CREATE THE STRING CONNECTION

The way your fingers leave the string during your release is greatly affected by how you position them. However, the importance of the hook extends far beyond this simplification.

This part of your shot is one of only two permanent contact points with the bow, and your technique here affects how well you can connect the draw arm to the scapula. This then affects your ability to open the bow properly, get into alignment and expand smoothly through the clicker. As you can see, it's kind of important.

The first piece of the puzzle is to understand the correct draw arm positioning. The best way to do this is to use an exercise I call the "Draw Arm Connection Drill". Place the first finger pads of your hooking fingers on each hand together (Fig. 2a), but don't go deeper than the first finger joint. Then, simply bring your hands out in front of your chest so that you can look down at them easily.

First, pay attention to the shape of the fingers and hand. Excessive tension should be avoided here, so the back of your hand shouldn't look and feel as if you're gripping on for dear life. If you feel like this, allow the fingertips to open very slightly to help you get a more relaxed position.

Next, look at the wrist and forearm angle. You should be able to form a straight line starting from your fingers, going through your wrist and forearm and connecting to your elbow (Fig 2b, green line). The wrist should be neutral or slightly past this line, but not over exaggerated (Fig 2b, orange circle). Crucially, it should feel like your elbow and hook are connected and functioning as one unit. Try applying more pressure through your hook fingers; you should feel like you are directing the movement from your draw elbow, and you should also feel a connection to the lower part of your draw scapula.

Applying this to your shooting is simple: you must create this connection during your set position on every single shot. Practice this with a light bow before moving to your normal bow at 30m or closer. For the hook, you should place the string in the groove of the top and middle finger and slightly in front of the groove on the bottom finger (Fig. 3).

To improve your release, you must maintain the connection between the hook, elbow and scapula through your whole shot.