is my new anchor bad??

[statikpunk]

so not terribly long ago, due to a lot or reading here on tradgang and using Terry's form clock I realized that I was not properly engaging my back muscles.  I wasnt bringing my string arm back far enough. (I have been anchoring at the corner of my mouth and I have been struggeling with this problem for years)

anyway long story short the solution I came up with is now I anchor with my nuckle of my thumb behing my jaw and put the cock feather in the crook of my nose.

so let me begin by saying that because of this new anchor I have been enjoying better accuracy than I have ever had.  I have improved more in the last few months than I have in 10 years of shooting traditional. I have honestly added 10 yards to my effective range.

my problem is that with this anchor i find myself having to "snuggle" into it, and Im affraid this may lead to colapsing, or other problems in the future.  

it has been working so well that I hate to mess with things.  what do you all think?

[Diamond Paul]

Hard to be sure what you mean by "knuckle of thumb" w/out seeing a picture; you mean the big knuckle at the base of your thumb (closest to hand), or the second knuckle, near the tip of thumb?  I use the knuckle at the base of my thumb to hook in behind the corner of my jawbone, but my middle finger is still in the corner of my mouth.  To put the feather in the "crook" of your nose, you must be anchoring higher, maybe with the third finger in the corner of your mouth (at least, I would have to do that to get the feather there).  Anyway, your anchor is very personal, and I don't think anyone can say for sure what is going to work best for you as an individual.  I don't think your anchor, as I picture it, would feel good to me, but that's got nothing to do with whether it works for you.  You can have a good shooter watch you shoot and determine if you are collasping, etc., or video yourself and watch it to determine this, but I don't think there is anything wrong, per se, with where you choose to anchor.  The only problem w/ a really high anchor is that it does make it harder to properly use back tension; the advantage is that it puts the arrow closer to the eye, and usually that helps instinctive shooters with accuracy.  I say, use what works best for you.

[Terry Green]

Snuggling is GOOD!!!  In the TradGang DVD I talk about not being afraid to 'cozy up' with your anchor....snuggle is just another word for cozy.

This is positive tactile reinforcement....means you are less likely to collapse in my opinion.  You are making contact in two places and will likely shoot more consistent from now on.

Stay after it!!!

[Diamond Paul]

Terry makes a good point; I watched a lot of the Rick Welch vids, and he definitely appears to "snuggle up" to his anchor, getting everything just right before starting the shot process.  He is for darn sure a better shot than I will ever be!

[statikpunk]

thanks for the tips guys, just to be clear I am refering to my second knuckle, the one closest to the thumb nail) it doesnt seem to put my arrow any closer to my eye than I had before using three under and my middle finger in the corner of my mouth, just farther back.

actually Terry it was the tradgang dvd that inspired me to change my anchor, I was always struggeling to get my elbow back so i just decided to make an anchor that would force my elbow to come all the way back.

ok then Im gonna stick with it. like I said I have been shooting better than ever, so if its not broke then dont fix it I guess     cheers fellas thanks again

[Retnuh Wob]

I think every one is just a little different. The ratio between your forearm and upper arm as well as you shoulder width affects what the best anchor point for you is. Terrys form clock gives you a good idea of what your alignment should be and the anchor that helps you achieve that is likely the one that will work best for you.

When I took Rick Welches class he recommended anchoring the first knuckle of your thumb on your ear lobe right below the opening in your ear. I struggled with that for a couple of months after I took his class. That anchor point did not allow me to get my arm back far enough to develope good back tension and it was too hard to hold steady at anchor because that did not allow the proper alignment for me. I finnaly started putting the first knuckle of my thumb behind my ear lobe right at my jaw line, probably similar to your anchoe. My shooting then took a good stride foreward. That anchor allowed me to get my elbow back far enough so that I could get proper alignment with good back tension.

If you watch Rick shoot you will sometime see his hand flop out and it looks like he is plucking. He is not. What is happening is he is using back tension keeping his elbow back so the force of the string keeps forearm aligned with the arrow just like in Terrys form clock. His elbow is what is supporting his forearm which is relaxed and loose. At the release the force of the string flops his hand out, the amount depending on the draw weight of the bow. Rick explains this in his one of his videos.

[olddogrib]

As has been pointed out, an anchor is a personal thing, facilitated to a large degree by your unique physical anatomy. The important things are that it's comfortable and easily repeatable without having to consciously think about it. My only 2 cents is that it should also compliment proper aligment. I've used anchors that inadvertently caused high draw-arm elbow and it "felt" natural.  So use a mirror or buddy to make sure your arms are aligned properly.  It's easier to incorporate form than to change it after it's been "ingrained".  Been there, done that, own the T-shirt concession!

[mulot]

I have seen this type of anchor from a top notch archer that was part of our group at a 3D shoot. We all pitched in a few bucks to a pot for the winner.
Well Mike with this unusual anchor won hands down.

Impressed I decided to practice that way to anchor and it just did not do it for me butt I could see some advantage of using your thumb behind the jaw bone to lock in your anchor.

[njloco]

With me, head position gives everything else the correct line up, meaning, knowing we are all built a little different, as long as my form is correct and I am not leaning into the shot with my head coming forward, I hit the corner of my mouth with ring finger ( split shooter )  feather to nose, thumb under jaw bone slightly bent towards palm. i try to glue my hand to this position on my face and not move upon release. The hand always moves as I draw back while releasing, naturally bow hand and draw elbow at the12:00 and 6:00 position and back muscles fully engaged. Hopefully I explained this so you can understand.