Tight or relaxed grip on riser?

[Dogbyte]

if i grip by longbow too tight, then i feel handshock. if i do it right, there is none. im guessing all the force should be traveling through your hand down the bones in your fore arm, where it then is supported by should/arm muscle, and back/chest muscle.

the hand is really just gripping the bow enough to not drop it, or torque it in any way.  so to sum it up, im not sure! haha

only been shooting a little while, but i sure know when i grip it wrong, or shoot wrong. most of the weight is resting on the base of my thumb joint, or the heel of the hand.

[Bowwild]

Relaxed grip on all my bows. My fingers barely close around the grip so my mind will know I have it securely.

[elknutz]

Find what works for you, with arrows flying properly.  Repeat it.

[Winterhawk1960]

Originally posted by Killdeer:
Your bow will teach you how to hold it.      

.......and that folks is an absolute FACT !!!

I shoot a wide variety of both longbows and recurves. What Killie said is right on the money.

The correct way to hold "any" bow is the way it tells you it wants to be held. When it tells you, you'll remember.

Winterhawk1960

[Eugene Slagle]

I keep my recurves like I keep my woman.

My grip is light enough to feel unrestricted but with just enough tention to let her know that no matter what I will not let her fall.

[gobblegrunter]

Thanks for all the info everyone! I can barely wait for the bow to arrive in order to start figurin' all this out! I iimagine I'll start out with a relaxed grip similar to what I did with the wheelie. We'll see where it goes from there!

[-Achilles-]

I don't undertsand why you would need or want to grip it tight.Grip it tight and you will get every bit of handshock that bow has to offer.

[Eugene Slagle]

Originally posted by gobblegrunter:
Thanks for all the info everyone! I can barely wait for the bow to arrive in order to start figurin' all this out! I iimagine I'll start out with a relaxed grip similar to what I did with the wheelie. We'll see where it goes from there!

Depending on how relaxed your grip is with a compound, you may want to use a sling of some sort till you get the feel of your bow & how she likes to be touched.

I keep a few finger slings handy for just that occasion, or a home made wrist sling would do the trick too.