buckburnett

Last summer my uncle and I both bought new Mathews LX bows. We both love the bow but I started having shoulder pain in my drawing arm several weeks after getting it. My uncle has recently developed the same pain. The pain is in the rotater cuff area. We both like to shoot a lot and are in good physical condition. Neither of us has ever had any pain like this before. The bow I shot before I got the LX was a PSE Thunder flight. My uncle had a PSE Durango and a Mathews Legacy. We both pull around 60-65 pounds of draw weight which is very easy for us.

Do any of you who shoot the LX bow have similar trouble that you've attributed to the bow? Do you know of anything that can help us?

Any input that you my have would be greatly appriciated.

JOE PA

What you are experiencing most likely has very little to do with the bow per se. It is the draw force curve and where you are pulling that 65# during the draw. I personally get tendonitis in my draw shoulder when I draw bows that have higher draw weight towards the back end of the draw cycle, the worst are bows that have a little increased draw weight "hump" that you have to pull past right before the valley begins. If I shoot a bow like that for too long, I am likely to keep Aleve or Advil in business for a while. Other guys will tell you that too much weight right in the beginning of the draw is bad for them. That does not bother me at all, but it does for some guys. I have two bows that I have been shooting a lot lately. One is only 63#, but it seems more difficult to draw due to the "hump" I mentioned earlier. It will be going up on ebay later this evening. The other one has an early-peaking #68, and seems easy to draw by comparison. If you still have your old bows and draw them back, I think you should be able to see where the differences are.

The LX bows should have pretty good performance. You should be able to get decent speed from your arrows even if you back off the draw weight a little bit. That may solve your problem. Also, if you are getting enough pain, I would suggest going to a Dr. and asking for physical therapy. The exercises they can give you to do will strengthen the shoulder, and may cure the problem. I have had not only the tendonitis in my draw shoulder, but also a class 3 separation of my bow-arm shoulder that never healed really right despite surgery. Last year, I could only really draw a #60 bow, not much more. Through working on shoulder exercises and general strengthening, I can pull most #70 bows without trouble, although I don't shoot any bows that are tougher for me to draw above #65 anymore. Most bows perform well enough that you really don't have to do that anymore.