Straight Grip = wrist slap

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Proper wrist & elbow rotation is the key to shooting a low brace height bow without using an arm guard.....

Some guys can shoot clear down to a 6" brace...Not me..... If i get below 6 3/4" i'm getting bit now and then and should use an arm guard, but rarely do.

[Sixby]

I shoot with a bent wrist and relaxed bow arm. Hardly ever get bit if there is enough tension at brace. This is something no one has mentioned. I do use an armguard when wearing a long sleeve shirt or a coat.

God bless, steve

[DanielB89]

Originally posted by mike g:
Proper Grip and form AND A M.A.L. Armguard.

Lucky for me, I have a M.A.L. arm guard that has saved my hide quite a few times.  

[tzolk]

I shoot a D style with a 6 5/8 brace in a T-shirt with no arm guard. No slap. Make sure you position your palm correctly in the grip, I use the "lifeline" , bend the elbow slightly, naturally.

[Bud B.]

Howard never wore one.

I guess he had no wrist slap.

 

Neither did/does Schulz.

 

[Jim Wright]

I only shoot straight limbed D bows and I haven't been using an arm guard and don't hit my arm but I guess if Howard and John used one......... I notice theirs look a bit different, which one is best?

[Bud B.]

I get a little tap, on occasion, but alot of that depends on where the bow wants the brace set with the particular arrows you are shooting at the moment.

Wrist slap, in and of itself, does not mean poor form. It's one of the nuances of Hill style bows. We're built differently with varying bone structure, to some degree. I cannot extend my arms to a straight elbow. I have a slight bend even when extended fully. Some can extend their arms past a straight elbow to an inverted elbow joint. Hence, some of us get wrist slap and some of us don't.

Arrow flight and being on target are more important than a gentle or moderate tap. A full on welting slap means something probably did go wrong.

We each will have different findings as evident in the responses to the OP; including mine.

When I went from a B50 to a Chad string on one of my bows, even though the brace is the same 6+" the scuff on my arm guard went from just above my wrist to a full inch closer to my elbow and the scuff is shorter.  I have seen cases where I could hear the slap on the arm guard, in my case I do not hear any extra sound, the skid angle must less.  Some guys like to float the bow more out the thumb, but for me that is not a solid place for the bow to sit.
Louis Armbruster put his arm guard on in morning before he put on his boots.

[frank bullitt]

Yep, nothing wrong with wearing leather!

There's another pic of Howard in one of my Longbow Digests, shirtless, very rare in the day of the gentlemen!

Still wearing!

Another couple Bama boys, Jerry and Byron, wear, too!