shooting advice

[deaner]

Does anyone have any advice for making sure that when shooting a bow, your grip is the same everytime so you don't torque the bow. After shooting a bit i can usually get my grip consistent but when i go to shoot another day my grip will be inconsistent. This wouldn't be any good if hunting where the first shot has to count.

[bighornrobin]

My advise is to not grip your bow. When you draw, the pressure of the bow on the palm holds it. Your fingers don't put any pressure on the grip and thus no bow torque. Practice by shooting with your hand just relaxed and fingers off the grip. With practice, it will come naturally and after a while your fingers can hold the grip with little to no pressure.

[bighornrobin]

O yeah forgot to say to use a wriststrap. This will also help to hold the bow on your hand.

[Hun-Ter]

Originally Posted by bighornrobin

My advise is to not grip your bow. When you draw, the pressure of the bow on the palm holds it. Your fingers don't put any pressure on the grip and thus no bow torque. Practice by shooting with your hand just relaxed and fingers off the grip. With practice, it will come naturally and after a while your fingers can hold the grip with little to no pressure.

Originally Posted by bighornrobin

O yeah forgot to say to use a wriststrap. This will also help to hold the bow on your hand.

Just like bighornrobin said. Use a wrist strap and don't torque the bow at all.
My fingers are totally open and relaxed when I shoot.
Open and relax your fingers, let your palm holds it, keep your eyes on the target, let the wrist strap catch the bow.

Hun-ter

[CNP]

Click here

[Lefty-Canuck]

One thing to remember with a relaxed grip is to make sure your index finger is out of line with the cutting diameter of your broad head (especially if you use a fixed one!) This can obviously have a really bad effect to your finger! Each bow/bow grip will be a bit different, some bows it is easy to relax your hand and your index finger is in line with the broadhead cutting diameter, others it won't matter much.

Especially in the link above using the "relaxed wrist down" position can put your finger in a dangerous spot if you aren't careful.

Just something to keep in mind!

Lefty

[MWD 800]

I got a good tip a while ago that really helped me. I was told to pretend I was holding a can of beer and trying not to dent it. It really helped me out. Another thing you can do is hit the local archery lanes and ask the guys there to watch you shoot.

Good luck

Joe

[NBFK]

Tape a thumb tack to your grip! So if you go to torque your bow or mash the grip you will learn quickly to keep your hand open with a relaxed grip.

[chopperman]

A grip tip I picked up off a show was to place your fingers on the front of the grip and not wrap them around the grip....I was catching my arm with the string (more so after I was getting tired) and this eliminated it and I have adapted it as my grip.

[jim-bo]

I am sure you got lots of info from this thread, so I won't throw in my opinion to much...

My Tip: Forget holding the bow, the only thing that you really need to do is brace that bow. A consistent anchor point helps as well as drawing your bow with no intention to shoot (make sure there is an arrow, JIC). At no point should you be "grasping" that bow, make sure that your wrist sling is snug.

Have you ever tried "blind" shooting (with your eyes closed)? This allows you to focus on form, technique and consistency. When your not worried about where that arrow will go and you cant see, you will focus on the little things, every mistake that you make you will feel with out even knowing what your arrow did. It sounds trippy and weird but it can really help, it all starts with form and technique, consistency is key to accuracy.

[3Dshooter]

Keep a relaxed bow hand! I see a lot of guys shooting with an open hand, but with a rigid palm. A relaxed hand will feel "soft". A tense, open hand will feel "hard". Wear a wrist sling, yes, but DON'T have it snug as suggested! This will increase torque. If too snug, a wrist sling is essentially moving the contact point between you and the bow away from the riser (handle), increasing leverage and torque.

As important as your grip, practice your release. Most of us that use a trigger style hunting release aid get lazy and from time to time punch the trigger! Really, when this happens, we stop aiming when the sight pin hits our point of aim and it's all about touching it off. As Jim- bo suggested, shooting blind is good practice, and I think especially for your release. All you need is 5 yards, so a target bag in the basement or the garage is a good place to practice when you are short on time, or you've seen that episode on Wild TV!

[Back Country Hunter]

As many of these posts are saying the best and most consistent bow grip is no grip at all. If you set a relaxed hand and wrist onto the grip and put some draw pressure on the bow string your relaxed hand and wrist will naturally assume the same position every time. The challenge is to be able to place your bow hand into a consistent torque free spot on the grip every time. Everyone is built differently and different bows are built differently so to find what works for you and your set up try this. Put a good coating of vegetable oil all over your grip, do the same thing with your bow hand. Set your hand into the grip and start to draw your bow...make sure you use a wrist sling when you do this! As you start to draw you may feel your bow start to slide one way or the other as well as up or down. Work to adjust your bow hand placement until this sliding around stops, this will be the most consistent and torque free bow hand position for you and your set up. Try shooting up close at a blank archery target for a while with the oil on your grip and hand and see how it works for you. You may find other factors like bow arm position are what are really causing you troubles and not your bow hand. Hope this helps.

[DidsburyBowHunter]

Originally Posted by natural.born.fawn.killer

Tape a thumb tack to your grip! So if you go to torque your bow or mash the grip you will learn quickly to keep your hand open with a relaxed grip.

hahaha thats how you learn the right way

[deaner]

thanks for the tips. I went out tonight and I am pretty sure I have it under control now. It really wears on your confidence when you know that it is yourself that is the problem and you can't seem to fix it.

[thefloormat]

a level bubble on your sight will help. The grip isnt as important as you think, yeah you want t relaxed hand, but figners open or closed makes no different as long as its relaxed, keeping your bow the same vertically each time, not torquing, and a smooth release is what your after.

[solocam3]

Originally Posted by MWD 800

I got a good tip a while ago that really helped me. I was told to pretend I was holding a can of beer and trying not to dent it. It really helped me out. Another thing you can do is hit the local archery lanes and ask the guys there to watch you shoot.

Good luck

Joe

The best thing like they do for golfing. Set your video camera up on a tripod and video your self. Then you cant argue that you do not throttle grip your bow. And the wrist strap does not help you hold your bow, it just prevents it from hitting the floor when you release. As was mentioned, you should have an open hand grip on your bow.

[ishootbambi]

Originally Posted by thefloormat

a level bubble on your sight will help.[COLOR="Red"] The grip isnt as important as you think,[/COLOR] yeah you want t relaxed hand, but figners open or closed makes no different as long as its relaxed, keeping your bow the same vertically each time, not torquing, and a smooth release is what your after.

your grip is HUGE. at least a lack of grip is huge. torque is a twisting of the bow....a level wont help that. a level stops you from canting the bow which will guarantee you hit left or right at longer yardage, but wont help torque at all.

once again jim-bo is bang on. some of the best shooters i know will spend a bunch of time practicing at 5 yards with thier eyes closed just concentrating on form.

[pottymouth]

Make sure your bow is resting only on the meaty part of your thumb muscle.That way only one muscle is in control. Most people want to hold a bow like a hockey stick, ( in the middle of their hand). When you do that you got alot more muscles working to steady the bow.

Also try to get the bow to fall forward after the shot. With a wrist strap, i practice letting the bow fall right out of my hand, only to be caught by the strap.

Archery is alot like a golf swing !

[Ruko]

Although it has nothing to do with your grip, a Hindsight will tell you right away if you are torquing your bow. Also by getting rid of the peep sight you are able to see way better in low light which is an added bonus. I switched to one last year and I really like it. http://www.hindsightco.com/Default.htm

[Lefty-Canuck]

While they pretty much do the same thing I much prefer a No-Peep or an Anchor Sight to a Hind-Sight.

Biggest reasons, the hind-Sight sticks out too much and gets caught on things walking through the bush....if you don't hunt and only target shoot this isn't an issue.

The other issue I find is that it clouds up the sight window too much IMHO, the No Peeps and Anchor Sights are smaller and can be mounted in several different positions to where they best fit for you.

Check this thread for pics of anchor sight, http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=87509

When I was out Gopher shooting with ISB this past week in the strong winds my Anchor Sight sure showed me how bad that wind was causing my bow arm to torque and cant. I was able to correct and shoot between the gusts!

Lefty

[ishootbambi]

^^^ silly lefty had the thing mounted on the wrong side of the bow......


.....but after seeing it in person, my opinion is that this thing is the answer if you are having torque issues.