Archery Drills - Finger Release Drill

This drill is great to learn the how it should feel when the string pushes your release fingers out of the way.

Obviously, proper hooking and release is important to understand when you do this drill. To read more about proper release technique, see our technique section: Release & Follow Through. To read about how to hook the draw fingers onto the string, see our section: Set Position (Hook & Grip).

Key Points

1. Hook your draw fingers onto the fingers of your bow hand and come to your anchor position. You can see this in the figure above.

2. Your fingers should be lined up so that the first pad of each draw hand finger is hooked onto the first pad of each bow hand finger.

3. At your anchor position, you should increase the pressure that you are pulling through both hands. Do this by leading direction from both elbows.

4. You should feel this as the pressure increasing on the pads of your fingers on both hands. Continue increasing the pressure and allow the fingers of both hands to relax. You fingers should slip away from each other and create your release.

Notes:

This drill is great for beginners, but it’s also a great reminder of what the release fingers should feel like for anyone.

Make sure to avoid using your upper traps when you do this drill. It should feel as if there is space around the shoulder joint during this drill, just as it does when you shoot.

As we have mentioned, it’s important to have good grip and finger strength to allow you to hook the string properly. You can take a look at some exercises to improve your hook strength in our section: Recurve Archery Exercises.