Thumb draw ??

Personally, I keep mine tucked in, but not tight.

You should not let the fingers hang loose as it spoils the crispness of the release. When drawing one arrow, hold another arrow near the point in the remaining three fingers and make sure that it does not fall to the ground during the release. That will help train you in the right technique.

In old Ottoman scripts pressing the last three fingers firmly into the palm is recommended, especially when shooting heavy bows. What I'm doing is tucking them but not too firm. I seriously believe that it's up to the individual anatomic variations.

Adam's estimation about the draw weights of flight bows is 100-140 pounds. I've never shot that heavy bows.

Stephen
Thanks for the tip.I will give that a try.
jonR

Murat ?zveri wrote:

In old Ottoman scripts pressing the last three fingers firmly into the palm is recommended, especially when shooting heavy bows. What I'm doing is tucking them but not too firm. I seriously believe that it's up to the individual anatomic variations.

In Chinese archery, if the bow was very heavy, it was ok to use both index and middle finger to secure the thumb.

On folding the fingers into the palm, do not dig your nails into the palm: press in the with pads of the fingers.

In Middle Eastern archery there were two preferred ways of holding the three supporting fingers. The strongest was called the the lock of 69 by Taybugha and 63 by Arab Archery's author. This was where you firmly folded the three fingers into the palm so that the nails were not visible. The recommendation was that you clenched tighter in proportion to the strength of your bow.

The next most effective was to press the pads of the tips of the fingers into the palm of your hand. This was called 63 by Taybugha and 69 in Arab Archery. What this did was move the support for the tip of the thumb (the middle segment of the middle finger) further away so that you did not have to bend the thumb as far. This was useful for people who could not flex their thumbs sufficiently.

Stephen mentioned using two fingers over the thumb. In this case, you can press the thumb tip against the middle segment of the ring finger with the middle and index fingers over the thumb. This was known in the Middle East and was thought to be strong but slow.

From personal experience, I have found that the tighter I clenched the fingers with a heavy bow, the better release I achieved. I have only practised with up to eighty pound bows so I do not know what happens with heavier ones. The other thing I noticed is that after a while, it does not feel like you are squeezing that tightly. It is only when you unclench your fingers you feel the tension release.

Now you guys have given me an excuse to spend all day at the range checking all of the above advice and tips out. :D

jonR wrote:

Now you guys have given me an excuse to spend all day at the range checking all of the above advice and tips out. :D

You needed an excuse..? :shock:

Not really. But it's always nice to have ready when confronted with a "to do" list. :D

I admit I'm an mediterranean guy but willing to learn a proper thumb release. My main problem is the spine of the arrows? Either my technic is completely mistaken or my understanding.

When drawing the mediteranean way I'm using a certain spine and it works well, if I try the thumb release the arrow seems to be too soft. Can this be true, according my understanding of the process it shouldn't matter what kind of release you're using the spine has to fit with the strengh of the bow.

I tried different technics allready mentionned but still the same effect. The arrow rarely flies a straight line but wobbles. What do I have to improve and how?

I am practising with a 35#@28" bow drawing 29 to 30" and my arrows are spined almost 55#. Considered all the theoretical stuff I?ve read about this subject these arrows are way too hard.
But I can say: they fly perfectly straight and true! So my advice is to skip all advices and try something harder. :lol:

If the arrow is wobbling, the first thing I would look for is pressure from the index finger on the side of the nock. A little pressure is fine when you are drawing the arrow to keep it in place, but at full draw there should be none.

When you release, you have to make sure that the index finger opens first. If you are not pressing your thumb against the middle finger as the index finger opens, both digits flop about and interfere with each other.

You also have to make sure you elbow (of the drawing arm) is moving back as you release.

Generally, the spine of the arrows doesn't matter much as long as they are all the same. Using stiffer arrows can help until your release is under control. Very soft arrows can be shot, but it takes more concentration and is better for training purposes, when you think you need to improve your release. Arrows with less spine buckle more and are therefore less predictable. This doesn't matter in flight shooting where accuracy is not a consideration. However, too much flexing absorbs energy in order to straighten out and that reduces distance.

Bede has a good point. Many archers pull bows that are too heavy for them and they let the string creep forward just before the release. That's bad with a Mediterranean draw and much worse with a thumb draw.

Practice the thumb draw standing relaxed and shooting into the ground six feet in front of you, concentrating on keeping the movement backward and relaxing the hand when you release. (Bede says 'forefinger first', I say 'everything at once'.)

I assume also that you are both using the thumb draw and putting the arrow on the opposite of the grip from where you have it when you do the Mediterranean release.

I had heard that at least part of the archer's paradox comes from the twist put on the string, and its resultant effect on the arrow, by the draw used by the practitioner, whether thumb or mediterranean. Arrow spine might have little to do with it.

In 2000 years' worth of Chinese archery literature, arrow spine is not mentioned: only arrow weight.