Compound Bow Choosing your first release aid.Guidance.

geoffretired

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CHOOSING YOUR FIRST RELEASE AID

Some archers start their compound shooting with a second hand bow, and a release aid that came with it. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as will be explained later. There are several hundred different release aids to choose from, so there will be a fair number that are suitable for any individual. Below are some guidelines to help choose something that will work well for you.

BE AWARE
Shooting with a release aid for the first time may feel strange, so it will be helpful to get over that strangeness, if possible, before choosing the one you want. Use the one that came with the bow, or borrow one from a friend. Most first shots end with a big smile or a ?Wow!? so shoot some more until you get to know what to expect.
TYPES
The two main types are Wrist Strap and Hand Held.
The Wrist straps tend to be cheaper, with simpler mechanisms, in a tube shaped body. The anchor tends to be under the jaw giving slightly higher sight marks.( so can help reach longer distances if that is a problem with a higher anchor point.) Normally the index finger is used on the trigger, and some say this feels ?natural?. They tend also, to move the draw hand further back from the bow string, so the bow's draw length may need a shorter setting than for a hand held.
Hand held ones are more common,despite their higher prices. They are mostly triggered by the thumb, and tend to anchor further up the face. Users say their anchor feels more secure/positive. The bow can be set to a longer draw length so more speed helps compensate for the higher anchor position.
HANDLE SHAPES
Wrist strap types tend to have simple shaped bodies as they contain simple mechanisms and the hand is not really needing a handle to pull on.
The hand held versions come in a wide range of shapes. This can be a bit confusing. It is worth spending time handling these as the shape can affect the comfort, which is important. The other important aspect of the shape may only become apparent when shooting with them. When at full draw some handles allow the fingers of the draw hand to be spaced in such a way that there is a natural valley between the first two fingers which allows them to straddle the jaw bone for a solid anchor position.
Some archers anchor their draw hand on the side of the face, sometimes using the underside of the cheekbone as a contact point. Some handle shapes can help with that sort of anchor point.

USING THE RELEASE AID
The different types of release aids would seem to require different means to activate them. If you compare a thumb trigger on a hand held with a finger trigger on a wrist strap, the first impressions are that they will be activated differently. If you consider the hinge type there is no trigger, so that must be different, or so it might seem.
To make it clearer, I will explain three ways to active a release aid; then explain how those ways can be used on all types.
One way to activate a release aid is to deliberately press the trigger at some instant in the shot process. It is the way that most people imagine they would shoot a pistol; press the trigger with the index finger, when on aim. It could be just the same if you used the thumb to trigger on a hand held release... a deliberate sudden press!
That method is sometimes called ?punching?. It is viewed as not so good as it can so easily turn into a reflex and triggering may start to happen when the sight is not on the gold. That condition should be avoided at all costs.
A method that is similar, is called Command Shooting. With that method, the trigger is squeezed, but not suddenly. It is done smoothly, so that it happens under control, and is not sudden!
A third method is called Surprise Release. That method takes longer to activate and the archer sets a process in motion in such a way that the actual instant of activation is not known about until it happens. It is rather like pulling a cracker; you know you are pulling more and more but you can't say exactly when it will break. This is the chosen method of many top archers.

TRIGGERLESS RELEASES
These releases do not need a trigger to be pressed in order to activate them.
There are two main groups, the hinge and the resistance activated sort.
Both are hand held usually. The hinge, has a handle that hinges, and if rotated with the long end of the handle moving back, it will go off at a set amount of rotation. The resistance type, is drawn to full draw, under the control of a safety device inside. At full draw, the safety device is set to off, and with a pre set extra pull, the mechanism opens and releases the string. The setting is usually a few pounds higher than the bow's holding weight. The safety is required in order to get over the bow's much higher peak weight.
Both of these types almost always give a surprise release and are usually chosen by archers for that reason.

GETTING THE RELEASE TO GO OFF

Despite all the differences mentioned so far, it is possible to make almost all of the aids feel as if they are being triggered in just one way, a ?common- to- all? method.
The method goes like this. You set the hand onto the handle and draw to full draw. The thumb is positioned against the trigger,if there is one, having set it so it will not go off at the first or slightest contact.
When on aim and ready to continue the shot, the drawing force applied to the bow string,generated at the back muscles, gradually moves the hand/thumb so that,eventually, the release opens.
This method will press a thumb trigger towards the handle, or rotate a handle of the hinge type. It will cause the resistance types to open,too.
 

jerryRTD

Well-known member
There will be some of you that will find the hand held thumb trigger release awkward and unwieldy. bringing with it a detachment from the shot process which is unacceptable, Some of you will want to control the exact instant the shot goes off. That means holding on the middle with backtension and minimum float then squeezing the trigger.(rather like clicking the mouse button.)
For that to happen you need a high quality wrist release, that can be triggered using the middle finger. avoid those that have a trigger action that is too light and cannot be adjusted heavy enough to prevent accidents and those that have a trigger action that gets heavier the more back tension is applied.
 
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