Many of you will likely tell me the proper form for gripping the bow is loose, maybe open fingers, pushing against the palm bone at the base of the thumb. I have only been shooting since February and have gone back and forth in my groupings using the above technique as well as gripping the riser tight, closed fist. In these situations my groups, my confidence, and my steadiness has been the highest when gripping the grip tight, not the loose technique. I have heard that gripping it tight can torque your shot unintentionally, but I haven't run into this. Am I going to damage my future by using the "bad" form? Should I put aside my rookie observations and just stick with open grip knowing that in the long run it will improve my shooting?
https://www.bowhunting.com/bowhunt101/how-to-grip-a-bow/ I may be way off here but those that tend to death grip the bow always seem to "Punch" the trigger. Have someone watch/video you that knows what's up. Before ALL else learn form and your weapon. Once that is a constant and not a variable you can move on. Good luck
I float mine in the crutch of my thumb and forefinger. I don't use sights and for some reason find if I keep my fingers pointing toward the target I'm very consistent..might want a wrist band to keep you feeling comfortable in not dropping the bow.
Hm.. A wrist band is not a bad idea. Although I really don't struggle with the thought of it falling.
Watch Olympic shooters on Youtube and see that they only use the thumb and forefinger. The other finger s are splayed out at an angle. I'm different- I hold any bow in a V formed by my thumb and four fingers; thumb and four fingers are pointed at the target. There is enough pressure to keep the bow from falling from my grip. Bought a Genesis bow with a wrist sling but will probably take it off. Edit and adding this which has a lot of info that might help- https://www.bing.com/search?q=olympic+archery+grip&pc=MOZI&form=MOZLBR
John, the grip you use is the one that I have had struggles keeping steady with. Perhaps just PRACTICE, practice, practice.
I was taught that you don't grip the bow or hold your fingers open either one. What you do is let your hand be relaxed, like it would be when just hanging at your side. Anchor should be somewhere between the fleshy part below your thumb and the "lifeline", resulting in your thumb pointing towards the target and the knuckles of your hand at about a 45° angle. None of my fingers or thumb squeeze the bow, it is just the backwards pressure against my hand when I draw that keeps it there. I was also taught that when the shot occurs, for proper follow through, I shouldn't grip the bow either. The wrist strap is all that saves the bow from falling to the ground. There is a thread on this forum right now about whether or not to use a wrist strap at all, and a surprising number of people (to me) say they don't use one and never have. I would flat drop my bow on the ground without one because of my shot method. Like they say, there's more than one way to skin a cat. I'm with Fix, I think gripping the bow tighter to "steady it" may be because you are punching the trigger off when the pin wanders by the bullseye. Are you setting the bow off, or is the release a surprise to you when it happens?
So, I just started back into archery two years ago after my wife bugged me to get back into it. I had the same issue you did. I spent time and tried different wrist straps. After I got my wrist strap set to how I wanted I practiced with correct form for months to get confident with not gripping the bow. It is going to take some time for you to get use to not gripping it. Basically now when I shoot the grip is in the web of my thumb just resting there. No gripping the bow with any fingers and my thumb points toward the target. After starting out over again I understand what your going thru. I ended up having some friends help me out with my form. If you can do that I would.
