string slap.....that hurts.....
 

New to bow hunting last year. Seems that if I hold my bow with my arm straight no matter what I get slapped on the arm. I can bend my arm a bit and not get slapped but then I tend to be less accurate. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome. Obviously they make arm guards for a reason.

scooty

Your elbow should never be locked straight out. If you need to be this way to shoot comfortably I would suggest droping your poundage back a little. Make sure you are holding the bow correctly in your hand. Try to hold it in the bend where your thumb and palm meet. As a check I cross my middle finger over my index finger.

What Rookie said. Arm guards for compounds are more to keep clothes out of the way than anything else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URAtbltvqrM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX1TuiCwrL8

Your draw length may too long as well.

He is correct^

Your arm should be bent a little. Put your arm out as if you were telling someone to stop. Let your hand relax and gently touch your finger tips on the front of your bow. That may help you. Also, make sure that your draw length is not to long!

as everyone else has said, Bend your arm!

if you know anyone else who shoots or if there is a pro shop nearby, go in and have someone show you how to shoot/hold your bow.

Do you have a String Suppressor on your bow, this is the one I have http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/attach...0&d=1171848156 I used to have the same problem and I had this installed and haven't had the string stap me again. This one was around $45

Your bow arm should be straight. Your bow arm should not be locked (like double jointed people lock their elbow). If your arm is straight it will not fatigue nearly as quickly as it would if you bend your arm which will allow you to shoot more accurately and over a longer period of time.

A bent arm is just as bad as a locked arm.

Your problem is likely one of two or three things or a combination of all of them.
#1. Your draw length is tool long causing you to stretch farther than you should.
#2. Your release is way too long causing your anchor point to be too far back thus causing you to be stretched out too much.

Both #1 and 2 will cause you to lean backwards with your body and you will get arm slap and left and right inconsistencies.

#3. You are gripping your bow instead of just allowing the bow to rest on the pad of your thumb. Hold your hand up in front of you and bend your wrist as if you were telling someone to stop. Now rotate your hand to make a "V" with your thumb and index finger, Rest the bow in the pad of your thumb and allow your fingers to RELAX in front of the grip with out actually gripping the bow.

No offense but that first video above is a joke. I wouldn't have that guy coaching any one on proper bow form. The second video really doesn't show much of anything.
Watch this video below about the "TRUE SHOT". It shows you a real proper grip. You can do the same exercises with out the true shot if you consciously make an effort to concentrate on proper grip and not hitting the bulls eye for a week or so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAyMc6uvavg

Here is a good video showing proper form from several angles. Notice his bow arm is straight but not locked and his body is perfectly straight up and down and his arms are forming a perfect "T". Never mind him taking off his shirt but it demonstrates well how you should be shooting your bow.
http://www.youtube.com/user/arqueiro1400?blend=22&ob=5

Here's another good video for you to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm5bA...eature=related

Make sure your not rolling your wrist to the inside while holding it. Make sure to keep your wrist straight, and the "V" btw your thumb and pointer finger inline with your arm and wrist. When I get tired I have been know to roll my wrist and palm inside and my arm get a good slap from the string.

Another thing you might want to check is the position of your bow arm elbow when you draw. I've seen a lot of new shooters smacking their arm because their elbow was pointing down instead of to the side.

You can check this by extending your arm and placing your bow hand on the corner of a door frame ( base of thumb on the corner with the V or web pointing up). Now, look at your elbow. You'll notice that, if you roll your shoulder, slightly, so that your elbow is in the 3:00 position instead of the 6:00 position there is a lot less meat in the path of the string.

This is a simple fix, if it applies, and only takes a short time to gat used to.