Griping the bow

[Sean B]

I have a bit of a scare going on right now.  I have severe pain in my bow hand thumb, which I've just had an MRI on and am awaiting the results. I'm wondering if the pain could be caused by pressure against that thumb when I shoot. I tend to like to have the shelf centered over the "crook" in my hand.  about the knuckle where the thumb joins the hand.  I can turn my hand in a bit to where the shelf is more centered over the "web" of my hand, but I tend to either catch my sleeve or get some arm slap.

Do you think that I could have a better grip on my bow?  I shoot a recurve with a standard "recurve" grip. thanks in advance.

[BobCo 1965]

I've heard of people shooting in this manner with a longbow but not a recurve. The below pic shows that major pressure points on the hand where the recurve needs to be held while at full draw. Remember to rotate the elbow to both give you a better bone alignment and to avoid clearance issues. Hope you're feeling better!

 

[Sean B]

Thanks Bob.  That is about where I've been gripping the bow. Now, I'm shooting Black Widow's standard grip, which is some what of a high wrist grip I'd say, but not real high.
I guess I'll just have to see what the Surgeon says on Monday.  I'm just afraid I wont be able to shoot for awhile-ESP with turkey season coming fast!

[Earthdog]

You could try a lower grip.

I had a bow with what was ment to be a medium grip but it felt all wrong to me and caused some pain due to loading up on one spot on my thumb base rather than spreading the pressure evenly.

Hope it works out for you.
ED.

[Sean B]

Earthdog-The lower grip does put less pressure on my thumb, but to me, it doesn't feel as comfortable. I guess its a matter of getting used to it.  I have a doctors appointment on Monday.  Hopefully the shooting isn't the cause of the pain.
Thanks

[Hopewell Tom]

I just had an "Eureka" moment with my bow grip. After reading Charlie Lambs story about hunting with Fred Bear, I was looking at my hand and the positioning on the grip and how close the arrow is to my hand(ala Fred) and I noted for the first time(it seems) the fitted aspect of my recurve grip. I rotated my hand a bit(LH bow)to get a better fit for my thumb,which moved the first joint of "peter pointer" across the front of the bow about 3/4". The fit was much better, the bow was canted a bit away (I was looking at the rest a little more side on)and the string was out of "arm slap" range with my bow arm almost straight. Most importantly my first group of arrows with the new grip shrunk noticeably. And have been since. I'm new at this, so it may be old news, but just looking and playing at/with your grip for a few minutes may be helpful.
TOM

[Sean B]

Well....I went to the doctors, anbd had an MRI.  It turns out that it isn't the bow that is hurting my thumb.  All the cartilage wore out of the middle joint in my thumb. Its do to years of sports injuries.  I'm Scheduled for surgery on April 5th. They're saying that it will be a 3 to 6 month recovery.  I'll miss the turkey season for sure.  I have a bear hunt booked for the first week of the season in Maine.  I'm just hoping that I don't lose anything as far as shooting goes int the process. thanks for the help.

[eric-thor]

good luck bro

[Johan van Niekerk]

you could off course learn to shoot lefthanded  
I have a friend who had a shoulder op en instead of missing hunting season learned to shoot his compound by using his teeth and a piece of leather instead of a release aid. He even took a few animals like that!

[Sean B]

Thanks eric-thor

Johan, that thought crossed my mind.  I got to kick it around some.  Thanks