Is it possible to grip the bow too lightly?

[jonsimoneau]

I know it seems that most say to grip the bow as little as possible to avoid torque.  But I've been messing around with the grip on my bow. When I grip it very lightly I am constantly hitting my arm.  Can anybody tell me what is happening?

[moebow]

Jon,

A recommended way is to have as little tension in you bow hand as possible = relaxed grip.  If this is causing a string clearance problem, there are two areas to look at.  

Your bow hand could be too deep into the grip.  It should be on the base pad of the thumb and to the right of the lifeline(right handed shooter).

Second, your bow arm elbow needs to be rotated clockwise (right handed shooter).  This will give you better bone alignment, make your bow arm stronger and give string clearance.

Both the grip and arm need to be addressed, it's all one unit.

Arne

[jonsimoneau]

Arne, is it possible though that having too loose a grip is causing the bow to torque into my arm?

[moebow]

Would have to see but a general answer is no, I don't think so.  Top shooters only allow the bow to press into their hand and it actually jumps out of their hand at the shot and is caught by a sling.  They have little or no finger/thumb pressure on the grip.

It should only be torquing if somehow you are influencing it.

Arne

[jonsimoneau]

Thanks Arne. I'm betting its me tightening my grip as the shot goes off in anticipation of the bow jumping from my hand.

[Terry Green]

Yes and Yes.

[gringol]

Just notic     ed the tag-line, Terry.  Good stuff!

[Terry Green]

Yeah Gringol....Dr Phill now claims he was a victim....the only victim I saw was a Heisman runner up getting run over by some bamma boys.

 Not sure if that will effect his draft pic, but it would be a consideration if I was drafting...I mean he didn't do squat against bamma....how's he gonna tackle them NFL boys and shuck them blockers?

On the other hand....look at how the Heisman winner did in his bowl game....Johnny took them to school!!!  The right man won the Heisman that's for sure.

[blakeschack5466]

I used to have the same problem. Now i bend my bow arm slightly and cant the bow till the string touches my chest like another anchor. Now im just fine. I dont know if my form is right but it works for me.