Three fingers under or Mediterranean stye?

[MMilin]

How 'bout a compromise between "split finger" and "3 under"?  Give "TWO under" a try.  You might like it.

Mark

[Richie Johnston]

Is the split finger style considered to be more traditional than 3 under?  I'm new to traditional archery and I thought that 3 under looked awkward at first until I tried it. I keep going back to split finger once in a while to see if I'm sure about 3 under. I shoot better 3 under.  I noticed that most of the "stars" of the longbow shooters are split finger.

[ParkerMag]

After ~25 years spit finger I switched to 3 under a couple years ago...I prefer 3 under.  No pinch, and I believe my release is cleaner now with a reduced ability to impart any influence on the arrow nock.

[kodiakkid]

3 under for me from the beginning

[Doug Treat]

I have shot split finger for 25 years and every once in a while have tried 3 under to see if it would work for me.  It always felt strange to me since it wasn't what I was used to.  Just recently I have been playing around with 3 under again and have shot enough arrows that now it feels more natural.  I have found that I can keep the same anchor point that I have always used so it feels now roughly the same but the benefits for me have been a much cleaner release (I think I must have been pinching the nock on release before), and the arrow point is much closer to my eye allowing me to line up the arrow so much easier.  I'm also playing with gap shooting now which seems to be much more accurate for me.  For me, to notice the benefits, I had to allow myself to shoot 3 under enough to get over the funny feel, but now, I think it might just be the cat's meow.

[monkeyball]

I have been shooting for awhile now,and it has always been split for the most part.I have had a bow or two that for some reason just would shoot better with three under.Just recently I have decided
to make a solid effort to shoot three under all the
time.It is coming along real well.I am much more
consistent.

                         Craig

[toolmaker]

Oldway,

I had been shooting my 60# Hunter recurve three under, and  was getting decent arrow flight, but I still got frequent flyers.  I could feel it whenever it happened- it was my ring finger failing to go along with the plan.  I have started experimemting with only two fingers (under.)  Surprizingly, two fingers are plenty strong for the job, and it's very consistant, but I found I had to make some firm rubber pads to put into the finferstalls of my glove because the string pressure was too great.  This appears to work well, but now my fingerstalls are a bit crowded.  I'm going to buy a new, larger glove and put the pads into it.  I have seen a few two finger shooters, but I'm the only one I know of to shoot two under, none over.  After I have either shot a full season like this, or abandoned it I will report my results.

[monkeyball]

John,
     Be careful with that two finger deal.I have heard of folks causing damage to themselves using
just two.

                Craig

[toolmaker]

Monkeyball,

I hear ya barking, Dawg.  I believe there's achance for nerve damage to the middle finger, that's why I made the pads.  Spreads the pressure over a much greater area, works like a charm.  Haven't arrived at my decision yet, still in the experimental stage, but looks very promising.

Thanks

 

Yes Madam, [I'm drunk], and you are ugly, but I will be sober in the morning.

 

--Sir Winston Churchill

[broken bow]

with 3 under do you use the tip of the arrow to aim with//at what range does it work

[SpikeMaster]

I've been shooting split finger for about 40 years now. I tried 3 under more than a few times and just could not get used to it. I guess I've been shooting split finger too long to change.

[Freebooter]

Hello all,
I just posted a response to another post about 3 finger under or Apache Style.  Any of y'all ever seen the movie "The Oddysey" with Armon Asanti or whatever his name is?  In that movie he shoots Apache Style. In the movie he has this beautiful recurve made of what appears to be horns (in the Illiad and Oddysey by Homer it says it was made of horns of some animal, I forget just now what).

Anyway, at the end of the movie when it is time for a reckoning against the people who had taken over his home and terrorized his wife and son, he shot them all with that bow, and I noticed he was shooting "Apache" Style! That surprised me. I figure you have to be an experienced archer to even know what that is, much less shoot it.

After I asked around and investigated Armond is indeed an avid archer and has bows, and in fact kept the bow he used in the movie. Or so I was told. But I reckon that is his preferred style, the three under or Apache Style.

Just figured y'all'd find that interesting. But you ought to watch that movie if for no other reason but just to watch that awesome scene where he shoots all those bad guys with that bow at the end. And uses Apache Style to boot!
Later,
Freebooter

[Freebooter]

Was hoping someone had seen that scene!
FB

[Big Bird]

I have always shot 3 under.split finger don't work for me I shoot mostly 52" mags and string pinch is bad for me shooting split finger.

[gorillabows]

Originally posted by ishoot4thrills:
 

Originally posted by maxwell:
split finger,  three under seems more like aiming to me- depends on the person though.

3 Under forever for me. What's wrong with aiming? There's no external devices involved, still just a stick and a string. And if ya shoot better by "aiming", then aim. Whether you realize it or not, if you shoot "instinctive" you are still aiming because your eyes can't help but see your arrow at full draw and make you allow for the proper position of your bow arm to move into position for the shot. That is, unless you shoot in total darkness! [/b]

Or if you put the arrow on the other side of the bow where you cant see it!!!! This is the way the ancients did it. Make no mistake, they knew what they were doing. And conquered the world doing it that way.

Aiming BAD.......instinct GOOD!!!!

[hunterace]

split... 1 above 2 under, that's how i was taught

[TheFatboy]

Originally posted by Joseph Garvon:
 

Originally posted by ishoot4thrills:
 

Originally posted by maxwell:
split finger,  three under seems more like aiming to me- depends on the person though.

3 Under forever for me. What's wrong with aiming? There's no external devices involved, still just a stick and a string. And if ya shoot better by "aiming", then aim. Whether you realize it or not, if you shoot "instinctive" you are still aiming because your eyes can't help but see your arrow at full draw and make you allow for the proper position of your bow arm to move into position for the shot. That is, unless you shoot in total darkness! [/b]

Or if you put the arrow on the other side of the bow where you cant see it!!!! This is the way the ancients did it. Make no mistake, they knew what they were doing. And conquered the world doing it that way.

Aiming BAD.......instinct GOOD!!!! [/b]

You can still aim while using thumb release. Not that I recommend it, but with a bit of practice, you can aim just as well as with a normal draw.

“Is the split finger style considered to be more traditional than 3 under?”

It is considered more traditional, but only by those who can define what is traditional for you, me, them and everyone else--with exactness. Since I don’t have any idea what traditional is, I don’t worry about it. :^)

I’ve shot 3-under for about 40 years.

[ishoot4thrills]

I wouldn't consider split-finger to be more traditional than 3-under. Anyone who does is undoubtedly "splitting hairs". It would be like saying glass laminated bows aren't as trad as all wood laminated bows.

[Quinn]

Played around a bit with 3 under. Noticed right off that I seem to be more accurate at closer in distances (inside of 10 yds) but about the same at distance. Does make a lot more noise.