dathein

I started with split finger. Last year I got into kind of a rut and was having big time accuracy problems and tried 3 under. I found 3 under just felt really unnatural for me and didn't give me any noticable improvement. I improved when I went back to the basics, l worked on my form and went back to what was comfortable.

RustyOlRanger4x4

i shoot with 3 fingers but i have mine split index on top of the arrow and the other 2 under it and i have a nock(sp?) under the arrow maby thats the split finger one yall were talking about like byron ferguson? but its the way ive shot since i started shooting forever ago but on my compound i shoot with a release

Arthur P

I started out shooting a bow when I wasn't much more than a toddler by pinching the arrow between my thumb and forefinger, floating anchor and eyeballing down the shaft. That was how my grampa taught me and, a few years later, it was how my Comanche friends shot their bows. Killed mucho small game and wild pigs that way. Imagine my chagrin when I took an archery class in college and found out I'd been shooting all wrong.

So, I had to learn to shoot like a white man. Split finger, index finger at the corner of the mouth, yadda yadda... Took me a whole year to finally get the hang of it.

Shot that way until the mid-80's when I began shooting my compound 3-under in NFAA cometitive bowhunter class and developed a gap system. Still shot my stickbows split though.

Last year, I found out my arthritic fingers didn't hurt nearly so much when I shot my stickbows 3-under. Now I've been floating back and forth between split and 3-under. I really haven't gotten comfortable with the shorter point-on distance I get with 3-under but, like I said, it's easier on my fingers. I need to just go ahead and make the switch and make it final.

Chessbum

I started out with three fingers under because that was the only way I could get the arrow near the target. Over the years I found that the split finger gives me an even release of the string and I am more consistant in my shooting. I don't need to aim down the arrow which was what I was doing with three under. I just look where I want the arrow to go and release and it gets there somehow.

Floxter

Let me start out by stating that I shoot split finger and always have. But we ran a test at our club with beginning archers who were taking their first lesson. We had half set up with three fingers under bows and half set up with split finger bows. (All our junior archery recurves are equipped with "no-gloves", so it was easy to control their shooting style.) What we found was that the 3-under shooters managed to get on target faster with greater accuracy than the split finger shooters. While the test wasn't scientific, and the students were shooting at extremely short distances (10-15yrds max) it does illustrate what the NAA advocates in their coaches class: beginning archers will profit best from a 3-under style; it allows them to gun barrel the arrow right up under their eye and relieves them of having to figure trajectory while they're still trying to settle on form.

Chessbum

Hey Jack How are you doing? Going to Comptons?

Floxter

John, good to hear from you. No, I can't make it this year. My wife just had a bone fusion in her foot yesterday, so I'm going to be playing nursemaid for the next several weeks.

Chessbum

I hope she gets her foot back in shape ok. Be catching you at one of the others. I'll be at the GLLI for sure so take good care of your wife and maybe see you both there.

johnkeltgen

Isn't this also known as an "Oriental Grip"? I don't feel there is a "right" way to shoot a bow, to be perfectly honest. I think it's whatever feels comfortable. I learned with the "one on top, two underneath" method myself, but have seen MANY people using three under or two fingers split. I've seen a lot of differences in stance and anchor points over the years too. I used to shoot a recurve just like I shot a compound. Then I was "taught" to: lean forward, cant the bow to the right (I'm right-handed), draw and sight at the same time, and the second your index finger touches the corner of your mouth... release. But it didn't feel right to me. The leaning forward bit seemed to take away some of the arrow speed for some reason. I started standing upright and shooting "normal" (normal for me) and I got improved accuracy and better arrow speed. Admittedly, I'm no expert like most of the guys on here, but I feel it's all a matter of what feels natural and most comfortable.

Floxter

John, the loss of speed was because leaning forward brings the string arm shoulder around, reducing draw length. It also eliminates proper back tension which makes it more difficult to achieve a clean, crisp release.