Stickbow Target Archery Forums

I'm not concerned about my bow arm for the sake of accuracy, but I am concerned that improper form could lead to injury. I currently feel no pain while shooting, but do notice a limited range of motion with my bow shoulder that is not there in my other shoulder. The range is limited by a mild pain usually when my arm is held high, like putting my hands behind my head. I don't know if it's related to archery or not, but figured I'd play it safe and see what the safest shoulder position is.

My most comfortable bow shoulder position is back and down....actually pulling it down with lats and then sliding the blade back toward the spine. This makes for a strong, stable bow arm. Once the shoulder is back and down, the weight of the draw helps hold it in place.

However, from all I've read about the Olympic style, the preferred bow arm shoulder position is down and "reaching" toward the target.

Ideally (according to Olympic form proponents, and the book, "Archery Anantomy") the bow arm elbow, when bent, should cause the forearm to move parallel with the ground. This, to me is an uncomfortable position.
The theory of a stable bow arm is that the bones should be aligned to reduce muscle activity. However, rolling the elbow up sideways like this makes it harder to hold the bow, raises the shoulder, and requires more, not less muscular effort to withstand the force of the draw.

What am I missing?n
Who here shoots with their bow arm elbow crease vertical to the ground?n
And who thinks my preferred shoulder position is conducive to injury?

Hey Todd,n
I used to do the exact same thing with my bow arm shoulder and shoulderblade.
I found after long rounds of shooting it was hard to duplicate exactly how much I was pulling down and back (bow arm shoulder and shoulder blade) and my accuracy suffered.
Perhaps if I had practiced this form change more, I could have used it well. I dont know.

I do know i like to think about as little as possible in my shooting sequence--thats why i ditched the technique. It was VERY comfortable--my shoulder felt very solid and it caused no discomfort.
Ideally (according to Olympic form proponents, and the book, "Archery Anantomy") the bow arm elbow, when bent, should cause the forearm to move parallel with the ground. This, to me is an uncomfortable position.
Is your bow-hand wrist at an angle? If you put it at about a 45 it shouldnt take much at all to keep your elbow in the above position.

That being said, I find my shooting much more consistant with my bow-hand straight up and down on the riser--no 45 angle here. I do feel it takes a bit extra muscle to maintain my bow arm but i use the tension im creating to help me focus on my bowarm/follow through. So for me this extra "muscling" actually helps my shot. Please realize that this "muscling" is very slight--just a bit of tension in my bow arm.

Ive seen a lot of old time pictures and many people shot their shelfless bows off of their knuckles with the same form. I never understood why until i tried shooting a bow with no sheld/sight window cutout. If you angle your bow hand then a small trough or angled gap is created between the riser and your fist--arrows dont fly so great when they are bouncing off your knuckle.
If your form is comfortable then 9 out of 10 times its probably correct form "for you".

Can you apply equal and even preasure on every shot with your technique? Are you consistant with this technique?n
good shooting
ryan b.

I don't like the angled hand either, but I find it's necessary to try to mimic the Olympic bowarm form.

I am very happy with my consistency and comfort using my normal bowarm position, however, due to the shoulder discomfort, I'm wondering if I'm somehow hurting myself.

Hi Todd,n
A couple of thoughts:n
Your stance can be square, or a bit open, or a bit closed. If you are drawing a heavy bow, the tendency is to be square or even closed. If you are closed, the weight of your bow is pushing against the muscles in the front of your shoulder -- recommendation is to avoid closed, and to shoot open or square, where the weight of the bow pushed against your shoulder bone, not the muscle in front.

As for bow arm position -- without a bow, and without worrying about your bow hand, you might find it interesting to rotate your bow arm as far as you can -- then, once it is rotated all the way, rotate your bow hand back into position, without unrotating the bow arm -- this may give you more possibilities to choose from.

Arc,
I have tried what you mentioned (arm rotation/hand counter-rotation), and it sounds a lot like what is recommended in Archery Anatomy.

I don't like it, and find it weakens my arm somehow
As an update, my shoulder pain has subsided quite a bit...almost completely. I attribute it to doing a variety of shoulder exercises recommended in the latest issue of Men's Health.

Take care!n -Todd

Todd -
Can't see what you're doing from here, but most people can't comfortably rotate the point of the elbow that arrow around. The Idea is not to have the the ppoint of the elbow point down. Looking over your left shoulder, just rotate it clockwise as far as is comfortable.
As for the left alignment thing: Get the RIGHT forearm inline with the arrow (at anchor) and the LEFT arm "nearly" in the same line as the arrow. The left arm can't be parallel to the arrow, for obvious reasons, and so "perfect" alignment and so, perfect bone support is also impossible; the idea is to get it as close as possible.

As far as are you hurting yourself, again, can't see you from here. If it hurts while you're shooting or after IN THE JOINT, then maybe. Unless you work to counteract it, a little joint stiffness is one of the benefits of old age .

Viper out.