[Archers] Draft of Archery Rules

[Andre Detommaso]

I have addressed my concerns privately to Ignacio on
the draft of the rules, which by the way I believe to
be a very good effort. I do however have a major
concern with a point expressed here. To wit:

--- Lawrence Castell <Lawrence.Castell at trw.com> wrote:
skip...
> In section
> 
> 3.1.2 Forbidden Equipment and Techniques 
> 
>         Hand straps - strap that holds the hand to
> the bow 
> 
> I don't understand this one. How does a device that
> keeps the bow safely
> attached to an archer be forbidden. I've seen
> several SCA archers who should
> or would benefit from the use of one. It would have
> prevented them from
> dropping their bow when they released. Especially
> when a proper grip on a
> bow is a loose grip..
> 
> Ted - Sure it is best to have a loose grip. But we
> also say enough of a grip to hold onto the bow. A no
> grip is a drop the bow grip. A dropped bow is also a
> safety hazard. (Which way will the bow go, will the
> archer immediately try to pick the bow up even if it
> is in front of the line?) We as marshals should be
> guiding and training the archers that are less
> experienced in the proper handling of equipment on
> the line. Archers should be able to properly use
> their equipment without the use of a hand strap. If
> they need it because the bow is too heavy for them
> then that is not the bow that they should be using.
> Hand straps are typically used to stabilize the bow
> during shooting and not to prevent dropping the bow.
> This gives an unfair advantage to the other archers
> around them, as with other item within this list.
> But keep in mind that there is an exception to all
> the rules. (Don't make exceptions just  because the
> person is a friend or you personally do not like the
> rule.) Exam!
> ple in this case - a person that has an obvious
> physical handicap want s to shoot and we have
> someone (marshal) that can work with them one on one
> and they need the hand strap to hold onto the bow.
> Then it is the decision of the Marshal In Charge of
> the event or practice to allow the archer to use the
> hand strap.
> 

Two points here: completely disagree that hand straps
are there to stabilize the bow and not drop the bow.
What is this based on? If you go to mundane
competitions, you will see that 99% of the archers,
whether compound or recurve shooters, use hand straps.
The reason is that when you are concentrating on
aiming and releasing, it is not unusual to have too
loose a hand on the bow and lose control of it. Having
a strap keeps you from having to worry about it, and
having to worry about dropping your bow and damaging
your bow or injuring others. I have seen it happen
more than once. IT is not fun, and it is very
dangerous. Secondly, maintaining a death grip on the
bow is not "proper shooting technique", and never was
in any time period. A relaxed and loose bow hand is
proper shooting technique. If you want your arrows to
go straight, that is what you need to do. A hand strap
prevents the proper shooting technique from being a
dangerous technique. Finally, saying that a hand strap
creates an unfair advantage to the archer shooting
next to you is not a valid point. With the same
argument you can say that a recurve shooter has an
unfair advantage over a longbow shooter. A shooter
with a high-quality recurve has an unfair advantage
over someone with a cheap recurve. A shooter with a
fast-flight string has a definite unfair advantage
over others forced to shoot with B-50. A crossbowman
with a well-tuned crossbow has an unfair advantage
over a recurve shooter. A crossbowman with a sight has
an unfair advantage over everyone else. This is a
non-starter. Under these rules, I can show up to the
line with a $1000, state-of-the-art, completely modern
take down with laminated titanium/carbon limbs and
fast-flight string, and be completely legal as long as
I don't have the strap. I can guarantee you that that
bow gives me a ton more advantage than any straps will
ever even come close to.
The cheapest version of a hand strap is a loop of
string that fits over two fingers and costs
approximately $1. You can make one yourself for two
pennies. There is absolutely nothing that keeps anyone
from using one, other than a lack of will to do so.
Finally, implementing this rule would make Atlantia
the only Kingdom in the Society to ban this. Aside
from everything else, however, you are banning a
safety device. That alone justifies not implementing
this ban.

Regards,
- Lorenzo


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