Trad Gang
Main Boards => The Shooters FORM Board => Topic started by: valleysniper on April 06, 2019, 10:04:41 AM
-
Just like it says, I've been experimenting on resting the string on the pads of my fingers instead of in the first crease. I do get a lot better release.
-
The current “orthodoxy” is to rest the string in the first joint of the middle finger (or maybe even a little behind the first joint toward the hand) and on the pads near the joint of the ring finger and index finger (or in the joint of the index finger, depending on your fingers). I have been using this for a few months, and it seems to work well for me. It is supposed to facilitate a deep hook and reduce the muscle tension needed to hold the string. It is supposed to naturally follow the different lengths of each of the holding fingers.
Holding the string on the finger pads is definitely out of vogue, but that doesn't mean that a lot of people don't use it successfully. It is the way Rick Welch holds the string, and in his prime, he shot better than almost anyone else, and still shoots better than most.
I would encourage you to try different ways of holding the string on your fingers until you find the way you like best.
-
After many years of shooting on the pads, about 6-7 years ago or so I moved to a deeper hook, really in the first crease and while counter intuitive, it’s much easier getting off the string cleanly for me with a deeper hook. Like anything, to do a fair comparison I think one has to committ to it for 3-4 weeks to make a real assessment of value.
I switched to 3 under about 3 years ago and it felt almost sacrilegious because of the way I learned archery. It also didn’t feel right but I decided to give it 30 days not matter what.
As the past few years I pretty much stump shoot and do a lot of 3D, 3 under is what I do (non gapping). Same with a deeper hook, once I did is for a month, I felt I really preferred it vs. Off the pads... It’s rally a personal choice. If you decide to read up on a deeper hook, you’ll find a ton of information on why it is considered the preferred method by many accomplished archers, generally speaking...
-
Shooting off the pads will add lots of tension to your string hand which is counterproductive to good shooting and will lead to fatigue. Holding in the crease will reduce hand tension which is good.
-
Simply put, Rich is correct.