technique for pulling a longbow

[alanesq]

I finally got to try out my new longbow last night :-)

It turns out that the flat bow I have been training with is a bit of a handful and as far as you can get from the ideal beginners bow – I lent it to a longbower and it made a mess of his arm like it does mine, it also has a hell of a kick when you shoot it - So after this my longbow is an absolute dream to shoot !
Not knowing any different I thought this was all normal and expected much worse with a longbow!

I used the straight arm pulling technique and I have experienced no pain at all (so I will stick with this)
I agree with the resting the bow on the knuckle of the thumb, as my bow has been striking my arm exactly where your photo shows it will hit with my original hand position.

So all I have to do now is figure out how to hit the target ;-)

[alanesq]

getting on well now - even hitting the target most of the time :-)

my bracing height is very low at the moment, how do I adjust this?
is it just a matter of twisting the string (like a recurve) or do I have to try and adjust the knot where the string attaches to my bow (self bow)

[NoWay]

Twist the string.

[Mad Archer]

It looks to me from the two pictures posted that there is a clear difference in the way the archers have set their bow shoulder. If you shoot with a tense front shoulder (lifted up and pushed forward), you won't get a good clearance between the string and bracer. It's important to have the shoulder relaxed and rotated back, and then to take the weight on the shoulders, squeezing the shoulders together as you draw. You don't want to move the shoulder under load - it's a ball and socket joint and in the longer term it won't do it any good.

From my reading of the photos, both archers have a straight wrist in the bow arm, but the second picture benefits from a better bow shoulder position.

In short, start with your shoulder in the right place before you draw and don't let it come up as you draw. Two things may help to get the right feel. Firstly, as an exercise, try lifting your shoulders right up to your ears with your arms by your side. Really push hard for about 5 seconds. Then drop them suddenly and lift your arms up (the classic Learnardo square circle image of a man with his arms extended). Hopefully, the process should leave you with relaxed shoulders before you raise your arms. and so help you to get the feel right when you pick up the bow. Secondly, if you are T-drawing the bow you can raise the bow hand just above shoulder level and set your shoulder. Then drop the hand slightly to avoid an overhead draw.

[Jerry Tee]

Well I'll be blow'd ,they built that fort quickly.

[English Bowman]

Originally Posted by Mad Archer

It looks to me from the two pictures posted that there is a clear difference in the way the archers have set their bow shoulder. If you shoot with a tense front shoulder (lifted up and pushed forward), you won't get a good clearance between the string and bracer. It's important to have the shoulder relaxed and rotated back, and then to take the weight on the shoulders, squeezing the shoulders together as you draw. You don't want to move the shoulder under load - it's a ball and socket joint and in the longer term it won't do it any good.

From my reading of the photos, both archers have a straight wrist in the bow arm, but the second picture benefits from a better bow shoulder position.

In short, start with your shoulder in the right place before you draw and don't let it come up as you draw. Two things may help to get the right feel. Firstly, as an exercise, try lifting your shoulders right up to your ears with your arms by your side. Really push hard for about 5 seconds. Then drop them suddenly and lift your arms up (the classic Learnardo square circle image of a man with his arms extended). Hopefully, the process should leave you with relaxed shoulders before you raise your arms. and so help you to get the feel right when you pick up the bow. Secondly, if you are T-drawing the bow you can raise the bow hand just above shoulder level and set your shoulder. Then drop the hand slightly to avoid an overhead draw.

Are you talking about the two pictures in my post, or Gino's post and mine?

If it's the two in mine, then the shoulder position is the same, because both photos are of me! One I held the bow correctly and the other with a "recurve style grip" to show the difference

Daniel

[ratty]

Originally Posted by English Bowman

Are you talking about the two pictures in my post, or Gino's post and mine?

If it's the two in mine, then the shoulder position is the same, because both photos are of me! One I held the bow correctly and the other with a "recurve style grip" to show the difference

Daniel

do you draw to the ear medieval style?

[English Bowman]

Originally Posted by ratty

do you draw to the ear medieval style?

Not normally, but it depends on why I am shooting. If I'm shooting to hit a target I shoot from the corner of the mouth. If I am shooting a war bow, (which I don't do that often) for distance then I will draw further.

I don't believe that a medieval archer would have used a draw to the ear all the time. A side of face anchor is more accurate, and would have probably been used for hunting or other situations where accuracy is more important than outright power, the draw to the ear may have been used for clout / war shooting.

Saying that there is no proof of how they shot in the past, Ascham described different methods of shooting in Toxopholus, and I feel it is a mistake to describe one style or another as medieval.

Daniel

[gino]

Daniel I'm afriad I have to disagree, but let's be clear about this, we're now talking about opinions here and not facts.
If you look at plenty of images/paintings from the late medieval period there are lots of examples of archers drawing to the ear or chest when shooting in war or even when hunting. Also there are written accounts where archers are described as pulling the arrow to their ear.
I see what you are saying about the anchor point and you are correct that referencing to a point on your face is an accurate method but if someone was to practise drawing back to the ear enough times they would develop their own anchor point through muscle memory. A few warbow archers I know shoot to the ear and are incredibly accurate, Steve Stratton for example. However, to do this requires lots of practise and a LOT of dedication to perfecting the technique, anchoring to the face would likely be easier for novices and if they want to then change their style afterwards they can adapt it.

[English Bowman]

I understand what you're saying there Gino, but I still believe that a mediaeval archer would use the technique that suited what they were doing best at the time.
When I shoot target I anchor under the chin, when I shoot field I anchor at the side of my face, and for the very short shots sometimes I don't even come to full draw. When shooting for distance I over-draw and come to the ear. Why would a mediaeval archer using similar equipment do any different. Surely they'd use the best technique for the situation. Not only is it a more accurate anchor to the side of face, but there's less movement involved, making it less likely that the animal would see you.
I see your point about the pictures, but I've also seen pictures of battles where the archers are anchoring under the chin, (and yes these are mediaeval pictures) but I don't think that would have happened, very often, if at all. You'd want as much energy in the arrow as possible, and so would draw as far as you could, accuracy takes second place in that situation.
I also know that you can get very good using the draw to the ear, but these people are the exception rather than the rule, and if it was more accurate, we'd all be doing it!

Daniel