How to grip recurve verses longbow

[Alvey]

Thinking about switching to a recurve how do I grip
The recurve verses the longbow?

[McDave]

Different things work for different people, but I grip my recurve primarily with my thumb and forefinger.  The other fingers just rest lightly on the back of the handle.  The weight of the bow is pressed against the meaty area of my palm between the base of my thumb and lifeline.  No part of the bow handle extends beyond the lifeline in my palm.  This results in my knuckles angling away from the handle when I grip the bow.  So if the bow is vertical, my knuckles angle away from vertical about 30 degrees.  I hold the bow just tightly enough to keep from dropping it and to keep from clinching the grip when I shoot the bow.

[Alvey]

Thanks Mcdave,Hopefully I can increase my draw length with more of a strait wrist.

[McDave]

Your main increases in draw length should come from keeping your upper torso straight rather than hunched over, your head upright rather than bent forward, good shoulder alignment, and getting your elbow back behind the arrow rather than short drawing the bow.  

You should take full advantage of the grip geometry of the handle rather than using an artificially high wrist.  The pressure of the bow should be against the same part of your hand each time you shoot.  If you press against the bottom of your hand one shot and the bridge between your thumb and forefinger the next, it will affect the relative bends of the top and bottom limbs, and cause erratic arrow flight.

If you like more of a straight wrist, you can get a bow with a high wrist grip, but your hand should still make contact with the contour of the grip, so your hand won't be entirely straight, as it would be if you were pointing at something. Most people find that they shoot better and more consistently with a medium grip, rather than a high grip.  Very few people find that they shoot better with a completely straight wrist where the only contact with the hand is at the bridge between the thumb and forefinger, unless they are shooting a relatively low weight bow.  However, "very few" isn't none, so you owe it to yourself to experiment until you find what works best for you.

[Alvey]

Makes sense in what your saying ,definitely a medium Low wrist appeals to me more then a strait wrist just always thought the recurve was meant to be shot with a strait wrist.

[moebow]

Use the same grip you do on your longbow, just adjust it to conform to the carved grip on the recurve.  The THEORY/technique is the same.  Pressure on the base of the thumb and grip NOT crossing the life line.  As Dave says.

Arne

[Alvey]

Thanks David and moe

[LongbowArchitect]

I've been shooting longbows for many, many years but recently bought a recurve of the same draw weight @ 28" with a medium grip. I found the medium grip pushes the bow further forward, compared to the low grip on my long bows, resulting in about a 1" longer draw length for me.