whats the right way to grip a recurve, how should your hand be positioned?

I was told to have it at a 45 degree angle and loose. I just started this winter so Id see what everyone else has to say

There's a world of variation between how it should be gripped and what everyone truly does.

Here's mine.  Bow is canted 20° while my hand is canted 45° (very loose and high grip).  High wrist - top of my hand is in line with forearm - with little pressure from the thumb and index and pinky "free floating" with just enough pressure on the middle and ring fingers to keep it from flopping around on release.

   

Some guys use a MUCH stronger grip.  There is also a lot of variation on grip forms on the riser itself which will somewhat dictate how you have to grip it.

Can only take credit for passing this along as it came from here.
Re: Bow Grip
Try holding your bow as if it was a sparrow that you wanted to hang onto, but didn't want to hurt.

Also; Soft hands make arrows fly straight - Old Slavic Saying.
As Charlie says try varying your hand placement for YOUR grip. I found my "sweet spot" by doing this. Tremendous difference.

I heard Mr. Asbell say that if you grip your recurve (probably longbow too) to tightly it could throw off the tiller.  One limb would be pulled more than the other.  I hold me recurve just enough so the it doesn't "jump" when shot.

I think your grip would also be dictated by the shape of the handle.  If it is more like a longbow handle than I would think a high wrist grip is more appropriate.  If the handle is shaped similiar to a Black Widow recurve(for example) than I would use a low wrist.

Hope this helps.  Good luck!

-Jeremy  

this is all very helpful thanks  

What works for me is holding the recurve with some side pressure from my thumb and index fingers, if I don't do this I shoot left or right due to the recoil ( don't know if this is the correct word ) of the release, I guess it's sort of like holding the sparrow as mentioned above.

I grip mine pretty tight and have never had a problem. I don't feel comfortable with a loose grip.

Check out this thread

  http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=005763#000000  

I grip like he does in the 3rd pic but curle my pinky and ring finger in and rest them on the riser/grip and hold the bow losely with the 2 other fingers and thumb.

Step 4 of the Eleven Steps to Archery Success by Tim Strickland (consultant to NASP).

1. The life-line of the bow hand should be centered over the grip of the bow. Start this by allowing the lifeline, where it comes to the wrist at the heel of the palm, touch the center of the grip.

2. The knuckles of the bow hand should be on a 30-45 degree angle. This pulls the bottom fingers off the back of the grip a bit.

3. The hand should be relaxed which means lightly touching the back of the grip -- drop your hands to your side and relax -- look at the fingers. They will be curled towards the grip. By lightly touching the grip your mind "knows" you have the bow and you won't grap (torque) it.

4. To allow skeletal structure to support the bow throughout the shot instead of muscles which fatigue and can promote variation, the wrist should form a "L" shape. Most would call this a low grip. This "L" allows the grip to be supported by the bones in the forearm instead of muscles. Very repeatable. You don't have to have a low-wrist bow to do this -- all my recurves are medium grips.

One of the ways to learn to set the knuckles on a 30-45 degree angle is to fold the pinky and next finger into the hand. This forces the knuckles into the proper angle. You can keep this grip or, once you get the feel, unfold these fingers and let them rest on the grip.

Many people have been taught or otherwise learned various ways to shoot. Not all great shooters shoot the same.  However, many potentially or even once great shooters have quit archery because they didn't learn the best way to shoot. There aren't 50 best ways to do a thing.