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Author Topic: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)  (Read 29663 times)

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Offline BigWapiti

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How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« on: February 29, 2008, 06:32:36 pm »
Rattlesnake brought up a few points on one of my posts where i was concerned about wrist slap and hand shock - stating that some of this could be due to proper grip and stance.  I know this is in addition to brace height, limb width, tip thickness and an assortment of other construction factors.   Maybe my years of using a recurve have hidden bad form, or maybe its because a recurve requires different form to shoot well.  But...

Would anyone care to post some of their personal pointers on proper grip, stance and other factors of properly shooting a long bow?   

I'm sure it would be appreciated by more than just myself.

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Mike B.
Central Washington State
"Take a kid hunting, it'll make a WORLD of difference" -me

Offline DanaM

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #1 on: February 29, 2008, 06:50:47 pm »
I just pic it up and shoot, as fer wrist slap its not a problem, only advice I can give is
get a consistent anchor point and don't grip the bow too hard if ya do you are probably torqueing it one way or the other.
Oh yea use the force Luke ;D
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"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things."

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Offline JackCrafty

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #2 on: February 29, 2008, 07:46:25 pm »
Are you making long bows from scratch?  If so, then wrist slap is probably due to string problems and not bow (or grip) problems.  Recurve strings don't "wobble" as much as longbow strings.  I'm not an expert on this....but I think you'll need to use a lighter, less stretchy string on a longbow than you would use on a recurve.  Also, your longbow might have a relatively low initial draw weight.  This also would produce unexpected wrist slap.

Overall, however, I think longbows are more forgiving of bad technique than recurves.....so I don't think it's you.  ;D
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Patrick Blank
Midland, Texas
Youtube: JackCrafty, Allergic Hobbit, Patrick Blank

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jamie

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #3 on: February 29, 2008, 07:55:22 pm »
hate to disagree but a modern recurve is amde for anybody to pick up and shoot. a longbow takes some gettin used to if you have been shooting a recurve. low wrist vs high wrist. center shot vs non center. a long bow shooter needs to keep his his elbow bent a bit more. stance is definetly important if your getting wrist slap. if you are getting wrist slap open your stance along with a little more bend in the elbow. it will clear the body of the bow a little more. bracer helps also. handshock is mainly from bow design , but a tight grip doesnt help. if the shock is that bad go to a heavier shaft and remove weight from the tips of the bow. heavier string helps a bit too.
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Offline JackCrafty

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #4 on: February 29, 2008, 08:02:10 pm »
Jamie.....who said anything about "modern"?  >:D
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Any critter tastes good with enough butter on it.

Patrick Blank
Midland, Texas
Youtube: JackCrafty, Allergic Hobbit, Patrick Blank

Where's Rock? Public Waterways, Road Cuts, Landscape Supply, Knap-Ins.
How to Cook It?  200° for 24hrs then 275° to 500° for 4hrs (depending on type), Cool for 12hr

Offline BigWapiti

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #5 on: February 29, 2008, 08:07:18 pm »
Thanks guys, the feedback is good.  I've been doing some searching and reading and it seems that jamie's response seem to fit closest.  I'm sure its personal preference, but too, the bow design between a recurve and LB are considerably different - I'm guessing that there is a 'best practices' pose for shooting.

I usually cradle the bow in my hand with it resting in the nook of base of my thumb and forefinger; keeping the top, flat part of my hand parallel-ish to the ground (or perpendicular to the bow); my palm doesn't touch the bow.  I've seen other photos of folks with their palm completely touching the handle.  Which is better for the long bow?

When you say bend at the elbow, are you pushing your elbow slightly out away from the string path, or bending it down toward the ground?
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Mike B.
Central Washington State
"Take a kid hunting, it'll make a WORLD of difference" -me

jamie

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #6 on: February 29, 2008, 08:17:55 pm »
bend the elbow out not down. if your getting proper arrow flight and comfortable shooting with a high wrist then that shouldnt be a problem. if your arrow groups are all over the place go to a low wrist it is more stable. opening your stance means to not line your feet with the target. by stepping the rear foot forward itll move the string away from the body.

i have the hardest time shooting modern recurves because i started shooting with a long bow. if it wasnt for the beam in my basement i would of shot through my water heater several times screwing around with recurves :o
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Offline JackCrafty

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #7 on: February 29, 2008, 08:26:37 pm »
Where is the string hitting you?  Is it slapping your wrist at the base of your thumb joint?  If it is, then I stand by my comments.  If the string is dragging across your forearm...then...uh, never mind.  (and get a bracer......welcome to the Slap Happy Longbow Club)  ;D  ;)
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Any critter tastes good with enough butter on it.

Patrick Blank
Midland, Texas
Youtube: JackCrafty, Allergic Hobbit, Patrick Blank

Where's Rock? Public Waterways, Road Cuts, Landscape Supply, Knap-Ins.
How to Cook It?  200° for 24hrs then 275° to 500° for 4hrs (depending on type), Cool for 12hr

jamie

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #8 on: February 29, 2008, 08:36:44 pm »
 ;D
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Offline BigWapiti

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #9 on: February 29, 2008, 09:02:30 pm »
Awesome, I'm a club member !!  its the forearm...  so sounds like i'm in the Slap Happy Club.
A bracer?  is that a wrist guard?  I have noticed that all long bow users seem to wear wrist guards.

This is good stuff fellers, much appreciated.  I can't wait to get home from work to give some of this a try... since I've been lurking on this PA site all day, i'm not sure i'm being all that productive anyway, so I should just go home   >:D.
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Mike B.
Central Washington State
"Take a kid hunting, it'll make a WORLD of difference" -me

Offline DanaM

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #10 on: February 29, 2008, 09:42:08 pm »
I bought a arm gaurd and never use it, but I do shoot with a bent elbow. My take on the stance is it shouldn't matter if your in a hunting situation
do you get to pick your stance, ya might have to shoot from any position from one foot in the air to laying on yer belly. Hold on there bucky while I get this foot and my elbow lined up ::) ???
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"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things."

Manistique, MI

Offline JackCrafty

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #11 on: February 29, 2008, 09:45:42 pm »
Bracer:

[attachment deleted by admin]
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Any critter tastes good with enough butter on it.

Patrick Blank
Midland, Texas
Youtube: JackCrafty, Allergic Hobbit, Patrick Blank

Where's Rock? Public Waterways, Road Cuts, Landscape Supply, Knap-Ins.
How to Cook It?  200° for 24hrs then 275° to 500° for 4hrs (depending on type), Cool for 12hr

Offline Gordon

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #12 on: February 29, 2008, 10:02:52 pm »
I used to have a similar problem until I switched from dacron to FF strings.
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Gordon

Offline BigWapiti

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #13 on: February 29, 2008, 10:09:51 pm »
hmm, thanks Gordon, I'm seeing that using my tillering string to fling arrows might be my issue too.  I really need to get a string (or learn to make a string) soon.  it didn't even cross my mind until now that I'm still using my tillering string.  duh.

And JackCrafty, thanks for the large picture of the "bracer" - I can make one of those!!  Never knew it was called a bracer.   I love your tag line too... officer....
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Mike B.
Central Washington State
"Take a kid hunting, it'll make a WORLD of difference" -me

Offline Gordon

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Re: How-to properly hold a long bow (?)
« Reply #14 on: February 29, 2008, 10:14:07 pm »
I think you'll see a big improvement if you switch to a FF string  8). And BTW, I use FF with vine maple bows all the time with no problem.
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Gordon
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