Would a thicker glove help?

[Faith In Flight]

Pretty new to shooting with fingers. I liked the feel of the string on my fingers so I been shooting a thin damascus glove . However, I shoot lots, probley hundreds of arrows a day. One of my fingers has been numb for days and my fingers are getting blistered pretty bad. Would switching to a heavier glove help? Or, shooting hundreds an arrow every day  gonna yeild blisters no matter how thick the glove?

[Molson]

Switching to a heavier glove like an American Leathers Slick Shot or Big Shot will get rid of the numbness and the blisters if the blisters are on the finger pads.  If the blister is on the bottom of your ring finger a change in glove might help a little but that problem is usually caused by string torque.

[Faith In Flight]

You called it perfect dude. That actually kind of shocks me. My numb finger is my lowest finger (I shoot 3 under) My blister finger is the bottom part of the ring finger. So I must be torqueing the string. Can you explain to me a little more whta im doing?

[Faith In Flight]

Wait, my bad. The blister is on the bottom of my pointer finger. Not ring, read that wrong. Ring finger is numb finger.

[Lonewolf Jim]

I switched to an "American Leathers Big Shot" glove (Elk version) a few months back for the same reason, numb fingers 2-3 days after shooting.  Have not had any problem since switching.

[Kenn]

First you ought to let up on the number of arrows you are shooting and let your fingers recover.  You don't want anything permanent to set in.

A thicker glove will protect more, but you will loose the feel of the string.  With me I do much better 'feeling' the string.  I switched to a tab and like it.  I get a better release, it is handier, and my accuracy picked up.

One last thing I found in my own experience is that shooting that many arrows in a day did nothing to help me.  After a while fatigue will appear, either physical or mental, and you'll start shooting worse.  You certainly won't get any better.  Than frustration sets in.  It's much better to do small amounts of quality practice, than trying to shoot a lot of arrows.

  -Ken

[Molson]

Faith-

Bottom of your index (point) finger and you're probably pinching the nock. Still a string torque issue.  Kenn hit it right.  If you're shooting that much you're likely getting tired which is leading to errors in form.  With the numbness you should lay off for a few days until it goes away.

[Faith In Flight]

Shoot 3 under so it cant be nock pinch. As far as that many arrows a day, it doesnt really bother me. I dont get tired from shooting. I just never have. I shoot 70-80lb compounds, or rather, I used to before I made the switch. And I shoot them just as much, every day and I never tired. I dont know if I got lucky and my back muscles are just very hard to fatigue, or perhaps its just age (24). Doesnt bother me to shoot tht much though, except on my fingers lol.

[String Tracker]

i found in the past that i would start to roll off the string and Id get sorness from my ring finger.

[last arrow]

Molson, please describe what you are calling "string torgue".  I am trying to understand all the terms I see used on the site. Sometimes I am not sure people are using the same term consistently, I get confused easily

[Molson]

Blaine-

No problem.  I simplify it by describing string torque as uneven pressure on the string from the drawing hand.  The pressure can be low or high or to the side. The end result is the same- the string does not travel forward in line with the arrow.

If you imagine a compound bow release, it has very little contact with the string.  It stays in line and releases evenly every time.  Ultimately, that is your goal with a finger release. It's just more difficult because you have three fingers on the string making contact over a larger area.

If you read this post, Faith has numbness on his ring finger and a blister on the bottom of his index finger.  Without actually seeing him shoot, I would say he is putting excessive pressure on the string with the ring finger which is causing his index finger to drag the string on release.  The effect would be similar to putting to much heel in the bow.  Most likely this is causing the lower limb to load more which drives the arrow down into the shelf on release.  The result would be poor arrow flight.  

That's just my interpretation of what's going on here based on what was described.

[Molson]

Blaine-

That didn't quite answer your question.  String torque, as most people use it, describes twisting the wrist causing the lower portion of the drawing hand to move out away from the face at anchor. It causes uneven pressure (side) on the string usually from the ring finger.

I more or less used the term in this thread in a generic manner to describe uneven pressure on the string.

[dan ferguson]

something that might help is pull your bow back to solid, then forgrt the target and look down at your arrow, start to move each finger, you will notice the arrow bend toward the bow if you are putting to much pressure with your ring finger, if you release some pressure of the ring finger and apply more with the middle you will see the arrow straighten out, also elbow to high will put alot of pressure on the ring finger, this might help, maybe

[Faith In Flight]

Thanks for the tips. It was somthing I wasnt aware of. Always looking to improve   .

[last arrow]

Molsen, Dan

Thanks guys that clarifies things for me.