# Bow hand position question



## EXTREME 1 (Jan 24, 2004)

I shoot with a low wrist hand position also becouse it allows my wrist to be locked and more steady. I get better grips that way also and I have less hand/wrist fatigue. Also you can shoot with a relaxed wrist becouse of the position its in


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## XP35 (Oct 11, 2005)

It's probably a combination of things, such as the shape of your bow's grip and angle of your wrist. It sounds like your grip has a fairly upright angle, right? With less pressure on the lower part of the grip the top of the bow can go forward during the shot. My guess, seeing as I'm not a physicist archer...:teeth:


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## HotShot88 (Jul 19, 2005)

I like my side plates on my Hoyt. When I first got it I was used to larger grips, and I didnt like it much, but then after I shot with it, I found I liked it, and I shot much better with the side plates.


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## nuts&bolts (Mar 25, 2005)

*Ray Axford, Archery Anatomy, Draw Force Line*



savedbygrace said:


> I'm more interested in the physics of archery, thats why i asked this question, its very fasinating. Ive looked on different web sites for the answer but cannot find it. Any answers or thoughts? Thanks.


savedbygrace:

You will be fascinated by Archery Anatomy by Ray Axford. He has a tome which analyzes the biomechanics of archery from a classic engineering statics perspective. You will want to read the chapters about Draw Force Line.

Joe Tapley is also an authority with respect to dynamic spine wrt arrow flight. Just do a Yahoo/google search and you will find numerous articles by Joe.

You hit low when using a medium/high grip most likely due to what's referred to as a collapsed bow shoulder, i.e., the relative elevation of the bow wrist, bow shoulder joint, arrow nock, draw wrist and draw elbow.

If the bow shoulder joint is out of alignment slightly (collar bone joint and upper arm bone form a slight pyramid), and the shoulder muscle (deltoid) is "overinvolved", then you have established a catapult and when the release fires, the collar bone returns to its resting postion, the shoulder joint drops back to its resting position, and you have a miss.

Because the shoulder joint has three degrees of freedom (you can move your shoulder in a circle), an unstable shoulder position at full draw can result a low-high or left-right miss. So, seems like you stabilized your shoulder very well in the left/right direction, but with respect to the classic T form (upper body to upper arm), you may have been aiming at a low target by bending your bow arm at the shoulder, instead of *bending at the waist *and maintaing a 90-degree angle at the shoulder joint.

So much for physics.


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## savedbygrace (Nov 16, 2005)

*Thanks*

Thanks nuts&bolts, I will do a search for his articles. And your explaination makes alot of sense. I'm actually a flight/trama nurse and have some knowledge of A&P so the way your explaining it makes alot of sense. Never thought of it that way though.....hmm.....learn something new everyday. Thanks alot man....now I have some "new" knowledge to impress my friends with...just kidden, but I do appreciate your help. :teeth:


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## monty53 (Jun 19, 2002)

I’m 100% sure your bow has a low grip. It is intended to be shot with a low wrist.
If you want to try to shot with a medium or high wrist you should change the grip to suite that style. It is detrimental to accuracy to shoot a high wrist on a low grip.
All compound bows now incorporate a "low Grip" on their bows. Why? Your guess is as good as mine! On recurve bows, the tendency is to have an interchangeable "medium high grip" from factory. A custom grip maker can make a low, medium or high grip for just about any bow, compound or recurve.
As to why your groups were on left to right but were about 7-8 inches lower than compared with my low wrist position, with a low wrist you are placing the force four inches lower on the bow, making the bottom jump forward slightly ahead of the top.
The same thing happens if you add weight to the rear of the bow, it will shoot higher. Add weight to the front stabilizer and it will shoot lower.


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## bfisher (Nov 30, 2002)

I never get this link correct so I'll type it out. www.bowsite.com. Top of the page click on features, then practical bowhunter. Find "Get a Grip". Good read and pictures to boot.

Trying to make it simple (like my mind) when you shoot a low wrist it puts more pressure lower in the grip, kinda pushing the lower portion of the bow toward the target. This makes yiour arrows shoot to wherever your bow is sighted. Shoot a straight (high) wrist and you remove this pressure from the lower part of the bow so the arrows will hit lower. I hope I got this across right.

Actually the low wrist is more repeatable. That's why it's more common today.


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## savedbygrace (Nov 16, 2005)

Once again thanks to all ya'll who posted answers and thoughts. It really really helps. thanks again.


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