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trouble with release

3K views 26 replies 13 participants last post by  the other DWS 
#1 ·
What is the best way to release the string? Its incredibly confusing. Do you just keep pulling back? Its the one thing I've tried hard to perfect but with all the info out there its really becoming convoluted
 
#2 ·
I use back tension so that when I relax my fingers the string releases one its own... Okay that is a crappy answer. I feel that simply relaxing the fingers open while under back tension allows for a smooth release ... Mostly I focus on not thinking too much about it. Focus on a smooth relaxing opening of the fingers rather than throwing them open which I have found leads to plucking the string.

the release is a part of the whole shot process. I slow things down when I shoot and make sure I am comfortably at anchor 1st and that I am in good form and aimed. If bone of those are in place I don't release but start the whole shot over.

The string wants to get away from your hand, just let it do what it wants. Sorry if that just added to the confusion
 
#3 ·
SithS. agree,

Have gimpy hands/fingers and have found that for me being over fingered is better than having overpowering fingers. Can concentrate on expansion etc and the release just happens. With lower poundage letting go of the string is often a much more conscious act.
 
#4 ·
How you hold the string can affect the release, a deep hook allows for relaxed hand where a shallow hook or on the pads of the fingers cause excess tension in the fingers making it hard to relax fingers. I suggest checking finger position first.

You can also work on the release by drawing a bow 2-3" and relaxing fingers, I find when Im coaching people who have release issues a 3min session working on the speed/feel of the release normally gets them back on track, spending a little time consciously working on the feel/speed of the release helps program the Subconscious part of the release. Some time at the Blank Bale working on the feel of the release might also help.
 
#6 ·
There are much better archers here than I but I am happy to share what I focus on. I am really focused on back tension, squeezing my scapula together and keeping my bow arm really solid. There is no way I can get a good surprise release if I collapse or creep forward. Before all this, in the very beginning of every shot I settle the string into the tab and make sure that I have just the right feel. My fingers and wrist are pretty straight. I tap my third finger (3 under) and make sure it is just barely touching the tab. All this setteling in is reinforced in the predraw. By the time I am at holding fingers, wrist and elbow are in a straight line and as I am watching the point of my arrow float about and as I am focused on back tension there is a feeling of building tension in my back and somewhere in there my fingers just open up and the tab flies back on its own.

Hope this helps.

Rasyad
 
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#7 ·
I am being taught the BEST method. In this approach, you do not relax your fingers, rather you expand and maintain your hook, letting the string rip your fingers open. I was out working on that tonight. Slow motion video of me relaxing my hand for the release, shows the arrow starting to slowly creep forward as my fingers uncoil. I am getting better at the rip release, but I am not there yet. I am still getting some uncurling. I think I am overdrawing at the start, which is not leaving enough left for expansion. This is what I will be covering with my coach later in the week.
 
#8 ·
Hank,
what do you mean with "you do not relax your fingers, rather you expand and maintain your hook, letting the string rip your fingers open" ?
It sound like backtension release for compound bows.
It is the first time I hear about it on recurve.
Where can I found information?Thanks.
Martin
 
#11 ·
As someone with more martial arts experience than archery experinece i see the perfect release as a lot like the perfect punch: both involve a combination of a stable foundation (conscious action) with a fluid thoughtless movement that still needs direction (concious + sub-concious) - the kind of problem that plagues intermediate to advanced skill practitioners. My current strategy is to use the rearward movement of my scapula as the last part of my foundation (conscious action) that allows anchoring/aiming & then i inhale to expand & allow that sub-concious rearward elbow movement ... Then of course there's getting the string grip standardized... Talk to me when my 10,000 hrs are done at the bale & I'll tell you how balancing the yin/yang soft/hard energy went - M
 
#12 ·
I think we use "unconscious" a lot when we really mean "sub-conscious" I struggled for years, a LOT of years with real basics, a 2 day session with Rod pretty well found and solved the problem for me.
Now my draw/anchor/ release/follow-through is a fairly slow but fluid thing. I find that as I expand to and through my anchor point anchor my fingers naturally seem to straighten without having to force them to or give conscious thought to it.
I don't know what the mind-body triggers and mechanisms are but it just seem like the string slips free as if when I expand to a certain point it triggers my fingers to naturally straighten from their deep hook.

Previously I had such a deep back under-the-ear anchor that I was at maxed out expansion when I reached it with no more room for an expansion "slip" release. Rod helped my find a new shorter anchor on the point of my cheekbone that has made a huge difference. I no longer have to consciously "force" my fingers open like I did before.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Sadly cannot fully open my rude finger it has to be forced out of the way. With light bows it is sometimes a very conscious act for me to overcome the permanent hook in order for me to let go. My hand appears forced back.

KSL does say to relax finger but then goes on to confuse me

When observing some of the elite archers, their fingers on release and during the follow-through are virtually in the same position as when they were on the string. The photograph shows a copybook release by Tim Cuddihy at the Athens Olympics 2004
 
#15 ·
FWIW: I was just doing some practice with "the cord"; a part of Rod's follow up training routine that my rehab techs allow as long as I don't pull too hard. What I note is that I expand through my new anchor my fingers just seem to "unfold" and as the cord (bowsting substitute) slips loose my open hand is still almost flat against the side of my face.
it'll be a few more weeks before I'm allowed to do actual draws and let downs with a light bow and I don't know if they'll let me actually draw and release and arrow for a while beyond that. I'll take the bow and form-master to the next PT session and see what they say. the point of all that being that I do not know how my release and immediate follow-through behaves when shooting an actual bow--yet. Perhaps the sudden release of a loaded bowstring will generate more recoil and the freed hand will jerk farther back. I know that shooting a really light bow places a real premium of a really clean release, maybe this rehab will prove to be an asset in unanticipated ways.
 
#16 ·
toDWS hope you get better soon. My finger issue is incurable and recurring within months of the operations. Some wag pointed out that the limey has a built in Graffenberg locator but sadly someone had to explain it to me. Something to do with me having attended all boys schools.....

quoting KSL

"The string must be released by totally relaxing the drawing fingers and allowing the string to go. The string must be allowed to push the fingers out of the way. When observing some of the elite archers, their fingers on release and during the follow-through are virtually in the same position as when they were on the string. The photograph shows a copybook release by Tim Cuddihy at the Athens Olympics 2004."

Confused as usual? Do the fingers unfold then refold or move only slightly? How does that jibe with a deep hook?

If it had read relax the hand/forearm [as oppoosed to fingers] it would have made more sense to me.

The word virtually would appear to be the key?

Would someone please kindly point me to a very slomo video of the fingers during/after release. thanks
 
#18 ·
Would someone please kindly point me to a very slomo video of the fingers during/after release. thanks
Not the best view of the fingers but you can see the (minmal immediate) effects of the release on the fingers and arm.



The side view:

 
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#17 ·
"Confused as usual? Do the fingers unfold then refold or move only slightly? How does that jibe with a deep hook?"
Just thinking: what about curled fingers get out of the way?
I mean that the finger need no to relax if you relax the back of the hand and the finger flex back.
JMHO
Martin
 
#19 ·
Beleg,

I mean that the finger need no to relax if you relax the back of the hand and the finger flex back.
JMHO

What happens to me is hand forced back at the wrist enough to clear my bent finger. With lighter bows as the string does not have so much force my releases go from bad to worse regarding consistency.
 
#22 ·
I just finished shooting and was paying particular attention to my release because of this thread.

I noticed a few things ( maybe of help or not)

1....I don't think about my release at all.
2....I expand with my back through my release which seems to allow 2 things to occur: A. the string wants to escape under the tension B. my forearm muscles remain relaxed and my finger uncurl at the same time as the string begins to escape forward.
3....After my release my fingers are 1-1 1/2inch behind my anchor and are beginning to return to a curled position
4....I have a deep curl on the string almost past my first joint on the middle finger
5.... My release is smoother when 90% of the pressure is on the pointer finger and middle finger and only 10% is on the ring finger
6....keeping my hand relaxed and forearm relaxed seems to provide a smoother release.
7....when I "try" to release the string my shot is off to the left or right.

Just some observations.
 
#23 ·
Sith... I like your observations... I have a couple of my own.

Thinking about "release" or "letting go" underlines a fundamental misunderstanding of the basic mechanics of the shot.... When at a stable anchor at full draw, one has everything required to execute a perfect arrow; only shot commitment and bringing it to conclusion remain.... Expansion and release of the string are not two separate entities...

Tom
 
#24 ·
"Expansion and release of the string are not two separate entities"
Thats the way I understand and experience it. Its a fluid thing with out any hard stops (unless I would be holding on a deer). While I can hold locked solid at anchor the release is cleaner if it is part of a slow flow. In any case it feels like it is some stage or point in the "expansion" that triggers the hook relaxing its tension and allowing the string to pull itself free

Watching the 1st video she was so petrified still at anchor I thought the video had frozen until I saw part of the tab flip loose. All of the hand arm motion I saw was actually post release follow through. I don't quite know what to make of that one. It looks like she releases, however she does it, from a static anchor.
 
#25 ·
Watching the 1st video she was so petrified still at anchor I thought the video had frozen until I saw part of the tab flip loose. All of the hand arm motion I saw was actually post release follow through. I don't quite know what to make of that one. It looks like she releases, however she does it, from a static anchor.
I think that's because it is a very s...l...o...w video. But it does show how quick the release is compared to the remainder of the follow-through as it's normally the follow-through the naked eye observes.

It does make you query why bother with a dynamic release as the arrow is long gone before the forearm retracts. I think the answer is that the set up for the dynamic release ensures consistency in the inputs to the string in that vital moment the fingers open.
 
#26 ·
Here's a clip like less slow-mo. You can see the same order of the parts but the release looks more as we expect it to be.



For a little something different...... apart from a few other things note the release..... to my mind a good release followed by a gross over-exaggeration (note the stiffly forced open and kept open fingers followed by the overdone shoulder movement).

 
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