Advice Neede - Drawing a Recurve Bow

[Random_guy]

It's bad because it's a very bad callous, and on occasions when i've forgotten to tape it up with mircopore it's split, or worse have developed a nasty blood blister. That and our own mister mcgibbon has looked at it and gone 'ah, it shouldn't do that....'

[geoffretired]

Sometimes, a finger problem leads to skin damage. When the fingers are sore, that can lead, in turn, to a poor release in an attempt to reduce the pain. the poor release can then lead to even more damage. It can snowball.
I may have been given poor advice, but I was told that taping up the skin made it softer and more likely to sustain damage.

[Random_guy]

Well i left it untaped for as long as possible, but then when it got too bad i had to tape it up or stop shooting all together. I'm going to try a larger tab to see if it's a problem caused by the tab not covering the fingers properly and thus causing friction between the string and my skin on release.

[geoffretired]

There comes a time when something has to be done to break the cycle of events, otherwise it snowballs into something serious.Sometimes the only solution is to stop for a while, let things heal and start again.When the re-start begins, there needs to be a plan to stop the same cycle from repeating.
I am not saying your situation is that bad.
Breaking the cycle can take different forms. You are going to try one of them with a different tab. If friction, rather than pure pressure is the problem, a different tab may be the answer. Sometimes the friction is generated between the fingers and the tab,that is, the tab moves roughly against the fingers on release ( sometimes a bad fit can result in the tab rubbing the fingers)
Other options include, changing the way the loose is executed or the way the string is held.A loose that is executed with the drawing arm out of alignment can put extra strain on the fingers and cause damage.

Thanks everyone. Why did I ever think that taking up recurve again would be a good idea?

[LineCutter]

Finger anatomy (length, joint position & flexibility to some degree) will determine where the string lies on your fingers when they are in position for drawing.

Elbow/wrist position at full draw will then modify the direction of pull on those fingers. The higher the angle of pull the more weight on the lower finger(s).

I think that almost any combination of callus is possible given these variables. Index & middle or (like me) index & ring finger being the more typical. Davros had callus on his middle & ring fingers IIRC.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Random_guy

Well i left it untaped for as long as possible, but then when it got too bad i had to tape it up or stop shooting all together. I'm going to try a larger tab to see if it's a problem caused by the tab not covering the fingers properly and thus causing friction between the string and my skin on release.

My personal experience is that the callous on my ring finger isn't caused by the release, but by the holding. I can generate callouses just through reversals, with no actual shooting involved. Damage like that though, I've only had once before: blistering under the callous. At the time I blamed it on the weather (very hot and sticky) but I suspect it was more to do with me as it's never recurred. Tape's probably a good idea. I know some people recommend tape as a matter of course.
If you look at the back of your tab, it's generally clear where you fingers normally lie (the leather darkens). I'd usually recommend a bit of margin at the bottom edge (undarkened leather), not so much to prevent string contact, but because the edge of the tab digging into your finger can cause problems.

My ring finger callous goes across the pad, and a little along the bottom edge - which reflects the main points of stress at full draw - where does your damage normally lie?

Forgive me if Ian's already said all this to you... See you along at London Archers sometime soon...?

[Random_guy]

The callous is on the bottom edge and tip of my finger, very similar to the pic on sagi a while back. I'm pretty certain it's contact with the string as a) it doesn't get worse when i do reversals and b) if you look at my tab the callous appears just after the leather finishes. If i remember rightly the guy on sagi used the same tab as me (cavalier) and i'm starting to wonder if they make the tab a bit too narrow, causing the bottom of the finger to be exposed...

Ian thought taking a deeper hook would solve the problem, but it hasn't. I'm down at kpg tonight, hopefully the field archers won't take up the whole of the field...

[joetapley]

Many archers don't use the ring finger for holding - it just slips off the string. Could stick with a 2 finger draw temporarily till the damage heals up.

[Random_guy]

Unfortunately i tend to use my ring finger quite alot, as due to it being alot longer than my index finger the string sits behind the first knuckle on it, rather than on the pad which is where it sits on my index finger. I find if i put too much weight on my index finger i get tension in my forearm, again because the string sits on the pad of the finger...