string slap and aiming

[aero86]

so, is it something with primitive bows that cant be avoided or is it something that can be?  ive tried my best to avoid it, but i still get it.  im trying to get my groove with shooting, but its hurting!  and do you you guys sight down the shaft when you shoot?

[Josh]

I don't really sight down the arrow, I just kinda know where the arrow is supposed to go and sometimes it goes there.  (I really don't know how else to explain it)    I used to really have a problem with wrist slap, the more I worried about it the worse it got.  I got a really good wrist guard and quit worrying about it and then the string  just stopped slapping my wrist. I started using it less and less and now  I don't even wear the wrist bracer anymore and I don't miss it at all...      (...not really much help sorry  )

[sailordad]

a low brace height on the bow can cause it,along with other factors such as a stiff bow arm(leave your elbow slightly bent on the arm that holds the bow)
this will help keep your wrist away from the string some

my self,i dont like or use an arm gaurd
i think that helps keep my arm slightly bent to avoid slapping it
also my bows are braced around 5.5"-6"

[aero86]

nah.  no big deal! haha.  whats the best way to find your anchor?  right now, im only drawing like 27 but i feel i could get 28.  when i anchor, i kinda my jaw with my right hand, and thats about 27

the brace height on this one is about 5.5.  ive tried to keep my elbow bent a little, maybe i need to make an effort to be aware of it.

[Josh]

...it doesn't really matter where you anchor, just that you go to the same spot every time..   My anchor hasn't changed since I first started shooting and I have noticed my shooting has steadily gotten better.     When I anchor my thumb IP joint touches below my cheekbone and my index finger touches the corner of my mouth as soon as I feel both of these things I have already released the arrow and it is moving its way SLOWLY towards the target, LOL. 

[Kegan]

I anchor with my thumb web under my jaw bone and my index finger is in the corner of the mouth- if you can get your thumb under your jaw it's the easiest way to know that you're arm is in line with the arrow and that you're alignment is at least close.

When it comes to slap, I always shoot with an arm gaurd. I'd need a 6.5" to 7" brace height to not get slapped and I couldn't do that to a wooden bow

I shoot with the arrow pointed to the target, moving it up or down for the distance. My focus shifts from more on the target to more on the tip the farthre out I get.

[aznboi3644]

I shoot instinctively...I don't look down the arrow anymore.  For me I found that the more I tried to sight down the arrow and concentrate on where I was aiming it the more I got wrist slap.  After a little while I just started to concentrate on the target point and the wrist slap got less frequent and now its gone.

[Josh]

^^^^that's kinda what I was trying to say! 

[skyarrow]

i try to see where the arrow is going to hit before i shoot it and in most cases it does i just try not to think so much and just do it has always fixed it self with me

[PeteC]

Aero,try adjusting your bow arm/hand a little.Try slightly bending your elbow,and roll it under and away from the string.Also,try holding your bow hand where the back of your hand is in line with the top of your arm.I shoot like this and never hit my arm,even at low brace. JMHO.  God Bless

[Dave 55]

Try opening your stance some,might help.

[El Destructo]

                                         Try ....Not Letting the String Slap the Crap out of You.................

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[NTD]

Didn't you also mention in another thread that you are using an Art. Sinew string?
  That extra stretch on that stuff might not be helping either...

[aero86]

Hmmm.  Gonna have a lot of shooting ahead of me I guess!  Lol.  Guess ill stick to shooting at smaller things from now on.  The string on this bow, I'm not sure what it is.  Its a bow made by one of the sponsors here, the linen backed bow.  It doesn't slap near as much as the art. Sinew does.

[NTD]

LOL okay, I have no pointers on shooting.  I am not a good target shooter.  Bought Become the Arrow...it's an okay book but not all that impressed and bought Shooting The Stickbow it is a good book but I think I might go ahead and get Asbel's book.

Good luck on reducing that arm slap.  When I first started shooting a selfbow at 15 I didn't use an arm guard because I had read that good form eliminates it...Long story short, I spent a lot of painful lessons until I learned how to avoid it.  I didn't start shooting again until last year,10 years later, and apparently I forgot those lessons and I'm not tough enough anymore to do it without protection