with the training peg installed.
The goal is to practice getting into position and maintaining your shot process without adding the pressure of having to execute the final shot. If something feels different, you'll have time to identify it. Maybe your anchor changes when you're wearing a jacket. Maybe your release hand feels different from a seated position. Maybe you realize you're rushing through your setup as soon as you imagine an animal in front of you.
These are the kinds of things that are much easier to fix in July than they are when a buck finally steps into range in October.
After working through the scenario a few times, remove the training peg and take a few actual shots from the same position. The goal is to make the transition from training to shooting as seamless as possible.
The First-Shot Routine
For hunters especially, the first arrow of the day can tell you a lot.
There are no warm-up ends in the woods. No chance to shoot a few arrows and figure things out before the opportunity that matters most. When you draw on an animal, you need to be able to trust the shot process from the very first pull.
The training peg can help you build a more intentional first-shot routine.
Before shooting your first arrow of a practice session, spend a few repetitions with the training peg installed. Go through your complete process without firing a shot. Focus on getting to anchor consistently, settling into the shot, and beginning your execution the same way you plan to when an actual arrow is on the line.
Then remove the peg and shoot one arrow.
Not five. Not a warm-up end. One arrow.
Evaluate the process more than the result.
If that first shot didn't feel right, resist the urge to immediately start sending arrows downrange to make up for it. Instead, install the training peg again and revisit the process. Identify where things changed, work through a few controlled repetitions, and then take another single shot.
Over time, this can help make your first arrow of the day feel less like a cold start and more like the continuation of a process you've already practiced.
The Pressure Reset Drill
Target shooters know that one bad arrow can quickly turn into a bad end.
You make a shot you don't like, immediately become frustrated with yourself, and then carry that frustration into the next arrow. Before long, you're no longer focused on executing the shot in front of you. You're thinking about the last one.
The training peg can provide a simple reset.
After a poor shot or a moment where you feel yourself becoming frustrated, step away from the line for a moment. Install the training peg and come back to your normal setup. Run through a few controlled repetitions without the possibility of firing an arrow.
This gives you a chance to reset your rhythm and focus on the physical process instead of chasing a better score.
Pay attention to the same things you would during a good shot. Your grip. Your anchor. Your posture. The feeling of beginning your execution.
Once you feel settled again, remove the training peg and continue shooting.
This isn't about avoiding pressure. It's about learning how to reset after pressure affects your process.
For tournament archers, that ability can be incredibly valuable over the course of a long event. A single bad arrow doesn't have to turn into a bad round if you have a way to return to the process that produced your good shots in the first place.
Practice the Shot Without Chasing the Result
One of the biggest advantages of the STAN training peg is its simplicity.
You're not changing to a separate training release. You're not adjusting to a new grip or trying to replicate your normal anchor with a different tool in your hand. You're taking the release you already know and using it to isolate another part of your shot process.
That makes it useful whether you're working on the fundamentals at a blank bale, preparing for the pressure of a tournament, or trying to make your practice look more like the hunting situations you'll face in a few months.
The best part is that these drills don't have to take over your entire practice session. You can spend five minutes with the training peg before shooting. You can use it between ends when you feel your execution beginning to drift. You can bring it into the field before season and practice your draw and shot process from the exact positions you expect to hunt from.
The goal isn't to train differently just for the sake of training differently.
The goal is to become more aware of the shot you're already trying to repeat.
Because when you remove unnecessary variables and give yourself the opportunity to focus on the process, you can spend more time building the habits that actually transfer to the moment you care about most.
Your release. Your grip. Your anchor. Your shot process.
The STAN training peg simply gives you another way to master it.
Train the Shot You Actually Shoot: Archery Drills with the STAN Training Peg
There are plenty of ways to practice archery. You can shoot more arrows, spend more time at longer distances, or chase tighter groups on the target. All of those things have their place, but sometimes the fastest way to improve isn't to focus more on where the arrow lands.
It's to focus on what happens before the arrow ever leaves the bow.
That's where purposeful training comes in.
The STAN training peg gives you the ability to turn the same release you shoot every day into a dedicated training tool in seconds. Instead of picking up a separate release with a different shape, grip, or feel, you're able to work on your shot process using the exact form factor you trust when it's time to shoot.
That consistency opens the door to a number of useful drills. Whether you're preparing for a target tournament, getting ready for hunting season, or simply trying to clean up your execution, the training peg gives you an opportunity to slow the shot down and focus on the parts of the process that are easy to overlook when every arrow has a score attached to it.
Start by Taking the Target Out of the Equation
One of the simplest—and most effective—ways to use the training peg is also one of the oldest concepts in archery: remove the pressure of aiming.
Set up close to a blank bale or target where you're comfortable shooting without worrying about where the arrow lands. The goal isn't to shoot a group. In fact, don't pay attention to your group at all.
Instead, run through your normal shot process exactly as you would during regular practice.
Set your grip. Draw the bow. Come into anchor. Settle. Begin your execution.
With the training peg installed, you can spend time feeling the shot without being concerned about the release actually firing. That gives you an opportunity to pay attention to the things that are often happening too quickly to notice during a normal shot.
Are you settling into your anchor consistently? Are you maintaining tension through the shot? Are you beginning to rush as soon as your sight picture looks good? Are you staying connected and continuing through your process?
A few minutes of intentional work like this can be more valuable than sending dozens of arrows downrange without paying attention to how those arrows are being executed.
For target archers, this makes a great way to begin or end a practice session. For hunters, it's an easy drill to work into a few short practice sessions throughout the week without turning every evening into a full shooting session.
The Hold Drill: Learn to Stay in the Shot
One of the easiest habits to develop in archery is rushing.
The pin settles near the center, your mind sees an opportunity, and suddenly the rest of your shot process speeds up. Instead of continuing through the shot, you're trying to make the release happen before the sight picture changes.
The training peg is a great tool for slowing that entire process down.
Draw the bow and come into your normal anchor. Once you're settled, hold your sight on the target and begin working through your normal execution sequence. Instead of firing the shot, use the training peg to stay in that position and continue focusing on your movement and control.
The key is to avoid simply holding your bow at full draw until you're tired. This isn't a strength competition. You're practicing what it feels like to remain in the shot without feeling the need to immediately force the release.
For a target shooter, this can help reinforce patience when aiming becomes uncomfortable or the pin refuses to sit perfectly still. For a hunter, it can be especially useful for those moments when an animal is approaching, but the shot window hasn't opened yet.
You may not get to choose exactly when the opportunity arrives in the field. Learning how to stay composed at full draw can make those moments feel much more familiar.
The Hunting Scenario Drill
Most bowhunters practice under the same conditions: standing in the backyard, shooting at a stationary target, with as much time as they need to settle into the shot.
Then hunting season arrives.
Now you're wearing different clothes. You're in a tree stand, kneeling behind cover, or trying to get drawn while an animal is walking into range. Your heart rate is elevated, the opportunity may disappear at any moment, and suddenly the shot process you've practiced all summer feels very different.
The training peg can help bridge that gap.
Instead of immediately shooting an arrow, create the situations you're likely to encounter during the season. Sit in your stand. Practice drawing from the position you'll actually hunt from. Wear your pack. Get into awkward positions. Take a short walk or climb a hill before coming to full draw.
Once you're there, run through the shot with the training peg installed.
The goal is to practice getting into position and maintaining your shot process without adding the pressure of having to execute the final shot. If something feels different, you'll have time to identify it. Maybe your anchor changes when you're wearing a jacket. Maybe your release hand feels different from a seated position. Maybe you realize you're rushing through your setup as soon as you imagine an animal in front of you.
These are the kinds of things that are much easier to fix in July than they are when a buck finally steps into range in October.
After working through the scenario a few times, remove the training peg and take a few actual shots from the same position. The goal is to make the transition from training to shooting as seamless as possible.
The First-Shot Routine
For hunters especially, the first arrow of the day can tell you a lot.
There are no warm-up ends in the woods. No chance to shoot a few arrows and figure things out before the opportunity that matters most. When you draw on an animal, you need to be able to trust the shot process from the very first pull.
The training peg can help you build a more intentional first-shot routine.
Before shooting your first arrow of a practice session, spend a few repetitions with the training peg installed. Go through your complete process without firing a shot. Focus on getting to anchor consistently, settling into the shot, and beginning your execution the same way you plan to when an actual arrow is on the line.
Then remove the peg and shoot one arrow.
Not five. Not a warm-up end. One arrow.
Evaluate the process more than the result.
If that first shot didn't feel right, resist the urge to immediately start sending arrows downrange to make up for it. Instead, install the training peg again and revisit the process. Identify where things changed, work through a few controlled repetitions, and then take another single shot.
Over time, this can help make your first arrow of the day feel less like a cold start and more like the continuation of a process you've already practiced.
The Pressure Reset Drill
Target shooters know that one bad arrow can quickly turn into a bad end.
You make a shot you don't like, immediately become frustrated with yourself, and then carry that frustration into the next arrow. Before long, you're no longer focused on executing the shot in front of you. You're thinking about the last one.
The training peg can provide a simple reset.
After a poor shot or a moment where you feel yourself becoming frustrated, step away from the line for a moment. Install the training peg and come back to your normal setup. Run through a few controlled repetitions without the possibility of firing an arrow.
This gives you a chance to reset your rhythm and focus on the physical process instead of chasing a better score.
Pay attention to the same things you would during a good shot. Your grip. Your anchor. Your posture. The feeling of beginning your execution.
Once you feel settled again, remove the training peg and continue shooting.
This isn't about avoiding pressure. It's about learning how to reset after pressure affects your process.
For tournament archers, that ability can be incredibly valuable over the course of a long event. A single bad arrow doesn't have to turn into a bad round if you have a way to return to the process that produced your good shots in the first place.
Practice the Shot Without Chasing the Result
One of the biggest advantages of the STAN training peg is its simplicity.
You're not changing to a separate training release. You're not adjusting to a new grip or trying to replicate your normal anchor with a different tool in your hand. You're taking the release you already know and using it to isolate another part of your shot process.
That makes it useful whether you're working on the fundamentals at a blank bale, preparing for the pressure of a tournament, or trying to make your practice look more like the hunting situations you'll face in a few months.
The best part is that these drills don't have to take over your entire practice session. You can spend five minutes with the training peg before shooting. You can use it between ends when you feel your execution beginning to drift. You can bring it into the field before season and practice your draw and shot process from the exact positions you expect to hunt from.
The goal isn't to train differently just for the sake of training differently.
The goal is to become more aware of the shot you're already trying to repeat.
Because when you remove unnecessary variables and give yourself the opportunity to focus on the process, you can spend more time building the habits that actually transfer to the moment you care about most.
Your release. Your grip. Your anchor. Your shot process.
The STAN training peg simply gives you another way to master it.