Forum Replies Created
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Duncan wrote: Smithy,
Seeing your volume by Larry McMurtry reminded me that I saw Larry’s son James, a singer and actor playing live at the Continental in Austin Tx back in October. Good stuff.
Duncan
Duncan –
Apologies, I somehow overlooked your post above. I try to never miss a McMurtry show ’round these parts if at all possible. He’s even played in the summer free concert series in the city park in our dinky little hometown a few times, which has been a treat.
Still working my way through the book above on the history of the fur trade in our valley, but I’m also going back and re-reading this again as well:
Such a classic. Written in 1906 and still relevant today. It belongs on every woods bum’s bookshelf, imo.
Steve Graf wrote:
Don’t shoot! Whew, scared me 😳
For a variety of reasons, I tend to go through a lot of cameras…
I’m more in the Shulz camp. I usually cant about 15-20deg. or so – I think it’s just the perspective in the pic above that makes it look more vertical. Here’s a head-on view of my normal cant:
Steve Graf wrote:
I heel my ASL and put the lifeline sort of on the left edge of the handle. I break my elbow just a little bit. I think people overdo the broken elbow. Just break it a bit. I loosely wrap my fingers around the grip. Not tight. Just enough to keep it from getting away from me. And I really try to keep the push/pull thing going so that the bow arm isn’t being lazy, and my release hand snaps back (just a bit) on release. I don’t like a dynamic release and tend toward a more dead release. Freshly dead. Still twitching.
I shoot with more of a closed style. Say 90% closed.
That’s a pretty accurate description of what I’m doing now as well, Steve. I’m not gripping the bow tightly, but I have dropped my wrist more, and I’m getting all of my fingers on and around the grip, which I never used to do with my more pronounced, D/R bows. Though I think I’m a little more centered in the fleshy part between my lifeline and my thumb than it sounds like you are. And yeah, continuous pushing with that heel pressure is key.
Agreed about the overly-exxagerated broken elbow as well.
As I release, my string hand moves back against my face slightly, but only as a result of the release of tension – not a a big sweep backward past my ear, as I see some do.
And man, do I love shooting this bow. It’s as comfortable as an old pair of jeans, lighter than my hat, and delivers an arrow with authority.
Steve Graf wrote:
The most important thing that I do is I only make a good shot once in a while. mostly I like to keep the arrows sticking out of the target in all sorts of strange places / angles. Otherwise I might not be the wonderfully humble bloke that I am 🙄
I thought this was an interesting comparison of longbow grip styles – subtle maybe, but certainly different.
Howard Hill’s grip:
Notice how Howard has all four fingers in contact with the grip. Also note his thumb position, and 2nd knuckle alignment.
Now look at Byron Ferguson’s grip:
Byron has a more relaxed grip, and his fingers are not wrapped as much around the grip as Howard’s. He also seems to be applying little, if any, pressure to the bow with his lower fingers. Compare knuckle aligmnent with Howard’s as well.
Notably different grip styles. Howard also famously preferred a straight bow grip, Ferguson prefers more of a shallow dished grip.
One thing is clear though – they are both applying significant heel pressure.
Another interesting thing to note – look at their string elbow position at full draw. 😉
“Get a grip,” indeed. Yesterday I had a little light bulb go off with this.
I’ve shot bows with more pronounced locator style grips for years, and a loose grip, with most of the pressure in the webbing between my thumb and forefinger, and my lower fingers hardly even touching the bow, works well. On the other hand, since I started shooting ASLs, like the one in the original post above, I’ve frequently heard and read that they require a different approach – more heel pressure and a more firm grip on the bow. And I always thought I was doing this, but last evening’s session I realized I wasn’t doing it anywhere near enough. Not sure what posessed me, but for some reason I decided to change my grip and really get ahold of the bow with my whole hand, more firmly than I ever have in the past (though not a “death grip”) . More like this:
And as soon as I did this, the difference was immediate – my groups tightened up considerably.
Now, I know some will disagree that different styles of bows should be gripped differently, and believe that you should shoot all bows the same, and I think I used to be more in this camp. But something definitely clicked when I changed my grip last night, and I thought I’d share the experience. There are so many things to love about this sport, but one of them for me is that there is always more to learn…
Steve Graf wrote: oh tease me some more! What do her long slim limbs look like? strong with just a supple curve? When she is braced, do her tips hold against the string with grace? When drawn to the cheek do they please the eye? Do tell…
When her string is loosed, does she go about her business like a wise and knowing lover, or is she all over the place like a young and over excited filly? Do tell…
Aye, and verily, fellow toxophilite. 😉
I will but permit thee a wee glimpse of her leggy finery:
