# Shooting without Tab or gloves



## fingers (May 27, 2002)

Hegrend, Yes you can shoot without a glove or tab but listen to someone with a bit of knowledge please. There is a reason to use these protective devices. You can suffer nerve damage with out them and you can shoot accurately with them. You young people are so tough and resilient but you are not invulnerable. We use tabs and gloves so we can enjoy our sport for years to come without numbness in our fingers. I like your spirit, and I also want to help you be good to yourself. If you shoot a long bow I think either a tab or glove is good so choose what you like. I use a tab because it seems more accurate due to the way it is separate from all hand influence except at the point of release. A glove stays with the hand and might influence the shot a little bit beyond the initial release. You did a good thing in asking for advice. This is a good place for that. Good luck on your journey,,,:grin:


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## Hegrend (Jun 10, 2010)

Ok. The Tab I have sucks. I will buy a W&W Tab and gloves and test it out. Thank you.


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## bigfish1977 (Mar 28, 2009)

fingers said:


> Hegrend, Yes you can shoot without a glove or tab but listen to someone with a bit of knowledge please. There is a reason to use these protective devices. You can suffer nerve damage with out them and you can shoot accurately with them. You young people are so tough and resilient but you are not invulnerable. We use tabs and gloves so we can enjoy our sport for years to come without numbness in our fingers. I like your spirit, and I also want to help you be good to yourself. If you shoot a long bow I think either a tab or glove is good so choose what you like. I use a tab because it seems more accurate due to the way it is separate from all hand influence except at the point of release. A glove stays with the hand and might influence the shot a little bit beyond the initial release. You did a good thing in asking for advice. This is a good place for that. Good luck on your journey,,,:grin:


i have shot without a glove or tab for some time and have had no issues other than first start up as for me it will be no glove or tab and i am not new to archery


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## Noobist (Jun 5, 2009)

I shoot a compound at around 65# with bare fingers. I lost all the feeling in the tips of my fingers pretty quickly, but after the first full day or so of shooting there hasn't been much pain. Now it doesn't hurt at all.
I find my groups to be tighter without gloves or tab, which is the only reason I put up with what I call the "numb hum" in my fingers. But the groups have been mostly pretty sweet, so I call that worth it!


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

Tabs need to be broken in, I imagine gloves do as well. I use E. W. Bateman tabs. When they are new, I fling arrows all over the yard. Make sure you give the tab a chance to break in before you give up on it. That is why many folks will break in multiple tabs, just in case they lose their primary. I was shooting a new Wilson Blackwidow tab last weekend and experienced the same problem flinging arrows everywhere. I went back to my Bateman and all was wonderful again. You may also look at whether the tab needs to be trimmed to avoid arrow interference.


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## minnie3 (Jul 28, 2009)

calf hair tab works for me, modified with surgical scissors for 2 small fingers. i prefer a brand new one as i tend to wear the hair off the upper edge and wear a groove with string. ocassionally i''ll try a few shots with bare fingers - and find the arrows shoot everywhere and that the lower finger goes numb quite quickly and it takes some time for full sensation to return intact. i once competed in 3d with a woman who released with one bare finger and i know of another who has done so for several years. we give beginners tabs or gloves to use if they arrive at our club to try archery.


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## 3children (Aug 10, 2008)

I agree with "fingers". I shot a bow since 16yrs old until 3 yrs ago always used a glove and shooting with fingers for over 35 yrs. I have gone to a release with my compound. But when I hunted I didn't use one, only because it was one shot maybe two at tops. But you will burn the finger tips off if you continue.


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## Darksider (Apr 14, 2006)

Damascus makes a great glove. Used them for years. I just switched about 2 years ago to a tab.


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## Clang! (Sep 29, 2007)

I've always shot with a tab, but I still lost about a third of the feeling in my string fingers tips. There may be people that can shoot barefinger without side effects, but I'm not one of them. I've been shooting stickbows for twenty years.


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## Noobist (Jun 5, 2009)

minnie3 said:


> the lower finger goes numb quite quickly and it takes some time for full sensation to return intact. i.


After a while the full sensation stops coming back



3children said:


> But you will burn the finger tips off if you continue


That's kind of the general idea with barefingers; if you can do that, you're already there.



Hank D Thoreau said:


> Tabs need to be broken in, I imagine gloves do as well. .


So do fingers.


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