Two Finger release for a target recurve archer

[King Custard]

Originally Posted by Kae

I shoot with all the weight on my first and second finger, with the third finger sitting against the string but not actually wrapping around it.
This means that my hand position is constant, as without some sort of third finger reference, it is easy to twist the draw hand/arm.

I don't shoot too badly

Kae.

Thanks Kae,
An excellent point - the finger reference. I have at times suffered from exactly that - a twisting of the hand putting another inconsistent 'kink' into the string on release.

I've shot a few dozens in the garden now as to begin testing with a cut out tab and a redundant ring finger...with a good improvement on grouping overall at just 20 m- I'm almost out of white target pins as much of the time the arrows were packed together like matches in a new box leaving the pins little room to hide. those odd few that didn't want to stack up with the others may well be due to that lack of reference.
Tomorrow for further testing.....
1) ring finger reaching for adam's apple for reference
2) another tab face- cut between middle and third finger so that placement of ring finger and pressure is independent of middle finger.

Biggest annoyance so far is the worsening of sightmark, I'd rather not adjust the bow just yet- last time I adjusted the tiller on a bow it took 3 weeks to sort out!

Thanks to everyone for your comments and input - I may well post my test results after next sundays Jack Frost 3doz at 30yds.
Please keep any further comments coming cos I shall obsess over this until it's right!



just love that moticon!

[Kae]

From a biomechanical point of view, be carefull of how you bend fingers!



Starting from left to right;
The first finger (not thumb) moves independently, but the following two fingers use the same tendon for movement (I hope my biomechanics lecturer doesn't read this!). If you put your hands together, and fold both of your 2nd fingers inbetween them, you can't move your ring finger, which shows this well.

At high poundages, I would be very wary of doing anything but keeping my fingers straight (I shoot 50#) as you could damage your lower arm muscles/tendons.

Just a thought, Kae.

[King Custard]

50lbs on your fingers??? WOW I'd wanna use both hands for that!

I have just mimicked 20 set-up routines, extending the ring finger to the adam's apple for a very uncomfortable sensation a couple of inches behind the wrist joint on the lower edge of the drawing forearm! - and thats with just a rubber band, much less than the meagre 36lb plus that I like to pull.

You're right -overextending mr ringfinger for a reference point isn't going to work. there's too much conflict there for it to be comfortable or reliable.

mmmmmmm... Im not going compound right now, and I dont fancy chopping it off. Looks like I may end up with just tape on the third finger and a chopped up tab. Maybe the 2 x split tab will work out

Failing that I could learn to do it PROPERLY.


Yesterdays thinking --If you're not into scenery...why not find a direct route?
Anecdote for tomorrow.....
There is no mountain like challenge that man cannot master whether his path be to get over it, go under it, or around it. When all other routes seem to be difficult - then maybe he should consider just plain going Straight Through it

[Kae]

It may sound ludicrously heavy, but I'm 20, and I've shot since I was 14, so I've built up the muscles as I've gone along, so it feels easy.

I'm not trying to put you off experimenting, just pointing out the limitations of our meagre bodies, that was all. The hands are limited in what they can do, and there is a reason that we draw and hold the string in the way that we do.

I would of thought your neck would have to be quite long to use your ring finger in the way that you mention, and I find that if I hold my hand out straight, then try to touch my palm with my ring finger, it feels painful. I also have to bend my hand at the knuckles, and the other two top fingers have to bend also, thus throwing out your hand alignment.


Definectly very interested in what your proposing, although I think you may be going down a well trodden path, I'd be interested in your findings.

Kae.

Originally Posted by Kae

From a biomechanical point of view, be carefull of how you bend fingers!



Starting from left to right;
The first finger (not thumb) moves independently, but the following two fingers use the same tendon for movement (I hope my biomechanics lecturer doesn't read this!). If you put your hands together, and fold both of your 2nd fingers inbetween them, you can't move your ring finger, which shows this well.

At high poundages, I would be very wary of doing anything but keeping my fingers straight (I shoot 50#) as you could damage your lower arm muscles/tendons.

Just a thought, Kae.

That is a very good description (even I cold follow it) and as I'm upping my poundage again this year was of great interest to me thanks Kae

[Jerry Tee]

I shoot one over and one under I draw with three and drop the bottom finger off. I am only holding 24 lbs at full draw. Nocking point will change with the difference in string pressure. If you want to find some thing to do with the thrid finger then touch it point to point with the thumb that will keep it out of the way.

[King Custard]

Hi Jerry,
That's what I'm intending - one over, one under.
Can I please ask how you have your tab set up?
I've cut an old one down to form a 'cutout hook' for the ring finger to sit in and so that there's enough leather face to protect the nerve beneath the middle finger.
I personally found that not cutting the unneeded leather away led to more inconsistency trying to tuck the ring finger behind it.

As for todays hour or so of testing... well - inconclusive I'd say, where previously there was promise....just one of those days when the bow didn't sound right, likely due to an altered release.

I haven't yet struck off the idea that many many people have tried all this before - and then settled for the 3 fingered release rather than persevere and learn to shoot with their new release/hand form.
I - on the other hand - am an arogant sod and wont give up until i'm sure that there's absolutely nothing in it for me!

[ThePinkOne]

Good pic Kae.

On a similar note I am finding that how I put my paw into my release aid (hand-held) also makes a difference. I have always shot a four-finger release as I like somewhere to park my little finger and with a 50lb peak/hard binary cam you pull a high weight for a distance, so more fingers spreads the load.

However, I have also experimented in how deep I hook the release aid into my fingers and so on- it can make a difference to my arm tension and therefore my BT and the release. After a few weeks of experimenting, I now have most weight in the draw on my middle and ring fingers, with some contribution from little and index finger. I get a much more relaxed forearm at full draw with this, and also if I take the index finger too deep I use it too much and I get an ache sometimes- also cured now I have shifted the release position in my hand. The new hand position also seems to give me a more consistent reference at full draw.

Mind you, I had to put elastoplast tape in my index finger for a couple of weeks to make it near-impossible for me to grip the finger into the release aid, the slippiness of the fabric made it easier to align my hand in the release aid as I was setting up the shot.

P.

[Jerry Tee]

I use an AF platform tab, I have cut the face to about half way across the ring finger . That leaves plenty to go round the middle finger. I have also cut the metal plate to allow my third finger to go round it.I use a thick spacer and a large slot. These last two changes i have amde due to the string angle on my compound so you may not need to do that.

[Big Boy Blue]

Its been interesting reading the thread as I noticed a short time ago that our club captain shoots with 2 fingers. I must have done a bit of a double take as he asked what I was looking at. For him its the most comfortable way to shoot and as his Portsmouth scores are in the 570's.

As with all things in archery whatever works for you.