Positions - arrow and hand
There are several ways how to hold the bowstring when drawing it. String hand has two tasks to do - draw the string, and fix the arrow in the right place. With a modern bow it is usually possible to lock the arrow on string so that it holds by itself, without help of hand. I expect that this was not possible with historical bows (without normalized string and arrows), and the arrow had to be fixed by hand when drawing. If you adjust the nocks of your arrows for quick nocking, they will behave the same.
Possibilities of holding from outside
- Mediterranean draw from the outside, and its variants
- Some mediterranean-like alternatives
- Thumb draw