Ron,

Thanks for your question.

In response to your question I want to make two points.

1. Theoretically speaking, it does not matter much how or where one anchors during the act of shooting the bow. That may seem like a shocking statement, but the idea is that if you can reproduce a consistent shot then it matters little how it is achieved. Ahh but there is a catch; 6,000 years of archery evolution have taught us some of the more efficient ways of reproducing the act of shooting the bow with consistency. Just be glad we're not the ones writing the book, we only have to make updates from time to time!

Where to anchor depends largely on the type of bow and the type of archery you are participating in. For example, hunting recurve bows tend to be short, with small sight windows that may be best shot with an anchor point that's closer to the corner of the mouth (in order to see targets at a close range). Longbow archers tend to follow a similar positioning.  Some bow hunters also shoot with an extended draw length in order to increase the weight behind an arrow in a hunting situation.

FITA style bows with their longer risers and sight windows are best shot with an anchor position under the chin. Why under the chin? This position gives several points of contact (under the chin, tip of nose), and results in a solid anchor (or rear sight position). It also assists in an effortless positioning of string alignment.

Having the drawing arm "locked," or to draw a bow so that you have no more ability to draw, will prevent you from using the clicker properly.  Since you are unable to draw any further, you will have problems shooting with a clicker.

The idea is to have some space for movement, so you can squeeze the scapulae together causing the clicker to go off (It's similar to squeezing a trigger of a rifle until it fires, instead of just pulling on the trigger rapidly).

In addition, having an anchor position as I have outlined assists the archer in aligning force vectors , which is necessary in order to reduce the amount of a load being supported strictly by muscles. With the proper alignment, force vectors will be set up in such a way that allows the distribution of the load to be more evenly supported by bones, thus reducing an archer's tendency to fatigue.

(You might do a search in this group archive as I have written on the topic of alignment before).

If you take a look at some of the videos I have on my YouTube  profile you'll see what I'm referring to.

2. Keep things simple. Don't try to get too complicated at this point. And I certainly wouldn't recommend trying to reinvent the wheel.  Instead, take a few private lessons, which will cut down on a lot of time spent trying to figure things out for yourself.

Hope this was of some help.

-Dan

--- In AskArcheryCoach@yahoogroups.com, "Ron van Mierlo" <ron-eefje@...> wrote:
>
> A little over 2 months I have had the opportunity to shoot loaned
> recurve bows (without sights) at clubs in my neighbourhood, but
> anchoring has been a major point for me. I had been under the
> impression (before I was told otherwise) that an archer would pull
> back the elbow as far as it will go (the upper arm lining up with the
> upper body and bow arm) and in that way obtain an absolute and steady
> point that would be easily repeatable and which would in my case have
> resulted in 34 inches of drawlength. My fingers would in that case
> also finish up at or a little behind the corner of the jaw.
> At the archery clubs they kept on the contrary hammering on an
> anchoring point that would result in the bend fingers or thumb
> finishing up at or near my mouth, possibly at the corner of the mouth
> and thereby also moving some 3 inches or so forward from the point
> that I previously kept.
> In itself I could understand the thinking behind this of getting the
> string at the point whereby it could be seen and then brought
> horizontally in line with the arrow's tip and center of the target.
> Also in that way the arrow shaft can be nicely followed over the full
> length from the nock to the tip and lined up with the target.
> But this new anchoring point also has the disadvantage that it moves
> the upper arm forward and the once so steady or locked position of
> the upper arm is now lost and suddenly some muscle strength is
> required to hold the upper arm from moving more forward while aiming
> at the target.
>
> But was it such a dumb idea then of me to try and search for that
> locked or absolute arm position, that could be held for a very long
> time? In that case I would likely have needed a release to add the 3
> inches difference to get the string in front of my face again and
> enable proper aiming.
>
> So is it correct to search an anchoring point with the fingers near
> the corner of the mouth and to do this regardless of the possible
> disadvantage that the upper arm now gets to hold more of the bow's
> weight?
>
> Ron van Mierlo - Sweden
>

--- In AskArcheryCoach@yahoogroups.com, "Ron van Mierlo" <ron-eefje@...> wrote:
>
> A little over 2 months I have had the opportunity to shoot loaned
> recurve bows (without sights) at clubs in my neighbourhood, but
> anchoring has been a major point for me. I had been under the
> impression (before I was told otherwise) that an archer would pull
> back the elbow as far as it will go (the upper arm lining up with the
> upper body and bow arm) and in that way obtain an absolute and steady
> point that would be easily repeatable and which would in my case have
> resulted in 34 inches of drawlength. My fingers would in that case
> also finish up at or a little behind the corner of the jaw.
> At the archery clubs they kept on the contrary hammering on an
> anchoring point that would result in the bend fingers or thumb
> finishing up at or near my mouth, possibly at the corner of the mouth
> and thereby also moving some 3 inches or so forward from the point
> that I previously kept.
> In itself I could understand the thinking behind this of getting the
> string at the point whereby it could be seen and then brought
> horizontally in line with the arrow's tip and center of the target.
> Also in that way the arrow shaft can be nicely followed over the full
> length from the nock to the tip and lined up with the target.
> But this new anchoring point also has the disadvantage that it moves
> the upper arm forward and the once so steady or locked position of
> the upper arm is now lost and suddenly some muscle strength is
> required to hold the upper arm from moving more forward while aiming
> at the target.
>
> But was it such a dumb idea then of me to try and search for that
> locked or absolute arm position, that could be held for a very long
> time? In that case I would likely have needed a release to add the 3
> inches difference to get the string in front of my face again and
> enable proper aiming.
>
> So is it correct to search an anchoring point with the fingers near
> the corner of the mouth and to do this regardless of the possible
> disadvantage that the upper arm now gets to hold more of the bow's
> weight?
>
> Ron van Mierlo - Sweden
>