# Using Finger Tab Shelf as Thumb Rest



## moomooholycow (Sep 15, 2016)

I've never tried this, and I will, but I'd like to hear about anyone else's experiences with this. Something they know now that they'd like to share using this technique? I use it as a ledge for my jaw, but I might try it as a deal to hold my thumb if it makes sense to do it that way.


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## Bob Furman (May 16, 2012)

moomooholycow said:


> I've never tried this, and I will, but I'd like to hear about anyone else's experiences with this. Something they know now that they'd like to share using this technique? I use it as a ledge for my jaw, but I might try it as a deal to hold my thumb if it makes sense to do it that way.


Ledges on tabs are designed for going under the jaw bone. Some poor sole who had no clue thought up the idea of trying to rest your thumb on it. I think you will find it nearly impossible to have a hook on the string and keep your thumb straight and relaxed on the top of the ledge.

Good luck though.



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## moomooholycow (Sep 15, 2016)

Might not even be worth trying,. then lol..


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## Seattlepop (Dec 8, 2003)

Ms. Park tucked her thumb under the ledge and I've experimented with lowering the ledge which allows the thumb to rest on top. Neither worked for me.


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## ThomVis (Feb 21, 2012)

Works perfectly. Set the ledge so that when your thumb is on top of it, top of thumb is about the same as top of hand. I use the groove between hand and thumb as a guide under my jawbone. More skin contact to feel where you're at with regards to anchoring.


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## moomooholycow (Sep 15, 2016)

I do wonder why so many ledges adjust so low on the tab.. I couldn't imagine that you could get jaw contact with the ledge more than about 1/4" inch under the top of the tab, itself?


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## chrstphr (Nov 23, 2005)

Bob Furman said:


> Ledges on tabs are designed for going under the jaw bone. Some poor soul who had no clue thought up the idea of trying to rest your thumb on it. I think you will find it nearly impossible to have a hook on the string and keep your thumb straight and relaxed on the top of the ledge.
> 
> Good luck though.



This. I have seen a few people try to shoot with thumb on ledge. You cant get a relaxed non tensioned hook doing it that way. 

It puts your thumb in the wrong postion with tension, as shown by Thom.

Nothing personal Thom. 




Chris


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## calbowdude (Feb 13, 2005)

At the recommendation of a Korean coach, I dropped the ledge a la ThomVis, and anchored the thumb into the soft hollow inside the jawline. It had several notable effects, one of them being better line, which then resulted in a cleaner release with better follow through. There is a prominent female Korean archer using this technique, I think Choi Misun IIRC. 

The anchor reference points are now my thumb and index finger, as opposed to the ledge or tab body. 

I would not jump in unless you are having trouble with a low draw elbow and a vague anchor between the tab and jawline, as I did.


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## ThomVis (Feb 21, 2012)

Bob Furman said:


> Ledges on tabs are designed for going under the jaw bone. Some poor sole who had no clue thought up the idea of trying to rest your thumb on it. I think you will find it nearly impossible to have a hook on the string and keep your thumb straight and relaxed on the top of the ledge.





chrstphr said:


> It puts your thumb in the wrong postion with tension, as shown by Thom.
> 
> Nothing personal Thom.


Just opinions. All good.

My thumb rests on the shelf, as-in no tension. Maybe some people can, other people can't relax in that position. I like having my thumb in a fixed, repeatable position.


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## Zombie_Feynman (Jun 27, 2014)

calbowdude said:


> At the recommendation of a Korean coach, I dropped the ledge a la ThomVis, and anchored the thumb into the soft hollow inside the jawline. It had several notable effects, one of them being better line, which then resulted in a cleaner release with better follow through. There is a prominent female Korean archer using this technique, I think Choi Misun IIRC.


Choi Misun doesn't use a ledge, and her thumb is relaxed and points down. At full draw you can see the pressure of the base of the thumb against the sternocleidomastoid, but the thumb doesn't follow the line of the jaw. Look at this picture:


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## PregnantGuppy (Jan 15, 2011)

Main reason I saw it used is because the bare metal plate can be rough on people's skin. While it doe force the thumb into a different position, ultimately you still get the rigidity of a metal piece attached to your tab, but with your own skin against your face instead of a piece of metal.

I've shot both before, and scorewise they were identical once correctly adjusted. Just two way to accomplish the same thing. I did have issues with my thumb on my face, but that's just because my thumb curves up too much and the thumbnail was scratching me too much.

For what it's worth, I no shoot with no shelf at all, much like Ms Choi in that picture. I find I can still use my thumb to gauge height quite reliably, and I end up with a much more relaxed hand. I have not done enough objective testing to see which is strictly better, though.


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## 10X Archer (Mar 7, 2016)

As many have already said, it puts your thumb in a biomechanically inefficient position. Putting your thumb in that position will usually cause ones wrist to be to far in and turned out. 
This is a much stronger and more consistent position:


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## Mengtian (May 5, 2016)

PregnantGuppy said:


> Main reason I saw it used is because the bare metal plate can be rough on people's skin. While it doe force the thumb into a different position, ultimately you still get the rigidity of a metal piece attached to your tab, but with your own skin against your face instead of a piece of metal.
> 
> I've shot both before, and scorewise they were identical once correctly adjusted. Just two way to accomplish the same thing. I did have issues with my thumb on my face, but that's just because my thumb curves up too much and the thumbnail was scratching me too much.
> 
> For what it's worth, I no shoot with no shelf at all, much like Ms Choi in that picture. I find I can still use my thumb to gauge height quite reliably, and I end up with a much more relaxed hand. I have not done enough objective testing to see which is strictly better, though.


I did this for my tab. A piece of shammie and two sided tape...it also soaks up the sweat. I have a KSL tab now and it works great.


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## 10X Archer (Mar 7, 2016)

Mengtian said:


> I did this for my tab. A piece of shammie and two sided tape...it also soaks up the sweat. I have a KSL tab now and it works great.
> 
> View attachment 6294455


Looks good. I did a similar thing with my tab when I was starting out. However I later learned that the top of your finger and specifically the knuckle should be ones primary reference point. The shelf should be secondary. 

From that picture, it seems like you use the shelf as the primary reference point and have it touching your jawbone due to your anchor being to far off to the side and not properly under the jaw. I say this because unless the tab is way to small for you, the shelf looks higher or in line with the high of your index finger knuckle. Just a guess though...


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## Mengtian (May 5, 2016)

10X Archer said:


> Looks good. I did a similar thing with my tab when I was starting out. However I later learned that the top of your finger and specifically the knuckle should be ones primary reference point. The shelf should be secondary.
> 
> From that picture, it seems like you use the shelf as the primary reference point and have it touching your jawbone due to your anchor being to far off to the side and not properly under the jaw. I say this because unless the tab is way to small for you, the shelf looks higher or in line with the high of your index finger knuckle. Just a guess though...


That is an old pic..in my OP I said I have a KSL tab now. I thnik I had been shooting about three months when I took that pic


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## 10X Archer (Mar 7, 2016)

Mengtian said:


> That is an old pic..in my OP I said I have a KSL tab now. I thnik I had been shooting about three months when I took that pic


Ah, thats good


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## x-hunta (Mar 10, 2010)

chrstphr said:


> This. I have seen a few people try to shoot with thumb on ledge. You cant get a relaxed non tensioned hook doing it that way.
> 
> It puts your thumb in the wrong postion with tension, as shown by Thom.
> 
> ...


Just because it's different doesn't make it wrong. There are several top level shooters that use it as Thom has shown.


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## chrstphr (Nov 23, 2005)

x-hunta said:


> Just because it's different doesn't make it wrong. There are several top level shooters that use it as Thom has shown.



Really? I would love to know who is shooting that way on the world cup circuit or Olympics. 


And there is a right and wrong position for the thumb so there is no tension in the hand. And the thumb is always slightly down and curled. Pointing forward is tension.

The Choi Misun photo shows the natural thumb position. The NTS photo also shows the thumb slightly down and curled, though more prominently so.


Chris


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## cekkmt (Nov 29, 2013)

He's not on the world cup team this year, but Lee Seung Yun's tab is set up that way:















When I visited Korea this summer putting the thumb on the shelf was pretty common at KNSU.

In addition some of our collegiate archers who came from HSS were taught to anchor using the thumb as Calbowdude described.


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## chrstphr (Nov 23, 2005)

I have not seen any world class archer use that thumb placement.

Thanks for the photo. I have seen his tab before. He is one of the few using that extended bar.

Are there any others? 

Chris


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## cekkmt (Nov 29, 2013)

Well now you have. It's not exactly easy to find pictures of peoples thumbs when they anchor, if you do have a clear view of their thumb then they are probably shooting like Victor Ruban.


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## Seattlepop (Dec 8, 2003)

Imagine what Ms. Park could do without all that thumb tension.


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## Zombie_Feynman (Jun 27, 2014)

chrstphr said:


> I have not seen any world class archer use that thumb placement.
> 
> Are there any others?


David Pasqualucci. 









It's not a usual technique, but there are a few top level archers using it.


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## Bob Furman (May 16, 2012)

So it seems I will have to post a update.

After trying this out, it is fairly easy to relax the thumb if the anchor plate is low enough. When just trying to hold your fingers in a mimicked hook the thumb tends to curl with the fingers, but when you have tension on the fingers from the bowstring it stretches things out to make placing the thumb on top of the anchor ledge fairly easy and relaxed if you focus on relaxing it.



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## Arrjii (Jul 9, 2016)

Trim it before using it......


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## midwayarcherywi (Sep 24, 2006)

It is possible to make almost anything work. Is it preferable? No. Should you copy Victor Ruban's motion into anchor, or anchor? Probably not. Not because it cannot work. Ruban has proven at the highest level it can work. It's all about what is the most easily repeatable, position or motion. 

So a thumb on top of a ledge may be able to work. One would never teach that as a first option as there are better first options out there.


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