Shooting Two Finger Split

[Keuka]

I was just reading an article on shooting two finger split in the Traditional Bowhunting Magazine. Interesting article.
Other than sore fingers, are there any inherent problems with this style of shooting?

[Ragnarok Forge]

Not that I can find.  A key to split finger is to keep most of the pressure in the finger under the arrow.  At least 80% on that finger and 20% on the the top finger.

[Jim Wright]

Not trying to change your post but 2 fingers under with the index finger touching the side of the string above the nock gives an extremely clean release and many, many "duplicates" through a chronograph. A very small,thin tab can be used and a callous will develop on the ring finger but no sore fingers.

[Coonbait]

I tryed it last monday to see how it worked. Well as of friday I've modified my tabs. My groups shrunk considerably and my ancher feels more controlled. Really am happy I tried it.
  GLENN

[twitchstick]

I shoot two fingers under one year until my hand started going numb. I did have some of my best groups that year. I'm not atempting to change your post but it did affect my fingers and forarm.

[755]

Hi Everyone,
 due to an injury to my right hand 20 years ago i
lost the ring finger. About gave up archery but
thanks to my then 12 year old son after a while
tried again. do not have any trouble with bows of 55 lb. and i am enjoying myself and my grandchildern shooting together as much as we can. two fingers has worked well for me for a long time. never gave much thought to a better release untill i read the same atricle in tbm.
thanks for listening to the ramblings of an old man.

[StickBowManMI]

My wife shoots with two fingers split and then when at full draw she uses only one finger to hold and release. She shoots a 52lb draw longbow and she shoots really well.

[Koko Bow]

I tried it last week after reading the same article.  Seems to work fine for me too.

[TheFatboy]

Hmm, I better go try it out.

[Encino Man]

I shoot using the traditional split finger, one over and two under. But by the time I come to anchor, I've relaxed my index and ring finger to the point that 80% of the weight is on my middle finger.

[Nkwana]

Hi

Have been practicing with this for a while and my accuracy improved by 80%, but have now developed numbness in lower finger. The method is fine for any bow under 40# but can be damaging over that. I have stopped to recover and it's been over 4 weeks and fingertip still has no feeling. The tendons on the lower point of the joint have been permanently damaged - so be advised!!

[TheFatboy]

Well, if you want a cleaner release, I suggest you start shooting with a thumb ring. I too hurt after shooting with 2 fingers.

[coaster500]

I've only been shooting traditional bows a short time. I have the full gambit of gloves, tabs, some modified some not. Tried 3 split, three under, two under and split two. So far the most accurate and consistent method for me is 2 split with a modified tab or glove. I can tell if I am putting to much pressure on my top finger as I will start to get a callous on the nock side of the trigger finger. I don't have any problems with numbness but my heaviest set up is 50#s at my draw.

Bateman makes a two finger tab. I made my own glove.

[bawana bowman]

I've shot split finger (2 under) for probably 45 years now. Just recently was thinking about when I first started shooting, shot 2 finger split first 4 or 5 years. When I was really young. Decided to go out and give it a try, just to see if it made a difference.
My groups tightened up and it actually feels more natural than 2 under split!
Decided to continue shooting this way for a while,
I'm also shooting an 80# Longbow and it's not causing any problems with my fingers.

[Rob Fin]

On a hunting trip this past October I gave myself a nasty cut on my index finger while washing my hunting knife. I immediately thought I would not be able to shoot for the remaining 2 or 3 days of the trip. Then I tried shooting two under (middle & ring finger) and not using my index finger. I actually pointed my index finger parallel to the arrow when at full draw. It actually worked very well and though I didn't get another opportunity at a deer that trip, I was not concerned that my shooting was affected within the short ranges I was set up for. I wouldn't permanently switch to shooting two fingers, but I was surprised at how well it worked.

[MattR]

The two-fingered release is probably the earliest documented method of string-drawing. It has been described in use by early Eskimo bow-hunters and going back into antiquity, it appears in Sassanian royal pictures. The Sassanid Empire or Sasanian Empire, known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr, was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from AD224 to 651.The Sassanid Empire was recognized as one of the two main powers in Western Asia and Europe alongside the Roman Empire and later the Byzantine Empire for a period of more than 400 years.
This release method is also recorded in the Bayeux Tapestry circ AD 1067, depicting the 'Norman Conquest' of England. There are so many medieval depictions of this manner of shooting, that it has been generally accepted to have been the 'standard' loose method in medieval archery, made notorious by the French after the battles of Poitier, Crecy & Agincourt where captured English archers would have their 2 drawing fingers cut off to prevent them shooting again. The English archers took to defiantly waving their 2 drawing fingers at the French army and this has continued today in the much used 'V' hand gesture. So if you shoot 2-finger split, you can be proud, you have a hell of a lot of history behind you!

[dragonheart]

My understanding in history was that the middle finger was cut off and this where "shooting the bird" originated.  The english archers displayed the middle finger to the French to let them know we can shoot you and as a defiance.

[1screagle]

I have always played with the idea of 2 under and felt I had good results but didn't want to mess with something that was working. Reading these posts gives me a strong desire to try one above and one below. Later today I think I will. I shoot 60# bows most often and wonder how it will feel. I liked pulling with 3 finger split and as I come to anchor there is little pressure on the top finger. I use the top finger to touch my cheek bone as an indication I've come to full draw and it works for me, but this two finger has my interest peaked.

[MattR]

Dragoheart, like the idea, sadly there appear to be no documented cases of only the middle finger being cut off, this anecdote is often associated with the 'pluck yew' and 'giving the bird' myths, the latter is supposed to be based on the suggested use of long Pheasant feathers used as fletchings. More typically, goose wing feather were used and formed the base for the medieval guilds set up to control price & quality. Medieval warfare was such a brutal affair that I'm sure there were lots of bits of people cut off in revenge...not all of them above the waistline! There were also a number of early medieval punishments for poaching with a bow in the Royal forests & parks, these started with a lesser penalty dependant on the animal shot, a fine, increasing to fingers and hands being removed, blinding, castration & death. Some foresters were empowered to hang a poacher by his own bowstring & return his severed hand to the landowner to prove his capture! Anyway...quite glad I can eat venison and wave at the French without having bits chopped off...that's progress for ya!

[motorhead7963]

my dad shoots two fingers split, I tried it but it just don't feel right, it's not too bad on my 47#er but everything else it's three split for me.