Release and Follow Through – Fundamentals Series #11
Each month in 2024, we will be posting a new article in our Fundamentals of Shooting Archery series. These articles are intended to supplement and further explain any instructions given or terminology used by the instructors and assistants.
If you have any questions about these articles or anything to do with archery, ask your instructor. They’ll help you get the answers you want and you might even prompt a future article.
What’s so special about the release step? Anyone can let go of a string.
Again, this is one of those deceptively easy steps. Yes, anyone can let go of a string, but there is a correct way to let go and a few incorrect ways.
First, let’s revisit the Hook step from Drawing the Bow. In this step, the fore-, middle, and ring fingers of the string hand are bent so that the string sits on the pads of the fingers or in the notch of the first joint. The rest of the fingers, hand, and wrist and forearm are in a straight line.
To release the string, relax the bent fingers and let them straighten. The string will roll out of the joints, over the fingertips, and away. The rest of the hand and arm keep the same form they are in.
It sounds so easy. How can I do it wrong?
1. Being scared to let go of the string. Some archers will peel their fingers off the string one at a time. This makes it really hard on the last finger to hold the tension and it will slip. The aim point is probably off at this point and the arrow will go in an unexpected direction. Relax, you can do this. After the first arrow, it gets easier to do, I promise.
2. Some archers will grip the string with their whole hand, making it difficult for the string to roll off smoothly. Again, relax, the fingertip method really does work. Talk to your instructor, they may give you a lighter poundage bow to start with, which will make it easier to hold the string at anchor and to let go of it. Or they may give you a shooting glove or tab help protect your fingertips and give you a physical reminder of where the string should sit.
3. Plucking or throwing your fingers off the string. This causes the string to jump a bit sideways in the release moment and throws off the aim point. It also makes an obvious noise; everyone knows you did it. Slow down, think about the easy roll of the release, take a deep breath, and do it.
4. Hesitation in the string arm. Just before release, some archers will let down from anchor a bit, others will draw a tiny bit more. Both of these will throw off the aim point and interfere with the repeatability of the shot. The anchor is there for a reason, it creates a memory for your body.
What about Follow Through? Is there one?
Just like most other sports there is a follow through action for archers.
What might confuse some people new to archery or watching from the sidelines, the follow through is not really obvious. It’s a very small motion over a very short time. Just like other sports it is a continuation of the movement in process, in this case the release.
There are two main parts to the follow through, one for each arm.
1. The string fingers should still be near your anchor point. The string hand may move slightly and slowly back towards that shoulder as the tension from the draw that is held in the shoulders and upper body relaxes. This is not an intentional move, it’s a continuation of relaxing the fingers to release the string and then the shoulders relaxing towards each other on their own.
2. The bow arm should stay in position until the arrow finds its target. The bow hand may move slightly and slowly forward then down and left (for right-handed archers) as the shoulder and arm tension from the draw relaxes. Again, this is not an intentional move; it’s a continuation of the shoulders relaxing towards each other on their own after the release.
In both cases, don’t force any extra motion. Allow your upper body structure to continue the motion of the draw, pulling the shoulder blades together and down in the back by relaxing the tension being held. Your bow hand should still be pointing to the target and your string hand should still be near the anchor spot, so that your arrow doesn’t get lost on its way to the target.
Having said all this, if something feels wrong or difficult or hurts while shooting, talk with your instructor. Sometimes accommodations (alternatives) need to be used.