Yeah, I have an unlimited amount of overhead video of myself
My root question or dilemma, and why I started this thread, is that I have made the "Wedge" alignment a form goal. But I'm realizing that it might not be possible to achieve this alignment with a side of face anchor and not hit the nose.
The problem is that rotating the shoulder girdle clockwise (for right hander) limits how much one can turn the head back counterclockwise. So the nose is left hanging in front of the string.
This Wedge alignment was developed by target archers using under the chin anchors. For them, the string is on the tip of the nose, so no problem. But lifting the anchor up to the side of the face puts the string behind the nose.
The only way to avoid clipping the nose with a side of face anchor is to turn the head as far as possible toward the bow. But as far as possible is actually reduced by about 20 degrees because the shoulders are rotated in the other direction to attain the Wedge alignment. If one has "normal" neck range of motion - 90 degrees of rotation - the leftover 70 degrees might, or should, be enough.
I can attain this and miss my nose, but I lose string alignment. With the face turned this far toward the bow, the string is quite right of the right eye, so the string is far to the right of the riser.
Jake Kaminski talks about this in his videos about his Barebow anchor:
Jake mentions that he could avoid clipping his nose with a corner of mouth anchor by turning his head more than he's used to. But to get string alignment, he needed to turn and cant his face back toward the string, which put the nose back in front of the string.
His solution was to lower his anchor about as far as one can without slipping off the face. For string walking this works for him. But shooting instinctively with the arrow so low is troublesome. It also requires a really tall riser sight window.
In this video featuring the coach Arne Moe, the archer is struggling with the nose clipping issue:
At 34:20, the archer, DIY Sportsman, and Arne discuss Wedge alignment as it relates to nose clipping. The archer brings up "Terry's Form Clock", which is like old-style Olympic alignment, with the shoulder girdle and arrow line parallel with each other. Arne says that each archer has to decide how far to take it, and that many archers shoot very well without achieving the full Wedge.
My impression right now is that the Wedge is not possible with a side of face anchor unless one is OK with taping the nose. I'm not. So I'm trying to figure out whether a) I need to abandon my secondary goal of having the string in front of my eye and so available to align with the arrow or riser, or b) abandon the Wedge and "settle' for a less triangular alignment.
Asking for photos of high-level archers from overhead seemed the way to determine how important the Wedge really is. I have the impression that the Korean Olympic archers are not as determined to achieve ideal Wedge alignment. That is one thing I'd like to confirm with photo so video evidence.
