Fig (IV)
9.-STRINGING. be given of promising beginners, who, having made good scores by bad methods, scorned advice, and after a year or two were reduced by their tricks to hopeless mediocrity or worse. 66 Before attempting to shoot, the bracer should be carefully put on the left arm, the sleeve being drawn back so as to leave it on the inside smooth and free from wrinkles.
The next thing is to string" or "bend" the bow. Grasp the bow at the handle with the right hand, the back, or flat part, being towards the body, and place the bottom horn against the hollow of the right foot. Place the ball of the thumb of the left hand about five inches from the top of the bow, the fingers resting against the eye of the string.
Draw the right hand towards the body, at the same time pressing down the left hand, and place the eye of the string in the nock of the upper horn with the fingers (Figs. 9 and 10). The method of unstringing is the same, except that the eye of the string is lifted out of the nock.
Now see that the string is straight by looking at the bow, string upwards, and also observe if the string at the handle is the proper distance from the bow (5½ inches for a lady's, and 6 for a man's). Next, see that the nocking-point is marked exactly opposite the top of the handle, so that the arrow, when "nocked" on the string and resting on the forefinger of the left hand, which should be even with the top of the handle, is at right angles to the string. This is important, as, should the nocking-point be too high or too low, the arrow will not fly properly.
Supposing a pair of targets to have been duly pitched opposite each other sixty-five yards apart, the archer should place himself on the mark five yards in front of one of them. He should stand sideways, the feet about eight inches apart, so that a line drawn through both heels should pass to the centre of each target. The body should be perfectly upright, the head erect, but turned to the left, the eyes fixed on the gold of the opposite target.
The handle of the bow should now be grasped, the upper part of the hand even with the top of the handle, the back of the bow parallel with the knuckles of the finger and thumb. Fig. II shows both sides of the hand. A line passing through the centre of the bow will, if the grasp be correct, fall just inside the knuckle of the thumb. The wrist must be quite straight; if it is bent back, the string will strike the bracer; if forward, power is lost. Now raise the left hand to the full extent of the arm, and, looking over the knuckle, see if the centre of the bow is on the gold. If it comes on it at once, the position will be