Age heavy poundage, and shoulder problems?

[bawana bowman]

I'll be 58 in 4 months. I've shot heavy bows since I was 7 years old.
Okay, I'll explain that statement. My Dad bought me a 45# Bear Kodiak when I was 7, he knew nothing about bows other than I liked shooting them. Thought he did something wonderful for me and I agreed! I may not have drawn it the full 28" but I shot that bow a lot.
By the age of 12 I was shooting a 60# Kodiak. By age 18 I hunted with and consistently shot 80# to 115# bows.

Now at almost 58 my normal hunting weight is 60# and 80#. I can still shoot my 102# longbow accurately with no ill effects, and do so often as my exercise bow.

I'm no superhuman, 5'9", 190lbs. But I have been shooting heavy weights for my entire archery life. My body is use to it, I have never had an injury from shooting heavy.
I do have a shoulder problem from a skydiving accident back in my smoke jumper days. When it flares up I can't shoot anything over 75# without my bow arm collapsing about 1/2 to 3/4 draw. This will last about 3 to 6 weeks and the flare up is gone. Just like over night I can shoot up to 102# again. Can't explain it but that's how it works.

I've pretty much always had good form, guess it came naturally due to my Native American and Welch ancestry, LOL.
The bottom line is I have never had any issues with shoulders due to the weight of the bows I've chosen to shoot. But I will admit my experiences may be completely against the norm of most. Lord knows the rest of my life has......... just my experience on the subject.

[moleman]

Thanks for the many posts.
This question came about simply because im 50,yrs young, weighing in at a whopping 150 soaking wet and still shooting 65 to 80 lb bows, with no ill effects and loving every shot, but with that the concern for physical well being.
Seems the best thing to do is let your body do the talking, it will let you know when its time to step down and lighten up.

[mahantango]

What Terry said x10. Makes all the difference in the world. Ditto for the low-wrist grip. Keep those muscles strong to protect the joints. Dumbells/kettle bells are your best friends. I'm soon to be 53, 5'9 170lb. Never shot crazy weights, but can comfortably shoot 60lb. all day. Have worked construction for 30 years, so have never babied my body, but stayed in shape.

[ron w]

Be 61 years young shortly......I now shoot bows 40-49#'s. I can shoot stuff that's heavier but it plays with my head and my target panic rears it's ugly head quickly. A lot of this pastime is a mental thing and I'm to old and to stuck in my ways to fight it.....lol! So it's mid 40"s for me and just get a bit closer!    

[Gil Verwey]

I am 58 and shoot bows over 60#.

There are two of my posts in this thread that explain it all from my perspective.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=119566;p=12

[Bill Carlsen]

I'm 69 now and am shooting 55-60#'s. I also work out regularly and think that being in decent shape helps a lot. I had rotator cuff surgery as well as a labrum repair to my right shoulder. I healed very quickly from both. After the rotator cuff surgery in the 80's I was shooting 69# 6 months later. I had my labrum repaired when I was 60 something and was shooting 66#'s after rehab. It's my opinion that if all you do is shoot you won't be as good as if you would go to the gym and just stay strong. Cross training and strength training are important, IMO.

[Pete Patterson]

I'm 65 now and I shoot my Hill Wesley at 60 lbs.  What I've discovered is that if I use the "swing draw" method, I don't have any soreness after shooting.  I don't know the physics of this.  However, putting stress on the shoulder before raising the bow instead of after the bow arm is up and in place seems to be the difference in the two methods.

[LoneWolf73]

I am 57 and shoot up to 65 pound bows. Best weight is 58 pounds.  Use heavier bows to workout. Hit the Gym as often as possible to stay in as good of shape for being 57. Seems to get harder to recover when older. Played Rugby Football for 18 years too and Still can walk/run okay. Can remember the days of playing 4 games in a weekend and back at Practice the following Wednesday. Now can only drink a beer and think about it.LOL.  Ya have to shoot often to stay in the heavy poundage bows and a good warm up/stretch before shooting goes along way!!

[hvyhitter]

51, a little wider than I would like, walk alot, run a little when its warm, and shoot bows in the 60# to 70# range and have been for 20 plus years. Having been a long distance runner and swimmer in my past Ive seen more injuries from overtraining than anything else. In archery thats you 100 to 200 arrow a day every day guys. I only shoot 2 to 3 dozen arrows about 3 times a week as you have to give your muscles time to recover.........

[Steiger3208]

I have a 63# stotler bow I have shot for many many years but am looking to buy another longbow in the 47# to 50# range. With the high quality bows out there I feel there is no better time to lower weight without sacrificing much performance. At 51 yrs. old I thought it is time to be proactive to prevent possible future problems.

[Tucker]

I shot 60-65# recurves for about 35 yrs.  The last 5 or 6 years with a lot of shoulder and elbow pain. Two years ago I dropped down to 45#. No more pain, lots more fun, and just as many big game animals in the freezer.  Hmmm...I should have made the switch a long time ago.

[WDELongbow]

hvyhitter hit it on the head I think. I am actually an ergonomics engineer, so I help companies address work-related injuries due to force, repetition, and awkward posture.  I see potential to apply this technology of injury prevention to archery.  If you shoot heavy there are some things you can do that seem intuitive for preventing injuries:

- Limit # arrows you shoot, and make each one count.
- Pace yourself.  Shoot an arrow, retrieve it, and shoot another.  Shooting 100+ arrows is not a simulation or practice for any sort of hunting conditions (unless shooting doves, lol). Seems to me that most hunting situations would require you to shoot "cold", under pressure without a lot of warmup.
- Space out your practice so you have a day of rest between sessions. Avoid shooting 3-4 days in a row.
- If you begin to experience ANY discomfort while practicing, STOP.  Take a few days off and you will be good as new.  Most injuries begin with subtle signals. Usually a severe injury is due to someone shooting (or working) through the pain until it worsens to the point they can't hack the pain.  Then it can take weeks or months to recover.
- Increase your strength by lifting weights.  If you lift weights with any intensity, you can increase your maximum strength by 30% or more rather easily. The pulling a heavier bow will not feel heavy.

Just a few tips.  That said, I choose to shoot 50-55 lbs because I like to shoot longer practice sessions and like the added control.  I can shoot a heavier bow (release is noticeably better) but I need to be fresh and rested, and limit my shots.

[Meathook 1]

Genes have some to do with it.But you can help by doing the right exercises for the muscles plus proper stretching,and I would recommend useing a foam roll.Im 58 and have been a personal trainer off and on since the end of Vietnam.I shoot from 56# up to 64#.The type of Bow make a big difference also.Any questions you might have just PM me.

              Good Luck Terry

[longbowman]

I'm 59 and shoot between 72# and 80# depending on which bow calls my name that day.  I'm not a big guy, 5'8" and 150# but shoot some arrows at least 360 days a year.  Never had shoulder pain except for a torn rotator but I was back to my regular weight bows in 6 months.  I'm not sure which shoulder everybody says can't take it, is it the bow arm or pulling arm?  I feel if you work at it and stick with it you shouldn't have shoulder problems.  JMO.

[WDELongbow]

I have same curiosity as longbowman, which shoulder?