Wrist position

[nuff_said]

#5495

Hi all,
I was recently infected with the traditional bow bug. I bought a nice locally made long bow and have been working just on shooting form this whole week from way up close. I’ve recently read several books to start fresh and prevent bad habits as I get back into archery. I’ve read Sorell’s “Beginner’s guide to traditional archery”, Ferguson’s “Become the arrow” and Asbell’s “Instinctive shooting”.

When I started instinctive shooting 30 years ago it was with a cheap Indian Archery compound bow. I used a straight wrist like Fred Asbell and like many recurve designs that old compound bow has a generous grip that allowed the wrist to go forward into a straight position. Now, with the 55lb long bow I have it is very hard to shoot with a straight wrist as I have to use a LOT of muscle power in by thumb and wrist. I’m building up shooting strength but after a few dozen arrows my wrist goes into the broken position and to be honest it feels stronger (requires less muscle effort) like I am using my bones to hold the bow arm load instead of the weaker wrist muscles. I notice in Ferguson’s book it looks like he uses a broken wrist.

So, my question is, what kind of wrist position do you use? The straight wrist alignment makes sense to me along the line of Asbell’s reasoning but he was shooting a recurve with a deeper grip. I’d like to know what others do and if anyone else has messed around with wrist position and how it affected their shooting. I just want to get the best form burned into my muscle memory.

[cody]

#43839

Hey when i got into traditional shooting about a year or so ago i started with a bear grizzly and i had to twist my wrist around and put the draw weight on my thumb. If I didn’t twist and put the weight on my palm i would shoot way left, but I got a different bow and with my new one i can keep the pressure on my palm and have no problem shooting left. I don’t know enough about it yet to give you any advice ha ha i know twisting my wrist around and putting the pressure on my thumb felt good with the grizzly but awkward with my predator so who knows

[nuff_said]

#43867

I’ve settled on a broken wrist or low wrist position. I’ve been shooting a lot the last few days trying different things. Once the wrist muscles get tired you almost have to relax into the most bone-on-bone position to hold the bow arm straight and true.

I’ve been devouring archery books and so far the best two are:
“Instinctive Archery Insights” by Jay Kidwell and “Core Archery” by Larry Wise. Both complement each IMHO. Kidwell really simplifies the whole shooting process into the essentials and gives you a mental framework for creating a successful inner mind shot process. Very good. I’m still reading Wise’s book but he’s great at body mechanics and had the best section on hand position and “why” there is a right way and a worse way. I had always wondered what was going on when I grew tired and started slapping by forearm with the string…. it was my hand position. Now I have a good “ideal grip” that I am repeating to imprint into my medulla and one that is putting arrows where I am concentrating.

In the end, I think a lot depends upon the grip of the bow. Most longbows I have seen have a more vertical grip whereas target bows, compounds and recurves tend to have deeper grips that allow a more straight wrist.

[MontanaFord]

#50113

I shoot a Grizzly, and have found that a high wrist position, combined with minimal palm/finger contact has helped my shooting immensely. I also roll my elbow out and up to get my arm away from the string so I don’t slap myself. Some of this I developed from having erratic shot placement because I was gripping the bow too tightly. I found that gripping too tightly put too much palm pressure on the bow, and affected my shooting in a terrible way. Once I adjusted my grip, I still found myself slapping my arm. I have a hard time wearing an arm guard. One day while watching a couple compound guys that were helping their kids, one of the kids kept slapping his arm, and his dad told him to roll his elbow out away from the path of the string. I took that idea and tried it myself, and ya know what? I don’t slap my arm much anymore, and the only time I have need of an arm guard is when I’m wearing a loose or bulky shirt or sweater.

MontanaFord

[tom-wisconsin]

#50658

Brian Fergusen in “Become the Arrow” recommends a low wrist position so the bones of the arm are used. I always had a high wrist position but I am switching.

[Roger]

#55603

I use a straight wrist for recurves and a broken wrist for long bows. A recurves balance point is in the deepest part
of the grip, this is where your hand pressure should normaly be. You’ll find that a straight wrist will work best. A broken wrist on a recurve puts more stress on the bottom limb and may affect the bows tiller. The balance point on a long bow is about mid grip, so it should generally be shot with with a broken wrist. Just my opinion

[Author]

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