Equipment
Protective equipment is normally used to protect the skin of the digits used. For the Mediterranean draw, the fingers may be protected with shooting gloves or by finger tabs. A shooting glove is a three-fingered glove that goes on the primary hand of the shooter. Models range from full-finger leather to gloves that only cover the tips of the fingers. These gloves are used mostly by traditional and bare-bow shooters. Finger tabs are pieces of material that are attached via leather straps or holes to the middle finger. For amateurs a plain tab made of leather is a simple, cheap, and still highly effective protection for the fingers.
Thumb rings or leather thumb tabs are used by archers practising the Mongolian release. Most cover and protect the skin of the thumb only. The Japanese yugake is a reinforced glove with a special ridge which holds the string.
In the past 25 years, with the advent of the compound bow, mechanical releases have become popular. The mechanism is usually attached to the wrist; it holds the string, and releases it when triggered. They offer a cleaner release and require no finger strength. However, finger releases must be used for bows other than compounds in most tournaments (including the International Archery Federation) and thus are still widely used.
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