disengage the ring finger?

[gringol]

I had a long shooting session last night, and made my ring finger a little numb.  I shoot split, two under and one over.  I still wanted to shoot today, so I simply left my ring finger off the string.  My release felt cleaner, the bow got quieter, and my groups got tighter.  I really like the results.  Has anyone else tried 2 finger shooting?

I've heard that numbness in the ring finger is a sign of a form problem, and that I'll have to fix, but the fact that everything else seemed cleaner shooting 2 fingered makes me think there is more to this...

[Terry Green]

Yep...is your ring finger starts to hurt or builds up  a callous....you have some string torque issues (making a Z out of the string)...or your elbow is too high.  Most times its not the elbow but the torque

[gringol]

Thanks, Terry.  I'll have to pay more attention to the string torque.  A sore ring finger would suggest twisting the top of my had toward my face, right?

[mark land]

It's a very common problem for many people, have to use equal finger pressure on the string or you will end up with torque and inconsisten release.  Typical to either feel more pressure on the ring or index finger but be conscious about keeping equal pressure on all fingers and you will be more consistent.

[cahaba]

Terry hit the nail on the head! I struggled with this for awhile with my index finger and I finally overcame it last week. For me feeling what the string was doing in my fingers helped  with proper string pressure across the fingers

[Sirius Black]

I draw with 3 fingers, then at anchor I drop the ring finger ahead slightly. My release feels smoother and my anchor feels tighter and more consistant to the side of my face.

[moththerlode]

For me it is the third finger that I stugle with. At least with split. Three fings under and all is fine.

[FarmerMarley]

I'm working on the same issue. I have been having sore ring finger. Had some friends watch me and they said my elbow was high in the draw so pulling unevenly on the string.

I'm gonna practice with a mirror so I can see what my elbow is doing.

[gorillabows]

http://198.170.107.188/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2091

Copy and paste this link, and you will see some two finger release photos that are pretty interesting........

[gringol]

I've been practicing taking pressure off the ring finger.  I'm still drawing with three, but leaving the ring finger loose.  It seems to be helping.  I checked my elbow in the mirror and it looks ok, about 9:30.  I'll post a form video one of these days.

[LongbowArchitect]

I also recently found that letting string pressure off my ring finger at full draw really improved my release and accuracy.  I experimented with shooting with my first two fingers only and had excellent releases but my hunting bow is too heavy of a draw weight for my two fingers to handle without the help of my ring finger.

[slowbowjoe]

I shoot split finger also, and barely touch the string with my ring finger these days. I draw with that fingertip touching the string, applying next to no pressure, and gradually let it slip to barely touch the side of the string at full draw, with no pressure at all on it. My middle finger has a deep hook on the string, and I guess around 75 or 80% of the hold, the top finger has the rest. Keeping the ring finger touching the string seems to help, but any pressure at all with it throws the shot .
Just what seems to be working with me, and my bow.

[njloco]

I shoot split and was also using a glove at the time and also had this problem a couple of years ago, I did develop the callous which seems to be slowly going away. My problem was a high elbow on the draw, I corrected this and also went to a tab. I also started to put most of the draw pressure on the middle finger when starting to draw, this seems to have stopped the problem.