Equal Pressure

10/14/1066

Having equal pressure between your hands is essential to shooting straight. Do not push more than you pull. Do not pull more than you push. A balanced pressure keeps both hands in line. A balanced pressure is found when the arms get a floating feeling.

Let me explain. Hold out your arm like you're aiming your bow. You will notice your bow shoulder is on the left of your head. This means as you push forward you will see your hand go right a bit. Your hand moving right means you are pushing across the line of force and missing. It is the pressure pulling back from the string hand that holds the bow hand steady. Press the bow hand forward but do not push in the sense of causing a slight jerk. Keep an even backward pressure with the string hand but do not pull the hand off the string by pulling the arm back because as the elbow comes around, the string hand makes a slight turning movement to the right, meaning it is pulling the hand off the line of force causing a miss. Remember torquing is the enemy of accuracy and any link in the power train that is twisted causes a miss.

I use a static release and recommend it. With a static release my elbow does not move and my hand stays on my face. To accomplish this the arm, shoulder, and back must be completely relaxed. The reason my hand stays on my face is because my arm and elbow are truly back, therefore when I release my hand can't go back because my elbow does not go back any farther. This keeps my arm on the line of force.

The static release is simply relaxing and opening the hand. Do not flick the hand open, that is movement and takes forearm muscles, which will only flick the hand off the line of force, and cause a miss. The release is a combination of the fingers relaxing, opening, and the string pressure pushing them out of the way. The string moves faster than the fingers can open, so there is no point in flicking, or plucking fingers off the string and expecting a clean release. A smooth release is better than a forced release.