The proper grip is a RELAXED grip. Not forced open, or forced closed, don't death grip the bow. Your bow hand and arm should be relaxed. Only enough tension to keep the bow from smacking you in the face at full draw. If you force your hand open, you are using muscles which puts tension in your hand and wrist. This could cause torque because it is hard to repeat shot after shot. Same thing with holding the bow too tight.

Put your release on the bow and put some tension on your bow hand. Find the grip placement you want. Normally you want it on the thumb side of your life line on your palm. Like said above, on the meaty part of your thumb. Then draw the bow back to your anchor and let your hand relax. Let your fingers rest gently where they fall. Do not adjust your grip once you are at full draw. If it does not feel right, let down and do it again. (Obviously you are not going to do this in a tree stand with deer under you.) This is the easiest way to get a good repeatable grip. I actually curl all my fingers but my index finger in when I draw the bow. This keeps my hand placement consistant. When I'm at full draw my index finger is resting lightly on the front of the risor.

Also try to use a nuetral or mid wrist grip. Draw your bow back, then roll the top of your hand into the grip. Putting all the pressure up towards the web of your thumb. This is a high wrist grip. Then roll your hand back puttting the pressure point in the heal of your hand. This is a low wrist grip. Both of these usually require putting some sort of tension in your hand because you have to force it there, thus flexing muscles. You are trying to avoid this. Another thing that will effect grip is draw length. Too long of a draw length will promote a high wrist grip, too short of a draw length will promote a low wrist grip and can actually cause torque problems. If you have the proper draw length when everything is relaxed you should have a nuetral or medium style grip. The grip design on the bow will effect this as well. The important thing is that it is a relaxed grip and you are not forcing it one way or another after you draw the bow.

Everyone torques the bow to some degree, there is no "right way" to hold the bow. You could hold it upside down and backwards if you wanted, as long as you could repeat it all day long. The key is consistancy, then tune the bow. Grip has a profound effect on tuning. That is why some people have a very challenging time paper tuning thier bows. They have an incosistant grip or bad form. That is also why it's hard for someone else to paper tune or fine tune your bow. They may hold it differently than you do. Find a comfortable consistant grip, then paper tune or broad head tune the bow. Don't worry if the settings don't correlate with your old bow. It had a different grip, and geometry, things will be different.

Another thing that is as important or more so than grip is follow thru during and after the shot. Anticipating the release of the arrow or the the jump of the bow will cause all kinds of problems. You tend to grab the bow when you shoot. Use a back tension release or blind bale shoot and you will see what I mean. The bow will jump or roll out of your hand after the shot. Holding the bow is ok if it's after the shot. However you tend to start grabing the bow the same time you release the arrow after a while (anticipating the shot) and it messes up your shot. Another problem people have is dropping the bow arm to see where the arrow went. If you do everything right and have good follow thru you will see the arrow go all the way to the target. Your bow hand should still be up and you should still be aiming after the arrow hits the target. This is why everyone is suggesting getting a bow sling, so you can let the bow do what it wants after the shot.

Don't take what I am saying as gospel or fact, it's simply my opinion. It works for me though, and it's how I was taught and what I have read in archery books, or heard from other archers. That doesn't mean you could not hold the bow completely different and still shoot well. Archery is a very individual sport after all.

Paul