mauser06

after my shoulder injury i began thinking.....when i first started shooting i locked my arm a few times and left me with a HUGE nasty welt and bruise from the string....i quickly learned to bend my arm OUTWARDS. now i think maybe i bent TOO far outwards and that hurt my shoulder...thats when it hurts the worst is when i bend it like that. i remember a post or reading somewhere on weather to bend you brace arm out or down..any opinions on the subject?? i wonder if thats not how i hurt my shoulder?? exzagerating the bend and almost popping my shoulder out of place?? i think i just need to relax and let my elbow bend outward(or down if thats what is proper??) and not try so hard to get my arm bent...after stimulating myself at full draw i can HEAR my shoulder pop and WITHOUT holding the bow back i can feel it feels wierd...add the weight of full draw and i bet that could be BAD...any opinions?? good news is i think the muscles are REALLY jacked back there..the chiropractor helped ALOT today..which was my second visit. friday will make 3. im not going to stop going even after i am healed. i feel so good and loose in my back and shoulders, i bet it helps my shooting. today i could tell my back muscles were REALLY tight when i was there. my troublesome shoulder feels like the muscle is REALLY balled up when he does his thing back there. so i think ill be recovered soon. just need to make sure i have the right form. id take a pic and let you see...but its in my head now and id probably correct it for the camera...


.so how do you guys bend your bow arm?? out or down??..DONT bend at the shoulder just the elbow correct?? thanx guys

mobow

I don't bend my arm, I relax it. If you bend your arm too much, you most assuredly are putting too much pressure on the muscles in your shoulder. Your likely cause is a closed stance. Move your back foot away from you a half a step and open up a bit.

GregH

Bow arm should be bent at the elbow and relaxed. The best stance for accuracy and consistancy is closed, feet about shoulder width and back foot toes about 2 inches ahead of front toes.

mauser06

thanx guys. i thought i may been doing something wrong. i will admit, i was nervous about shooting a bow for the first time..a little scared even..and shooting a deadly weapon in my back yard kinda made me feel uneasy and scarred at first..and after getting whacked with the string a couple times i locked my shouldeer joint OUT to get my arm as far from the sting as humanly possible....and i bet i injured myself! no wonder i have a giant GLOB of muscle for a "trap" on my back!! soon as i get the kinks out(of my back) i gota get the kinks out of my form. hopefully i didnt do any REAL damage to my shoulder and i will be shooting here shortly. i cant wait for friday. i never thought id LIKE going to a doctor! but man even if my shoulder wasnt jacked a chiro makes me feel awesome. i still think lifting heavy stuff at work up over my head etc didnt HELP matters....

nodog

I relax my hand and push out with my arm, look straight at the pin and loose myself in it while directing all my attention on my back muscles. I contract and the arrows gone. I wake up when the arrow hits the target. No target panic because I'm not focused on it. Everything seems to slow down and I'm lost in a green pin world. It's how I shoot best, but I don't always get there.

Don't know what kind of bow you have but mine has stops. I hit the stop, anchor the same and my arm stays the same. It would be tough to go either way. If I relaxed, the bow would creep. Without the stop I'd leave the valley. Sounds like your pulling to much weight.

mauser06

nodog....i dont wanna sound ignorant..arrogant etc...but i doubt im pulling too much weight. i used to powerlift heavy and hard daily for 3 years. after that i started working pretty much full time. all my work ive always been a back buster. lift this, move that put this big @$$ heavy thing here. Put this 300lb patio set ontop of a 8ft sissor lift and then put it in storage. im always using my mucsles even though i dont work out religiously. i went back to the weight room for a couple weeks last fall and didnt loose all too much on my lifts. im drawing 67lbs and i draw it without a struggle. just pull it straight back. not like on TV them guys gota put it clear to the sky and pull it downward. if anything at all i over did it and think i push too awkwardly on my shoulder when im at full draw. its hard to describe but i almost pop my shoulder out of place i now noticed. oh ya...its also my brace shoulder that is injured not my drawing arm..i know it still uses muscle and hold the 17lbs back at full draw, but this is more of a joint problem then a muscle problem i think

good news is my shoulder is barely hurting today and i lifted stuff all day at work. heck i lifted patio sets MYSELF..which i rarely do when im NOT hurting. im not the guy that will wait around for someone to help me lol...im the idiot thats in the hospital coz i got crushed by a box or something! lol...i am carefull and know my limits..but i do alot of lifting and i noticed the pain is pretty slight. figure ill be shooting monday. but only a couple shots every day to practice and work on my form then ill put it away till the next day. gota see how fridays chiro visit goes...

thanks alot guys