Belegarth archery - finger catching

[Black Cat]

I've been pretty good at Belegarth archery, but I still have a problem with catching my fingers on the string occasionally when I release, making my shot miss.

How do I prevent this from happening?

[Juicer]

It usually won't happen if you are only using the tips of your fingers to pull the strings. If you use the whole hand, or the lower knuckles, you can run into this problem. Start working on fingertip release.

[To'Gur]

try an archery glove

[Black Cat]

try an archery glove

I did. It went out. The ends of the glove stretched out so my fingers slipped out of the end of the glove. It made using it kind of pointless. It worked for a while though.

Hopefully I can find a more durable archery glove or find a normal pair of gloves that don't have excess material on the ends of the fingers.

[debuenzo]

a golf glove or baseball glove might work

[Olos]

With the glove, you are either using one that is not sized right, or you are not using it right. I prefer the ones from "Damascus" that cover the entirety of your 3 fingers rahter than the PSE or other type ones that only give a little covering on your outer joints.

Make sure that the part of your finger contacting the string is on the last part of each finger, slightly closer to the joint than to the tip of your finger, or if you look at it from the side, about where your fingernail ends.

But yeah, it's something you are doing wrong, I've been using archery gloves for 8+ years now, with bows much heavier than allowed in Belegarth, and have had no problems with them unless they were sized wrong.

[Soo Ma Tai]

I have little trouble with that, but I fire with my thumb on the top o the nock and my first two fingers holding the string below the nock.

[ICARUS]

any recomendation for a fore arm guard both myself and my girlfriend get arm slap almost every time we release and that aint fun. I was considering making two bracers one for me and one for her then just putting them on so the laces are outward. Figured that would look a little more period

[ashling]

If you are bending your wrist correctly, that shouldn't happen. I learned it the hard way. But yes, a bracer should protect that area if you are so inclined.

[Outis]

If you are having trouble with catching your fingers you might try using a finger guard tab instead of an archery glove.


Shooting with one of these is remarkably different from a glove. I tend to have a better release when I use mine.

However there are a lot of drawbacks, especially for combat. It's harder to knock arrows with a tab on. It's a bit harder to hold a draw since the string tends to slide off the tab easily. Also it might get in the way if you draw your sword. I feel they are best suited to target archery. But it might help with your release and they are pretty cheap ($6) so you might try it.

[Olos]

any recomendation for a fore arm guard both myself and my girlfriend get arm slap almost every time we release and that aint fun. I was considering making two bracers one for me and one for her then just putting them on so the laces are outward. Figured that would look a little more period

Grab a bar, pen, sword, whatever.

Hold arm in front of you. Mark position of your forearm.

Twist arm until the bar/pen/sword whatever is at 45 degrees, upper right to lower left. Mark position of forearm.

See how when you twist your arm, the natural shape of your forearm bends out and away from your string.

Your hand should be at about this angle, with the bow resting vertically just inside the meat of your thumb.

I stopped using an armguard about 8 years ago, and have very rarely hit my arm since then. Also, when I hit my arm, I know instantly that I need to correct my grip If this seems a little unclear, feel free to pm me, or contact me on messenger, or come up and say hi at spring war(i have a pic under my name on the wiki)

[Keberos]

If you really need help with archery practice try going to a local conservation club or archery shop and get some individual help. I've been working at one for about 7 years now and i've answered tons of questions to both sport archers, hunters, and yes.. us boffer fans alike.

pretty much all the adivce here is good, however i would not reccomend an arm guard only because if the string is hitting your forearm your grip is wrong. and its much easyer to detect that (ie the string leaving marks on your arm) with out a guard than with one. Yea its tough learning, but its effective.


-DV-

[Malagant]

Whoh, that's really interesting. I've always shot my bow by pinching my thumb and index finger on the knock, pulling it back and releasing. I'm usually pretty accurate. Is using your index finger and middle finger better?