1. Give an Overview of your technique.?
String walking is another primitive sighting technique.
It allows the archer to use the arrow point as a reference.
To accommodate the placing of the arrow on or near the spot,
the archer needs to change his hand placement on the string for
a given distance. Lets say at 3 fingers under, index finger
touching the nock, the arrow is point on at 40 yards. If the
archer slides his index finger 1/2" below the nock, he is
point on at 30 yards. At one inch he is 20 yards with his
point. The further away from the nock, the closer the distance
with the point as a reference.
A popular method of String Walking is to actually count the
strands on your serving. Most string walkers user monofilament
serving material when they string walk because it gives more
of a pronounced feel for counting the strands.
The Black Widow tab is a popular tab for string walkers.
The stiff plate allows for a t-square effect, placing the plate
straight up to the string, the top of the plate can be used to
indicate finger position. Most archers who use the Widow
tab take advantage of the stitching that runs vertical, counting
the stitches as it corresponds to distances.
2. Explain how you learned to string walk?
String walking is not allowed in most traditional competitions.
FITA allows String walking in their recurve bare bow style.
I shot fita bare bow for a while, and learned the art of String
walking from fellow bare bow archers from the US, and Europe.
3. Problems you have/had with this method?
String walking requires a broad tune on your bow. As
the archer moves down the string with his various finger positions,
the bow limbs are loaded differently, and the arrow is drawn
a lesser distance. It helps to be in the middle of a spine
range for your arrow, since the dynamic spine varies from position
to position.
For hunting situations, String walking is a bit cumbersome.
It requires distance determination, corresponding finger position
on string, which could take more time and cognitive thought during
the moment of truth.
I have noticed that arrows can come out of the bow rather
odd at times with String walking. Broadheads may be very
unforgiving to poor arrow flight.
If an bowhunter wanted to modify the String walking technique
for hunting situations, I would recommend determining an average
distance. For example, 20 yards, establish one string position
at 20 yards where the point of the arrow is on the target.
Tune the bow and arrow for that position. The bowhunter
could always shoot from that position, and could just gap for
shorter distances or stack for others. A little like gun
barreling.
For competition, String walking is banned at most shoots I
have attended or heard of.
4. Why you think it works best for you rather than other
styles?
The biggest advantage to using String walking is that it allows
an archer to keep his arrow point on or around his target.
It allows for a consistent anchor, and a fairly precise and consistent
finger position for a given distance. In the primitive
sighting techniques, it is like having a movable pin sight.
I actually prefer to shoot split finger and use the split
vision technique.
5. Do you mentally calculate distance and then walk the
string?
Yes it makes sense to calculate the distance since finger
positions on the string can correspond to a given distance.
