Thank you for your scientific approach to this question. My wife insists that the Mediterranean release is better for mounted archery and that it's more accurate. I've seen videos where the accuracy issue is never resolved because of the competency of the operator but arrow speed from the same bow is immutable. Arrow speed in mounted archery is a huge factor for target lead and flat flight. I was brought up to shoot three finger but have recently trained myself to shoot Scythian and thumb release. The thumb release works best imo for speed as well as accuracy. Since it's my wife that I have to convince I suppose that I've already lost this battle regardless of the facts...
You can't really use Mediterranean release on the galloping horse becuase well it's galloping and your arrow will fall out but i think you have convinced your wife since then haha
@@premquade1056 Only if it’s a right hand bow. You’re not holding the string back with your thumb, it’s just the hook. Your index finger is the trigger. Done properly you can hold a bow at draw weight until your back gives out. And the arrow stays firmly against the grip.
You are getting more speed because you are drawing it back an extra two inches. To everyone at home. Try putting your hand in a 3 under or mediteranian position (your hand will be parallel to your face) and see how far you can draw your arm back. Now try the same thing with you hand horizontal. It is a lot more ergonomic to have you hand in a horizontal position. Compound bow release aids have your hand positioned the same way.
I wondered what the differences between these styles was; no need to wonder-the diffe rences are huge! My draw length with my 60" recurve is 28" three under, 30" with my 66" hybrid longbow that has a high grip with split and 28" with a Bear Montana using split. Shooting styles and the bows grip determine draw length. Great video.
II have been trying to get used to the thumb draw. First I tried a brass ring with a small lip on the back. The end of my thumb hurt from the string tension smashing my thumb against the fore finger, no good at all. Then I purchased a thumb protector where you don’t need to bend your thumb over as far as it has a deep groove at the rear to hold the string and doesn’t require nearly as much pressure on the end of my thumb. I also draw farther with the thumb draw but so far cannot get the arrows to fly to where I am looking. Shooting on the opposite side of the riser on a bow with no shelf so shooting off the hand ( horse bow ) I shoot way to the side the arrow is nocked. I have tried several nock points and cannot get a view of the arrow alignment no matter where I anchor. I will keep working on it with a lower poundage bow but it doesn’t seem promising.
How did you get arrows with feather fletchings? All the competition AND hunting arrows I have seen that are worth their salt have plastic vanes. On paper the arrows fly truer than true but I still like feather fletchings.
Can add up to 4 inches on some people depending on the style they use. Even with same draw length can get a little more speed since one thumb, especially a hard ring, drags the string less than 3 fingers. About 3-5 fps for most setups, about the same as the difference between a Dacron string and "Fast Flight".
I've tried thumb ring but didn't really care for it. I almost felt panicked before each shot because I didn't know where the arrow would go. How long did it take you to get confident with it?
+Trenton Giem I was okay right off the bat, but inconsistent. What I found is where the string is on the ring and where you feel the pressure at draw is critical. If your arrows are going way off to the left (shooting right handed) the cause is that you are wrapping the thumb around the string too much. The thumb needs to be at a slight angle forward, this will give a cleaner release. It took me a few weeks to learn that trick.
you can increase more fps by adding more pressure in your pinky soon as you release which gives the bow a foward rotation movement (the bottom limb ends up touching your armpit)
+Trenton Giem At first yes, once you learn how to use the ring then no. There is a ton to it. Position of string on the ring, how much of and where the finger wraps around the thumb. I shot a few arrows prematurely because I did not get the correct grip.
If you look at Korean traditional archery they have a very long draw, past the head to the far collar bone, and a very short bow, so there is no way you could get 3 fingers into the string because of the angle, if I draw to just 32 inches the 3 fingers start to get get crushed, the only practical way to get back to 36 inches is with a thumb ring, For Korean archery the target is at 145 meters, so they need to be very accurate to hit it and a fast flat path. They also use a different type of thumb ring that is more like a release aid, and just keep the thumb straight, and let the string come off the aid to shoot. Longbows were shot with 36 inch arrows and a 3 finger release, and I can do it with my longbow, but it is does feel a lot less comfortable having a vertical hand vs a horizontal hand. The other issue is that because the arrow is on the inside with the longbow, you can not get the same push from the front hand that you can on a thumb release. The Korean bow has a pistol like pad on the front, which pushes the bow about 3-4 inches away from you, and gives you a straight wrist when shooting. The technique is not to hold with the top finger and to pull back with the bottom 3 fingers so that the top of the bow pings forward. There is also a technique where your front hand goes forward and out of the way of the arrow on release. All of this gives a different amounts of additional speed to the arrow. However the biggest difference between the korean bow and the longbow is in the speed of the bow. For the same poundage bow using same technique and arrows. My korean bow goes about 9 inches through a target that my longbow will just penetrate.
If the draw length made all the difference you could accelerate any arrow by 20fps just by drawing two inches longer. Now I don't have a chrony but to me it seems rather unlikely. It could also be that during thumb release the arrow flexes much less because it is on the outside of the bow, and so less energy is spent on deformation. That seems just as valid contribution as an increased draw. Three fingers probably snag on the string somewhat so it really starts to accelerate once it's off the fingers. Now this doesn't rob energy per se, but it additionaly shortens the draw for the length of the fingertip, an inch or so. So the actual draw difference could be three inches instead of two. It is probably all these effects combined, I don't suppose there is a single decisive factor.
It is accepted among bowyesr that that you gain 2 pounds of draw weight for every inch of draw past the 28" it was designed for. That is why a person whose draw length is greater than 28" has a faster arrow speed than someone with the same bow, but a 28" draw. Simply put, longer draw equals more energy, more energy equals more spped. Even when you use a thumb ring the arrows flexes, it has too simply physics, called inertia. It does not matter which side it is on. If you use a dynamic release you will not lose anything. What you do is pull your hand off the string and not simply let it go.
A simple experiment with only three finger release at different draws and a chrony would settle this forever. As I said, I don't have a chrony but if you could do that it would be great! I'd rather pull my arrows a bit farther than transition to a whole new technique and equipment.
Maybe this has been asked but when I see someone use a thumb ring they shoot off the opposite side ( right hand shooter arrow off the left side or left hand bow). Alan
You will see in a lot of Mongolian competitions, mongolian themselves shooting on the left side and ofc with thumb ring. As far as my experience goes there is very little difference between shooting on the right or the left as long as you grip the handle correctly and apply proper pressure with the pushing hand.
Yeah. Well, I lost my "victory" thumb ring in the back yard some where; but did get one arrow into the target left handed with it. I'll bet you are right about accuracy versus a hand pull. My bow is 100#.
Good presentation. Now for the 64 thousand dollar question. How can we objectively measure the difference in accuracy? A special bow in a vice and some mechanical releases that stimulate the two methods? No. That won't work, too many complicating variables like distracting discomfort and strange anatomical poses.
been playing a thumb ring for month know ....i finally got it down but with a twist...tye a large D loop that the ring can go In...almost removes all tourqe to string...you must make a ring that covera your how thumb pad ..i maid mine from a cow horn
Shoot after Vodka helps fps much more faster and fantastic flying. I witnessed one of my friend who did that way. also he went to hospital like arrow speed with bow hand that had hit by arrow. wow. arrow was too fast to be broken and poked his hand. amazing...
If you use the same anchor point for thumb ring shooting, you increase your draw by the lenght of your fingers. The increased draw puts more tension on the bow, so it throws the arrows with more force. In addiotion the bow has more time to accelerate the arrow. So i dont really know what this video is about.
It is to show those who are not as smart as you that a thumb ring will give them more speed compared to other methods. Many want to try a thumb ring but either do not know how, or any up or downsides.
