Asbell's change in "hooking the string"

[Flashman]

I see this subject was touched on in the Finger Pinch thread but I am having the same problem.

I initially had this problem when I first started shooting a bow nearly 15 years ago.  It made shooting uncomfortable.  After getting G Fred Asbell's "Instinctive Shooting II" I changed the way I gripped the string to his recommended method of the string just forward of the first joint, and the index finger taking less pressure/weight during the draw and actually more forward on the string.  This eliminated the pain problem but I have been a terribly inconsistent shooter and developed a couple of the bad habits he mentions in the article.  Asbell changed his recommended finger placement on the string in a June/July 2007 Traditional Bowhunter article.  He nows indicates one should firmly grasp the string at the crease of the first joint on all three fingers akin to carrying a paint can.  When I pull the string using this method it doesn't hurt, in fact it feels better and more stable, however when the arrow is released, the inside area of the index finger adjacent to the nail hurts like hell.  It doesn't matter which bow I use from 62" to 66". I adhere to his recommendations on thumb placement and the relatioship of the hand to the cant of the bow.  The pain is there no matter the type of shooting glove or tab.

I must be doing something wrong.  Does anyone have any ideas.  It should be fun to shoot, not painful.

Thanks.

[McDave]

I assume from your description that your index finger is being pinched against the nock of the arrow.  If your index finger is pressing down on the nock, in addition to hurting your finger, it will hurt your accuracy by creating a down pressure on the arrow, and the arrow will rebound when you release it.

Sometimes this can be caused by the elbow being too high.  Is your forearm in line with the arrow at full draw?

I also switched to using a deep hook on the string, and found that it improved my accuracy.  I can tell because sometimes when I start a shooting session, I won't be shooting as well as I can, and as I go through my checklist of all the things I might be doing wrong, quite often I'll find that I've slipped back into the old habit of not holding the string in a deep hook.

I've also found that it's not enough to simply place the string in the first finger joint.  I shoot better when I curl the first finger joint around so it's at more of a right angle with the arrow.  It's kind of a challenge to keep the back of the hand relaxed when you're doing that, but it does seem to help, and might even help your pain problem as it would move the part of your finger that's hurting further away from the string and arrow nock.

[KodiakBob]

Try a Cavalier Elite tab, with separator, use the metal plate to align the string this should fix your problem

[Flashman]

McDave,

I will pay attention to elbow height and the angle of my forearm.  Maybe the other problem is I am not pulling enough with the index finger leaving it to the middle and ring finger to do the actual pulling.  I will try it in a little while.

Thanks.

[TSP]

I agree with McDave's comment...could very well be a too-high draw elbow causing excess index finger pressure on the nock.  Using a deep hook in conjunction with a strong pull-through release (i.e., just touching rather than stopping to hold or 'dig in' at anchor) can help there.

Let us know how you make out.

[stickandastring]

Since im new to this, ill tell you. I had the exact same problem. Wore a blister on the inside of my index finger which I suppose will start to callous over. Your elbow is probably a little to high so your angling your fingers down then rubbing your index on the nock of the arrow as you let go.

Try focusing on doing most of the pulling with your middle finger and using the index and third for support. Ive also got a set of limbs coming to drop my weight a bit to focus on form. Like I read everywhere on this site, form is everything.

Happy shooting,
Chris

[McDave]

There is another reason you might be having a sore index finger, which is torqueing the bowstring.  At full draw under tension, our string hand would like to be in a horizontal position with the palm of the hand facing the ground.  That's why they make mechanical releases for compound shooters such that you can hold them in that position to shoot.  When we cant the bow, we're rotating our wrists in the opposite direction from this preferred position, so that our palms are beginning to face upwards. If we don't consciously hold our string hand such that the palm of the string hand is in the same plane as the bowstring, it will tend to move back to a more vertical position on its way to its preferred horizontal position in the other direction.  As the fingers stay on the bowstring, and the palm of the hand rotates, a twisting force is applied to the bowstring, that messes up our shot.  The thing I didn't think of in my first post is that it also mashes the index finger down on the nock of the arrow, which is another possible source of your problem.

[Todd Hathaway]

If you use a tab, you can glue 2 pieces of leather on the back for extra padding. Leave a "flap" of leather hanging from each piece so that when you grip the string, the flaps are between your fingers (one above your middle, and one below your index) and the nock.

[Flashman]

Thanks to all, I think I am doing better.  I have been trying to keep my elbow no high than my hand.  I have also tried my consciously to pull little more with the index finger.

McDave, re your last post:  Asbell in the article above discusses this but as I understand what he is saying, it recommends the opposite.  To let the hand naturally cant inward.  To be honest, I am a little confused about it.  I also went to a thicker glove that seems to have helped to some degree.  What is bothersome, is the pain comes upon release of the arrow.  The finger doesn't get hurt everytime I shoot.  Now that I am concentrating it is much better.

[McDave]

I remember when the article came out, and it generated some discussion at the time.  I'm not exactly sure what he meant by letting the string hand naturally cant inward either.  But I'm pretty sure he wasn't advocating torqueing the bowstring.  My best guess is that what he was after was a compromise between relaxing the back of the hand, and keeping the back of the hand in the same plane as the bowstring, which are not easy things to do at the same time.

He was pretty explicit in "Instinctive Shooting II," when he said, "I recommend that you always line the string hand up so that the palm of the hand is parallel to the string itself." (p. 37)

For myself, I just try to keep a loose enough grip with my bow hand that any torque from my string hand is eliminated by a corresponding change in the cant of the bow.  But not so loose that I reflexively tighten my bow hand grip to keep control of the bow when I shoot, which is another way of spoiling the shot.  Again, a compromise.

[Flashman]

I think I found out what I was doing wrong, finally!  I don't think my forefinger was curled enough around the string.  I found this out by accident when I was looking to my right to see my reflection in a window and one time happened to look close rather far and noticed my forefinger although on the string at the crease was probably 60 to 70 degrees off the string (facing forward),  I shot several times consciously making sure my finger was curled back like the other ones, and no pain.

Thanks for everyone's help.