I’m an American from Texas, and no one around here has even heard of thumb draw. If it’s not a big fancy compound bow, with the trigger and all the bells and whistles, they don’t care. So I’m proud to be the only historical archer in my community. Learning everything from Armin Hirmer’s videos and KZfaq. lol

I went to my local club with my horsebow and they have like 80% olympic​ archer and when i used the thumbdraw and khatra the​y looked at me like i'm some sort of alien lol

Already onto it! Great timing, and great video.

If your eyes are open you're aiming, if they are closed you are not aiming. -Instinctive Archery Simplified

You are a fantastic teacher! Thank you for the fine points

I wish I would have seen this when I was a young lefty in a house full of right handed bows

Only £40 for a snake bow here in the UK. That's how I started my journey into thumb release, after watching your videos. Lots of practice later & I am much improved. Thanks Armin & keep up the good work :)

Educational while being oddly soothing and relaxing

M8 my name is Danny. I'm a new Artcher. I'm practicing at home in my apartment in Manchester I'm waiting for an opperasion and then I'll be able to get outside. So I watch all your stuff and I think your a grate man..... Teacher. As soon as I get money I'll become a patrent so I can send you the money because you deserve it. You have answered all the questions and I'm sure wen I'm able to shoot over a distance it will all come together. So thanks M8 you are a star. Danny from Manchester

I wish that you were somewhere in the US so that I could send my daughter to learn from you. She's training for mounted archery and she needs what you know, what you can teach.

Thank you so much for this video Armin, I can't tell you how helpful it's been! I started archery 6 years ago with thumb release then a year in had an instinctive or intuitive as you say, archery lesson where I tried three finger Mediterranean release. I left the club and started shooting in the garden at home. I've now got an opportunity to try horseback archery and so needed to go back to thumb release....I think I was almost dreading the challenge then I watched this and I was so inspired! I am absolutely loving everything about thumb release and shooting from the right. So thank you for your generous and empowering videos, for sharing your profound knowledge and the fun with trampolines, motorbikes, feet and moving around, so inspiring!

Finally the explanation that i need, Thank you Armin

Incredible instruction as always. Thank you Armin!

Answered a great many questions in a small amount of time, thanks!

Two years of shooting, never would I have known I "shouldn't" knock 90° because I can still shoot accurately, just without the bloody marks after each training :D

Very inspiring. Just found your channel yesterday while being at home with the flu and already watched quite a bunch of your videos learning a lot. Need to get out and test some of it soon.

Excellent. I was watching closely for the advantages of thumb release. Now I know.

Fantastic video, Thank you very much for posting. Your vieos are always a joy to watch.

Thank you for the lessons/tips. I'm glad I came across your channel.

Excellent video! I've just ordered a horsebow, and this was excellent instruction to start! Thank you for the fantastic content, I'm off to watch more of your videos

really nice video, I'm looking forward to try this, as soon as weather allows

This is how I started to do instinctive shooting on the thumb draw. Thanks for such great tutorial

Great teaching and reinforcing technique. Thank you.

Thank you for this. I have been trying to learn fast archery for some time. This video is very helpful.

Thank you very much for this video Sir. Been looking for some solid information and found it here! Great video! Thanks again!

I liked your explanation of the Horse Bow and Thumb release.

Such an excellent teacher!

Also loving the channel found it a couple days ago and have probably watched around 30 different videos already! Learning the different styles of bows and ways to draw them.

Mr. Armin Thank you for this instructional video, it will help me a lot. Now to start my path Practice !!!

Excellent video - helped a lot since I just started out using this technique and needed some help with it. The way you teach is excellent and very clear.

Fantastic video Armin! Thank you for such a great teaching aide!

Great video, I always wanted to learn the thumb draw method. Thanks.

Very nicely done. Thx for the helpful instruction.

Great teacher.... Thanks a lot... May God bless you with good health prosperity and peace and love...

Thanks for this lesson. I have only recently started. Being a 3 finger archer, this takes some getting used to, but this video has helped a great deal. I am grateful.

Armin, thank you so much for this introduction! After watching it, I gave thump release a try with my right-handed recurve, switching side. And it felt... right from the first shot. Snake bow is ordered, looking forward to shoot thump released right-handed! Thanks for your inspiring videos and cheers to Malta 🍻

Outstanding instructive video. You're a very good instructor. Thank you

I’m a huge fan of archery and I love the thumb draw technique on eastern style bows. The hunter/ swat team leader Joel Turner demonstrated this method of shooting on his KZfaq channel ShotIQ with modern bows and it looks like a cool challenge for me. Keep up the videos on different bow reviews, shooting techniques and other stuff.

Wow, such a simple approach... I would think that this would have been similar to how archers of hundreds of years ago would have learned. Thanks for posting!

Wish this video existed when I learnt how to shoot lol. Would have helped me a bunch. Lucky newbies. ;)

What a wonderfully calm delivery. You are an excellent teacher, sir.

I have seen, I know not how many videos and, you Armin are just the best

Thank you for the video. I look forward to trying this method.

Excellent tutorial Armin. I never thought of trying thumb draw and release until now. I couldn't believe how smooth and accurate it is. I'm definitely going to try this method. Thanks again for a great video!!

Love this guy. Great video. Will give it a shot. Was thinking i wouldn't be able to do it w/o a thumb ring.

Thank you much for this really easy to follow instructions !

oi! I was taught thumb draw with it still to the knuckle instead of the thumb! No wonder I was having so many issues! Thank you!

I started with a 50lb bow and it's been a little hard but I got used to it. I would not have started with it out of choice but I knew nothing about archery when I bought it. I also bought a thumb ring and it works great. Thanks for your great instructional videos. Very helpful 😁

Thank you so much for this explanation. Such a great tutorial. 🙏🌞

I so appreciate your tutorial videos. I've picked up a bow 2 months ago to teach myself mounted archery. This video confirms I'm on the right path and now thanks to you I know how to prevent feather burn! No more taping my left thumb to shoot.

This video is amazing I was pulling too much for a beginner and have a very light bow and pulling less immediately gave me better groups thank you for your teaching it is great!!

Hi Armin...i'm from Malaysia...great teacher you are.....so far your methods and tips are the only things works for me...thank you

Very well explained. Thank you for sharing your wisdom! 😎👍

Just ordered a mongolian bow found on your site. I plan to shoot w/ thumb. Great video

Thanks for the tips. I just bought my first "horsebow" today, a 25# laminated bow. Pretty happy with this, it will allow me practising my Mediterranean release without the full 50# of my "hunting" recurve, and of course start having fun with thumb release! I have to say it's both frustrating and pretty fun at the same time having to re-learn everything! Anyways, your videos played a big part in me coming back to archery after years without shooting, and now wanting to experiment with this new kind of bows! Cheers

Thanks a lot, Arnim. I was behind it, to know about this technique, since a Korean 60 pounds bow was gifted to me, many years ago! I look forward to find out about that thumb ring. Best regards from another Mediterranean island!

Hi Armin, thank you for your great videos, just getting started with thumb release, having lots of fun and blood blisters on my thumb.... Still trying to find right spined arrows, that don't smack against the side window of my bow... Greetings from bavaria, Bernd

I have learned so much and in only one video. You sir, are generous and most awesome. *bow* Thank you.

Wow! The best archery help I've ever seen. Love your teaching Armin! Keep up the amazing work!!!

I cannot thank you enough for this VERY informative and helpful post. I have only just picked up a Turkish Horseback bow. Of course, I have always had a shelfed bow and this instruction allowed the knowledge of focusing either a little left or a little right, depending on which hand I am using. Thank you ever so much.

You‘re an excellent instructor

Best explanation of thumb release that i have seen - well done. Inspires me to set up my range and do it!

I know you’re like 3-5 yards away, but your grouping is awesome for just messing around. I use to shoot tournaments with my compounds back in the 90’s. I got two “Robin Hood’s”, one accidentally at 60-70 yards, the other, after probably 50 shots, at 20. Even small game hunting, my best shots were taken on the fly at 15-30 yards, not even thinking about the yardage. Always shot worse when I was fixed on bullseye only.

Great video I can't wait to try this.

Great demonstration and clear instruction.

Thank you so much. I just ordered my first recurve bow (right hand) and have been trying to decide how shoot it and this video helped me make a the decision. I think I’ll try 3 fingers under. Now I gotta decide glove or tab. I love your videos. Wish I could attend your school.

I really like your videos. I am going to get a low poundage hopes bow and try this. Thanks for making this.

Thank you for this! I just returned from archery range after my 35# horsebow arrived. My next visit to range I will start this training. Normally I shoot mediterranean 45# recurve with fairly good groups at 6meters. When I tried horsebow with thumb-release at 6m at full draw, I was shooting 2m to the right. I will be following this advice my next visit. :)

Thank you for the inspiration and great information , from Detroit.

Just started with thumb release last week ago with after seeing the videos.. It so much fun.. Keep up the good work with the videos

So the Turk Alps used the thumb ring as a guide. This makes sense, a useful tool for shooting from horseback. Thank you for the video, and giving us a whole tutorial instead of one minute like so many do.

The thumb not squishing the arrow part was extremely helpful, thanks! Seems like practicing half-draws overlaps a lot with Lars Andersson's style of shooting, incidentally.

I’ve just gotten into archery since about late 2019 with the Samick Sage and Christmas 2020 I got a new horsebow, my first traditional bow. I’ve started doing the thumb draw recently but I also got a thumb ring because 60lbs of pressure is a lot to put on just my thumb alone! I will definitely try that half draw method though, usually when I get tired I just go back to the western way of doing it. The thing I also struggle with is the actual sight picture. Like with the western method I tend to aim off my knuckle and I’m still doing fairly close targets, with the anchor point just literally under my eye. It’s three fingers under, not Mediterranean so I can anchor it as close to my eye as I can, but with the thumb draw it’s like somewhere at the 10 o’ clock position. So I can kind of see the elevation of the shot but I’m still struggling with the sight picture, I think I have the release down though, I have to kind of bob the bow to the side like you did there on the release.^^

Wish I could have found your videos when I first started archery. You would have save me time on a lot of things I learned via trial and error.

Super erklärt 👍🏻 Da ich mich seeeeehr für das Schiessen mit einem Reiterbogen interessiere hat mir Dein Video sehr geholfen !

Just waiting for my bow to arrive . thanx for a great tutorial *o*

i watched many of your videos.. your explanation is good,, easy to understand... subscribed :D

THANK YOU for the encouragement & clear, relaxed explanations. Enjoyed shooting as a boy. Interested again as a retiree. Glad I found your channel.

Great skills! Thank you for this.

Great explaination... Thank's master... I'm going to try it at home...

I knew a few guys back in Alaska who put cord loops on the strings of their western style recurves so they could use thumb rings to shoot off of the shelf on the right of the bow. It worked really well for them.

So informative and useful! Thank you!

thank you so much for this video,learned alot and im on fire to practice more with your tips, thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!!!

@Armin Hirmer Firstly, I have learned a lot by watching very informative & interesting KZfaq video's by yourself & Nu Sensei. I recently bought a 26lb Snake bow because of your recommendation for beginners. As a beginner & also 45 years old I would really appreciate any tips you could give to a newbie who wants to improve. There are no clubs in my area of Scotland to help so KZfaq is my only tutor/teacher & it can be difficult knowing who truly knows what they're talking about, especially when you're brand new to the sport. Thanks for the video's & keep enspiring us.

Thanks for doing this video. My thumb draw journey has already demotivated me several times, but I might try it again.

Great video as usual!..I just ordered a Laminated Pearwood ‘Goldilocks’ bow from Canyon thanks to your review...I mentioned your influence in that purchase...Looking forward to receiving it in mid June or so... Thanks again..

I have a Korean war bow, fiberglass, it's a bit too powerful for me at the moment, I'm gonna buy a 25 pounder as you recommended and practice this. Great video as always Armin 👍

I think I am a pretty good archer. After this I realise it's a learning journey for everyone. Now out to practice BETTER

Completely foreign to me and fascinating. Great instruction

Your videos are pretty excellent. I had to look up Malta, though. Thx.

Thank you very much. Good lesson.

Thank you. I started at a local club. In short order, I managed to find a small recurve. It was 48 lbs. I drew 31 - 32 inches, so I was higher. I must admit, that I should have continued with a 30# bow. It would have been easier. That was 1990. I still have a bow, and plan to give this technique a try. It is about learning the bow. Like ladies, they take a soft touch.

Just bought a cheap mongol style bow looking forward to trying it out, I've shot western "trad" recurve with Mediterranean draw for a few years now but I've always wanted to try asiatic styles (there's very little resources here for it) Ill be sure to upload a video once I get my new bow, I presently shoot 45lbs but for the new one i got a 30lb because i know from trying on mine that I cannot pull 45lbs on my thumb.

Thanks for nice detailed instruction! The graduation you propose is (I feel) crucial and very helpful! My only problem is figuring out where on the handle to rest the arrow: logically it should be the middle of the bow, but this means the middle of the leather handle, obliging me to hold the bow almost out of the handle..

Thank you. I'm going to try the thumb and middle finger release.

Thanks for this video. I just started playing around with archery and I am teaching myself. I intuitively felt the thumb release was what my body naturally wanted to do. I was wondering if this was a thing and thankfully, it is totally another method. Thanks now I don’t feel crazy for naturally wanting to release the arrow with my thumb.😂

Snake bow is probably my most recommended bow when asked what bow should I buy first there cheap and pretty much indestructible great to give kid and adults their first archery experience

Brilliant advice great tips 👍👍👍👍👍

Thank you sensei.. great explaination

You are my teacher. Thanks!