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I grip a bow like a power lifter

Robert

Robert

Active Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2018
Messages
109
Location
St. Louis Area
I am new to hunting in general, and specifically shooting with a bow. Since the day I started shooting, I have been nearly obsessed with becoming a better archer, as I imagine many of you have. I have read anything and everything I could find, trying to learn how to better manipulate my weapon of choice. Many of the articles I find that speak of shooting a bow more accurately focus on the bow hand grip. Probably one of the first tips people learn is to not grab the bow with the full hand, and to hold it in such a way as to impart little to no torque. We all can picture "the grip" most people use to hold and shoot a bow.
I struggle with many aspects of archery, but bow grip has not been one of them. I have some history with Olympic weightlifting and power lifting. One of the things I learned was how to properly grip a barbell so as to be able to apply maximum force to the barbell and not lose efficiency while pressing and bench pressing. This technique aligns the bones of the hand and forearm so that little to no muscle is being used to support the weight, and all of the weight ( or as much as possible) is on the bones. It is the most repeatable grip to use, as muscles always fatigue and this grip relies on the least amount of muscle possible.
I used to work with this genius of a strength coach, Jordan Feiganbaum. I wasn't into archery when I took his certification, but I learned so much about body mechanics in general and this grip specifically. I've included a link to his article. Obviously it doesn't 100% apply, it's a strength training article. Let me know what you think. Hope this helps.
https://startingstrength.com/article/gripping_matters
jf_grip3.jpg
 
The problem I see with that particular method of grip would be difficulty with shorter brace heights. I tend to line up my hand resting the grip in the v of my hand with half the grip overlapping the meat of my thumb. I also leave my hand open and do not attempt to actively grip the bow with my thumb and fingers. Just let it cradle in the web. It seems to have help me eliminate most torque. I'm no kinesiologist, but I've done lots of experimenting with different grips over the years. I really had to change once the bows starting coming with such short brace heights.

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The grip shown in this photo aligns the bones of arm and hand perfectly, but the finger position he has seems to be suited better for a barbell than a bow.
 
Small world, when Dr Jordan Feiganbaum was a trainer in St Louis we worked at the same gym together he is a great strength and conditioning coach, and I have learned a lot from him over the years.
 
Jordan and I both worked at DFM, but I never "worked" day to day with him. I did learn a lot in his Olympic and Power lifting cert. The man knows his stuff!
 
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