String Hand / Wrist Alignment

[Curtis Haden]

First of all, let me say, I am no shooting guru.  I don't pretend to be able to advise other folks on shooting styles or problems, considering I still have a ways to go myself.  Occasionally, however, I have a "eureka" moment and want to share.

Take this for what it is; something that may seem natural and instinctive to most folks may be overlooked by others -- Like me!  I'm from Missouri after all.  Sometimes, you have to "Show Me!"

So... Here's my little epiphany in a nutshell:   Keep your string hand and wrist in alignment with your string.  That simple!

Ever since coming back to traditional archery a couple of years ago, I've struggled with consistency.  Some days I can't miss, other days I can't hit squat.  Some days my arrows fly like the proverbial dart, other days they waggle like geese!  Lately, the bad days have been outnumbering the good days.  Of course, I looked to my form for problems.  "Well, I collapsed a little bit on that shot."  -or-  "I dropped my bow arm that time." -or- "Focus dummy!  Concentrate!  Look at what you want to hit!!!"

Here's what changed a couple weeks ago...  I've been shooting a "long" longbow for a while now, but I recently switched to a shorter bow.  Very quickly, I noticed some soreness in my ring finger, and a distinct callous where there was none before.  I searched posts here on Trad Gang for similar problems, and read advice from various people on what the problem could be...  "Elbow to high" "Torqueing the string" etc...  I believe I've had my little problem from day one, but switching to a shorter bow, and correspondingly sharper string angle, just aggravated the problem to the point that I started noticing it more.

I've also been looking at posts recently where guys talked about arrows hitting the shelf, and poor arrow flight.  For most of these, the advice was clear; "you're over-spined."  Well, I knew my arrow spine was (or should be) okay from bare shaft planing, yet most of my accuracy problems looked like symptoms of an over-spined arrow.

Quickly, a word about bare shaft testing.  I've read that the bow should be vertical when using this method for arrow tuning.  Sounds sensible to me, so that's how I do it.  Well, it's easy for me to keep my wrist and hand vertical, but when I shoot normally, I 'cant' the bow.  Herein lies the problem.

I figured out that a majority of the problems I was having came from not keeping my string hand in alignment.  I was canting the bow, but not my string hand.  My string hand was still too vertical.  The area of my "hook" on the string was looking like this -- S -- instead of this -- / -- (right handed shooter).

As soon as I started concentrating on keeping my string hand in alignment with my bow, my accuracy and my arrow flight improved dramatically!!!  Now I know that some of you will nod sagaciously and say, "well that's just common sense!"  ...and I agree!  But sometimes it's easier to look at a problem from a distant perspective than it is to diagnose a problem when you're the one having difficulty shooting.

Most important to me, is that even when I don't execute my shot perfectly, I'm hitting much closer to my mark than I was a few short weeks ago.  I don't know if this post will help anyone or not, but my hope is that someone will benefit.  If you love to shoot longbows and recurves, there's no better feeling in the world than to see a perfectly round ball of feathers spinning into your target.

As a side note, I'll add that keeping everything in alignment is much easier for me when I focus on it from the beginning of my draw.  Especially when I get a little tired from prolonged shooting sessions, I have to remind myself to keep everything lined up and solid.  I think the tendency, for me at least, is to turn the wrist in towards the body when fatigue sets in.

Have fun.  Shooting is fun, but good shooting is m0-fun!!!

[McDave]

I agree with what you're saying.  I find that if I grip the bow with only my thumb and forefinger, with the other fingers drifting off to the side, it allows the bow to rotate to match the angle of my string fingers.  This works fine for a recurve, but it is more difficult to do this if all my fingers are wrapped around the handle, like they would be on a longbow.

[Curtis Haden]

Originally posted by Bradd:
Keeping the wrist and forearm as relaxed as possible, using only the fingers as a 'hook' will pull it into alignment, as it stretches out flat.

Easier said than done.  A very good point, however!  It is very difficult for me to "relax" my wrist and forearm when shooting, which no doubt, contributed to the problems I was having...

[Stick_N_String]

Curtis,
Thanks for the info. I've been having some accuracy issue's. After reading your post I know what I have been doing wrong.
Daren

[Curtis Haden]

Originally posted by Bradd:
Curtis:  It's easier done than said.  The key to relaxing the wrist, forearm, shoulders is the back/lateral muscle tension.  If you have the right tension, the bow will hold itself up just from the wedging between the bow hand and anchor point.

Actually, for me, it's easier said than done.  I anchor with the base of my thumb behind my jaw, and my index finger touching a molar tooth. (actually, my finger touches my cheek, but you know what I mean)  Everyone has different physiology, and if I had perfect back tension, my anchor point would be somewhere about 2" behind my jaw...  I have resigned myself to the fact that I will always have some tension in my forearm, due to the fact that my elbow is not directly in line with my bow arm.

Also, I'm not really sure what your point is concerning the bow "holding itself up" as my post was concerning the string hand.

 

With 'slightly'(no more than a 1/8" squeeze) more back tension, while relaxing the fingers, the shot should go off, and it should be a surprise when it does.  Anything else and you have the mind in the equation, and that means you weren't relaxed or focused on the target enough for the release to be a surprise.

If I ever get to the point where I can shoot accurately without my mind in the equation, my fortune will be made! I will become a competitive target archer, write a book, and no doubt host a traditional archery television show!!!   (but I would be surprised)