# Relaxing instead of pulling??



## Play4blood (Mar 2, 2015)

I'm new to a hinge release for only 2 weeks, and have been using different methods of firing it to see what feels most natural to me. So just wanted to see if some of you experienced hinge shooters think I'm off to a good start? So here goes... What feels right ( effortless to me ) draw with thumb and two fingers to keep that safe angle ( have not popped myself so far ) anchor, center sight in peep, add ring finger with some tension, release thumb peg, slightly relax index finger ( click ) aim while pulling into back wall while relaxing hand, she's gone! My hand flying back, my bow jumping straight forward, the surprise causing me to blink having no idea where the arrow landed! So.... Is that close to anyone that is experienced with a hinge? It sure feels good. Any and all advice, tips welcome thanx


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

I'm not one of the experts on hinges here, but it sounds like it's working for you.
I would guess in time you might adjust your hinge and technique where you start merging some actions.
i.e. Drawing with all the fingers, and just have the relaxing left.
Not saying it's needed, but your style will likely evolve and make everything smoother.


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## Play4blood (Mar 2, 2015)

thanx for your input brother, I've read about drawing with all fingers. But then it seems like the travel would be huge to fire then, to the point of changing my anchor?


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

When you get more used to where it needs to be at anchor, you'll get to the point where you can draw there in one motion vs. drawing with a "safe" angle and then rotating it to your anchor position.
You'll get to the same place, but with fewer steps, but still knowing it's not gonna punch you in the face.


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## JV NC (Dec 9, 2005)

I've been shooting a hinge since Jan/Feb. I haven't misfired, yet.....but, I did come from many years with a thumb release.

I still pull through. I could likely pick up a 1/2" in DL if I used the relaxation methods, and I may evolve to something more in line with that in the future.

It's been a really smooth transition for me....and it saved me a lot of headache/frustration. If I could figure out a way to have the hinge clip onto my bow (like my thumb trigger does), I'd hunt with it. I shot my first 3D tournament with it after a few weeks.....and won a local event (my class) 2-3 wks later.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

2 weeks and sounds like you're off to good start. Practice, practice. Sure someone else will chime in, like Padgett. He has bunches of information, just got to weed through what he has that will work for you....


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## harley36 (Mar 4, 2013)

U should contact Padgett he has an excellent method for setting up a hinge that will prevent a misfire when drawing with all three or all four fingers


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## Play4blood (Mar 2, 2015)

Thanx for the replies guys. I will contact him for sure guys. Looking forward to the journey!!


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Sounds like you have had a nice start to your hinge shooting, I would suggest that you take a step back and look at the amount of stuff going on in the first half of your shot. To get the bow draw you are doing a few extra things and then coming to anchor you have a couple extra things to get settled in and to the click, all of these things will in time be a problem for you and are simply not needed. So by getting the hinge set up correctly so that you come to the click without putting out any effort to adjust the fingers or rotate the release you will clean up the first half of the shot.

I am sending you a new hinge shooter pm and you can read and make the decision to push the reset button or not. Good luck and if you have any questions just pm me.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Tried to send a pm but it wouldn't allow me, so just do a google search for:

Padgettarchery blog


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## Play4blood (Mar 2, 2015)

Padgett the man! Cool you found me first. I'm ready and fulling committed to learning this, and have no problem backing up with the right help. I will google you. Thanx brother for your help. And I will pm you cause I'm sure I will stumble somewhere! Lol thanx


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## possum trapper (Nov 24, 2005)

i will give a little trick on hinges that i use on my 3 finger scott.I use the thumb peg for sure to put pressure on to draw but what i also do is tuck my pinky finger behind my ring finger against the back of release so the release will not rotate and fire.just gives some reassurance while drawing it wont fire


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Sounds like you are excited so get a plan in your head to follow and take your time and enjoy the process:

1. ACCURACY: Absolutely do not compare your accuracy with a hinge to your other releases, all this does is slow down your progression as a hinge shooter and I mean by a year if not more so just don't do it. Your hinge shooting is a journey and in the beginning it is all about setup and muscle memory and feel and getting used to something weird, THE HINGE. Then once you get set up and up and running it becomes how to fire it consistently and then it becomes how to aim and float and run the firing of the hinge independently from each other. Finally once you become proficient you can begin adding and subtracting little things in your shot that really compliment your shooting and that is when hinge shooting becomes sweet.

2. SETTING UP THE HINGE: This is a good week of shooting where you just start over each day with a very slow hinge speed and you simply speed it up gradually until you find that perfect setting of the day, then repeat the process the next day and then by the end of day three you now are not going to start completely over on day 4. You are going to just tweak that day three speed setting a little and try and find a perfect one.

3. During week two now you can focus on a couple of the firing engines that I have to choose from and again it isn't about accuracy, It is about coming to anchor and smoothly sending the arrow to the target. This is a great time to do the paper plate session on the website and it allows you to have a little fun shooting the center but at the same time it isn't really about accuracy. 

4. Sooner or later in the second half of the first month you should be feeling comfortable drawing the bow and the grip on your hinge and that the hinge is going to fire nice and smoothly. Now it is time to go to a nice distance of 40 yards and start shooting groups but again you aren't comparing them to your other release, just focus on execution of smooth shots and when the hinge doesn't fire just let down. Absolutely do not stand at 20 yards and try and smoke perfect scoring shots because you aren't ready, you want to be back just far enough that you are ok with missing the spot and be excited when you hit it. If you shoot at 20 yds you are irritated every time you miss so it leads to issues with your desire to be accurate.


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## eclark53520 (Sep 11, 2012)

I would adjust the hinge so that you can pull with all fingers evenly and when you come off the thumb peg you hit the click.

Adding the ring finger is an area that will give you trouble adding it exactly the same every single time.


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## Play4blood (Mar 2, 2015)

so I read hinge set up, and would never have imagined that the hinge would click when thumb comes off if it is set so cold that it can be drawn with all fingers. Wow I think I started way wrong?


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## Sasquech (Dec 15, 2014)

Padgett is right on the money. You have a good start totally agree the steps need to be minimized to speed up the draw to release time 4 to 6 seconds from anchor. Will optimize your repeatability


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

Hinge setup is so overlooked by everyone because you just want to start shooting and experience a hinge for the first time and along with that excitement are the poor habits that go with it. Sooner or later those poor habits become grandfathered in to their method and for most people there is no going back. Right now you have the opportunity to do it right and not allow those bad habits even have a chance to take hold.

One of the things that is really cool about the hinge setup routine is that it allows you to choose the feel of your hand, this is something that I missed in my personal shooting until this past winter for the first 4 years of my hinge shooting and since stumbling onto it things have been even better than before. With the hinge most people have some level of anxiety of the hinge firing so they tighten up their hand and forearm just as they start the draw cycle and they create a hard hand so that by the time they get to anchor there is a certain level of tightness that a person has to overcome when they try and run their firing engine already set in stone in their grip on the hinge and all the way back to their elbow. 

So, the key is to use a soft hand during the Hinge Setup Routine, In the hinge setup routing you turn the moon so slow the hinge can't physically fire and what that does is allows you to relax your hand to a soft hand and j-hook grip the hinge properly and draw the bow with absolutely no anxiety that it is going to fire. Then as you start speeding up the hinge you continue to use the soft hand as you set up the hinge and when it starts firing you have now found the speed setting limits of your soft hand on the hinge as you set it up. The hinge setup routine gives you the ability to choose your grip on the hinge and also the amount of stress you have when drawing and it shows you the limits of the hinge before it fires so that you know right where you are at all times.

I know for me personally I had a lot of stress in my hand for years and ever once in a while when I was shooting nice and smooth i would relax my hand just as I started to draw and the about half way back i would launch a arrow into a tree or a wall, then on the next attempt I would tighten up my hand and insure myself that it wasn't going to fire. The more relaxed your hand is as you draw the faster the hinge will be so with that in mind by setting the hinge up with your hand totally soft what you are doing is allowing it to be set up against the limit of your hand and this allows you to draw with even more confidence that nothing weird is going to happen.


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## Pete53 (Dec 5, 2011)

what padgett post on here is all true, i do own alot of hinges myself and shoot most good but when it comes to being relaxed with a hinge i have to go back to my old stano 2 finger ,i always seem to shoot that the best and most consistent.every archer is a little different you just need to find the hinge that fits you like a glove to be relaxed.good luck,Pete53


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

Pete, I have a Stan Deuce, two finger. For a tiny thing it is "friendly." First hinge I ever used in competition. Shot a 299.


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## Pete53 (Dec 5, 2011)

sonny, i still think the two finger stano maybe the best true hinge release to learn with,because if you do it wrong you either hit yourself in the face, it won`t go off,and then you figure out how it works. my biggest problem with it is in drawing to many pounds with that one finger i do have some nerve pain later at nite. i did win a flight class a week ago and yep it was with another 299 too,that old 2 finger stano fits like a worn-in leather glove to me. Pete53


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## Play4blood (Mar 2, 2015)

Ok I'll give it a honest try, I'll take you guys word on it. It does sound like I'm gonna get popped in the chops lol!! So let me make sure bout this... So I'm shooting a Scott longhorn. So I will draw with all fingers and adjust until it clicks when thumb is removed, and it's set right? Sorry Padgett I just want to make sure, thanx


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## Mahly (Dec 18, 2002)

Being that you use a click, there should be virtually no chance of punching yourself in the face.
If you hear/feel it click while drawing, let down and start over.


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## cbrunson (Oct 25, 2010)

Play4blood said:


> Ok I'll give it a honest try, I'll take you guys word on it. It does sound like I'm gonna get popped in the chops lol!! So let me make sure bout this... So I'm shooting a Scott longhorn. So I will draw with all fingers and adjust until it clicks when thumb is removed, and it's set right? Sorry Padgett I just want to make sure, thanx


You should only punch yourself one or two times before you learn how to draw it away from your face. I've had triggers fail too. It doesn't take much.

Start cold and move it towards hot until it clicks when you take off your thumb.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

cbrunson said:


> You should only punch yourself one or two times before you learn how to draw it away from your face. I've had triggers fail too. It doesn't take much.


I can testify to this :sad:


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## Play4blood (Mar 2, 2015)

Well got to setting it. Right? Went through the procedure and guess what? It was exactly where it was supposed to be lol!!! I'm good, or lucky either way I ended up right back where I was... I was just drawing with two fingers because I thought you had to! Sweet no change, so I can keep on the way I was going. Thanx ya'll !! Drawing with 3 fingers is a nice feel.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

I have had the same exact thing happen before where I had been drawing with the thumb and index only and once I set the hinge up I found that is was right where it should have been. I had put sharpie marks on the moon is the reason that i found out.

The important thing for you to learn from all this is that you can totally clean up your draw cycle and your transition phase getting to the click to the point where there are no wasted thoughts or rotation in the hinge to get there. Why? Because you have it set up correctly.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

One thing that is also very overlooked is bicep tension, it is never talked about here on archery talk and the only reason I bring it up is because I accidentally stumbled onto it when I asked myself "Why don't i punch myself in the face when I have a misfire?". When I set up a hinge I simply draw straight back to my anchor and there is no leaning the head over or being scared that I am going to get punched, I draw my bow very similar to jesse broadwater or reo wild if you want to see my draw cycle on youtube and I come straight in. Well If I do have a misfire when setting up a hinge my hand comes straight back and in fact gets farther from my face because I have absolutely no tension in my bicep.

First of all any tension in your bicep is totally wasted during the draw cycle because your bicep is on the wrong side of the arm to actually assist so its tension or contraction is actually fighting against the back of the arm or the tricep muscle. You draw the bow with the back side of the arm and the shoulder and the back muscles so by learning the proper draw cycle you are good to go. 

I actually watched Jesse drawing his bow the other day and I think he has some bicep tension in his draw cycle that could be gotten rid of, it is easy to see because your hand should be straight in front of the elbow as you draw and not below the elbow. The only way your elbow can be higher than your hand is if you are contracting your bicep and holding it down there. If you aren't then the hand will center itself between the rear elbow and the front hand on the riser.


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## Play4blood (Mar 2, 2015)

Yep I had marked it too lol!! Thanx brother I'm learning something now, watch out!!QUOTE=Padgett;1072858172]I have had the same exact thing happen before where I had been drawing with the thumb and index only and once I set the hinge up I found that is was right where it should have been. I had put sharpie marks on the moon is the reason that i found out.

The important thing for you to learn from all this is that you can totally clean up your draw cycle and your transition phase getting to the click to the point where there are no wasted thoughts or rotation in the hinge to get there. Why? Because you have it set up correctly.[/QUOTE]


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