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Split finger or 3 under?

GCTerpfan said:
I've always read that you want an even tiller to shoot 3 under but, I only have one bow tillered even, the rest are tillered about 1/8 strong and I don't notice a difference between any of them. Brace height hasn't had to change for me but, your nock point will probably move. 3 under typically requires a a little higher nock point. One of the bows I'm shooting now likes 7/16" above square, the other a little over 1/2".
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I agree...never noticed any difference in noise in different tillers. I had a Hoyt Buffalo and adjusted the tiller to dead even just cause I could. It was quite enough so I just left it there. Killed a few skwirlz and a small buck with that bow. Darn good shooter.

The bow will determine to arrow nock height. I have a mark on my square where I start. Side note, that mark is on a square that I hate but that mark has been there for years and I have no idea what the measurement is. I have a bow that likes it almost dead center even and I have had others like it a little higher. A second nock under the arrow is the key. I use brass for the top and once that is figured out I tie another underneath.
 
Heydeerman said:
....... I have a mark on my square where I start. Side note, that mark is on a square that I hate but that mark has been there for years and I have no idea what the measurement is. I have a bow that likes it almost dead center even and I have had others like it a little higher. A second nock under the arrow is the key. I use brass for the top and once that is figured out I tie another underneath.
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Tip on bow squares...
I put some painters tape on the horizontal and vertical parts of my square and I make marks on the tape showing brace and nock heights. I also write on the tape which bow the specific marks are referring to.
I honestly can't tell you how high my nock is or what my actual brace is because I've always just looked at my marks on the square. But different bows require different settings and making marks and notations on the square itself is not practical. Try putting tape on your square.
BTW I'm using a Potawatomi bow square which has nice flat surfaces for doing the tape thing. I don't know how well it would work with the rod-style squares.
 
Allegheny Tom said:
Tip on bow squares...
I put some painters tape on the horizontal and vertical parts of my square and I make marks on the tape showing brace and nock heights. I also write on the tape which bow the specific marks are referring to.
I honestly can't tell you how high my nock is or what my actual brace is because I've always just looked at my marks on the square. But different bows require different settings and making marks and notations on the square itself is not practical. Try putting tape on your square.
BTW I'm using a Potawatomi bow square which has nice flat surfaces for doing the tape thing. I don't know how well it would work with the rod-style squares.
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Got the same blue Potawatomi I've used since 1982. Bought it from Bowhunter's Discount Warehouse back in the day.
 
I shoot split as it’s easier for me as when I shoot 3 under my arrows go 1.5” lower than where I was looking which messes with my mind which is not hard to do but I also shot split 2 fingers for bows under 55#. I used to draw with 3 then drop my lower finger and I get a pretty solid anchor point. My reason is better release less contact similar to a d loop. Have been pretty accurate to 25 yards with it and killing a deer at 20 doing this one year because I sliced my bottom finger pretty good and didn’t want to miss out hunting for a few days. But like everything you got to practice wether it’s 2 or 3 split or under
 
So what's the difference between shooting 3 under or just raising where on your face that you anchor? I anchor with my middle finger at the corner of my mouth. If I anchored with my ring finger at my mouth, wouldn't't that accomplish the same thing and maybe even produce cleaner releases than 3 under?

I have (and had) 3 cousins and an uncle who were all gifted trad shooters. The one cousin was pure death with a bow out to crazy distances.
They all "face-walked", anchoring at different points on their face according to the yardage they were shooting. were all very impressive shots with that method.
 
For me personally I cannot and I repeat cannot get away from my middle finger in corner of my mouth I get a solid anchor with my thumb behind my jaw line. Any other way I am not comfortable and like I said when I do 3 under and use the top finger to the corner I shoot 1.5 low so I guess it’s ingrained to me and my mind. Others might have better luck I’m impressed when I see face walkers shoot because I know I cant
 
I have tried changing my anchor point and just can't find repeatable anchors on other parts of my face. I anchor with my pointer finger near the corner of my mouth, which allows my thumb to lodge behind my jaw. I have tried moving my anchor up to where my middle finger is in the corner of my mouth but, my hand just doesn't 'fit' my face as well in that location. I think this is one of the reasons that 3 under helped me so much, with my ring finger in the corner of my mouth the arrow is pretty far below my eye when shooting split.

But, to your point moving your anchor up would also get your arrow closer to your eye. I don't know if one method allows for a cleaner release than the other. About the same time I made the switch to 3 under I switched to a deep hook which made a big difference in my release. When I switched from shooting off my fingertips to a deep hook, I actually had to go up an arrow spine, I assume because my release was that much cleaner.
 
If you watch the push videos and string walking videos it goes over it very well. I believe the three under, especially for your further mapped distances allows the string and point of the arrow to always be in line with your eye. Rather than just raising your bow hand, with these three under and string crawling methods, you're actually adjusting the bow via your anchor to have "point on target" all the time or close too point on target all the time. So you are not trying to hard wire you mind like required for instinctive shooting you are shooting barebow without sights but using the tip of the arrow as the sight. It also helps with release and minimizes plucking the string. I watch stuff from the Push, Jake Kaminski's stuff and also this other guy bare joe bow who actually at first you'll probably be like, why would I watch anything from this guy but he has some great information too on how he adjusts his anchor by marks on his shooting tab. He's zinging his arrows right in the kill zone bare bow from like 0-40 or 50 yards with no issues just by string crawling. Pretty neat. Also has a great calamari recipe.
 
If you're an "aimer", then the string walking method (Three Under) is a great way to improve accuracy and maintain consistent shooting at varying ranges.

On the other hand, if you "target stare" (like me) and don't consciously aim the arrow, then I believe either the Split Finger or Three Under work great. I have found (in the last year) that the Three Under method has dramatically helped my accuracy by moving the arrow closer to my eye.....all without changing my anchor point (pointer finger on cheek bone and middle finger in corner of mouth).

Bottom line is that every shooter is different. Shooting the bow will "tell" you what your style will be. It's OK to change. No one will take your gold star away if you are a "switch hitter". LOL

BTW: "aimer" and "target staring" are my new terms of the day. Use and abuse as you wish! :tearsofjoy:

PS: I should add that aiming and target staring are overrated. The real accuracy lies within the shot execution stage of shooting.....but, we better get Tom Clum and Joel Turner for that discussion.

Have Fun and Be Safe!
 
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GCTerpfan said:
I have tried changing my anchor point and just can't find repeatable anchors on other parts of my face. I anchor with my pointer finger near the corner of my mouth, which allows my thumb to lodge behind my jaw. I have tried moving my anchor up to where my middle finger is in the corner of my mouth but, my hand just doesn't 'fit' my face as well in that location. I think this is one of the reasons that 3 under helped me so much, with my ring finger in the corner of my mouth the arrow is pretty far below my eye when shooting split.

But, to your point moving your anchor up would also get your arrow closer to your eye. I don't know if one method allows for a cleaner release than the other. About the same time I made the switch to 3 under I switched to a deep hook which made a big difference in my release. When I switched from shooting off my fingertips to a deep hook, I actually had to go up an arrow spine, I assume because my release was that much cleaner.
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I get a consistent anchor like this. I’ll describe but you’ll have to try to picture it.

On my string hand I fold my pinky down and my thumb goes on top of it with 3 fingers sticking straight out like your telling someone you want 3 beers. If you do a fake draw and pull the imaginary string back you will find that your thumb will fit your jaw line and your knuckle will find a place on your jaw. I do this and the first finger goes to the corner of my mouth.
 
Heydeerman said:
I get a consistent anchor like this. I’ll describe but you’ll have to try to picture it.

On my string hand I fold my pinky down and my thumb goes on top of it with 3 fingers sticking straight out like your telling someone you want 3 beers. If you do a fake draw and pull the imaginary string back you will find that your thumb will fit your jaw line and your knuckle will find a place on your jaw. I do this and the first finger goes to the corner of my mouth.
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That's exactly what I do and it puts my pointer finger in the corner of my mouth. If I try to raise my hand up to get my middle finger in the corner of my mouth, my hand doesn't fit my jaw line as well and I lose some consistency. My dad does something similar and his middle finger is in the corner of his mouth, different face structure I guess.
 
You guys planted a seed in my head
I reluctantly decided to try 3 under yesterday. I'm always a little apprehensive about messing with my shooting style because I'm paranoid about goofing up my subconscious (or conscience or whatever)... basically afraid to mess with my comfort zone.
I've got to say that 3 under felt great! I felt like I could concentrate on my form more and less on "instinctive aiming", although I still was basically shooting instinctive...hard to describe.
I'm going to give this an honest try for a few sessions but so far, I like it.
 
I like split finger shooting with a glove. Middle finger hits the corner of my mouth and the cock feather hits my nose when I’m at full draw. I back tension from there and it’s a very repeatable shot cycle for me. Admittedly I have never really given 3 under a fair shot as I just naturally grabbed the string split finger starting out. Probably just because I had seen a lot of guys do it that way.

I don’t want to go changing stuff up now, idk of my brain can handle that lol.
 
GCTerpfan said:
That's exactly what I do and it puts my pointer finger in the corner of my mouth. If I try to raise my hand up to get my middle finger in the corner of my mouth, my hand doesn't fit my jaw line as well and I lose some consistency. My dad does something similar and his middle finger is in the corner of his mouth, different face structure I guess.
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I’ve tried to put middle finger in the corner of my mouth but i couldn’t get it to feel right. I also use a glove. Tabs don’t work for me.
 
Allegheny Tom said:
You guys planted a seed in my head
I reluctantly decided to try 3 under yesterday. I'm always a little apprehensive about messing with my shooting style because I'm paranoid about goofing up my subconscious (or conscience or whatever)... basically afraid to mess with my comfort zone.
I've got to say that 3 under felt great! I felt like I could concentrate on my form more and less on "instinctive aiming", although I still was basically shooting instinctive...hard to describe.
I'm going to give this an honest try for a few sessions but so far, I like it.
Click to expand...

I started shooting 3 under when I was a newb because my fingers were hurting from trying to hold onto the arrow. That was bad form but it was a couple years before I learned what good form was.
 
3 under all the way. Both left and right handed I shoot the same way. Pointer finger anchored behind eye tooth. Sturdy anchor that doesn’t change.
 
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