rick welch release

[nhbuck1]

what is the style rick welch teaches for his release? i heard point fingers down on release is this correct? if im wrong please explain.
thank you

[Hawk2]

Dead release and after shot fingers should still be pointed at the target

[nhbuck1]

how does he teach this? or how should one learn it?

[J. Holden]

There's a few videos floating around on the Internet.  Take his class or hook up with someone who did.

-Jeremy

[Hawk2]

buck1, I had his 2 day class about a year and a half ago and he did a lot for my shooting. As far as learning it all I can say is practice on release just let the string fingers go dead and try not to move the hand, just stay at your anchor point on your face till the arrow is in the target. It takes a little getting used to but you will learn. This also helps to keep from plucking the string. Hawk2

[McDave]

The hardest thing for most people to understand is that this is a dead release, not a pull-through release.  This means there is no increase in back tension and no expansion after reaching full draw.  Instead, the back muscles are locked off at full draw.  Release is either subconscious, which is Rick's preferred method, or else the fingers relax and let the string push them out of the way.  There may be a slight movement of the drawing hand backwards on release due to the sudden cessation of the forward pull of the string, or no discernible movement of the drawing hand at all.

The disadvantage is that creeping is a little harder to control when you are holding with balanced pulling rather than continuing to increase back tension until completion.

The advantage is that there is only one thing to do on release: release the arrow, rather than having to coordinate excessive pulling with release.

[nhbuck1]

so just cause your release hand stays at your face your not using the back? i beg the differ, i see alot of over exagerating releases out there so people try to look cool

[McDave]

No, that's not correct.  Just because your back muscles are locked off doesn't mean that you're not using your back.  In fact, you're using your back as much in the dead release as in the dynamic release.  It's just that rather than a continuous increase of back tension throughout the draw with a dynamic release, the back tension is maintained at a level of balanced pulling at full draw in the dead release.  Or, stated another way, it's just as much an error in the dead release to hold with your arm muscles as it is in the dynamic release.

The difference is subtle, but real.  Some people shoot better with the dead release while others shoot better with the dynamic release.

[Warden609]

Mcdave, that is a very well worded description. Thanks

[Scott Barr]

I took the three day class from Rick couple of years ago. He had me stand next to a wall, so that my shooting arm elbow was up against a wall before release. Doing so helped me relax, not just my fingers to release, but the whole hand.  This certainly helped my accuracy. I agree with McDave that back muscles are used for proper execution of the shot whether one uses static or dynamic  release.  In fact, I am mindful about back tension each shot just prior to relaxing my hand for release. Not nocking static release, I know it works.  Personally I went back to using dynamic release.

[slowbowjoe]

Kyle, read what McDave says, again! Find John Shulz's video "Hitting' em like Howard Hill". He describes it short and simple, "upon release, both hands do nothing". That's not a negative anything; to me it says don't move your bow hand, and don't lose control of your string hand.
You can find it on YouTube - the film quality is terrible, but the info is there. There's also some CD's floating around, you might find one if you ask around some.

I've been shooting this way for several months now (well, at least trying to) and find it definitely helps my shooting. Less plucking, for sure.
Seems to simplify the shot sequence too (as McDave stated), once you get used to NOT doing any particular thing with the string hand following the release. To help avoid creeping, I've found that rather than overthinking back tension, I lock in, and then slightly expand my CHEST to release. Works for me.