Elbow slightly high

[Ken Taylor]

I was watching myself shoot in front of a mirror this morning ( one of the exercises I do) and noticed that although my fingers, hand and forearm are in line with the arrow, my elbow points slightly upwards.

I tried forcing it down and it just doesn't seem to be able to go there and really doesn't feel natural. I've seen pictures of others being 100% in line with the point of their elbow exactly behind the arrow.

In my opinion everything is o.k., but I was wondering if it should be corrected to make things better for me down the road. I have been shooting a long time but I'm the only bowhunter in these neck of the woods.

Your opinions would be appreciated.

[TSP]

No harm in trying to better your form...unless it messes up your accuracy.  Folks are built different and you need to find your own best approach.  If you feel more comfortable and shoot well with a slightly higher elbow then the old adage 'If it ain't broke don't fix it' might apply.  Besides, there are guys with 'high elbow form' (Ron LaClair, Dan McMahon) that do pretty well.  Maybe you've heard of them.

PS  Where the heck IS Dan these days...anybody know?

[Terry Green]

Slightly high is no problem....once you get over 10 O'clock you can have problems.

See page 2 of the form clock thread stickied at the top.

[Ken Taylor]

Thanks guys,

My elbow position looks a lot like that picture and the other examples given.

 It's good to know what others are doing. Like I said before, I rarely have the chance to share info with other traditional bow hunters, even when I guide.

Trad gang is my main contact. I'm a low tech guy and relatively new to computers, but I'll have to admit that sometimes technology is handy!

[Holepuncher]

I shoot with my elbow slightly higher than most, but if I drop it to where it's suppose to be I shoot low, so I do what works.

[snag]

Just recently I learned that a slightly high elbow is good! It allows you to draw the string back with your back muscles. If you are drawing the string with a level elbow you are actually do so with your shoulder muscles. A slightly high elbow isolates the back muscles and helps to take the shoulder muscles out of it.