# pull to get release to fire



## XForce Girl (Feb 14, 2008)

It has to do with using proper back tension to make the release fire. 

It's not simply "pulling" but rather the entire shot sequence.

May I ask, what release do you currently use?


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## Pete53 (Dec 5, 2011)

you need these two books and read them. idiot proof archery by Bernie Pellerite and core archery by Larry Wise. its not just pull its : push and pull > maybe start with a hinge with a safety on it


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## dmacey (Mar 27, 2015)

This might be in reference to a tension-style release, like the Carter Evolution, Stan Element or the TruBall HBX, etc. These types don't require any manipulation of the release body itself (no thumb button, no rotation, etc) - you only need to overcome the set tension on the release and it goes off by itself above that. 

As for the techniques for doing the pulling, that's an entire subject in itself as other folks are talking about, but tension-style releases themselves are specifically designed to go off by simply increasing pressure against the back wall with no other manual manipulation by the shooter...

DM


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## Dave V (Aug 13, 2008)

I think the generic "just pull" applies to hinges as well. I have trouble too getting my head around the pulling movement. If you think about it, the only way a hinge (back tension) release can go off is if there is some rotation. This usually happens by the relaxation of the fingers or minor rotation of the hand as you pull. If you're at full draw and your arm can't go any farther back, the arm *must* rotate in an arc toward the back. This motion is part of the "back tension" routine you hear so much about. This squeezing between the shoulder blades causing your arm to rotate back is all the motion you need to get the microscopic rotation of the hinge to set it off.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

At this point I would tell you that all of us that have became a hinge shooter or thumb trigger shooter have been right where you are at, how in the world do these things work. My suggestion to you is to accept the fact that once you become a hinge shooter everything is going to make perfect sense and you are going to be really glad that you made the decision to do it. Do your research and find someone like me that has the information to set them up and execute them and just get to work and spend the year becoming one. 

If I were you I would study "Yielding", I have shot with many different methods over the years but this one is the one that I have a deep down feeling that is the best one out there. Yielding will fire a hinge or thumb trigger and is a great method to commit to when you are early on in your training, basically it is stretching your hand and fingers out as you smoothly pull into the wall. With a hinge release it rotates the hinge without you trying to rotate the hinge because the index finger is longer than the ring finger so as all of the fingers stretch out the index one does it at a different rate and allows the side of the hinge on its side to move farther forward and this is where the rotation happens. With a thumb trigger the thumb it fixed solid on the thumb trigger and the fingers yield and the handle moves forward but the thumb trigger stays put and that change fires the release.


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## Dave V (Aug 13, 2008)

Yielding is a good term for it. That's what I was missing when I first started with a hinge. I was so intent on hanging on and pulling straight back, I wasn't allowing it to move properly.


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## ILOVE3D (Feb 4, 2009)

Here is a link to an excellent you tube by Griv on how to set up your release, whether it is a hinge or a thumb activation release. you might have to copy and paste. This is a great help when getting going with a release on how to set it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lwxnbrGAvw


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## dant (Oct 9, 2010)

XForce Girl said:


> It has to do with using proper back tension to make the release fire.
> 
> It's not simply "pulling" but rather the entire shot sequence.
> 
> May I ask, what release do you currently use?


using a carter thumb release


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

There are two different ways to view back tension, for most people especially when they get a new hand held they are still a valley sitter. They touch the wall but are just sitting in the valley so then they decide to try and make the release fire with back tension and they start pulling into the wall and that is when the funny float issues start happening because they are hitting the solid wall and also all the pressure changes in their system happen and the list of issues gets gets bigger and bigger. 

Then there is the other way to use back tension, Using it as a preload into the wall before you even get started with the shot. These guys for the most part come to anchor and add the preload to the wall and this changes everything, it spring loads the grip of the hinge so that the hand wants to yield and once you combine the yielding of the handle along with a slight amount of pull into the wall you get into the really nice shooting.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

With your carter thumb trigger release I would suggest that you spend some time:

1. Doing a draw length session along with a back tension preload session and get the draw length and d-loop length spot on so that you are able to apply some preload to the system as you come to anchor.

2. With your grip of the thumb trigger I would suggest that you use a j-hook grip and draw with your hand nice and comfortable and not overly tensed up and then as you come to anchor slightly add just a little squeeze to your grip. Then get your thumb on the thumb peg. I would tie together your preload to the slight squeeze of the grip together so that they are both very subtle but just right. 

3. Now you are ready to yield your fingers gripping the release as you smoothly add just a little back tension and the arrow should be gone nice and smoothly. 

During that shot execution you have added all of the pressure to the shot in the beginning before you even started the shot execution and then as you yield the grip of the release so that it fires you are only adding a little pressure to the wall to offset the yielding. If you yield and do not add a little tension then you will be creeping.


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## NP Archery (Jul 29, 2008)

For a beginner....if someone would have used the term "expansion" rather than "back tension", my learning curve would have been lessened somewhat.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

I still remember how the term back tension was thrown around back in 2008-2010 when I was needing help along with if you even think about rotating the hinge you are a CHEATER. I think that those two things had me stuck in the mud more than anything else.


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## NP Archery (Jul 29, 2008)

"Valley sitter" .....now that term I can relate to......sadly enough...
I can hope I have a handle on that for now.


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## Atascaderobow (Nov 4, 2014)

Personal observation: "Pull through" isn't a linear (straight) motion, it's angular (rotational). You can't fire a "Back Tension" or any other hinge release by simply pulling. We all hear about "pulling through" and many new shooters think that involves a straight pull as in a linear motion. If you pull using your back (pulling you scapula together) you elbow will want to rotate down. That angular motion is what fires the back tension type releases. Its this angular motion that I have used to fire my thumb release. I don't trigger the thumb release I hold the trigger and use the squeezing together of my scapula to rotate the release, while keeping my thumb in the same position, allowing it to fire.

Padgett's use of "Yielding" is a great term to describe how to use your release. If you look at "Yielding" it is angular. Basically the release pivots around the index finger.

Once I went from linear thought to angular the whole process became much easier to understand. But, I can be kind of dense when it comes to grasping simple fundamentals.


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## Scott.Barrett (Oct 26, 2008)

Padgett said:


> At this point I would tell you that all of us that have became a hinge shooter or thumb trigger shooter have been right where you are at, how in the world do these things work. My suggestion to you is to accept the fact that once you become a hinge shooter everything is going to make perfect sense and you are going to be really glad that you made the decision to do it. Do your research and find someone like me that has the information to set them up and execute them and just get to work and spend the year becoming one.
> 
> If I were you I would study "Yielding", I have shot with many different methods over the years but this one is the one that I have a deep down feeling that is the best one out there. Yielding will fire a hinge or thumb trigger and is a great method to commit to when you are early on in your training, basically it is stretching your hand and fingers out as you smoothly pull into the wall. With a hinge release it rotates the hinge without you trying to rotate the hinge because the index finger is longer than the ring finger so as all of the fingers stretch out the index one does it at a different rate and allows the side of the hinge on its side to move farther forward and this is where the rotation happens. With a thumb trigger the thumb it fixed solid on the thumb trigger and the fingers yield and the handle moves forward but the thumb trigger stays put and that change fires the release.


THIS! Elegantly stated, simple to understand!


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## AKDoug (Aug 27, 2003)

GRIV taught me how to shoot a hinge. Best money on coaching I ever spent. It sounds like I do it the same way as Padgett.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Griv is awesome, I first saw his video on yielding a few years ago when I didn't really know what it was and I still watch it from time to time and I suggest it to many many people because it is a really nicely done one and give you a look at what yielding can be if you choose to use it. 

Yielding is a very powerful method in many ways and one that a person really needs to at least put the time in to become proficient at it along with a couple other methods and then you can choose the one that compliments your shooting the best. I shoot all of them basically at the same level and they all get the job done, they simply send the arrow on its way. Your firing method is only one component to your shooting and it shouldn't define or restrict you, again it has a simply job of sending the arrow to the target.


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## bsp5019 (Oct 1, 2007)

Padgett said:


> Griv is awesome, I first saw his video on yielding a few years ago when I didn't really know what it was and I still watch it from time to time and I suggest it to many many people because it is a really nicely done one and give you a look at what yielding can be if you choose to use it.
> 
> Yielding is a very powerful method in many ways and one that a person really needs to at least put the time in to become proficient at it along with a couple other methods and then you can choose the one that compliments your shooting the best. I shoot all of them basically at the same level and they all get the job done, they simply send the arrow on its way. Your firing method is only one component to your shooting and it shouldn't define or restrict you, again it has a simply job of sending the arrow to the target.


Question: This is never really explained by anyone who does this, and forgive me if it has. I understand yielding, and I like it very much. Of all the method's of firing a hinge, or thumber for that matter, for me it is the engine that gives me the best hold and the smoothest sight picture. 

For me, I draw, apply my back tension pre-load, anchor, began aiming and then began yielding the release while maintaining my back tension pre-load. What I have always wondered though, is those that shoot this firing engine, do you maintain that constant back tension, or do you increase as you yield?


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Well, back when I first saw the Griv Video on yielding I was a valley sitter that only rotated the hinge to fire it. So I didn't like the yielding method because I tried to yield only. So think about it, I was sitting in the valley and started trying to yield my fingers and I instantly felt the bow creeping forward and that felt horrible. I knew that creeping was a bad thing and yielding totally forced me to allow my bow to creep in order to use that method. That is why I did not use yielding for a long time because I simply didn't have the fundamental understanding of the things that I needed in my shooting to actually use that method. 

So

I come to anchor and I do have a nice draw length setting so that I am inside the wall a little with preload, I then settle into the 12 ring and I start my yielding and also allow my self to add to the system as I yield so that I maintain the same amount of pressure in the shot, If I add to much I will pull the pin off the spot and if I pause or let up I might drop out the bottom of the shot. So 99% of my training is to work on adding the exact same amount to the wall as I yield. When I said I am adding to the system that part right there I believe my draw length is set up where I am a compact shooter and I am not a bottomed out or stretched out shooter, so I have something left to give to the wall. So as my fingers yield I can ever so slightly stretch out my system just a little more to counteract the yield. This is referred to back tension or pulling into the wall etc.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

If you have been paying attention to my posts on many of these threads lately I have been working on a slightly different approach to things in the last couple months, I am shooting with a click and I am starting my engine which is yielding as I release the peg and I yield to get to click and I continue yielding to fire with no pause. I have outlined exactly how I am doing this many times.

Well

This weekend was a good one for me, I won on saturday and shot a really tough course 16 up and had a nice 12 count but it was what happened in that round that was really important to me and way more important than the win. It was cold and kind of cloudy and breezy when we started and I was shooting awesome and got to 10 up easily by the half way point and then the awesome thing happened, the sun came out. For the next 6 targets I struggled to see the 12 ring and I was coming to anchor and trying to settle in and just run my engine but I had to pause and float around and look for the stinking 12 ring and then by the time I found it getting the shot started caused me problems. I ended up shooting 2 eights and finally I had to take a step back and reset myself mentally.

I simply said to myself, it is more important to come to anchor and run a smooth shot than it is to aim at the 12 ring. So I came to anchor even though it was scary and I settled in normally to targets where I couldn't really see and I started my shot normally with no pause and I shot the rest of the course really strong and got right back up to 16 up and could have easily shot 20 up but I missed by a fraction of a inch a few times because I really couldn't see what I was aiming at. 

That lesson right there was a really important one because many times in the past I have let that kind of change in the lighting ruin a day on the range and just couldn't let go of the accuracy and seeing the 12 ring perfectly. This weekend I just let my shooting take care of me and it did just that.


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## oldpro888 (Dec 31, 2010)

Scott.Barrett said:


> THIS! Elegantly stated, simple to understand!


What I would've said with less eloquence. I relax my pointer and pull with my third finger, rotating around my middle finger created by pulling my shoulder blades together. This was self taught, actually had to get on video at a Wise seminar to understand what I actually do.


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## thunderbolt (Oct 11, 2002)

Padgett said:


> If you have been paying attention to my posts on many of these threads lately I have been working on a slightly different approach to things in the last couple months, I am shooting with a click and I am starting my engine which is yielding as I release the peg and I yield to get to click and I continue yielding to fire with no pause. I have outlined exactly how I am doing this many times.


I just want to make sure I'm following this correctly...if you've already started aiming and yield to the click and right on through...why even use the click? I just don't see how it has a purpose this way.


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## bsp5019 (Oct 1, 2007)

thunderbolt said:


> I just want to make sure I'm following this correctly...if you've already started aiming and yield to the click and right on through...why even use the click? I just don't see how it has a purpose this way.


There are some good videos out there of guys using their release. A really good one is the 2014 Lancaster Classic Pro shoot up. They zoom right in on their faces. One in particular, Steve Anderson, anchors and then rotates, very drastically, to the click. From there his movement is almost null and void. I would say at that point it his either pulling with pure back tension, or yield/increasing his tension.

To me, the click is a safety, and just continuously yielding as your aiming, hitting the click, and still yielding and aiming till the shot goes off causes a massive bump in my sight picture. Granted, I am no where near the shot level of Padgett. He has put a lot of time in to smoothing his shot process and his results show that.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Thunderbolt I am so glad that you asked your question, I have been thinking about this for years and a whole freaking lot over the last couple months since I started competing with a click again. 

When I first started shooting a hinge I read over and over that you should not have the pin on the 12 ring before coming to click and you should try and come to click right as you come to anchor. So I worked really hard at learning how to do those things in fear of the click causing me to have target panic issues, I never never never even considered allowing the pin to be on the 12 ring. 

So many things in hinge shooting are simple and right in front of your face but you are blind to the truth. For example how long does my hinge take to fire after the click happens if I am applying some kind of effort to actually fire it. Well I studied my hinge with a click and it is about 2 seconds, it could be 1.5 seconds or 2 or 2.5 or 3 seconds but guess what. It is never click fire or .5 or 1 seconds, I have been shooting this hinge with a click for over 2.5 months now and it has never done that even once. What this does is allows me to not be afraid of my hinge clicking at all, I can come back to anchor and get my pin on the 12 ring and start execution to get to the click and once it clicks all that does is tell me that I am about 2 seconds give or take from firing. It has basically narrowed down my shot window because my hinge fires really close to the 2 second time a lot. With a smooth moon my window is more like 5 to 6 seconds long and it is because it starts the second that my thumb leaves the peg and there is no click to tell you that you are close so you just have to continue executing until the thing fires.

When you shoot with a click and you choose to be not aiming and come to click early and then you want to settle into the 12 ring and then start executing this requires you to freeze up. I mean think about it, you have freaking clicked and with just a little more movement you are on the edge of firing so you had better be paused in neutral. So once you settle in on the 12 ring then you can start the execution which means that now you have to go from neutral to execution and this is where the funny float patterns or drop outs or a extra pause happens because the start of the shot pulled the pin off the spot and there are a ton of little issues that can happen. I have been there and done that. By me stopping and seeing that the click is only there to tell me that I am now 2 seconds from the shot possibly firing it has allowed me to relax and yield to the click and then continue on for a couple more seconds and the arrow leaves the bow. The fear of the click happening and now I have to really be on task because it is on the edge is no longer a fear, I am simply using it to my advantage.


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## oldpro888 (Dec 31, 2010)

Padgett said:


> Thunderbolt I am so glad that you asked your question, I have been thinking about this for years and a whole freaking lot over the last couple months since I started competing with a click again.
> 
> When I first started shooting a hinge I read over and over that you should not have the pin on the 12 ring before coming to click and you should try and come to click right as you come to anchor. So I worked really hard at learning how to do those things in fear of the click causing me to have target panic issues, I never never never even considered allowing the pin to be on the 12 ring.
> 
> ...


It would be interesting to see how many of the top shooters click AFTER. I'm going to ask a couple old friends, Larry, Bernie, and get back to the thread.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Awesome, I can't wait to hear from you. I just love this stuff.


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## thunderbolt (Oct 11, 2002)

Thanks for the explanation! It works for some but not for others...using the click the way you describe just seems to cause a flinch knowing that it's almost there. I went away from using it for that reason.
Come to anchor, thumb off the peg and aim...POW!


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

I love each and every method, each of them has really given me some awesome days on the ranges and in my back yard. I do know that back when I first started the only focus was just to get rid of the arrow and so many times being frozen kept me from that simple goal. At this point in my hinge shooting any and all of the methods get rid of the arrow and I have done the work mentally so that I don't have target panic anymore so my brain is very clean and can just enjoy the shooting with a variety of methods. I have enjoyed my time coming to click with my pin on the 12 ring and maybe this summer if I can guess my yardages really good for two days I can be on the last target on sunday afternoon and have a shot a winning a semi pro national asa and see if the method comes through just as smooth as it does normally. There is nothing about winning a national tournament that is normal, I have never won one so it will be something special to me and potentially a disaster shot, I actually believe that when it happens it will be the third time in a row that I deliver a smooth effort to the target, my first two attempts were 10's instead of 12's and I had to settle for 3rd but I didn't get the 10's because of a poor shot.


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

Padgett has helped with my hinge firing, and it made some improvements.
I DO know that I am normally on the "X" before I get to my click. Still not truly focusing on aiming yet, but lining everything up before starting the engine.
If nothing else, it DOES save your score if you didn't get the hinge reset correctly (DOH!...happened more than once LOL).


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## oldpro888 (Dec 31, 2010)

From Larry Wise,
Hi Mark,
Great to hear from you.
I don’t use a click at all and do not teach it to any students. But, if you find it helpful as you are now using it continue to do so - you are using it properly, if you haven't changed any process I've seen from the past.
Others use it a little later I their anchoring/holding stage as you point out but that, to me, is playing with fire. What I don’t like about it is the fact that the "click" draws your conscious focus to the release aid and/or to the moment of release - your focus needs to be totally on the creative "feel" of the shot at that point. Focusing on the click or release is analytical focus and does not promote your highest level of "repeat" performance.

Glad you are shooting well. 
larry


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

I love to hear from some of the guys who have coached for a long time, it is very surprising that he does not present shooting with a click to any of his students.


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## oldpro888 (Dec 31, 2010)

Padgett said:


> I love to hear from some of the guys who have coached for a long time, it is very surprising that he does not present shooting with a click to any of his students.


Larry doesn't like shooters to be able to anticipate the explosion. The click gives you a ledge, and with the solid back walls today make no surprise. I shot a Stan for years with no click, no one thought of that yet.
I'm sure you know, but Larry is the most sought after coach ever. He coaches the Olympic team, all the pro National teams, travels to every event with them. He was a very good shooter in his day, not the best, but an outstanding hands on coach.
I saw him in Vegas just a few years back, he watched a few shots I took, and told me little has changed in my sequence in 25 years.
Maybe a little thicker belly and chin is all....


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

I know he is a good coach, I love to look at the big picture and see all of the things that are out there. I do not like wasting time but at the same time I don't like to leave a opportunity untouched, so when I see jesse broadwater and levi morgan shooting with a click I take notice. When I see Chance B shooting with a smooth moon I take notice. I pay attention to how they are firing and gripping and their shooting form along with the other really good shooters out there. 

Just like the other day I watched the video with Paige Gore and she talked about her reasons for shooting a like mike index finger release, she jumped into the pro women class at a extremely early age and I can tell that instead of her allowing her shooting progress based on execution she made decisions based on scoring and winning. She was able to execute and win right now with a index finger release and in her mind that was all she needed to mentally commit and not look back. Each and every win such as redding makes her confidence in her choices stronger and stronger.


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## quickshot22 (Jul 8, 2016)

pull and relax the hand.


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## yeroc (Jan 11, 2007)

straight from alex wifler..come to full draw.keep tension in your back.get to the click,then just squeeze with your
primarily your ring finger and the arrow is gone.


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## babyg (Jul 16, 2002)

yeroc said:


> straight from alex wifler..come to full draw.keep tension in your back.get to the click,then just squeeze with your
> primarily your ring finger and the arrow is gone.


Good Discussion. I started shooting a bow in 2001 for hunting within the next year I saw a 3d range and Loved it. Got introduced to "Back Tension" hinge release, scopes, clarifiers, stabilizers within a month or less of shooting or even knowing 3D archery existed. Well I was hooked!! Didn't score well, learned on my own so until 2012 the only way to shoot a hinge "BT" release was "Just Pull with Back Muscles" don't Rotate, don't do anything but aim until it goes off!! Hah, funny! But I'm relentless, determined, and the harder it is the more I want it. Throw Stubborn, one track mind in there too. So if someone did try to tell me different my one track mind probably didn't hear it. Anyway since 2012 I decided that I really enjoy 3D ASA archery so much that I'm going to really enjoy making improvements and learn as much as possible. I've bought every DVD, Internet lesson, Book that I can find. I have really learned a lot and enjoy it so much, my score's aren't great compared to the pro's but it's what I do for fun & relaxation.
I love my hinge releases my favorites are the Stan's (Morex style w/ trainer lock screw: Heavy metal or regular weight Black Pearl, Blk Pearl DS, Jet Black, etc) with a click. I've owned, shot all the brands they are all good and they are all different. Just get one & stick with it until it feels normal like a good pair of shoes. I do believe Everyone has to find their own firing engine and If you are just starting I can't tell you how important it is to have your DRAW LENGTH set to your body in order to shoot a hinge or to know how good shooting a hinge can be!! My current firing engine is from Padgett & his web site articles. Wonderful information Padgett!! I squeeze my ring finger to get to the click as I anchor while keeping a smooth steady pull. I don't pause I say to myself "keep it moving" as I can feel my float stand still while relaxing my palm and keeping the pull going until it fires. Another firing engine I currently use is to continue squeezing my ring finger until it fires. It's harder to describe than it is to do it bc all of these movements aren't noticeable they're such small motions. Padgett's articles does a great job explaining the process.
Another firing engine I really shoot well with is Bernie's method from Idiot Proof Archery: As you rotate your release arm to align with the arrow shaft the shot breaks. Again it's not as much movement as it sounds. If your DL is spot on or a hair short it works great, for me anyway. 
Padgett or anyone else have you experimented with this method???
Thanks everyone!!


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## AKDoug (Aug 27, 2003)

Padgett said:


> I love to hear from some of the guys who have coached for a long time, it is very surprising that he does not present shooting with a click to any of his students.


I'd love to hear what Terry Wunderle says. Him, GRIV and Larry Wise are the guys that I listen to. Everything changes, but my conversations a decade ago with Wise and GRIV did not include a hinge release with a click. Also, in the past, Braden Gellenthien didn't use a click. 

FOR ME... I hate a click. It interferes with my processes and my shot. For lack of a better term, I like fluidity in my shot process. I also don't use a thumb peg 95% of the time and a pretty slow setting on my hinges. Letting go of a thumb peg is another interruption in the way I shoot; the only time I ever use the thumb peg is steep up and down shots. Ditto for hinge releases with safeties. 

My son, who I taught to shoot, started with a hinge with a safety. By the time I figured out why I didn't like using it, he was hooked. Now he uses the safety like a trigger. He just loads the release up, then presses the safety to get it to fire. It's not the right way to do it, but he's an adult now and way bigger than me. I'll let him do what he wants until he asks for my help. 

Everyone does it different and there is no doubt Padgett and RCR's advice has helped hundreds of guys, but I'm just not a click guy.


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## derwet (Jun 3, 2014)

Very informative thread! Thanks Padgett for the excellent description of yielding. I feel like I'm somewhere between yielding and back tension (pulling thru the shot with back tension). As I try to rely more on back tension to get the release aid to go off, I tend to miss to the left--sometimes considerably left. I feel like it's been a progression for me. Just started shooting a bow 2 years ago. I was strictly rotating with my hinge at that point. Then, it went more to trying to pull thru the release with back tension. And that has me where I am now--yielding like Padgett describes. 

We have been blessed to have Jesse Morehead as a coach. He has done wonders with my two boys. My younger son, Kent, shoots his hinge a lot like what everyone is describing with a clicker sear, even though he shoots a smooth. You can visibly watch him "set" the hinge about half way. After that, you see very little movement whatsoever. He's quite good with the release, and very consistent. I feel like sometimes it would be nice if he couldn't anticipate the hinge firing though. With his scores though, I couldn't condone changing anything. 

As for me, I need practice, practice, practice with it. I would like to get to the point where I am consistently using the same mechanism for getting the hinge to fire--to the point that I do not have to have that as a focus in my shot routine.

Thanks for the helpful thread!!


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

I always like to remind myself and others that the release and the method that you fire it have a simple job to do and nothing else.

Send the arrow on its way smoothly.

So much of our discussions are based on that one area, I know that as a beginning hinge shooter or even a intermediate shooter it can consume almost 100% of your training, getting frozen and hung up or firing to quickly just consume your efforts day after day.

I am on year 7 I believe and for me it is no longer about getting the release to fire, I have moved on to polishing off my choices so that I am proud of each and every part of my shot. 

I shot a bow for over 30 years and learned nothing, hinge shooting changed that into a lesson filled journey to actually be a strong shooter.


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## ArcheryNut2006 (Dec 5, 2006)

Here is a related question. What do you do, or how do you grip the release the same for every shot? If the ring finger on a three finger release or the pinky with a four finger release is gripped deeper or not as deep from shot to shot, it will affect point of impact left and right. How do you make sure you grip it the same all the time?


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## JeppaCrzy (Jan 10, 2013)

I am by no means an expert but my coach told me to touch my thumb and index finger slightly so that I have a repeatable reference point. From there I try to relax my hand and pull (think squeeze) the shot through. I use a Carter Simple 1 thumb trigger release. Hope this helps.

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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Archerynut2006, You asked a awesome question. I wish someone would have explained the importance of gripping a hinge to me when I started and progressed, to me this is something that most people simply overlook and down play but it totally screws them from day to day. The minute I adopted the j-hook grip of the hinge my shooting improved, not the accuracy but the ability to simply send the arrow to the target without suffering with frozen shots attempts or quick fires. To me the biggest issue is a deep grip where the fingers are really curled into a fist.

I learned the hard way that the more your hand is fisted the slower the hinge is and the more stretched out the hand is the faster the hinge is. So if you are a guy that uses a clinched or fisted grip you are afraid of the hinge firing most of the time and you over clinch the hinge for safety and end up making it even slower and hence you are screwed just standing there hoping it would fire.

The secret is to use a specific mind set when you set up your hinge, I am going to allow my hand to relax and stretch out to the best feeling position possible. not over stretching it out but just allowing it to be perfect, now using my hinge setup routing approach of setting the hinge stupid slow where it can not fire you draw the bow with that grip of the hinge and allow yourself to feel how awesome the hinge can feel in your hand drawing with all fingers equally. Then after feeling that you start speeding it up and over 15 minutes or so you continue doing it faster and faster until you are firing.

Now what have you accomplished?

You now have a hinge that is set to a fast hand grip that you can use without clinching of fisting the hinge and making it slower or faster from shot to shot. You can confidently draw the bow with that relaxed hand knowing it is good to go and then execute the same every time.


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## AKDoug (Aug 27, 2003)

Padgett said:


> Archerynut2006, You asked a awesome question. I wish someone would have explained the importance of gripping a hinge to me when I started and progressed, to me this is something that most people simply overlook and down play but it totally screws them from day to day. The minute I adopted the j-hook grip of the hinge my shooting improved, not the accuracy but the ability to simply send the arrow to the target without suffering with frozen shots attempts or quick fires. To me the biggest issue is a deep grip where the fingers are really curled into a fist.
> 
> I learned the hard way that the more your hand is fisted the slower the hinge is and the more stretched out the hand is the faster the hinge is. So if you are a guy that uses a clinched or fisted grip you are afraid of the hinge firing most of the time and you over clinch the hinge for safety and end up making it even slower and hence you are screwed just standing there hoping it would fire.
> 
> ...


The thing is, if you grip it the same every time and set your release speed to match the more clenched fist style, it will fire just fine. At least for me it does.


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## AKDoug (Aug 27, 2003)

I wanted to add a couple photos for any non-believers that if you relax the hand the release will rotate. This was shown to me in a class given by GRIV in 2006. Your fingers naturally cause a rotation when the hand is relaxed or the load put on it exceeds the tension in the draw hand. By taking a pen and put it in your draw hand fingers, pull on it with your opposite hand against the release hand without adding any tension to your release hand. You will feel it cause a rotation due to the different lengths of fingers.. I don't make an effort to release the hand, I maintain the relaxed hold I have that is sufficient to hold the bow back, while increasing tension by back tension/elbow moving back...


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## Daniel.Scott (Aug 10, 2014)

Padgett said:


> There are two different ways to view back tension, for most people especially when they get a new hand held they are still a valley sitter. They touch the wall but are just sitting in the valley so then they decide to try and make the release fire with back tension and they start pulling into the wall and that is when the funny float issues start happening because they are hitting the solid wall and also all the pressure changes in their system happen and the list of issues gets gets bigger and bigger.
> 
> Then there is the other way to use back tension, Using it as a preload into the wall before you even get started with the shot. These guys for the most part come to anchor and add the preload to the wall and this changes everything, it spring loads the grip of the hinge so that the hand wants to yield and once you combine the yielding of the handle along with a slight amount of pull into the wall you get into the really nice shooting.


If I read this right I'm shooting just like that. I pull into the wall to settle my pin and the tension I've built pulling into the wall allows the release to rotate as I relax my hand and transfer pressure off my index finger and more onto the ring finger. It's a great feeling shot.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

Computer down and out for a while.... I've started using a different firing process with both my hinges and thumb releases and it is relaxing the release hand and fingers, but each hinge and thumb release can be different. Me, hinges really suck in the pulling post department, no real adjustment here. Seems, me anyway, most have the hinge angled so sharply by getting the thumb on the pulling post it's a royal pain relax and not be scared the hinge is going to fire. I think I've pictured my Stan Deuce. Hand and fingers relaxed my thumb misses the pulling post by a "mile." See pics. Hand is what I call mis-sharpened to get on the pulling post. 

My Stan hinge Jet Black is pretty decent in the hand and just relaxing can give a nice release. I have a Scott Halo I just smoothed up. It isn't all that bad for a consistent hold and just getting off the thumb post it goes to the "click" pretty nice. Relaxing gives much, but pulling with the middle finger can be so smooth that I think the Halo should have been a 2 finger and really, I use it that way, as a two finger.

My thumb releases, so so sweet with relaxing the hand and fingers and they can be fired, but I have them set to fire with thumb pressure. They are set so I can feel the barrel and not fire, but the slightest bit of pressure gives a very nice firing. I'm still working with this, but results are promising.

First pic, Deuce is hooked up to a string loop, not fired.


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