New shooter at the line.

[aimsmall10x]

Hello to all. Hope you all dont mind me hanging around. I am just getting started in traditional. They say its never too late I am 53 we will see. I bought a Dwyer long bow and I really like shooting it. I wonder if I am the only one that over done it the first week? Seems the pains dont go away as fast as they use to. Any way I got a lot to learn. I am hoping There are other traditional archers in the deep southern Illinois area. I will use the search feature often I am sure. But I hope its ok to be a newb and ask questions. Thanks for the help.  Martin

[Green]

Good luck with your journey Martin.  There's a lot here to learn from and enjoy.  Out of curiosity, what poundage are you shooting?

[troutguy]

welcome im also fairly new at the traditional scene . ive been shooting solid for a year. and havent even scratched the surface yet. what i can tell you is if you need good solid info your in the right place these guys know about recurves and long bows. a great site with great people.

[aimsmall10x]

Thank you!  Green I purposefully bought a 35# at 28, my draw is 30".... I wanted to learn will small weight. The way my shoulder feels I should have gone smaller. Then a again I probably should have just shot fewer times per session... But the pain has not deminished my desire, I am plenty excited about learning and shooting my new bow.

[Rustic]

Originally posted by aimsmall10x:
Hello to all. Hope you all dont mind me hanging around. I am just getting started in traditional. They say its never too late I am 53 we will see. I bought a Dwyer long bow and I really like shooting it. I wonder if I am the only one that over done it the first week? Seems the pains dont go away as fast as they use to. Any way I got a lot to learn. I am hoping There are other traditional archers in the deep southern Illinois area. I will use the search feature often I am sure. But I hope its ok to be a newb and ask questions. Thanks for the help.  Martin

Hi Martin, welcome. Theres alot of good people here at Trad Gang. I'm 3 mos into my "Trad" journey and I still over do it. My shoulder gets pretty stiff after shooting too much. I keep telling myself "just one more shot" next thing I know, an hour has gone by.

[Keith Langford]

The best advice I can give you is book a class with Rick Welch" shooting school now before you pick up any bad habits, he will have you shooting to the best of your ability in no time,just went through his 2 day class and wish I would have done it at the start of my trad journey, and so does everybody else that goes, it will be the best money you ever spent, and plan on buying one of his bows when you leave,its that good.

[aimsmall10x]

Thank You Rustic.  Keith I done some research on R.W. and Dakota Bows, watched some utube vids, seems he is a very accomplished with a bow. Will do more study with him. For some reason my computer would not download the plugin needed to view his website. Thanks again Keith.

[momo]

hey martin welcome to the world of trad archery  pretty much anyone in here would be welling to help trad guys are friendly and good people it like a big family the soreness will go away its muscle your not use to useing they get stronger and stop hurting so much kinda like working out it hurt in the beginning esp if you over do it have fun and stick with it youll love it and your now part of a growing family

[Sirius Black]

Welcome Martin!    

[mahantango]

Welcome! You picked a heck of a bow to start with. Dwyers are one of my bucket list bows. Wise choice on the poundage also. I've been at this for over 40 yrs, trust me, shooting a stickbow takes a specific set of muscles. I can't stress enough the importance of going at this like any other sport - excercise and build the strength needed to perform without injury. This and other forums are full of threads about shoulder injuries, joint problems, and other shooting related injuries. This doesn't need to happen. Shooting a bow is a physical activity. You can't expect to do it well without strength and conditioning. I am 52, use free-weights, push-ups, pull-ups, and can comfortably shoot more draw weight now than I could in my 20's. Take it slow, be smart, and work into it and you will enjoy shooting for many years to come.

[reddogge]

Ha ha. I started a new shooter, a young stapping weight lifter, strong as a bull, works for a tree service type guy. A relatively short session with the 50# recurve I sold him and some coaching he was doing very well pulling 50# and holding it like it was nothing. Then I got him to really extend and put his back muscles into it and the arrows were really zipping as he was lenghtening his draw.

He complained the next day he was sore.