# Finger tab - proper fit



## tank0020

I'm a NASP BAI - most of our youth archers have choosen to use a glove, however we have a few that perfer the tab. As coaches we would like to see more tabs being used. One of our female archer that uses a tab has problems holding a tight grouping, and her arrows have a tendcy to porpise in flight. When watching her, everything she does appears correct, grip, stance, posture, anchor, ect.. however it appears that her tab maybe to long and is interfering with her release. Can someone enlighten me with the proper fit of a tab.


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## eric schmaus

I dont like my tabs to long, maybe 3/8ths of an inch past my finger tips at the most, any longer than that and I have problems. I've tried many different tabs over the years and like the Neet pinch free tab with calf hair facing and suede leather backing. I start with a large size and trim it down to fit. I hate breaking in a new tab, once broken in I'll shoot with it till it falls apart! lol


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## shadowhunter

ewbateman .com has several styles of tabs to choose from. Be careful trimming a tab before going too far. I prefer cordovan faced tabs, they last forever!


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## fuelracerpat

I make my own, and size them to where they are just shorter than my middle finger and just cover the width of my fingers. I hook the string deep in the first joint of the fingers.


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## bowcycle

I'm pretty new to tabs, but to get mine set up I first cut it to the width of my fingers. I then hook on the string with the full-length tab and mark the tip of my fingers. I use the Bateman tabs that have the cordovan face and rubber backing. Since I'm cutting it to length hooked, the rubber ends up being a slightly different length than the cordovan. This seems to work really well for me.


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## ceebee

Back in the old days, we were told to shoot our new tabs for a while, then powder them well and shoot another arrow. The string will show you where to trim to. The powder will still be on the part that does nothing and needs to be removed. I used this method for years. Just trim a little at a time.
Charlie


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## big cypress

COOL!!!!! i , for one , love it .


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## mitchell

ceebee said:


> Back in the old days, we were told to shoot our new tabs for a while, then powder them well and shoot another arrow. The string will show you where to trim to. The powder will still be on the part that does nothing and needs to be removed. I used this method for years. Just trim a little at a time.
> Charlie


Very interesting idea.

I usually trim mine back a little at a time, trying to get any excess off the tab. After shooting it for a little while, I hook the string, and mark the excess material with a marker, and trim. Be careful; it is easy to go too far and begin to touch the finger.

I also make my own from a sheet of cordovan. I take a cheap piece of material (any kind of leather), cut it, use it a few shots, and then begin to trim it. That way if I go too far I have not ruined my cordovan. Then I use the finished product as a pattern to see how much I can take off the cordovan. 

Unless the tab is just crazy excessive, I would wonder it the porpoise is not coming from something else. It may sound silly, but I have a Matthews Genesis Pro that I matched a 1716 aluminum too by bare shafting it. It flies like a dart.

I am pretty sure you know this, but I would check for poor spine match, rest contact, nock set height etc.

I am not sure what all those initials stand for, but I assume you are instructing kids. What a cool thing. Kudos to you. You may affect the entire life direction of a young person.


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## rsarns

At our recent State indoor tourney I was running the line, and next to my stand was a NASP shooter, I watched his arrows coming off the bow porpoising terribly, between ends I talked to his parents about how the bow was setup. His nockset was set at even... yet he was shooting 3 Under (NASP), drawing the arrow nock below level, I suggested they set the nock 3/8 high and experiment with that during practice after the shoot. You might want to see if that is the issue... with the nock set to low the arrow has no choice but to porpoise as it leaves the string. For all wondering BAI is BAsic Archery Instructor... and good on you for helping the kids by becoming a NASP instructor!!!!


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