Thumbring technique

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:46 am

That was a modern bow. It was the bow given to me at the first World Traditional Archery Festival. The smoothness of the curves of the bent limbs is always a good indication of modern manufacture. It prevents overstressing of the materials.

Daniel T. · Post by **Daniel T.** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:29 pm

I don't know why but I don't get it. I made a leather thumb ring and the ring makes the string slip half way to the tip of the thumb when drawing. I made a picture to hopefully make it clearer. The curvature along the arrow causes the string to rest where I put the red dot. Everything is clenched tighter when I actually draw, but for clarity of the picture I left the thumb rather loose.

http://itp.tugraz.at/~skerm/Bilder/thumbring01.jpg
http://itp.tugraz.at/~skerm/Bilder/thumbring02.jpg

This is really uncomfortable, even with my wife's 30# bow.
Without the ring I can place the string close to the joint, but that is not option for shooting as it hurts as well.

It is rather hard leather and 3mm thick, maybe that is the problem?

Daniel

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:00 am

The ring is too thick. The lip extents too far around the thumb. What you need to do is wet the leather and use a loop of string to hold it in the joint of your thumb until it dries enough to hold its shape.

3 mm leather has to be shaped while wet so that it can be formed around the thumb. Once dry it will become quite hard, but the shape will fit your thumb better.

Depending on how you grip the thumb, you also might want to shave the inside of the lip down to a thinner profile, but don't do this until you have made it bend correctly.

If the leather bends properly, you can hold the string safely anywhere from the joint to where your red dot is. However, if it feels uncomfortable, something is going wrong as you worked out.

Daniel T. · Post by **Daniel T.** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:11 pm

Thanks for the advice! I tried to reshape the ring, but sadly I only made little progress so far. I also struggle with the hand position, e.g. keeping the wrist straight. It looks so easy and fluent in the videos. I'll keep trying!

Daniel T. · Post by **Daniel T.** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:27 pm

I tried something else today.

http://itp.tugraz.at/~skerm/Bilder/hornring.jpg

I made it from a scrap piece of horn. The leather strip is just tucked through the ring, but I think I'll glue on there to make it softer to wear. I think this could work.

JJ · Post by JJ » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:44 am

Daniel, that ring seems to be too flat and straight. A more curved, hollowed out on the inside ring would be more suitable.

Maybe you look at this: http://atarn.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1341

JJ

Daniel T. · Post by **Daniel T.** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:07 am

Thank you for the reminder. I have seen this one before, but I forgot about it. I think this would suit me fine.
I shot with the flat ring yesterday and it was ok. I initially tried to make an antler ring, but it was unuseable. I think I know now how to shape one.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:56 am

There is an old ring like your flat ring in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There were also very flat Korean rings used in the old days.

daryush · Post by **daryush** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:59 am

Daniel: make sure you smooth the edges round your thumb so they're not pointy and edged. I speak from personal experience here.

Boghadair · Post by **Boghadair** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 12:39 pm

Daniel,
I have a fairly flat Korean thumb-ring that I got from Thomas Duvernay about 10 years ago. you're on the right track though.
Nick

Daniel T. · Post by **Daniel T.** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:37 pm

I shot about 100 arrows with this flat ring and it was alright, but it hurt my thumb a bit because it fit too tight. So I made it wider and took it to a 3d tournament this weekend. On the first target, I shot and the ring flew along with the arrow and I couldn't find it in the grass.

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:35 pm

Daniel T. wrote:I shot about 100 arrows with this flat ring and it was alright, but it hurt my thumb a bit because it fit too tight. So I made it wider and took it to a 3d tournament this weekend. On the first target, I shot and the ring flew along with the arrow and I couldn't find it in the grass.

Hey, there is a medicine made for toughening skin, it is called tincture of benzoin, and it is what I use for my thumb to reduce discomfort, and now I shoot without a thumbring. It really works, you should try it!

Daniel T. · Post by **Daniel T.** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:12 am

Hmm, I like my thumb the way it is, I think I'll pass. I am going to make it work with the ring.

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:16 pm

No, I am sorry but it just makes the skin less likely to bruise and rip, I doesnt make it ugly and callused.

Daniel T. · Post by **Daniel T.** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:19 pm

I finally made a thumb ring prototype similar to the one JJ showed. It feels fine so far, it should work for me.

I am not sure about the drawing technique though. I understand the wrist should not be held at an angle. I tried different approaches and it seems to work when I hold the hand at angle to the plane that is normal to the string. When drawing with three fingers, the back of the hand is almost parallel to the string, but with the thumb draw I found that this causes the wrist to bend. An angle of around 45? allows me to draw without bending the wrist. Is this the correct way of doing it? I recorded a video where I tried it with a low draw weight selfbow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkAHYDwvSEo

Here is another one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__Kihog6JDA

Daniel

Thumbring technique

t-ring