Quick Fire Questions (A Place to Ask and Answer)

[Vertigo]

Originally Posted by allmywires

One of my characters is an archer and she has to lose her little finger in the none-too-distant future in part of a plot device. I was originally going to make it her left hand - the weaker one - but then I remembered that your little finger contributes a lot to grip. So my question is, if she lost her left little finger, would she still be able to grip her bow properly? Or would it be better that it was the right (the hand she would use to draw the bow - I assume that doesn't involve the pinky?)

Shouldn't really matter which hand. You (normally) don't use the little finger when drawing and you don't need to grip the bow all that fiercely when shooting. Basically you only hold it itght enough to stop from dropping the bow after the loose; whilst drawing the bow the tension holds it into your hand. Most modern competition archers use a wrist or finger strap (I use the finger one) to 'catch' the bow and actually shoot with a completely open left hand.

The reason for this is so that any tensions in your left arm when you loose have minimal effect upon the bow itself and so is less likely to snatch the arrow off target. Gripping the bow too tightly can cause all sorts of nasty jerks in the bow as the arrow is flying past it.

[luci2also]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

Shouldn't really matter which hand. You (normally) don't use the little finger when drawing and you don't need to grip the bow all that fiercely when shooting. .

Small question- curiosity here.

So when you are balancing the bow in your non-gripping grip does the little finger come into play with the balance or is that too with an open hand?

Oh I may have been looking at this incorrectly.
But, what confused me is I do not know of anyone employing a device on the hand actually holding the bow. Mostly they employ devices which are used to draw. Some of those have triggers for the release.

When I've asked them most say the forces - when the arrow is released tend do draw the bow towards the hand rather than away so they don't employ any method to help them hold them. I've never seen competitive events in archery so I'm unfamiliar. And I do not myself participate.

Either way they do tend to just cradle the bow between the thumb and the palm. So perhaps there is no need for the little finger.

[allmywires]

Originally Posted by luci2also

If it were merely an (pardon the pun) off hand side plot it might not matter and you also might question why its there.

I say plot device, it's really so it can massively set up rivalry with the woman who does the finger chopping

Originally Posted by Vertigo

Shouldn't really matter which hand. You (normally) don't use the little finger when drawing and you don't need to grip the bow all that fiercely when shooting. Basically you only hold it itght enough to stop from dropping the bow after the loose; whilst drawing the bow the tension holds it into your hand. Most modern competition archers use a wrist or finger strap (I use the finger one) to 'catch' the bow and actually shoot with a completely open left hand.

The reason for this is so that any tensions in your left arm when you loose have minimal effect upon the bow itself and so is less likely to snatch the arrow off target. Gripping the bow too tightly can cause all sorts of nasty jerks in the bow as the arrow is flying past it.

Thank you very much! As a more general question, would losing the little finger have a massive impact (more than the middle two fingers) on day-to-day life? I have never thought about my pinky as much until now, but when I imagine it not there, I think it might be a wee bit problematic.

[springs]

one of my characters loses theirs, and I've not really referred to it very much again, and no one has come back to me and said that they couldn't do this that or the other without it. I think things like typing might be tricky, but I can't see if being a huge issue.

[Vertigo]

I can't see it being a real issue in normal life.

You are absolutely right Luci as you draw the bow it is pulled snuggly back into the palm between the thumb and forefinger. However once you loose, the bow jumps forward both from the momentum of the string and the extension of your compressed bow arm. If you do not have at least a loose grip on the bow you will lose it. I have done this once when shooting without my sling and forgetting I didn't have it. Very embarrassing!

Here's a link to a page where you can see some bow slings.
http://www.quicksarchery.co.uk/super...1090/Bowslings
My choice is the simplest one down the bottom left (not the most popular choice by the way). Essentially thumb and forefinger go in the two rings making a continuous loop from thumb, forefinger and sling with the bow inside it.

And here's the best picture that I could find showing how the bow is not really held at all. Note styles vary enormously, for example I don't curl my fingers up like this archer I just let them hang loose. http://www.london2012.com/photos/201...2008-60743.php

Of course for a fantasy story you wouldn't be using such devices but I believe you would still try to have a loose grip on the bow whilst shooting.

Bottom line, when shooting, your bow arm wants to be an inert rod whose only job is to keep the bow away from your body! You want as little muscle usage in that arm as possible as that will tend to spoil your aim. It seems a bit counter-intuitive at first but actually the same is true in the drawing arm once at full draw. As much as possible of the work is done by your back muscles.

[Warren_Paul]

If you lost your little finger (pinkie) you would lose some of the strength in your hand - which might make it harder to use a bow, considering they already take a great deal of strength, especially old fashioned longbows.

Loosing your pinkie weakens your grip.



Some interesting reading material:

Benefits of a strong pinkie

Get along without the pinkie?

Do you really need your pinkie finger

I'm trying to find a link for the medical studies that showed this. brb.

[allmywires]

Originally Posted by Warren_Paul

If you lost your little finger (pinkie) you would lose some of the strength in your hand - which might make it harder to use a bow, considering they already take a great deal of strength, especially old fashioned longbows.

Loosing your pinkie weakens your grip.

I did remember reading long, long ago that the pinky was about 40% of the hand strength. And since my character uses a longbow, well, she's just going to have to get along without it somehow...

[luci2also]

Originally Posted by allmywires

I did remember reading long, long ago that the pinky was about 40% of the hand strength. And since my character uses a longbow, well, she's just going to have to get along without it somehow...

Archery articles maybe try reading here it has some of the physics behind archery. The real need for strength should be in the draw. Gripping not so much.

[allmywires]

Originally Posted by luci2also

Archery articles maybe try reading here it has some of the physics behind archery. The real need for strength should be in the draw. Gripping not so much.

Thank you! I've been looking for a proper resource on archery for ages. Should keep me entertained for a while

[springs]

So stuck on this one. it's the old every sentence counts..

"The old walls emanated their cold, dank.... "

The path being described leads to torture chambers, and are part of an ancient ruin. I want that sense you get when you walk into an old castle and walk down a passage and just know it's seen more than you have, if that makes sense. The best I've come up with, after an hour with a thesauras, is

The old walls emanated their cold, dank invidious secrets,
But still not quite there. Any wordsmiths?

[HareBrain]

As a quick starting point, I don't think you need "old".

The dank walls emanated their cold, invidious secrets.

[Warren_Paul]

Hey, Springs. Might be helpful to have a quick paragraph to go by, not just the sentence.

HB beat me to it, that the description is starting to sound like a list, don't need every word.

Is it actually the walls emanating the secrets? Hinting at signs of torture and blood?


hmm... thinking, will be back...

[HareBrain]

Or how about a little light gothic?

The walls seeped a cold stone-sweat exudation, as though their very substance were overburdened by the weight of millennial secret horrors witnessèd.

[springs]

So, this is the paragraph. I have HB's version in this, cos it's much better than what I had .

She closed the door and he walked towards the main palace. When he got to the entrance hall, he stopped at the archway to Omendegon. The dank walls emanated their cold, invidious secrets. Sam walked down, taking no notice of the twists in the path, familiar with them

@HB, personally, I love it, but this way through the book I think my reader might faint at the change from my sparse style....

[HareBrain]

Fainting readers is what gothic is all about!

Take it to the max:

Dear God! -- it seemed the very stones did weep with what they had witnessed, and would have cried out, had they but voices, to purge from themselves the burdensome, invidious secret of that place’s ancient horror.

(OK, I should probably be thinking about bed.)