A question about Tabs

[Witchie Poo Cat]

Hi Guys

My new tab arrived this morning (along with my nice shiney new arrows! yay ) and have managed to find all the different star shaped screwdriver ends to put it together. Ive assembled my bow to try it out and it feels fine, nice and soft in the hand. However, I have noticed something instantly that I can see being a problem so want to know if its my technique.

Ok, normally I wear a glove so when I postition my fingers on the string I can pretty much put them where I like to ensure no nock pinching. However, with the tab (which has a finger spacer on the back) I notice that once you put the tab on and tighten the loop, hook your fingers around the plate that the top finger points down towards the next two fingers which looks as though its going to cause pinching.

Its a bit hard to judge if it will actually pinch since the leather is going to need trimmed back. My worry is that if I trim the leather, the string is going to rub against the underside of the top finger and cause a blister - the exact reason I chose a glove over a tab to begin with.

Does anyone else notice this when using a tab? Is it normal? Im worried that although the tab will solve the string digging in pain and help with anchoring that Im now going to create a new problem of nock pinching.

Any tips/advice much appreciated.

Thanks as always

Witchie Poo Cat

[napolienne]

Trim the tab a little at a time, just to make sure you don't take too much off. Its pretty common for people to customise their tabs in this way, I've done it, and most of our seniors have. Basically because tabs only come in three sizes, they are never going to be exactly right for you, hence the need to trim/faff with it. Once you've shot with it for a while, you'll probably find that the tab sets to your hook shape anyway, so no rubbing there.

Originally Posted by Witchie Poo Cat

Hi Guys


Ok, normally I wear a glove so when I postition my fingers on the string I can pretty much put them where I like to ensure no nock pinching. However, with the tab (which has a finger spacer on the back) I notice that once you put the tab on and tighten the loop, hook your fingers around the plate that the top finger points down towards the next two fingers which looks as though its going to cause pinching.

Its a bit hard to judge if it will actually pinch since the leather is going to need trimmed back. My worry is that if I trim the leather, the string is going to rub against the underside of the top finger and cause a blister - the exact reason I chose a glove over a tab to begin with.

Does anyone else notice this when using a tab? Is it normal? Im worried that although the tab will solve the string digging in pain and help with anchoring that Im now going to create a new problem of nock pinching.

Any tips/advice much appreciated.

Thanks as always

Witchie Poo Cat

[joetapley]

I wouldn't worry about the top finger. It's contact between the finger below the nock and the nock that causes pinching/arrow lift problems. Just make sure there's a gap between the nock and the finger/leather below it - it's quite common and no problem to have the top finger or leather in contact with the nock.

Im worried that although the tab will solve the string digging in pain

There shouldn't be a "string digging in" pain. Best guess is that you're positioning the string on the joints - this can cause injury. Methods vary but what I do is first position the string mid-way between the joints of the second finger. The other fingers just match to this position.

[GreenSteve]

my example may help WPC
i haven`t had a problem with the top finger contacting the arrow but the 2nd finger below the arrow does slide up into the arrow taking it off the rest
what i have to do to stop this is conciously keep firm pressure with my 3rd finger
if the 3rd finger relaxes and is not involved in the draw and i`m only using 2 fingers then the 2nd finger slides up and arrows drops off rest

[geoffretired]

The top finger does get pressed down onto the nock for some people. When the arrow sets off, it rubs and can cause a sore spot.
I've never shot with a glove but can see why you would use one to protect that part of the top finger. What would happen if you used the part of the glove that fits on the top finger and the tab? Just a thought.

[buzz lite beer]

There is a notch in the metal face plate of the tab, just cut the face and backing to the same width(parrallel) all the way to the edge, you will have enough material left to protect your fingers but not so much that its interfereing with a good clean loose.

[PaulT]

This may be of limited help after you have already got your Cav tab but there are some tabs that come with 'flaps' of leather placed to get between finger and top/bottom of arrow. This type is used by Michele Frangilli (one of the worlds top Recurve shooters for those not in the know) who actually advocates touching the arrow with both fingers as an aid to consistency. Frangilli was, probably, the only archer to have ever shot to a world class level with a shooting glove in the modern era!

However when trimming your tab you may consider leaving one layer a bit longer to add this type of protection - or geoffretired's solution sounds like a clever one to me.

[Witchie Poo Cat]

Thanks guys. Im going to shoot with it a little and see how its affecting things. Ive been having a play around with it and looks to me like it would be best if I trim from the top of the bottom section, rather than the bottom of the top section - thereby avoiding the potential rubbing of the underside of the index finger.

If this fails then yes, I could chop a finger off the glove and use that with the tab, fab idea.

BTW, just out of curiosity I tried my tab with my old "cheapy" arrows. OMG, the nocks are HUGE and dont fit in the tab! haha I guess its lucky I got the tab along with new arrows otherwise I would have trimmed far too much off and be back at square one !!

Lovely weather for shooting today, pity I have to wait til hubby gets home from work to get up there I really do need to learn to drive one of these days

[wingate_52]

Flatten the leather out between shooting. Apply a little bit of talcom powder between the two pieces of leather.