Shoulders pointing at target hurts!

[Bill Tell]

Well after reading a bunch on here about form I started to try to point my shoulders in a straight line to what I am shooting at.  Now I have a problem with string slap.   Ouch.  What else do I need to correct?

[McDave]

There are two things I would suggest, the way you grip the bow and how tight you hold the bow.  Try gripping the bow with your hand in the position it would be in if it were picking up a suitcase.  In other words, the further you rotate your hand into the bow, the more likely your forearm will get slapped.  On the second point, you need to reach a happy medium between gripping the bow too tight and holding it so loose that you grab the bow on release.  Some of us solve that by holding the bow with only our thumb and forefinger wrapped around the bow, and the other fingers loose to the side.  If that fails, well, I guess that's why they invented arm guards!

[cvarcher]

And keep a bit of a bend in the bow arm elbow.

[BLACK WOLF]

Yep...just as they said. Grip, wrist, elbow position and body stance can effect whether or not the bow forearm is gonna get slapped.

Making modifications to one or more of those can eliminate your problem.

Keep in mind...many Olympic archer's still where armguards and while hunting your clothes will also get in the way unless you wear an armguard or adjust one or more of the above to avoid hitting your clothes...which is one of the reasons why it is often suggested to shoot with a more open stance.

Ray  

[Terry Green]

Your shoulder should be on the same parallel plane as your arrow, and perpendicular to the target....not pointed straight at it.

Yes...if you point your shoulder straight at it, you are going to have problems hitting your arm and clothing.

[Terry Green]

Note the shoulders and arrow are on the same paralell plane.  The arrow is pointed directly at the target, but the shoulders are pointing left.  Also note the clearance of the bow arm from the path of the string.

   

[Bill Tell]

Originally posted by Terry Green:
Your shoulder should be on the same parallel plane as your arrow, and perpendicular to the target....not pointed straight at it.

Yes...if you point your shoulder straight at it, you are going to have problems hitting your arm and clothing.

and then the light went off in my head.  Thank you I was pointing my shoulders right at it.  I get it now.

Thank you Terry and everyone else.