shoulder hurts after shooting the next day

[hydrasport205]

I am 41 years old never had any shoulder injury or anything like that  but lately after i shoot my recurve or longbows for about 15 or 20 min my shoulder hurts the next day and does hurt for a few days after..  I do not shoot everyday like I should, but I do shoot about once a week or every 2 weeks..  just wondered if anyone else has this problem??  should i shoot everyday? or see a doctor?

[Herb Calvin]

See a doctor.

[Toklat1]

See a doctor and if you can't shoot everyday, get a bowfit to use in the house. Your body may be telling you to get a lighter bow!

[e alexander]

I do, I saw a doctor. It's bone spurs, kind of stings.

[champ38]

OUCH ! Did he tell you exactly where in your shoulder the spurs are located ?

[RLA]

I had some problems like that myself.  I went down in draw to the mid 40's from 55 and up. That took care of the sore shoulder and my shooting improved as a bonus.

[joevan125]

If you are only shooting a couple times a week sore muscles can be expected.

[obee]

Knock on wood im 43 and have shot trad archery for 13 yrs now and have experienced sore muscles but no knock down pain.I believe a lot of beginners are overbowed and dont push and pull when they shoot.Only using one set of muscles on one side of the body in my opinion would over work that side,distributing the load or draw to both sides of body makes more sense,push with bow arm pull with back muscles of drawing string hand side.Just my take on it, GOOD LUCK and shoot 15 well thougtOUT arrows aday ,dont overshoot until form is down pact.WORK ON FORM.

[DWT]

I turned 40 this year and I have some discomfort in my right shoulder if I shoot alot of arrows out of my 60lbs and up bows. Ive been stronger than most people my whole life and find I can no longer shoot the poundage of youth without pain in my right shoulder, most of this is self inflicted from the follies of my youth, couple falls from tree stands, motorcycles and such. But I have dropped to 58lbs for most my shooting and my accuracy is at its highest level ever and Im happier because of this. I shoot almost everyday and enjoy it more now than ever. Sometimes nature helps you figure out your not indestructable. Regards, Don.

[D.A. Davis]

I do, I saw a doctor. It's bone spurs, kind of stings.

Watch out for the bone spurs!  That's what I had, and one day I turned just right while pressure was on my shoulder, and the bone spur tore completely thru two rotator cuff muscles, and partially thru my bicep tendon.  Had major surgery, and am still rehabing it.  I'm currently shooting 30#, and that's about all I can shoot.  I've got a 43# bow, but I can only draw it about 3/4 draw.

D.A.

[wvtradbow]

I can tell ya ,there's no magic pill for that kind of stuff,I've had shoulder problems off & on for a few years (since I turned 40) and been told various things from arthritis to rotator muscles,but what helped me the most was changing the way I sleep and shooting a traditional style longbow (grip) for a couple months.I couldn't believe changing my grip made that much of a difference on my shoulder,I thought I was done with bows and discovered by accident that when shooting my longbow vs recurve,I had no pain.I'm happy to say I'm back with my recurve with no problems. Best of luck Bill

[bayoulongbowman]

Do you warm up first, stretching...what weight are ya shooting, prehaps going lighter, and when ya dont shoot everyother day , ya have to work up to it all over. Id REst for awhile and see the Dr....I love my chiopractor , he keeps me in the game and is a great person. Some people dont like em , but like I said mine keeps me in the game...mark

[Quinn]

Hydrasport205, I jumped from a 48# to a 65# bow. The day I got it I put about 300 arrows through it, same thing the next 2 days. I developed a serious pain in my shoulder just behind where my collar bone ends. I had to lay off shooting for a month and when I came back, I came back slowly and I had to change the way I draw the bow from a swing draw to just straight back, making sure I used my back muscles instead of my shoulder. No further problems.

[flyfish1]

Be careful. I started with shoulder pain in march. Long story short after alot of pain and testing, I have a herniated
disc in my neck crushing two nerves that go through shoulder and down to right hand. I am having surgery to fix disc coming wednesday. I swore it was my shoulder as thats where pain is and wasted alot of time doing tests on shoulder. Im praying no permanent damage to nerves has been done. I say if the pain has persisteed get it checked or change something. Shoot a little less but more frequently, maybe ten shots every other day and evaluate. Also work out if it proves you are ok. Iam same age and we have to work a little more to stay shooting fit as I call it. Good luck.

[tmccall]

Be careful and stay on top of it!

A lighter bow would probably be a good idea.

[albertan]

when I first started shooting about 6 years ago, had a couple of friends lend me 60# recurves.  After shooting a dozen arrows or so, form went to heck and shoulder made it clear that the weight ws too much.  I ended up getting a 51# recurve (now have 3 of them all same weights) and have had no issues since.  Are a joy to shoot, can shoot very accurately.  Is definately enough "bow" as I have taken moose, wtails, mule deer, black bears with no issues