Archery Girl

Eurasiatic archers who used the thumb or Mongolian draw protected their thumbs, usually with leather according to the author of Arab Archery, but also with special rings of various hard materials. Many surviving Turkish and Chinese examples are works of considerable art. Some are so highly ornamented that the users could not have used them to loose an arrow. Possibly these were items of personal adornment, and hence value, remaining extant whilst leather had virtually no intrinsic value and would also deteriorate with time. In traditional Japanese archery a special glove is used, provided with a ridge which is used to draw the string.
• Release aids
Archers using compound bows usually use a release aid to hold the string and release it precisely. This attaches to the bowstring just below the nocking point or at the D loop and permits the archer to release the string by the use of some form of trigger. When such a device was first invented (patent filed in USA, 1879) it was known as a "clutch". The trigger may be an actual trigger lever which is depressed by a finger or thumb (positive),or held then released (negative) but there are numerous types. Hydraulic and mechanical time delay triggers have been used, as have "back tension" triggers which are operated by either a change in the position of the release or "true back tension"; that is to say the release triggers when a pre-determined draw weight is reached.
A mechanical release (the use of the word "aid" can be omitted when context is appropriate) permits a single point of contact on the string instead of three fingers. This allows less deformity in the string at full draw, as well as providing a more consistent release. This is primarily because the most successful types operate with positive pressure, whereas the conventional 'fingers' release is negative. The mental process of applying positive pressure tends to assist the archer to hold positive form overall, negative can lead to further negative effects.