Ring Finger Issues

[Trenton G.]

Hi guys. So I've always been a bit heavy on my ring finger, even though I knew that I shouldn't be. It always felt natural to use it almost as much as my middle finger. Recently, it's been giving me some issues though, and reaching the point where after 25 arrows my finger is very sore, occasionally even developing a blister. It's making practice a bit miserable, and I'd really like to find a way to correct this problem. Is there anything I should focus on, change, etc? I can try and figure out how to get a video on here as well to show what I'm doing.

[McDave]

The fact that you're getting pain after just 25 shots indicates that there is probably more going on than just too much pressure on your ring finger.  You may be dragging the string on your ring finger.  This is caused by trying to consciously release the string rather than relaxing your fingers and letting the string push your fingers aside.  People who have this problem often have right misses that are not caused by plucking or creeping.  “Relaxing your fingers” doesn't mean telling your fingers to relax, or you would be back in the same problem of consciously trying to release the string.  It means a subconscious signal from your brain to your fingers to relax.  The shooter has his fingers hooked around the string at full draw, pulling to conclusion, and suddenly there is a “pop” when the arrow is gone, and the fingers are still hooked in the air.  It's as if the string cut through the fingers without damaging them.  Once you feel the pop, you realize it is a different feeling from the feeling of the string dragging on the fingers as you try to consciously release the shot.  Until you can feel the pop, you're kind of flying blind, but eventually you'll feel it, and once you can feel the difference, your body can make it happen again and again.

In the mean time, you have a blister on your ring finger, and can't shoot very well until that heals.  So this would be a good opportunity to improve your string grip.  To do this, put more of a hook into your index finger, and get to full draw however you want.  Keep that extra hook in your index finger after you are at full draw.  Consciously relax the tension in your ring finger until it is hardly there.  You will feel your ring finger move forward as you relax it.  This should help it to heal, as it should be relaxed enough not to drag on the string.  Once the ring finger is relaxed, keep pulling until the shot goes off, hopefully with a pop and not a drag, with tension mainly on the index finger and the middle finger.  Once you learn to do this, you can ease off on the extra tension on the index finger, but keep the ring finger relaxed.

[Trenton G.]

Hi Dave, thanks for the response. I agree with you that I am definitely dragging my ring finger. I have a rough idea of what the culprit is as well but I'm not positive. I use to shoot a American Leather Big Shot glove, which is really thick and doesn't really let you feel the string super well. I liked it because of the protection it gave to my fingers with my heavier bows, but both ones that I had developed really bad string grooves in the stalls after a year or two which made it impossible for me to get a clean release with them. To try and remedy that, I switched to a cheap, thin glove and got a much better release. This winter I got a new bow that I plan to use for some out west trips this fall, and it has a Mercury string on it. I really like it, but since the string is so small in diameter, I switched back to the thicker glove as it was too painful to shoot with the thinner glove. From there, my release, although never great, has gotten much worse. So I'm a bit torn if it's a form or equipment related issue. Possibly a bit of both?

I will work on putting a bigger hook in my index finger and practice with that for a bit. My blister is gone, and I pretty much just have a callous at this point. I've actually got a burn mark on my finger from it dragging so much. I've noticed what you said about the right misses, as that has been what has been happening lately. I'll work on try to get back to the "pop" feeling as well. I believe that I know what you are getting at, as I used to have that type of release. It just seems like the more I've shot over the years, the worse that stuff has gotten haha! Thanks for your help!

[Terry Green]

I'm not sure what Dragging the String means, but its most often a sign of torquing the string.