Hand dropping at release

[Trenton G.]

Hey guys

I've always filmed myself shooting, and I noticed lately that my hand is dropping at my release. I anchor with my middle finger in the corner of my mouth, but when I release, my hand ends up so that my middle finger is almost touching the bottom of my draw. I'm not plucking, and my hand still comes back to my ear after the shot, but instead of coming straight back, it goes down and then angles back and up. I'm worried about maybe putting to much pressure on the arrow from the top. Any suggestions on how to fix this? Thanks!

[moebow]

Trenton,

"my hand ends up so that my middle finger is almost touching the bottom of my draw."

Not sure what you mean in this statement, bottom of the draw????

You describe a hand motion that MAY be the result of too much arm and not enough back.  BUT!! would have to see the shot to be sure.

Arne

[Trenton G.]

Originally posted by moebow:
Trenton,

"my hand ends up so that my middle finger is almost touching the bottom of my draw."

Not sure what you mean in this statement, bottom of the draw????

You describe a hand motion that MAY be the result of too much arm and not enough back.  BUT!! would have to see the shot to be sure.

Arne

Whoops, sorry. That was supposed to be jaw. I hate autocorrect.

I'll try and figure out how to share a video for you.

[McDave]

Occasionally, if I exert a downward force when drawing the bow, my shot will go high since the downward force pulls the nock end of the arrow down while the point end stays level.  Have you noticed any change in your POI since you noticed the change in your followthrough hand position?

[Trenton G.]

No, I seem to be shooting exactly the same. It hasn't really affected my shooting at this point, but I'm worried that if I don't correct it, it may gradually get worse and then affect my shooting. I shoot split finger by the way.

[McDave]

In that case, perhaps Moebow's idea is correct: if you're not using back muscles as much as you were before, it could cause a drop in your hand on followthrough.  This would be a useful thing to correct, if that is the case.  It would be a good idea to send a video for Arne to comment on, if that is possible.

[Trenton G.]

I can't figure out how to post a video, but I went out and played around a bit with pulling my arm more back and around me. That seemed to work pretty well and my hand is going back again like it used to. Thanks for the help guys.

[Terry Green]

How high is your elbow?

[Trenton G.]

Here's a screenshot from a video. It might be a little difficult to tell exactly how high my elbow is since I had to put the camera on the ground. I can try and get a better picture at some point.
   

[Trenton G.]

Originally posted by Trenton G.:
Here's a screenshot from a video. It might be a little difficult to tell exactly how high my elbow is since I had to put the camera on the ground. It is also a bit in front of me as opposed to straight out to the side. I can try and get a better picture at some point.
     

Sorry, accidentally quoted my last post as opposed to edit it.

[Doc Pain]

Originally posted by Terry Green:
How high is your elbow?

That was my thought also.

[Doc Pain]

From the pic your elbow seems to be a little high and not inline with your arrow.

[moebow]

From your picture(bad angle) I would suggest that it is a little too high.  The string hand forearm should point at your bow hand (line from the elbow to the arrow nock to the bow hand).  If it is in line with the arrow, it is too low.

Also a little hard to tell due to your aggressive forward lean.  You MIGHT start by getting your weight equal on both feet and standing straight up and down.  That would give us a better picture.

Arne

[Trenton G.]

Sorry this took so long. I left on vacation shortly after this post came back up and didn't get a chance to take a picture. Anyways, how does this look? To be honest, I don't even feel like I'm doing anything differently. Maybe using a heavier bow just brings my elbow down more? The first pic was a 42 pound bow and the second is a 62 pound bow.