Archery FAQ: How to start with Thumb Release? 

I’m an American from Texas, and no one around here has even heard of thumb draw. If it’s not a big fancy compound bow, with the trigger and all the bells and whistles, they don’t care. So I’m proud to be the only historical archer in my community. Learning everything from Armin Hirmer’s videos and RU-vid. lol

I went to my local club with my horsebow and they have like 80% olympic​ archer and when i used the thumbdraw and khatra the​y looked at me like i'm some sort of alien lol

Already onto it! Great timing, and great video.

M8 my name is Danny. I'm a new Artcher. I'm practicing at home in my apartment in Manchester I'm waiting for an opperasion and then I'll be able to get outside. So I watch all your stuff and I think your a grate man..... Teacher. As soon as I get money I'll become a patrent so I can send you the money because you deserve it. You have answered all the questions and I'm sure wen I'm able to shoot over a distance it will all come together. So thanks M8 you are a star. Danny from Manchester

If your eyes are open you're aiming, if they are closed you are not aiming. -Instinctive Archery Simplified

Only £40 for a snake bow here in the UK. That's how I started my journey into thumb release, after watching your videos. Lots of practice later & I am much improved. Thanks Armin & keep up the good work :)

I wish I would have seen this when I was a young lefty in a house full of right handed bows

You are a fantastic teacher! Thank you for the fine points

Two years of shooting, never would I have known I "shouldn't" knock 90° because I can still shoot accurately, just without the bloody marks after each training :D

I tried thumb release last summer and the result was... really, spectacularly awful. Yesterday, I did as you said, and my arrows are dead on target and fly straight. Thank you so much for the clear explanation and demonstration.

Educational while being oddly soothing and relaxing

I know you’re like 3-5 yards away, but your grouping is awesome for just messing around. I use to shoot tournaments with my compounds back in the 90’s. I got two “Robin Hood’s”, one accidentally at 60-70 yards, the other, after probably 50 shots, at 20. Even small game hunting, my best shots were taken on the fly at 15-30 yards, not even thinking about the yardage. Always shot worse when I was fixed on bullseye only.

I wish that you were somewhere in the US so that I could send my daughter to learn from you. She's training for mounted archery and she needs what you know, what you can teach.

Thank you so much for this video Armin, I can't tell you how helpful it's been! I started archery 6 years ago with thumb release then a year in had an instinctive or intuitive as you say, archery lesson where I tried three finger Mediterranean release. I left the club and started shooting in the garden at home. I've now got an opportunity to try horseback archery and so needed to go back to thumb release....I think I was almost dreading the challenge then I watched this and I was so inspired! I am absolutely loving everything about thumb release and shooting from the right. So thank you for your generous and empowering videos, for sharing your profound knowledge and the fun with trampolines, motorbikes, feet and moving around, so inspiring!

I started with a 50lb bow and it's been a little hard but I got used to it. I would not have started with it out of choice but I knew nothing about archery when I bought it. I also bought a thumb ring and it works great. Thanks for your great instructional videos. Very helpful 😁

Snake bow is probably my most recommended bow when asked what bow should I buy first there cheap and pretty much indestructible great to give kid and adults their first archery experience

So the Turk Alps used the thumb ring as a guide. This makes sense, a useful tool for shooting from horseback. Thank you for the video, and giving us a whole tutorial instead of one minute like so many do.

Thanks for this video. I just started playing around with archery and I am teaching myself. I intuitively felt the thumb release was what my body naturally wanted to do. I was wondering if this was a thing and thankfully, it is totally another method. Thanks now I don’t feel crazy for naturally wanting to release the arrow with my thumb.😂

Incredible instruction as always. Thank you Armin!

I’ve just gotten into archery since about late 2019 with the Samick Sage and Christmas 2020 I got a new horsebow, my first traditional bow. I’ve started doing the thumb draw recently but I also got a thumb ring because 60lbs of pressure is a lot to put on just my thumb alone! I will definitely try that half draw method though, usually when I get tired I just go back to the western way of doing it. The thing I also struggle with is the actual sight picture. Like with the western method I tend to aim off my knuckle and I’m still doing fairly close targets, with the anchor point just literally under my eye. It’s three fingers under, not Mediterranean so I can anchor it as close to my eye as I can, but with the thumb draw it’s like somewhere at the 10 o’ clock position. So I can kind of see the elevation of the shot but I’m still struggling with the sight picture, I think I have the release down though, I have to kind of bob the bow to the side like you did there on the release.^^

Thank you for the lessons/tips. I'm glad I came across your channel.

Thank you much for this really easy to follow instructions !

I’m a huge fan of archery and I love the thumb draw technique on eastern style bows. The hunter/ swat team leader Joel Turner demonstrated this method of shooting on his RU-vid channel ShotIQ with modern bows and it looks like a cool challenge for me. Keep up the videos on different bow reviews, shooting techniques and other stuff.

I liked your explanation of the Horse Bow and Thumb release.

This is how I started to do instinctive shooting on the thumb draw. Thanks for such great tutorial

Very inspiring. Just found your channel yesterday while being at home with the flu and already watched quite a bunch of your videos learning a lot. Need to get out and test some of it soon.

Great teaching and reinforcing technique. Thank you.

Excellent. I was watching closely for the advantages of thumb release. Now I know.

Such an excellent teacher!

Fantastic video Armin! Thank you for such a great teaching aide!

Answered a great many questions in a small amount of time, thanks!

Fantastic video, Thank you very much for posting. Your vieos are always a joy to watch.

Great video I can't wait to try this.

Great demonstration and clear instruction.

Very well explained. Thank you for sharing your wisdom! 😎👍

Excellent video! I've just ordered a horsebow, and this was excellent instruction to start! Thank you for the fantastic content, I'm off to watch more of your videos

really nice video, I'm looking forward to try this, as soon as weather allows

You‘re an excellent instructor

Thank you for this. I have been trying to learn fast archery for some time. This video is very helpful.

Thank you for the video. I look forward to trying this method.

Very nicely done. Thx for the helpful instruction.

Thank you for the inspiration and great information , from Detroit.

Thank you so much for this explanation. Such a great tutorial. 🙏🌞

Excellent video - helped a lot since I just started out using this technique and needed some help with it. The way you teach is excellent and very clear.

Also loving the channel found it a couple days ago and have probably watched around 30 different videos already! Learning the different styles of bows and ways to draw them.

Great explaination... Thank's master... I'm going to try it at home...

Your videos are pretty excellent. I had to look up Malta, though. Thx.

Wish this video existed when I learnt how to shoot lol. Would have helped me a bunch. Lucky newbies. ;)

Great video, I always wanted to learn the thumb draw method. Thanks.

Armin, thank you so much for this introduction! After watching it, I gave thump release a try with my right-handed recurve, switching side. And it felt... right from the first shot. Snake bow is ordered, looking forward to shoot thump released right-handed! Thanks for your inspiring videos and cheers to Malta 🍻

Brilliant advice great tips 👍👍👍👍👍

Great teacher.... Thanks a lot... May God bless you with good health prosperity and peace and love...

Thanks for this lesson. I have only recently started. Being a 3 finger archer, this takes some getting used to, but this video has helped a great deal. I am grateful.

Blisters on your fingers in the least if your concerns. A nerve been cut is a big deal. It gets to heal for months and you feel your fingertip numb. So get finger protection if you use >35lb bow and you shoot hundreds arrows per day. I use 40lb horse bow and I got my middle finger's nerve cut. It took me more than 6 months to heal...

Great skills! Thank you for this.

Outstanding instructive video. You're a very good instructor. Thank you

Mr. Armin Thank you for this instructional video, it will help me a lot. Now to start my path Practice !!!

Thank you very much for this video Sir. Been looking for some solid information and found it here! Great video! Thanks again!

Just waiting for my bow to arrive . thanx for a great tutorial *o*

I have seen, I know not how many videos and, you Armin are just the best

Thank you very much. Good lesson.

What a wonderfully calm delivery. You are an excellent teacher, sir.

Love this guy. Great video. Will give it a shot. Was thinking i wouldn't be able to do it w/o a thumb ring.

So informative and useful! Thank you!

Excellent tutorial Armin. I never thought of trying thumb draw and release until now. I couldn't believe how smooth and accurate it is. I'm definitely going to try this method. Thanks again for a great video!!

oi! I was taught thumb draw with it still to the knuckle instead of the thumb! No wonder I was having so many issues! Thank you!

Finally the explanation that i need, Thank you Armin

Hi Armin, thank you for your great videos, just getting started with thumb release, having lots of fun and blood blisters on my thumb.... Still trying to find right spined arrows, that don't smack against the side window of my bow... Greetings from bavaria, Bernd

This video is amazing I was pulling too much for a beginner and have a very light bow and pulling less immediately gave me better groups thank you for your teaching it is great!!

Just ordered a mongolian bow found on your site. I plan to shoot w/ thumb. Great video

Hi Armin...i'm from Malaysia...great teacher you are.....so far your methods and tips are the only things works for me...thank you

I really like your videos. I am going to get a low poundage hopes bow and try this. Thanks for making this.

You are my teacher. Thanks!

9:44 Aiii La Madona :D just kidding. Great teacher!

Wow, such a simple approach... I would think that this would have been similar to how archers of hundreds of years ago would have learned. Thanks for posting!

Completely foreign to me and fascinating. Great instruction

Lovely video. Thanks!

I so appreciate your tutorial videos. I've picked up a bow 2 months ago to teach myself mounted archery. This video confirms I'm on the right path and now thanks to you I know how to prevent feather burn! No more taping my left thumb to shoot.

Thanks for the tips. I just bought my first "horsebow" today, a 25# laminated bow. Pretty happy with this, it will allow me practising my Mediterranean release without the full 50# of my "hunting" recurve, and of course start having fun with thumb release! I have to say it's both frustrating and pretty fun at the same time having to re-learn everything! Anyways, your videos played a big part in me coming back to archery after years without shooting, and now wanting to experiment with this new kind of bows! Cheers

Danke ! I am looking for a "snake bow" to start now ... I mean as soon as the rain stops to fall here in Great Paris area ^^

Thank you so much. I just ordered my first recurve bow (right hand) and have been trying to decide how shoot it and this video helped me make a the decision. I think I’ll try 3 fingers under. Now I gotta decide glove or tab. I love your videos. Wish I could attend your school.

Thank you sensei.. great explaination

i watched many of your videos.. your explanation is good,, easy to understand... subscribed :D

I cannot thank you enough for this VERY informative and helpful post. I have only just picked up a Turkish Horseback bow. Of course, I have always had a shelfed bow and this instruction allowed the knowledge of focusing either a little left or a little right, depending on which hand I am using. Thank you ever so much.

Thank you. I'm going to try the thumb and middle finger release.

Thank you for this! I just returned from archery range after my 35# horsebow arrived. My next visit to range I will start this training. Normally I shoot mediterranean 45# recurve with fairly good groups at 6meters. When I tried horsebow with thumb-release at 6m at full draw, I was shooting 2m to the right. I will be following this advice my next visit. :)

The thumb not squishing the arrow part was extremely helpful, thanks! Seems like practicing half-draws overlaps a lot with Lars Andersson's style of shooting, incidentally.

I knew a few guys back in Alaska who put cord loops on the strings of their western style recurves so they could use thumb rings to shoot off of the shelf on the right of the bow. It worked really well for them.

Thanks a lot, Arnim. I was behind it, to know about this technique, since a Korean 60 pounds bow was gifted to me, many years ago! I look forward to find out about that thumb ring. Best regards from another Mediterranean island!

Wow! The best archery help I've ever seen. Love your teaching Armin! Keep up the amazing work!!!

Supra great grouping thank you !!

Great video, really very good

Awesome you make it look so easy 😀

@Armin Hirmer Firstly, I have learned a lot by watching very informative & interesting RU-vid video's by yourself & Nu Sensei. I recently bought a 26lb Snake bow because of your recommendation for beginners. As a beginner & also 45 years old I would really appreciate any tips you could give to a newbie who wants to improve. There are no clubs in my area of Scotland to help so RU-vid is my only tutor/teacher & it can be difficult knowing who truly knows what they're talking about, especially when you're brand new to the sport. Thanks for the video's & keep enspiring us.

Hi Armin !!! I am shooting with thumb release , but with thumb ring ...I have hurt my nerves from the thumb , and for three months I did not feel anything with my tip of the thumb...😢😢😢😢😢 So since then...I am using a hard lether thumb ring . I'm working to make a manchurian archery ring , from hard wood ...I want to see if it suites to my stile of shooting . Respect !!!😀😀😀 Sorin the bowman / ROUMANIA

Thanks for nice detailed instruction! The graduation you propose is (I feel) crucial and very helpful! My only problem is figuring out where on the handle to rest the arrow: logically it should be the middle of the bow, but this means the middle of the leather handle, obliging me to hold the bow almost out of the handle..

Super erklärt 👍🏻 Da ich mich seeeeehr für das Schiessen mit einem Reiterbogen interessiere hat mir Dein Video sehr geholfen !

Thank you for the tips. There's so much packed into one video that it would be a shame for newer archers to miss out on content like this. I'm surprised the channel doesn't have more subscribers.

I have learned so much and in only one video. You sir, are generous and most awesome. *bow* Thank you.

Great info, Beauty MA.