swollen 2nd middle finger joint

[BigBiker]

Hi

I'm right handed and the 2nd joint of my middle finger of my right hand is sore and swollen. The only thing I can think of that may have caused this is archery. I use an A&F finger tab.

Thanks


Kevin

[Good Sir Pete]

In general i would recommend getting a better tab - the A&F is good for a beginner but ultimately very limiting. I would also recommend asking a doctor

[wingate_52]

I started of with an A&F tab, but have used Cavalier ones, due to theit better ergonomic design....for me. No joint problems .

[TWIW]

Nothing wrong with the original A&F tab (the one with the metal platform) .

With the 2nd joint being sore I am surprised you think it is archery related, unless you shoot with bent fingers. Ideally the back of your hand should be flat from the 1st joint backwards. Swelling in a single joint could result in the majority of the weight being held on thet one finger. What other sports/activities do you do? Get a coach/experienced archer to look at your hand when you draw your bow.

Go and see your GP.

[piphil]

I had some soreness in my middle finger joint with the A&F tab. Normally it'd be fixed if I "popped" the joint (I'm one of these annoying b*****ds who clicks every joint in their body), but it caused some weakness in my string grip, and generally throbbed during shooting.

I'd often find with the A&F my middle and ring finger would slip down. This put more pressure on the index finger, which coupled with the thin leather caused me to have an enormous callous on my index. On top of that, because my ring finger slipped, it would expose the top of that to the force of the string, and the end of the finger would go numb after a long period shooting. I believe this was due to some (thankfully temporary) nerve damage talked mentioned above in this thread.

The slippage would also push the middle finger down from the top, probably putting lateral stress on the joint and causing the aforementioned pain.

I've since switched to a Some Neonine tab (£7.50, Quicks SH30), which is the cheaper brethren of the Soma Saker II tab (£26.50, Quicks SH20). This has thicker leather, which helps, but also has a little finger hook. I've found using the finger hook has stabilised my string grip, and I no longer have any problems with finger pain or wear.

I do have to say that the Neonine isn't the best engineered tab in the world - it's very plastic feeling, and the mechanism for adjusting the shelf height is badly thought out - you can only use one screw to secure the shelf at a useful height, which caused it to move around. Eventually I just glued it tight. However, it's a nice steeping stone to the more expensive tabs with little finger hooks as it's about as expensive as an A&F, so no real loss if you don't like it. I'd certainly recommend it, although be prepare to mod it...

Let me also note that the A&F is a very good tab, which I went through 3 of over 3 years, and I've seen many people use it to great effect. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me...

[Mistake]

Originally Posted by Good Sir Pete

In general i would recommend getting a better tab - the A&F is good for a beginner but ultimately very limiting.

Some of my indoor and outdoor scores would disagree with you here, though i am thinking about changing due to some of the issues that piphil mentiond (thick callous) and the think leather gets a bit painful with 46lbs on the fingers

[Good Sir Pete]

Originally Posted by Mistake

Some of my indoor and outdoor scores would disagree with you here, though i am thinking about changing due to some of the issues that piphil mentiond (thick callous) and the think leather gets a bit painful with 46lbs on the fingers

I'm not saying it can't be used to good effect - i shot rather well with mine, as have many others i know - but i also found that moving on to a cavalier had a huge affect on my shooting (in the right direction ). With the A&F i just couldn't feel the string as well, and i also found the finger spacer quite uncomfortable. Being honest though the most annoying thing was the bloody elastic thing keeping it on kept coming out with every few shots and was driving me crazy!!!

[archer_thom]

Definitely see a GP, as that could be tendon damage and it should be checked over very very soon.

I'm also surprised at this injury being archery related, but there does seem to be an issue with the A&F tab in that it allows too deep a grip on the string. Essentially while the string should be in the first joint, an A&F (particularly if its on the large side) COULD allow you to place the string in the second joint. Unlikely but possible.

There is one other issue with the current A&F tab which is that the leather layers feel thin and are both hard, and I originally started using a Cavalier instead because of finger pain with the A&F.

Having thought about what could cause such swelling, then assuming you're shooting more or less correctly then it is possible (I think this was what Piphil was suggesting) that your finger has been bent around the separator, which as I recall is rather small on the A&F. Either try having them further apart or try a different separator/tab.

[WhitehartFB]

Originally Posted by BigBiker

Hi

I'm right handed and the 2nd joint of my middle finger of my right hand is sore and swollen. The only thing I can think of that may have caused this is archery. I use an A&F finger tab.

Thanks


Kevin

Where do you place the string on your fingers/tab?

[Rekib]

Quote "Being honest though the most annoying thing was the bloody elastic thing keeping it on kept coming out with every few shots and was driving me crazy!!! "

Thats what the small brass fitting is for. Its to fix the elastic to the metal bar. I needed a replacement and Quicks had a drawer full from where people had left them when buying tabs not realising what they were for.

I have used A&F tabs for over 15 years and not had a joint problem.