Shooting Blowguns

Breathing is Everything
To shoot your blowgun accurately, you must learn to breathe properly. As your music teacher told you, stop that chest breathing! To utilize your full lung capacity, you must breathe with the diaphragm. Place your hand over your stomach and inhale deeply. Did your hand move out? Exhale. Did your hand move in? Great! You are ready to move on.

Preparing to Shoot
First, make sure that you have a large backstop to catch any darts that miss the target. A dense foam block makes a great target. Use a permanent marker to draw the target on each face of the block. When one face gets worn out, just turn the block over.

To shoot, face the target directly, standing with proper posture. As you inhale, raise the blowgun to mouth level. Support the blowgun with your left hand. Place your right hand near the mouthpiece. Once you have finished inhaling deeply, put the mouthpiece to your lips forming a tight seal with your hand and lips. Be careful not to chip your teeth on the blowgun. Remember that there is no safety device, so don't inhale with the mouthpiece in your mouth! The dart goes in the target, not down your throat!

With both eyes open, focus on the point that you want to hit. Exhale deeply and forcefully, emptying your lungs completely and making sure that you do not move your hands or shoulders as you do. Remain as motionless as possible until the dart hits. This is important because the dart spends quite a bit of time in the blowgun. If you move, so does the dart.

Getting on Target
Did you miss? Don't feel bad, shooting a blowgun accurately takes alot of practice. Did you shoot low? Try raising the blowgun. High? Lower the blowgun. Shooting left or right? Make sure that you are not moving as you exhale. Do you shoot toward your dominate eye? Hold the blowgun a little toward the opposite direction. Miss things completely? Focus on the target, not the end of the blowgun. Practice at a variety of ranges, usually between 10 and 30 feet of the target to get a feel for compensating for drop.

Above all, don't get frustrated with yourself. Remember hobbies are for fun and relaxation (and spending lots of time and money!). Take pride in the fact that you are shooting a gun and darts that you made. You'll be on target before you know it if you stick with it.

A 10 shot string at 20 ft.
(The one on the 10 ring was for a prop, and doesn't count!)