by Nadeem | April 21st, 2011
A thumb ring is a piece of archery equipment used for Asiatic thumb ring archery. There are many different thumb rings you can buy, although unfortunately, the most available, easiest to obtain thumb rings are often the worst!
A properly fitting ring is ESSENTIAL. A badly fitted ring will compromise your release and damage your thumb. A properly fitted ring made in the wrong style can cause you to tense up and fatigue improper muscles, and will impact upon your shooting.
So, what should you look for?
Simply put, the purpose of the thumb ring, first and foremost, is to protect the thumb. For light bows, you can get away with a leather glove or a tab, or band-aids, or even some local anaesthetic. For heavier bows, you can get away with a tab made of water hardened leather. For even heavier bows, you need a ring made of stiff materials, or a thumb made of steel to endure the pressure.
Based on this principle, we can say that the best thumb rings are simply a hard surface, that matches the curvature of the thumb. No grooves, no shelves, no funny protrusions. And definitely no grooves! Most of the thumb rings you can buy, such as the thumb rings from Csaba Grozer or Richard Head Longbows have a groove for your string. This prevents you feeling the string and getting an indication of where exactly your wrist is, and reloading without looking at your arrows (blind nocking – an essential part of horseback archery) is impossible. For this reason, you should also avoid rings that conform well to your distal thumb segment, but have a protrusion covering part of your proximal thumb segment.
This is a good example of a thumb ring to AVOID. The ring sits too far up on the thumb, it has a straight edge, and a groove.
The rings from Zhang Li (www.alibow.cn) are of a good quality based on the photographs. They are smooth and have a simple curve which fits to your thumb’s curve. You need to supply the depth and breadth of your thumb just below your thumb joint to get a good fit. Rings by Lukas Novotny and Jaap Koppedrayer are also similar.
Most people make their own thumb rings, as it is easier to get the perfect fit, and a lot cheaper. Rings can be made from horn, bone, wood, billiard balls, and boiled leather. With simple hand tools, you can make your first ring in a few hours. I personally prefer boiled leather thumb rings. They take 10 minutes of work, and a lot of waiting, and are as hard and smooth as rings made of horn or bone (but a little less durable). The boiled leather can be shaped to fit your thumb perfectly.
A variety of thumb rings, including a Chinese cylindrical ring (in white, at the back).
When you get your thumb ring, put it on by rotating it 90 degrees, i.e: so the part covering the thumb pad points towards your other fingers (or away). After the ring has gone past your thumb joint, rotate it 90 degrees so the protective surface covers your thumb pad.
The ring faces inwards (towards the other fingers) as it passes the thumb joint. It needs to be in this orientation to get past the joint.
After it has passed the joint, it is turned 90 degrees so the lip covers the thumb pad. The sides of the bones in the thumb joint will keep it on your thumb, even if your thumb is straightened and you try to pull it off. To remove the ring, simply rotate it 90 degrees and remove. The ring in these photos is a boiled leather thumb ring.
And you’re ready to shoot!
