Purpose of a finger spacer?

[Kae]

Shock horror I hear you say, an archery related post! But I digress;

What would you think is the purpose of a finger spacer?
Now, I would always have suggested it's sole purpose was to spread the first and second finger slightly to stop arrow pinch (ok, a very basic idea of what I think anyway).
However, I have come across references in several places (Including Simon Needhams - Archery, the art of repetition) that the finger tab also helps tab/hand alignment.

I've never needed to use one, as my finger's aren't straight and naturally are perfectly aligned for arrow clearance, but would I benefit from using one to improve tab alignment? (Consistency is the name of the game, when all said and done).

All thoughts welcome...

Kae.

[geoffretired]

I have never found finger spacers any good for keeping my fingers off the arrow nock. I have very slim fingers that can easily bend round the normal spacer and still contact the nock. However they do locate the tab in relation to my fingers. Take the spacer away and the tab face can flop into all sorts of positions, especially when new and it hasn't bent into its used state.
A custom made spacer can keep the fingers off the nocks and give a consistent location between fingers and face of the tab.

[pHz]

i think i agree with geoff

i have a soma tab and the finger spacer on those is great for putting your fingers in the same position each shot (unlike other spacers ive tried it curves back towards your hand rather than away from it) - it just gives another point of positioning reference to get the tab consistent each shot

as for keeping fingers away from the nock ? - not sure as i use the frangilli approach where the index finger touches the the top of nock to again give a consistent position on the string

slainte : rob

[John (OSF)]

If I get an 'nock pincher' I usually wind some insulation tape on their 'spacer' as a temp measure just to increase the gap a bit. It's amazing the difference that this simple action can make

[Jerry Tee]

I would go a little further than Geoff the purpose of a finger spacer is ot allow you to fit the tab shelf and the spacer snugly to the top finger.Once this is fixed the the distance between the eye and the tab is fixed.

[EVC]

Today I found yet another use for the spacer: to keep the tab in place without needing the strap. At least it worked this way with the Soma Joomong (being the pinky hook as an extra holding point) that I tried today. It is rather difficult to extract the arrows from the boss with the tab on and it is fairly tiresome to take it off if the strap is tight.



Elder.

PS: My thanks to Jerry are extensive to Geoff BTH

[MATTeL]

Originally Posted by EVC

is rather difficult to extract the arrows from the boss with the tab on and it is fairly tiresome to take it off if the strap is tight.

Try adjusting the strap so it isn't so tight so you can take it off but tight enough to hold the tab in place, it only takes a moment or two to accomplish this.