neck pain

[tradbowbrian]

I am new to archery (a few months) I shoot maybe a hundred arrows daily and am quickly developing bad neck pain. I shoot a 50# recurve and it is not a strain to pull for me. Without a video of my form does anyone have a suggestion of what to avoid that may be putting extra strain on my neck.

[McDave]

A hundred arrow a day seems a bit much for only having shot for a few months.  Archery is a repetitive motion, and uses the same muscles over and over.  Fingertips and shoulders seem particularly prone to overuse.

If you're getting neck pain, it could be from rotating your neck sideways to see the target, when you're facing 90 degrees away from the target.  There are things you could do to avoid that, like face the target more squarely, but it is good form to face sideways from the target and rotate your neck toward the target as far as you can rotate it, and I hate to see you change that.

A chiropractor might be able to increase the range of motion of your neck, and that could be an option.  Or just shoot less arrows until your body adjusts to this new activity.  If it bothers you to shoot fewer arrows, bear in mind that many good archers feel that it does you more good to shoot 20 arrows thoughtfully than to just fling 100 arrows without learning anything from it.

[Lechwe]

I would listen to Dave. If you are having pain you are also no doubt making adjustments during your shooting to try and avoid pain. This is likely developing some bad form issues and now it the best time to develop good form. Take it slow and do it right from the start and life will be much easier for you.

Good luck.

[reddogge]

I'd say those last 50 arrows/day are doing it. You are a new shooter and your muscles may not be quite up to 100/day right now and you are using muscles you don't normally use in everyday activities.

[tradbowbrian]

Thanks for the quick replies. No finger or shoulder pain. I don't have a coach to instruct me but I do read a lot and watch videos on shooting. Perhaps I should shoot a little less but I am totally addicted. I try and concentrate on form with every shot and try to avoid just flinging.For now I'll just cut back a bit

[nightowl1]

Warm up, slight stretch before, and longer stretch after... this will help work your body into these movements and decrease the possibilities of neck strain.

Unless your form is way off and your doing some crazy stuff haha

PM if you want a list of stretches and techniques

I have seen lots of shooters, including my wife and myself when I shoot left handed, do a little stiff neck jamming action as they reach anchor.  My fix was to slightly open up my stance and make sure that my neck stays in a more natural relaxed position and to make sure that my bow shoulder is not jamming back, that it stays active and is pushing towards the target.  No amount of tension in the neck or across the top of the shoulder will make the aim better or make the bow pull easier.  Look at the relaxed anchor of Howard Hill, and compare it to your head and neck posture.

[BobCo 1965]

Very good advice from nightowl1.

I would just add that recovery is extremely important. If you do not allow for it properly, things will go downhill. What maybe happening is that you are shooting extensively without allowing for proper recovery before the next session. There are things as nightowl has mentioned that will aid in recovery.

If you have a strain in your muscles, you must stop shooting and stretching until it starts healing. As someone has mentioned, maybe see a chiropracter and/or a message therapist. After the initial healing, you can stimulate the healing further with light training and stretching. I wouldn't go back to your original bow weight until you have worked up to it though.

[LongStick64]

You are probably canting your head way too much or at least enough to strain on it. When you are at full draw where do you feel the tension, Neck - Wrong, Shoulders - Wrong, Center Back - right on.

[tradbowbrian]

I took a few days off and the pain went away-I believe i was canting my head too much maybe. I also have been doing a little stretching before and after and the pain has not returned. I appreciate all the advice.

[atatarpm]

I find myself from time to time triing to use my neck to hold the string at anchor. I know I've been shooting to long when that starts to happen.

[bucksbuouy]

You really should not shoot every day. You need to let your muscles rest. If you bench pressed every day you would be in pain too. Pulling a bow is no different. Also, there is nothing wrong with shooting 100 arrows at a time, but for me, Im a bow hunter and you never get 100 shots at a deer. I practice my cold shot, its the first one that matters the most.

[Jaybird9319]

If your neck is feeling strained I believe the issue is with too much of an arm pull rather than using your back muscles. Keep the head in a neutral position, pinch the shoulder blades together. Pause briefly at full draw and see how the backside of your neck feels. It shouldn't feel stressed, muscle tension should be the same as on the front side.

Also, too many arrows at one time for me. When you get tired, bad form habits can creep into your routine. Not a good thing. I speak from experience.

[PJ]

Maybe you should cut down to 50 shots a day. Try and draw on the left side just a few times to balance out the muscle developement. Don't shoot any arrows just draw and hold to try and develop both sides of your torso.

[tradbowbrian]

I will give that a try to PJ

[seven crows]

Sometimes I have that problem. I then notice I am not relaxing , I catch myself cranking my neck and raising my left shoulder etc...