YOU might be doing it wrong (how to anchor with a wrist strap and handheld release!)

We get several questions about the difference between when you anchor with your handheld release or with a wrist strap release. Now a lot of this comes from someone that shoots one way but wants to try the other way and what they want to know is how much do I have to change my peep height depending on which release that I'm shooting. So this certainly is going to depend on whether you've learned one way and going to the other way or vice versa. If you are a wrist strap shooter most likely you're going to have a naturally a lower anchor point than what I would have taught you knowing now what I know about a wrist strap release, anchor position, arrow clearance on the face and what I would teach you now versus a long time ago where we wanted to just anchor in and get solid. So if you're someone who puts your thumb behind your neck or kind of gets this index finger kind of locked under your jaw then you will have a different peep position than what I teach for a handheld release simply because your peep is going to be much higher because your anchor is lower. Now the downside to that type of anchoring with a wrist strap release is when you're lower the arrow is going to be in front of that release and the lower that arrow is on the face the more your facial variation can impact the back of this arrow shaft and ultimately impact where the front of that arrow is going to be leading once you let go of that string. So what I like to do anytime I teach a new wrist strap shooter is first off I'm going to tell them to make sure their wrist strap is snug and seated right at the base of the wrist that it's not too loose or too tight and choked way back but I also want them to shorten the length so that they're able to curl their finger completely around that index finger. Now that full draw I'll have a little more tension but I want to be able to curl my finger around that and with the back strap I actually have to squeeze this and then pull back. I don't want this so long that only the tip of my finger is reaching the trigger because that is really going to get you to start to want to slap it and it's also going to make you feel so much different in your anchor position. So if you get a wrist strap and you have it set to where when you have tension you're able to just curl your index finger around that trigger or put it just like that and then squeeze it, that's going to be perfect. Now in that position there what I teach people is to put the index knuckle at the base of their earlobe. So that index knuckle is going to go at the base of your earlobe and now you can see the head of this release is more in line with the same position that I would have if I had a handheld release and I was anchored the way I teach that which is this index finger here on the jawline the middle finger above. So with the wrist strap I'm essentially going to be in the same spot only turned a little bit flatter. Again index knuckle base of the earlobe. If I was this way that index finger would be on the jaw. So one would be here, handheld would be here, wrist strap would be here. When that happens I'm able to make the same shot with both releases with the same peep height. So let me give you a quick look here. I'll tuck in the wrist strap and make a few shots with a handheld release. So I'm going to come on in here really focus on the anchor position for this first shot. I'll talk you through it. So I am drawing back my index finger is on that jawline, middle finger is above, aero shaft is between the lips and the chin and then I can bring my face straight my nose of the string so that I'm looking directly through my peep sight and I'm letting off my safety and I'm pulling pulling pulling through my shot. Okay so I'm going to do the same thing now with my wrist strap. The important thing here is that the position of this aero shaft is between my lip and my chin when I'm anchored in these positions that I tell you and the aero is actually in the safe part of my face in that cradle or that concave part of my lip to where it has some clearance and if I have any type of head variation I'm not immediately putting pressure on the back of that aero shaft. So okay for this wrist strap give you a look here drawing back so index knuckle base of the ear lobe so you can now you can see the aero shafts in the same part of the face. I'm going to put the tip of my nose on the string squeezing my safety and pulling through the shot. So same bow same peep height if you anchor these two ways you're going to be able to switch back and forth for one but for two this really is the technique to put the aero shaft in the optimal position on that face so that you don't have any type of interference or disturbance. Let me give you one more here with each one. Okay index knuckle to the ear lobe tipping the nose to the string squeezing the safety pulling through. Okay one more time with the handheld. These are both tension activated releases. I'm pulling through the shot so this just gives you a really easy idea of what it's like with either one. If you're not a tension activated release shooter this would certainly work with a standard index finger release or a thumb button.