and bends the tip of his index finger, placing the second joint of that finger against the outer side of his thumb on the nock-side; he then keeps the two edges of the nock between the thumb and the index finger so that they are aligned with the space between the last knuckle at the root of the index finger and its second segment, and he keeps the index finger slightly raised off (1) the arrow’s shaft from the very start of the draw until the arrow has left his hand.

The archer must be extremely careful (2) not to press his index finger against any part of the nock while drawing (3) or releasing, for doing so will warp the arrow and multiply its defects after it is loosed.

As for the other three matters that pertain to the grip:
– One is that the grip itself be as firm as possible during the draw, with all the fingers.
– The remaining two relate to correct positioning: you should set the flat (4) of the bow’s handle between the bases (5) of your four fingers; its upper end should lie between the two joints of your thumb, while its lower end should rest about a finger’s breadth lower, toward the palm.

With regard to the five matters connected to the release, three concern the thumb, the index finger, and the middle finger—and these have already been mentioned.