Stance p2

Finding a good grip and lifting up the bow for the shot.

The grip

Place your arrow now on the arrow rest and secure the nock between the nocking points. You must listen that the string really goes properly all the way down the slot. Nock! Remember that the cock feather (wane) is pointing out from the riser.
Lift now slowly the bow arm up (over the horizontal level) so that when you start drawing the string your bow arm will gradually lower down to the horizontal level. Make sure that your elbow joint is not totally locked and pointing backwards not downwards! Now try to relax all the unused muscles in your arms.

Your bow weights only a couple of kilos so don't get panicked about its weight. You can hold it up for a while! Now grib the string with your index, middle and ring fingers so that the string goes behind the first joints and the arrow is between the index and middle fingers. On other words, one finger above and two fingers underneath the arrow. Start now determinedly to draw the string towards your chin so that eventually the drawing hand anchors itself underneath the chin and the string touches just in the middle of your chin bone. Do the draw in one go. Don't stop anywhere!

When we played indians as kids in the yard, we gripped the arrow with our fingers not the string. A real archer doesn't touch the arrow, only the string! The string should go behind the first joints of your fingers. You don't need your thump or little finger at all, just bend the thump inside your palm and keep the little finger out of the string!

The lifting up your bow

Rise the draw hand's elbow high as you can before beginning the draw, so that it won't fall underneath the imaginary arrow line when anchoring. If you let your elbow hang, it will course your arrow a sudden jump up from the arrow rest before the shot and in the skies it goes!

The draw

Do the draw along your bow arm with your abdominal muscles (upper back muscles) and not with your arm muscles! Do the draw as economically as you can, no detours, no stopping, just straight towards your chin! Hold the wrist relaxed, straight and uprights (all three fingers are on the same vertical line). To draw a 20 pounds bow to its full draw doesn't take more of your muscle power than lifting a 10 litre water bucket up to a height of 70 centimetres.

Remember that your elbow is holding up above the arrow line all the time. Don't start aiming yet!

Grip the bow gently, don't squeeze it, don't twist it.

Your bow arm should be straight but relaxed and your hand should be straight and evenly on the bow grip. To find the right palm position needs a bit of practising. The pressure should be in the middle of your palm. You can try to find a convenient hold of your bow at home with your riser unstringed. If the plastic or wooden grip doesn't suit your hand, try an other. There are several different height of grips available.

Don't squeeze or twist the grip. The bow will keep in your hand without you clutching it with your knuckles white.