If you don't like this regimented/form orientated shooting, you don't need to comment. DON'T DO IT BECAUSE I DO IT, DO IT BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE TO YOU. All these form threads are no substitute for a coach. No matter how good any written word is, it can't point and say, “move this here”.
Anchor is the next position in the chain of events. Here we cannot rely on any of our famed authors/archers, because we don't anchor under the chin. That unfortunately means I can't steal from anyone and you will have to suffer through what learned ages ago in the first 10ish years of my archery career.
Now days everyone wants to make things easy – shorten the gap. Hence 3 under, anchor with the middle finger in the corner of the mouth. I was taught, 'learn to live with it', when it comes to a huge gap. Quite frankly, I don't know what my gap is at 20 yards. (I am a gapper) I believe I measured it years ago and it was 42 inches at 20 yards. I learned to gap without putting numbers on the distance and the gap. I'll address that in **Aiming** in the future.
The reason I mention gap is because where you anchor has a direct relation to your gap size. Closer to your eye the smaller the gap. Oly shooters shooting 90 meters need a large gap so their fist is not covering the target, hence the anchor below the chin. Plus from person to person if we measured from the center of the eye to the corner of their mouth we'll get different measurement. An eighth here is going to make a big difference at 20 yards and more at 30.
My anchor is split finger, forefinger in the corner of the mouth, first knuckle of the hand in the cheek bone, and jaw bone in the 'C' created by the thumb and forefinger. I learned that by the mid '60's but who's counting. I will never change, because I'm used to it. George, what do you have here or someone who learned in that era? I'm betting today it's still pretty close to what you learned then.
I will say that today I check my string blur from time to time, especially if I've had a big miss. But I don't know if it's ever necessary because it seems to be the same always. I think if you're conscious of it or check it from time to time it give you arrow alignment. By that I mean for my gap, I can use the tip of the arrow or any spot up to the riser and my arrow will impact up and down, no left or right.
Just to explain string blur, because I'm betting most of us don't see it unless we look for it. At anchor you should see it off to the right of the arrow in your peripheral vision (for a right handed shooter).
I do not use 3 under, because I don't like the feel of three under for stalking. To me it's like loss of control, the arrow is going to fall off the string. When it comes to the middle finger in the corner of the mouth, I don't like it because I have to put tension in my wrist to get it there. ANY tension in the wrist is not a good thing. In addition, it takes away the feeling of my hand knuckle in my cheek bone. My biggest objection is that it shortens the gap, the exact reason everyone does it. It gives me a gap at 40 yards, probably like everyone has at 20. Guess what? I'm pretty good at 40+ yards.
To each his own.
To reference past subjects search by clicking on key word:
**Stance** **Grip** **Hook** **Body Posture** **Head Position** **KSL Sequence** **Set Position** **Set Up Position**