Newbie-carving up bow hand

[Air-n-sun]

Ok, I admit I'm a training wheel shooter just getting into shooting traditional.  I'm completely addicted to it and I had one problem...My fletchings are hitting my bow hand.  I turned the cock feather in and I'm doing my best not to grip my bow to tight.  This has helped alot because I think while drawing the bow I have a tendency to tighten my grip which is a mistake.  I think it's making my bow kick to one side and I'm digging feathers out of the top of my bow hand.  Any tips you can give me to getting started would be appreciated.

[McDave]

Have you tuned your arrows at all to determine whether the nock height and spine is correct for your bow and draw length?  You want to make sure your nock height is high enough to allow the arrow to clear the shelf without bouncing, which may also help your problem.

That said, for instinctive shooting, I like my hand to be pretty close to the arrow, so I do get some feather contact on the forefinger of my bow hand.  There is a callous on that finger where the feathers regularly brush.  Some other instinctive shooters I have met have one also.

[sdpeb1]

Like McDave said. I was having the same problem when I started, I was getting a feather cut on my bowhand. If your shooting good and arrow flight is good, then either put a bandaid on that spot when practicing or drop your bow hand down a little(that's what I ended up doing)-Steve

[Tilzbow]

Another cause of this is putting too much pressure on the bottom string finger as compared to the top and/or putting too much heel into the grip. Both will cause the bottom limb to be the more powerful of the two limbs which will in turn cause a nock low reaction. Try to ensure all three fingers are putting even pressure on the string. Then make sure your grip on the handle is evenly spread over your bow hand.

I sometimes whack my bow hand with fletch and the above issues are the cause.

[Air-n-sun]

I adjusted the height of my nock and I'm shooting easton 2216's.  I did notice improvement not gripping the bow and doing my best to have a clean release but I'll definately be watching even finger pressure too.  I really appreciate the information.  I'm just suprised how addicting this is...

[O.L. Adcock]

Air-n-sun, "I adjusted the height of my nock and I'm shooting easton 2216's."

I hope you are shooting a 70-80# bow! If not you are WAY over spined and that will cause the back end of the arrow to hit you and the bow....O.L.

[Air-n-sun]

I think I'm over spined then....I'm shooting 60 lbs.

[O.L. Adcock]

You might be OK if you got a 30+" draw and a bunch of point weight.. ...O.L.

[Air-n-sun]

I have 145 grain arrows and my draw is a little over 29 inches.

[Air-n-sun]

I moved my nock point up and I'm rarely hitting my bow hand with fletching...basically non existant but I still have issues.  I'm shooting pretty consistant but it's left a few inches...another thing I notice is my arm guard is taking a beating which must mean I'm torqing my bow or my release isn't so smooth?  Any solutions to that problem......I'm making progress...

[Air-n-sun]

Made a typo above...I'm shooting 145 grain tips not arrows....da.

[McDave]

Hitting left a few inches can be caused by 1001 things, so I wouldn't worry about it at this stage of the game.

What you should do is try to develop good allignment and form.  Check out Terry's clock, and have someone compare your allignment with that, or check out your own in the mirror.  Hitting your arm guard can be caused by not coming to full draw with good back tension.  Make sure your drawing forearm is in good allignment with your arrow at full draw.  Or, you may be rotating your grip too much into the bow.  With a recurve, the pressure should be toward the thumb side of the vee between your thumb and forefinger.  Both of these things are basic to good shooting.

An optional thing that can help is to keep a slight bend in your bow arm.  Some of us feel that a slight bend improves our shooting, some don't, so try it both ways and see what you like best.

[Air-n-sun]

Can't thank you enough for the advise.