Archery | Should You Put Your Finger Over the Arrow?

[@ArcheryAdventures]

What a beautiful looking bow!

[@jasonmosler]

i was told another reason one shouldn't do this is because, if you have carbon fiber arrows which are not in the best of shape (club arrows) you can get nasty carbon splinters in your finger.

[@nicknewman2414]

The tip about keeping the wrist inline with the forearm helped IMMENSELY. Thanks!

[@KaiMattern]

You can also easily implant part of the feathers in your finger if you are shooting bird feathers as fletching. They tend to be a bit pointy at the start and if the glue came off a bit off, this can be quite nasty. Especially as the rest of the feather will act as barbed hooks, which makes it a visit to the hospital to get it out.

[@steveruis1055]

... and ... this is absolutely spot on if you are shooting off the shelf ... but if you are shooting a bow with an elevated arrow rest, the repeated downward pressure on the rest can result in the rest being bent or even broken. Good video!

[@Franky_Sthein]

As a child I had a rather painfull reminder NOT to keep my indexfinger at the bow because as I loosend the arrow my finger was close enough to get hit by the tailfeathers. As a result I got a cut so thin I couldn't even see it, at least until blood was leaking out of the cut. After that I learned to keep my fingers off the arrow.

[@gorjanveletic2314]

Was looking through dozens of videos for something exactly like this, thank you!

[@NaJk93]

I just started trying to learn archery. And i only got a very bad glassfiber bow. (it's basically just a streight flat stick which bend because of the string). And your videos has been extremely helpful. If i get into things, i need to know everything. Sadly no club close to here, closest is 1 hour+ away with public transport. So all the information i can get will be helpful. Thanks alot NUSensei!

[@ziuwaz1588]

NaJk93 if you can participate in the club training somehow then do it. you can practice at home but unguided trainings lead to bad habits (which will hinder your progress massively!). wish you good luck with the new hobby!!

[@cameronhumphries2377]

are you talking about a flatbow?

[@grayblackhelm6468]

4 months later. How’s it going bud?

[@chaos4living676]

Thank you NUSensei for your tips on archery (having no school of archery where I live) your videos actually help me a lot with my technique. Keep up the good job.

[@HenriNero]

Speaking of injuries. A friend of mine was shooting some of those fiberglass/plastic sticks from camping tent poles with a makeshift bow and was using his own hand as a rest. He ended up with a big splinter in his hand, that part between the index finger and thumb. That was a nasty one, they didn't even remove the whole thing when he went to the hospital, he still felt pain and there was pus in his hand for weeks before someone else managed to remove the other pieces.

[@mortenjacobsen5673]

moving your finger form the arrow to the grip can change your muscle tension in the forearm and change your grip and pressure point.

[@lisliaer7999]

I would like to point out that a major problem with this is if its not caught and corrected early in the archers career it creates a habit. To the point I have seen some people who leave their finger over the arrow while at rest and aiming only to move it before actually loosing the arrow. Which gets to the point where you can shoot through your finger. That point is exaggerated by the use of broad heads (more so with mechanical broad heads it seems (maybe its an out of sight out of mind issue)) but even with longer arrows with mechanical broad heads can catch your finger and effectively cut it off.

[@lubossoltes321]

There's another contributing factor to the arrow falling off the shelf/rest: Too tight nocks. This happens to me, I am a 3-under shooter, so I cannot pinch the arrow. However I still occasionally do torque/twist the string while drawing (incorrect hand position as you explained). If the nock is too tight on the string, the arrow will come off. If the nock is "fine", no such thing happens.

[@joejoelesh1197]

I do this alot. I hunt small game with a trad bow, and shoot off the shelf. So as i stalk around, I need something to keep the nocked arrow in place and quiet. My index finger does a great job. Yes, I know he talks about this around 8:00

[@BovinaSancta79]

We sure got spoiled today with several new videos. I only put a finger on the arrow when I have the bowarm relaxed, to make it stay in place.

[@catholichackstraditionalar305]

Great breakdown on this, thank you!

[@Billythebassist]

Sweet Kodiak....thanks for the upload!

[@brettkester1639]

Thank you, practical advice.

[@mastrbutcher]

Hey! That's muh bow! Sweet Bear!

[@mon0522]

ouch shooting yourfelf WITH A BOW??? xD never thought it was possible

[@joejoelesh1197]

It happened alot during the early 90's. There was a trend with compound hunters to use over draws with really short arrows. (Pre carbon fiber arrow era, so they were trying to make Aluminum arrows light ie. Short)

[@muhammadhijaziaidil5720]

put finger over the arrow over tension can make the arrow unnock

[@YTMegiddo]

Thanks! Thought it was do to twisting of the string. Happens once on ten.

[@Ullish1989]

That's a damn nice looking bow

[@efficientfuture]

Today was my first day and I was accurate at 40ft but shooting slightly right. Wasn't keeping my draw wrist in line.

[@ghostshadow9046]

Hurts like hell if you slip, I stopped that habit very early, I've actually had a few arrows break on release, no longer buy any cheap arrows.

[@Mrbodhisattva1]

I do a form of speed shooting with my lightweight bow where my string hand is upside down, palm away from face, it puts string tension the wrong way and pulls the arrow off the rest or in my case my hand. So I put my index on the arrow to hold the arrow against the bow. But aside from demonstrating speed it's really not practical

[@ralfgrosser4443]

The new name of this is, Katness Everdeaning.

[@KILLKING110]

ive found the long arrows are better overall and I did 30 minutes of practice today and as a learning I have found I may have to get a new archery glove since a finger on the glove keeps turning but I found after about 30 or so shots I have found that I'm getting better I'm getting more arrows in the target zone on my target now so practice practice practive I know this may sound old but its the only way you will get good and I am getting good enough I may be able to hit a rabbit size target with some luck I just need to see if bow hunting rabbits is legal.

[@qg786]

I wouldn't even with long arrows. What if one accidentally releases and the veins slice through the finger.

[@47Prosteam]

Bad habit and you’ll generally only see this with newbies. Certain rests like a flipper tends to allow the arrow to fall away but the best thing to do is simply tilt bow slightly away from fall in order to keep it on the rest. Additionally, more consistent shooting will be facilitated by utilizing three fingers under arrow... This also creates less torque on arrow shaft and arrow is less likely to fall away In any case,...if it’s your habit to wrap bowarm finger around shaft, you should stop doing that ASAP

[@Batsu2005]

@nusensei ! Great videos, I've learned a lot from you. Just got my bow and glove etc. and I have a question. Where on your fingers do you anchor the string? On the crease of the fingers or on the tip of the fingers? And on which finger dominantly? I shoot three under btw. Thanks

[@LostEzekiel]

Can't you get hurt by the arrow fletching if you use a finger to hold it???

[@ArrowsInTheMoon]

LostEzekiel you remove your finger before you loose an arrow.

[@grayblackhelm6468]

Should the glue loosen, the fletching can impale itself in your hand or finger. If you use actual fire feathers, it can be like getting stuck with a fishhook. Happened to me once, when I started out. Once.

[@hipanny3792]

I take down the compoundnent of my target bow to try to shoot the bow obliquely,but I found that the arrow will fly to left hand side ,is it normal?Or only can traditional bow shoot like that?

[@jamesgretsch4894]

Sometimes my arrow lifts off the shelf when acquiring the target so I have to hold it down with my finger. It doesn’t roll off but lifts off. The front is pointing 45 degrees up like a missile launch 🚀 when I pull back on the arrow and string. Can someone tell me why? Thanks.

[@source1zero]

When did you get the Bear NuSensei?

[@alexanderslemp4855]

I have a friend who draws a bow with his finger over the arrow n keeps it there through the release of the string. His response when I asked him why he does this was so the arrow didnt slip off. I told him (multiple times) he doesn't need to keep his finger over the arrow when he releases, but he got defensive. Have u come across ppl doing this n how did u go about getting them to break the habit?

[@NUSensei]

You don't tell people they're wrong; you show them how it works. If you can get them to draw the string correctly with the hand being flat and they get to full draw without flipping the arrow off, they'll learn.

[@alexanderslemp4855]

@@NUSensei hahaha no I mean: arrow knocked - finger over arrow - draw string back with finger over arrow - releases string - "finger still over arrow as arrow leaves bow".

[@NUSensei]

@@alexanderslemp4855 Yes. If he can see that the arrow won't fall off, he won't do it. What he is doing is quite dangerous, and we know that, but people will stick with habits if they don't see that they can achieve the same result without them.

[@alexanderslemp4855]

@@NUSensei yeah I've attempted to explain this to him with no success, like u said habits n all. Thanks for ur help keep up with the videos there great.

[@dory4498]

2:00 DEAD. I'M DEAD.

[@NicoleM04]

I went for a lesson once and i was told to keep my finger of the arrow because i could break the arrow. SERIOUSLY. this arrow which is about to plug itself in to a target thousands of times and be fine is going to break if i touch it.

[@jamesgretsch4894]

Nicole Mendez more like the arrow is going to break your finger if you hold it and the arrow goes through your finger.

[@geoffreymartin2714]

not to mention you can cut yourself pretty bad on the fletching of the arrow or worse if your using a short arrow if you leave your index finger on in the shot process yes there is practicality to using the index finger but people should learn the proper way that the index finger is not part of the shooting process

[@cadethumann8605]

Geoffrey Martin How can feathers, which are known to be extremely soft, cut fingers? Shouldn't they gently brush past? In addition, while I haven't watched the hunger games, I'm pretty sure the actress was perfectly fine when she shot with her index finger over the arrow. Pardon me. I don't do archery as I am more of a sword guy myself. I'm just curious and confused.

[@geoffreymartin2714]

watch the video all the way through and take it from the archery expert as to why the finger is not part of the shooting process

[@cadethumann8605]

Geoffrey Martin I know why it's not part of the process. I also already watched the entire video (which DID point out its practicality when holding a nocked but undrawn bow). I was just asking on how can feathers cut in addition to how Jennifer Lawrence was perfectly fine when shooting with her index finger over her arrow.

[@geoffreymartin2714]

You can implant part of the feathers in your finger if you are shooting bird feathers as fletching. They tend to be a bit pointy at the start and if the glue came off a bit , this can be quite nasty. at Velocity the feathers will act as hooks so if it goes through a finger and implant pretty deep needing a trip to the hospital to remove. It they are other types of fletching that can cut you and if you were using say carbon fiber arrows then that can leave to some nasty carbon fiber splinters

[@cadethumann8605]

Geoffrey Martin But the only parts of a fletching that I can think of touching a person's finger would be the sides, which are soft. If they were crudely more firm and sharp like paper edges, I can understand. However, proper feathers are soft, so they should gently brush by. And once again, how come people like Lawrence who use the finger over arrow method when shooting appear none the worse for wear? If this is a dangerous habit, how come Lawrence was never reported to be injured from this?

[@user-bo8yt4uc8b]

We Olympic bow shooters have this nice device on the bow to keep the arrow on the rest 😏

[@kirkanos771]

Not sure all bows are clicker ready.

[@joejoelesh1197]

Olympic bow shooters have all sorts of gizmos to help them. #barebowsrule #barebowistheonlyrealarchery #youcheat

[@jan050375]

just learn to properly draw the bow.