Bow elbow?

[cgeiser]

I believe that my bow elbow is not real consistent shot to shot and this would affect my draw length and therefore my accuracy. Any tips on how much bend at the elbow and how to ensure it's consistent in the same amount of bend? Am I right in thinking you need to not lock the elbow in order to avoid string slap on the forearm?

Thanks for any tips!
Che

[robtattoo]

I would say lock your elbow.
If your elbow isn't fully locked out, you're not maintaining bone on bone pressure & tire out quickly. Your alignment will suffer as a result.

You can rotate your shoulder to move your forearm out of the way. As you hold your bow-arm out, where is the inside of your elbow pointing? If you draw a line through your elbow joint, would bet that the inside is pointing to around 1 o'clock. If you rotate your shoulder, you can keep your hand in the same vertical or canted positon (canting alows for further rotation) & move your insside elbow position to 3 o'clock. This will then move your forearm out of the way.

Here's an exercise; Close your eyes & hold your bow arm out, as though you were shooting. Now bend your elbow until your hand touches your head or face. Where did it touch?

When I used to coach beginners & kids, 90% of them would bring there hand to the top of their heads.
What you're after is to get your fingers to touch your lips or nose.
If you start the excercise with your bow hand on your lips & then extend your elbow out without moving your shoulder you will end up with your arm fully extended, elbow locked & your shoulder rotated correctly, so that your forearm is out of the path of the string.  

[SHOOTO8S]

Ah ha..... its warms my heart to see someone that understands bow side alignment !!

      Rob!

[cgeiser]

Rob (& Rob)   :D   ,

I just tried what you suggested, and no arm guard is needed! Even with a locked elbow. The tip on bringing the bow hand to my face really helped me to get a feel for it. I had read in another post about turning the elbow and feeling a strain in the muscles between the heel of the hand and the tip of the elbow, now I really feel that.

Several things have helped me with big breakthroughs as I'm learning and I think this may be one too. Being able to lock my elbow should really stabilize my draw length and bow arm steadiness.

Thanks again,
Che

[robtattoo]

 

Good deal Che! Glad to be of help.

[Maxximusgrind]

I have been shooting with a bend forever,I though that it was the more relaxed arm that helped my shooting.But after reading Rob's post I realize that when I bend that little bit it also rotates the sholder.makes me wonder about how I've been doing things.

[cgeiser]

I've been out a bit more today and this really has helped. And I didn't use an armguard! This is with a long bow with 7" brace. I'm grouping about 8" at 20 yards, hopefully I can improve this a bit before turkey season starts otherwise I don't think I'll be up for the risk of a bad shot.

Thanks again for all the tips!

[painthorse]

Thats a good tip. Thanks for sharing

[MercilessMing]

Very good tip.  Will use this more often to checck my bow arm.

[bshunter]

been burning up my arm for the last 2 years...now I know why! awesome tip!!!!!