Face pain

[coachA]

I have been really working on my form lately and I  have developed an issue with the string hitting my face or lip. My alignment has gotten much better but I am obviously doing some thing wrong and I seem to be allergic to pain. so, I need your help ASAP.

[moebow]

Would have to see to be sure but a common problem is moving your head to the string.  Rather than holding your head still and bringing the string to your face.  Ideally the string will be in front of your lip and will go straight away from the lip.  Don't over draw?

Arne

[McDave]

I have also had this problem from time to time.  It seems to me that one of two things has to be happening:

1.  Your face is getting in the way of the string.
2.  Your string is getting deflected into your face.

If #1 is happening, you can try rotating your head more toward the target, holding your anchor more lightly against your face, or keeping your head in more of an upright position.  Happily, these are all good things for your form too.  You can also try changing from a brass string nock to a low profile tied on nock.

If #2 is happening, you can make sure you are relaxing your fingers rather than trying to open them to release the string.  Look at the video Jim Castro posted in response to the "form" topic in this forum.  It has a good explanation of this.  Or, you can try a different tab or glove if the one you are currently using is scraping against your face when the shot is released.  Some people have changed from a tab to a glove to avoid this problem.

Once this starts happening, any little brush of your fingers or the string against your face will be noticeable, so you may have to hold the string way away from your face or lay off shooting for a few days to give your skin a chance to recover.  A certain amount of hand/string/face contact is probably unavoidable and goes unnoticed in normal shooting.  It would be a shame to stumble on to the cure and not know it.

[YosemiteSam]

I never noticed that the string smacks my face until I saw a slow-motion video of myself.  Saw the same thing on a Jimmy Blackmon video one time, as well.  For the most part, I don't notice it.  and if I hold the arrow more away from my face, then it isn't in alignment with my eye & will shoot left (right handed).  The only way I know to completely avoid hitting my face is to shoot with a thumb ring, which reverses the paradox.