For the Mediterranean draw, the fingers may be protected with shooting gloves or by finger tabs.

Finger tabs are pieces of material that are attached via leather straps or holes to the middle finger.

A finger tab or Archer Tab used in archery is a small leather or synthetic patch that protects an archer's fingers from the bowstring.

A mechanical release (the use of the word "aid" can be omitted when context is appropriate) permits a single point of contact on the string instead of three fingers as most commonly used with finger tabs.

Consequently, any sideways movement of the string, and hence arrow nock, is likely to be less than if fingers were used, although, if a consistent finger tab release is performed, the differences are often negligible in terms of practical hunting accuracy at ranges up to 30 yards.

Archers using compound bows most commonly use a release aid to hold the string and release it precisely, although finger tabs are also popular with compound bows, especially among older archers who have used finger tabs when shooting recurve bows.

(Some archers prefer three fingers under the arrow with a finger tab, whereas the split-finger approach, having one finger above the arrow and two fingers below the arrow is the most commonly used finger shooting method amongst English and modern North American archers who do not use mechanical release aids.)

The choice of a mechanical release aid vs. a finger tab must be accounted for in a compound bow's tuning and sighting, as well as choice of arrow rest, as finger-released arrows will group in a different spot when using a mechanical release aid versus a finger tab.