bending wrist!

[two4hooking]

I was videoing myself last night from above to see if I have been getting good alignment and I notice a problem.  I bend my drawing hand at the wrist.  Any ideas on how to break this habit?  It is very hard for me not too at this point...maybe less of a deep hook would help relax the hand???  I was pulling the wrist to my face to reach anchor...obviously not good.

Any tips or exercises?

[moebow]

Two4,

There are several things that come to mind but your discription leaves some questions.  Which way is your wrist bending?  In toward your face or out away from your face?  What is your definition of " deep hook?"

Here are some thoughts though.

First, when you place your string hand on the string, be sure to relax your hand and only hook the string with your fingers.  Be sure your thumb and little finger are relaxed and not sticking out or up.  Hand tension causes all sorts of trouble.  If your base knuckles (the ones you'd hit something with) are sticking out and not straight with the rest of your hand, you have too much tension in your hand.  The only fingers in your hand that ave muscles located in your hand are the pinkie and thumb.  Tension in those muscles is not needed and not good.  The force of the string should pull your hand straight if you're relaxed.

Relax your forearm as much as possible and be sure to draw with your back.

Without seeing what you're doing it's really hard to say much else.  If you have a large rubber band (I use thera-band with my students) stand in front of a mirror and watch youself draw concentrating on relaxing the string hand.

I'd really suggest a coach if one is available.  I'd be happy to watch but MD and MN probably are a little far apart :>)

[McDave]

If you're bending your drawing hand, it's because you are using your arm muscles rather than your back muscles to draw the bow.  If you've been doing this for some time, it could be a difficult habit to break.  Probably one of the world's experts on using back tension to draw the bow is Rod Jenkins, a contributor to this forum.  He spends quite a bit of time on this subject in the video Masters of the Bare Bow III.

Perhaps over-simplistically, since I don't generally have this problem, it helps me to visualize my forearm as a chain connecting my elbow to my fingers.  As I draw the bow, I can feel the links in the chain come tight as the chain straightens under tension.  Even though I've learned to use back tension, there are times when I get tension in my arms, and I have to go through this visualization exercise to get rid of it.

Generally, people move to a deep hook to help them relax their forearm, so I don't think less of a deep hook would help.  I learned from Rick Welch, who believes that placing the sring further forward on the pads of the fingers rather than in the crease of your first finger joint promotes a cleaner release.  I find that I can do this and still have a relaxed forearm and hand with lightweight target bows, but as I shoot a heavier hunting bow, I find that I have to move the string back into a deeper hook to keep my forearm and hand relaxed.

[BobCo 1965]

Bending your wrist inward at the start of the draw is OK and will allow you to use more back while drawing. At full draw however, it should be pretty much straight and relaxed. It is also OK to relax your wrist in a downward position which helps in certain anchor positions.

[two4hooking]

Yes, it seems I have some work cut out for me.

I just got back from the range and concentrated on relaxing the hand/forearm.....the chain visualization was most helpful!  I noticed an immediate increase in consistency!  I also noticed I have to really work to get to full draw without actuating those hand and forwarm muscles.  I was able to get some progress done but now I have a few problems....

When I totally relax my hand my thumb sticks out to the side (like pistol grip)and gets in the way of getting my eye above the arrow...if I try to keep it up or grab it with pinkie (scout salute) I get tension.....

also i find that my arrow is way out from my chest(probably becasue I am not getting to full draw anymore with just back?)...once I get my arm back to around full draw I find it hard to not use the hand/wrist muscles.....

It will be a long road but I think I have come to an important milestone.  I would recommend everyone watch a video of your shooting at some point!

[McDave]

You might try cocking your thumb as if you were cocking a revolver.  Rick Welch's students use this thumb position because one of his anchors is the thumb knuckle touching the earlobe.  Even if you don't use this particular anchor, cocking your thumb might keep it out of your way so you can get your eye over the arrow.

It may be that you're not coming all the way to full draw, such that your forearm is in line with the arrow, viewed from above.  With your forearm in line with the arrow, and your shoulders perpendicular to the target, the arrow should be fairly close in to your body.  One of the benefits of coming to full draw is that your back muscles can be most effectively engaged in that position, allowing you to hold at full draw with less effort than would be required at less than full draw or more than full draw.