What are your opinions on low wrist vs high wrist recurve? I've been shooting longbow for 20 yrs. and have only shot a recurve bow about 5 shots total. I feel a need for a recurve in the near future. Thanks, Wes
I like a medium palm and small to medium throat with a thumb rest in both my longbows and my recurves. For me I find it helps stabilize the shot. Also you can locate the same grip shot after shot.
Its personal preference , I used to like high wrist but the past few years I prefer low . Its only because with high , there is to much pressure on the web of my hand and it gets to aching me . I have lost an inch of my draw length that way but it is easier to find arrows now .
If the grips fits my hand, I could shoot tighter groups with my target bows with a high wrist. However, I found that high wrist bows felt very unnatural with my hunting bows. One of my metal Bear takedowns came with the high wrist, I found it clumsy when getting on target and distracting when just holding the bow when not shooting, which is quite often in a deer hunting situation. I changed it to the low wrist and liked it so much that I bought a second metal Bear takedown. One word of caution with this liking low wrist bows, you will be only hunting with straight gripped Hills in no time.
I have shot just about any way you can think of both right handed and left handed and the only thing I can say with certainty is I have no idea what I prefer...I just pick a few bows I am likely going to hunt with a couple of months before hunting season and then focus on figuring out how I am going to shoot them...by the time I figure out what I like I will probably be too old to draw a bow
DDave
Take a look at the bows that I currently own and if you can figure out a pattern please let me know...other than the Grayling Bears which is more of a collecting thing I have no idea why I own the bows that I do...and I have probably sold or trade away that many or more...I lost track long ago...even personal preference can be hard to explain and it changes over time for me
DDave
Forget personal preference and ask to you hand what she like......if you listen very well,you can ear ,medium, because it's the more natural position for the hand.
With a medium to low wrist grip, I get better bone on bone contact and can shoot longer without fatiguing some muscles.
I can shoot both relatively well but feel like I shoot a mid to low wrist better.
Its a preference thing, hopefully you figure out what you like.
Medium for me
I shoot a medium grip with a slight index where my life line of my palm is. it seems to put the pressure on the 2 small bones of your lower arm instead of your wrist. for me at least
I like mine low.......I can go from recurve to longbow without even thinking about it.
The advantage of a medium wrist angle over a high wrist is that you can shoot heavier draw weights much longer without extending your wrist.
With a high wrist most of the pressure is applied to the web in your hand. This method can be very accurate with target weight bows, but your wrist gets tired with heavier weights and you begin to collapse your wrist as you get tired and your pressure point on the grip shifts lower....This will cause inconsistency.
I prefer a medium grip with a nice flat spot for my thumb pad to settle into the same every time.
High. Asbell like. Low wrist feels so awkward to me. I try it sometimes. Like to reduce draw length when shooting a self bow.
Tedd
I can shoot any style but prefer low to medium.
Ok I'll be the oddball here I perfer a high wrist not so much in grip of the bow but for some reason no matter the shape of the bows grip when I shoot high wrist my groups,tighten up. I ve tried low,wrist,but I tend to use to much Palm which turns the bow to the left.
As far as feeling more natural. They say your bow hand should be relaxed to avoid torque. Well hold your bow arm out like you holding your bow and relax your hand I mean let it go limp I'll bet it drops into natural high wrist position.
Here's one for you to try Mr. Fingers...........
Hold your bow arm out and relax your fingers, now reach out with your other hand and put 3 fingers on your thumb pad and apply pressure keeping your fingers and wrist relaxed.... your wrist will rotate back to the point where its solid.... You'll find you can hold much more draw weight comfortably with the wrist in that position and still have your fingers completely relaxed.
QuoteOriginally posted by Kirkll:
Here's one for you to try Mr. Fingers...........
Hold your bow arm out and relax your fingers, now reach out with your other hand and put 3 fingers on your thumb pad and apply pressure keeping your fingers and wrist relaxed.... your wrist will rotate back to the point where its solid.... You'll find you can hold much more draw weight comfortably with the wrist in that position and still have your fingers completely relaxed.
That's cool Kirk I may putzs around with that. Problem I have either my bow grips are too fat or I tend to put too much heel into it and my bow handle naturally turns to the left. I could shoot my Hoyt Protec compound low wrist with the pressure point right where you suggest but that bow has a thin grip. I'll tinker with it.
Tim.
I want as high wrist grip as you can buy/make , my schafers are great but wish they were higher wrist than they are .NO bow I have ever shot is as high as I would like it to be .
If you have shoulder problems, I'd stay away from a high wrist !
Of what I have tried I seem to prefer higher.
18 degrees of angle between the string and the grip.
Here's why. Take a straight broom handle and hold it in your hand, with your index finger extended pointing at the target. Now have someone take a picture of that.
That right there is your natural point at a target. Anything more or less than that requires you to rock your hand forward or rearward to achieve such point. Your results may vary.
Listen to Kirk. A low to medium wrist grip is physically much stronger. Ever do push-ups using stands or dips on parallel bars? Where do you hold the pressure? I bet it's not on the web of your hand.
QuoteOriginally posted by Kirkll:
The advantage of a medium wrist angle over a high wrist is that you can shoot heavier draw weights much longer without extending your wrist.
With a high wrist most of the pressure is applied to the web in your hand. This method can be very accurate with target weight bows, but your wrist gets tired with heavier weights and you begin to collapse your wrist as you get tired and your pressure point on the grip shifts lower....This will cause inconsistency.
I prefer a medium grip with a nice flat spot for my thumb pad to settle into the same every time.
60# is it to much for high wrist ?
100 arrows per day
I'm a visual learner, can anyone post images of different sizes, styles(low/high wrist) etc. so I can understand the difference?
This is high , i guess ....
(https://scontent-cdg2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11666281_1614629375453868_1667183012095037027_n.jpg?oh=87f3149d9bfe71e88959e8edb0a88854&oe=567394A1)
On the draw is metric measures 61,6 mm and 41.3
There is no agreed upon definition for what constitutes low, medium and high wrist. Some are higher, lower than others, but what is a high wrist to some is a medium to others, etc. I'd consider the bow pictured above a medium wrist. Some might even consider it low on a recurve. Just need to try different styles to see if there's one you like best.
I shoot mostly low, straight/flat wrist longbows, but have a few recurves that have what i consider medium wrists. Don't have any difficulty moving from one to the other. YMMD
When you do push ups, what is more stable, hands flat on the floor or on your knuckles with wrists straight?? Which style will last longer regarding fatigue? You certainly CAN do push ups either way, but for duration and steadiness, the hands flat on the floor is stronger.
Low wrist.
Arne
For years I shot medium wrist. After all, that's what everyone told me was best. However, sometime ago I bought a used Big Horn with high wrist and quickly realized that's what felt best for me. It's high wrist all the way now for me!
Try them, pick what works best for you.
I like low wrist. High wrist feels very unnatural to me,and it hurts my hands.
Well, Wes, I'm sure this has cleared up everything for you.
I shoot low grip with my long bows as they have straight or slightly dished grips. When I shoot my recurves, which is not often, the contoured grip usually dictates the way I grip it. Since I am more used to the low grip of the longbow, I do prefer it.
QuoteOriginally posted by highlow:
Well, Wes, I'm sure this has cleared up everything for you.
:thumbsup: