Avoiding sore fingers

[Murray]

Sore fingers - vetwrap or boots cohesive support bandage works well - don't wrap tight. This stuff is self adhesive, just wrap it around 1.5-2 times and you're done!
Make sure you cover enough of your finger to keep it on... one to practice with before doing it in competition!

[toxovolos]

thank you.
already i'm getting sore fingers.....aaah!
volume is going up and just trying to stay healthy with my fingers.
i tend to ice most of the time after practice.

cheers.

[Stever's Rottweiler]

yer the bandage on your fingers does help it gets rid of some of the pain, but another way to get rid of sore fingers is try a different finger tab maybe or even different sorts of plasters and such.

[hypertigger]

i've been advised vet wrap, and surgical spirit.

string instrument players use surgical spirit as well for their instrument fingers (as opposed to the bow hand!)

[avalon]

I find that vetwrap gets a bit sticky in warmer weather, and if you've got it on all 3 fingers, sticks them together. I prefer 'mefix', as it's thinner and softer... (In my experience, although chemists stock it, you always have to ask for it, as it's never on the shelves...)
Surgical spirit and callouses are good... I spent a few weeks toughening up my fingers, only to not shoot for the last few weeks, so all my good work is gone

[alanadale]

when i started shooting a year ago i got a spigarelli confort tab and blindly used it thinking it was normal to get sore fingers and hard skin, especially on my drawing index finger on the side of the nail. about 2 months ago i decided to try a cavalier elite tab and although it felt strange to start with i have now got used to it and it is much better. the leather face and backing are that little bit thicker than the spigarelli and also the finger spacer is wider and in a different position. no more sore fingers, no more hard skin on index finger.

[wingate_52]

I have just put on a new backing leather on my Cavalier. Much better. They do wear out.

[jthain]

I use the old fashioned red elastoplast wrapped around my fingers so there is two layers of tape for protection. Appears to work fine. Doesn't get sticky and you can still feel the string.

[WhitehartFB]

Sore fingers can also be down to tension in the fingers and the forcing of the fingers open to release the string. If you just relax the fingers the string will just move them aside but when there is tension the string is forced around the fingers.

Another cause is not going deep enough with the finger placement of the string. Some archers hold the string on the tips of the fingers believing this leads to a cleaner release, in fact it's the opposite.

[cliveanne]

Originally Posted by Whitehart

Sore fingers can also be down to tension in the fingers and the forcing of the fingers open to release the string. If you just relax the fingers the string will just move them aside but when there is tension the string is forced around the fingers.

Another cause is not going deep enough with the finger placement of the string. Some archers hold the string on the tips of the fingers believing this leads to a cleaner release, in fact it's the opposite.

True, also the elbow could be too high, causing the fingers to be at an angle on the string. This tends to cause problems in the "Ring finger"