Quote:
Quoth LadyofArc
We have some members who use one or the other. Mine's somewhere in between.
Do you find that your draw grip changes at all? (We use the 3-fingered grip, but someone mentioned to me yesterday that it changes when you're on horseback)
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Yes, actually. Quite a bit. When I'm using the longbow I hold and draw as per usual (3-finger grip). When I'm using the shortbow, because I exclusively use it for mounted archery I use a completely different grip for drawing. It allows for more flexibility because the way you pull back pushes the arrow towards the bow for lack of a better way to explain it. Which means I can shoot at a variety of angles which is important.
If you hold the grip in your left hand and draw with your right hand this is the way I do it though there are hundreds of different styles for horseback.
First, you need a bow that either doesn't have a shelf (my preference) or one that has a shelf on both sides.
Holding the bow out with your left hand as you normally would.
Pull the arrow from your quiver (I prefer one on the hip) and nock it so that it is on the
right side of the bow (above where your gripping) not the to the left.
For drawing:
(Practice without arrow at first as it's incredibly awkward if you're used to the three-finger grip)
(See pictures as I'm terrible at explaining.pic from spitfire horse archery)
Hook your thumb around the string just before the bend in the joint. (If you have the string in the joint it won't release properly and your shot will go in interesting directions.
Now curl your index finger over your thumb (some people like to use the middle finger but that leaves your index sticking up at weird angles and I have short fat fingers to begin with) kinda like you're trying to make a ring of your thumb and index except overlapping.
Curl the others out of the way as feels natural.
If you do it right the way the arrow's nocked will hold it into the bow so if you turn your wrist so the bow is horizontal to the ground (arrow to the right of the grip) the arrow will still remain, seemingly defying gravity, pressed to the bow.
The thing to remember is that if your shots tend to drift more to one side or the other when using a 3-finger grip it will exaggerate with this grip. Another thing is horse archery doesn't really allow you to site down the shaft like stationary archery from the ground would. The movement of the horse would ensure that the distance to target and the other variables would be constantly changing. You also have to account for the horse's speed (which aside from turning a stationary target into one that has movement to gauge.I guess it's like sticking your hand out a car window while driving. If your hand is against the car door you will feel the air but not much drag and if your hand is sticking out then lift generated by angling your hand will rapidly change the position of your hand. A bow, even a short bow has a much greater surface area then a hand and so you can imagine the effect of drag and wind resistance.
Horse archers don't wait to the last moment before shooting because their showing off, its because waiting means they can get positioned and fire before the drag starts to screw with their aim.
There are tools that can be used to give the same effect of thumb release draw while actually using the 3-fingered draw but their stupid and impractical. They can't be used by horseback archers and if you're on the ground anyway you might as well just use a normal grip like a normal person.
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