Arthritis and thumbs

Timid Toad

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I picked up some racket tape and some gel griptape used by downhill cyclists. Both about the same price per pack. Nearly identical stuff apart from the branding and the racket tape has perforations, presumably for sweat. And you get 4 times as much gel tape for your money. There isn't any binding off tape with the gel stuff (you get bar end caps instead - anyone want any?), but the amount that came with the racket tape would be insufficient to go all the way round my bow grip anyway so I'm using electrical tape.
First thoughts are that it's certainly a little more comfortable, but I'll need to get out to 70-90m to see what's really going on.

I've also started playing with my sling. I've used a finger sling for 15 years so it's a bit of a wrench to change. I also don't want to bow to fall too far or move too far out of my hand - putting more strain on those bones/joints. So I'm experimenting with a band around my wrist hooked to my finger sling still on my middle finger. It's just a matter of getting the legth just right.
 

bimble

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I used to use a wrist strap that was a loop of string around my wrist, which then had a string with a hook that went up the back of the hand, between two fingers, around the bow and then hooked back onto the wrist loop on the inside of my wrist. So you could have it as tight, or loose as you wanted, but it didn't tug on any of the fingers at all.
 

Timid Toad

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As you can see ugly as sin on my beautiful bow, but hey ho. There's a strip of the grip tape flat down the face of the Jager then wrapped tight over the top. On the right you'll see I've got a built out part to stop me pushing my thumb towards the ground - it now has to stay pointed at the target, and when I go to lift the bow the hand sort of sits straight in and is held without needing too much effort through the whole shot cycle. Seems to be working.
 

Paul Walters

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As you can see ugly as sin on my beautiful bow, but hey ho. There's a strip of the grip tape flat down the face of the Jager then wrapped tight over the top. On the right you'll see I've got a built out part to stop me pushing my thumb towards the ground - it now has to stay pointed at the target, and when I go to lift the bow the hand sort of sits straight in and is held without needing too much effort through the whole shot cycle. Seems to be working.
Hi TT, how did you arrive at the correct shape for the build out ? I too suffer with arthritis in my left thumb, which is exacerbated by bow shock when I shoot longbow (though I mostly shoot recurve). I've ordered additional dampers for the limbs, string and stabilizers, and the next move is to widen the grip to remove pressure on my lower thumb. I've got Sugru, but I'm worried I'll get the wrong shape and waste it. Did you make a model with plasticine or something first, or just build out with layers of tape ?
 

Timid Toad

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Hi, I really sat down and worked out what I liked about my grip and what I needed to keep to maintain a good consistent hand position.
I have a Jager grip, so I wanted to keep the same basic shape to retain the hand position and alignment. At the same time I wanted to position my thumb slightly differently (pointing towards the target) so I started by putting a couple of little silicone kitchen drawer bumps in the right place to stop me dropping my thumb then concentrated on maintaining the thickness of the new squashy layers the same all over. The Jager has a defined sharp edge in the palm so it was important to keep that prominent. It's also very easy to narrow the gap the web of your thumb goes in to so I often needed to try for fit.
The advantage with the grip tape etc is that it was cheap and can be reused - I did take it off and rewrap a couple of times until it was spot on. I've used Sugru in the past, but I think in this case I'd have needed far too much and it's a bit too hard for my sore thumb.
 
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