The shakes

[Boomerang]

Does anybody else besides me have the bow arm shakes? It doesen't matter what poundage I shoot as soon as I come to full draw, my bow arm starts to shake. It's not a matter of strength, as I can hold full draw for quiet a while. I shoot 55# alot, but even if I go down to 35# my arm will still shake at full draw.   :confused:

[Trond]

Got it too. Glad to know that I´m not alone...

[DanielB89]

YES!  Funny thing is my nephew (7 yrs old) ALWAYS nags me while i'm shooting and says "Why are you shaking? You're weak!)

I can't riddle it either.  I shoot mid 50's and when i draw back a #35 bow, i still shake.

Is your bow arm steady while you are drawing, but then shakes the instant that you begin holding?

[Orion]

If you close your eyes before you draw and keep them closed for a few seconds, does your bow arm still shake.  Or, if you close your eyes for a few seconds at full draw, does it stop shaking?  If either of these answers is yes, the shaking could be related to TP.

[Archer1019]

Lol it happens to me too but it doesn't affect my shooting even though I think it should.

[el greco]

Nope, I can't imagine how you shoot accurate if your bow arm is shaking. That must be form related or some kind of panic

[McDave]

You haven't mentioned that you have any symptoms of target panic, so until you do, I'll stay away from that.  

Bow arm shake could be related to alignment, or lack thereof.  I like to shoot left handed from time to time, and my left and right sides aren't as strong when their roles are reversed. My right arm was shaking holding the bow at full draw when I was shooting left handed.  I think this is because I was standing a little open to the target, which doesn't give you good bone on bone alignment, so I was having to hold the bow too much with my muscles.  When I closed up my stance, so my shoulders were better aligned with the target, the shakes went away.

Then I noticed I was doing the same thing when I shot right handed, but I wasn't shaking because I had evidently gotten used to it.  But when I closed up my stance shooting right handed, my accuracy improved, probably because I was holding the bow steadier.

[kadbow]

Yep, heavy or light bows. I don't know if I do it when shooting at animals because I just never remember any detail of the shot sequence on an animal. I just go into kill mode and the shot happens.

[Scott E]

My guess is that your bow arm shoulder is high. Try keeping it low and using a bone in bone support. Feel free to PM me and I can help you with that.

[pdk25]

Do you have a slight bend in the elbow.

[Boomerang]

Well I just came in from shooting. I was trying different things and different stances. It didn't seem to make much difference. I would like to settle in to my anchor for a second or two, but I shoot worse if I don't release as soon as I come to anchor. I seem to shoot fairly well, but the shaking drives me crazy. If I draw with my left hand and hold the bow with my right, I don't shake, but I just can't get used to shooting a left handed bow. I tried with my right elbow higher. I tried with it lower. I opened my stance. I closed my stance. I shot with my eyes open. I shot with my eyes closed. I shot verticle. I shot canted, but still have the shakes if I try to hold anchor at all. The only thing that seems to help any is shooting setting down for some reason. Maybe I should just give up shooting. NOT! LOL.

[longbow fanatic 1]

Originally posted by Trond:
Got it too. Glad to know that I´m not alone...

X3

I had it with a 32 pound target bow, while my hunting bows at that time were from 65 to 96 pounds. I was steady when drawing and while I was locked up at full draw with that straight up target form I had that shake. I was told to keep pushing and keep pulling until the release. Fine, but what if the bow arm is already extended as far as it will go and if I kept pulling I could hook the bowstring on my ear?  The person was probably right in saying that there is a difference between a muscle in action is steady than a muscle supplying only resistance. If my arm is bent either left or right handed and I have active room to keep spreading, no shake, regardless of bow weight, but as soon as I top out like I do at times with my much lighter Grooves recurve the tremor returns.

[Ssamac]

Try to hold the bow with less cant or as little as possible. I've seen that help a lot of people.
If it doesn't work, go see a Chiropractor and bring the bow with you. He/she should be able to see what's causing it. And let us know

Good luck.
Sam

Maybe you need a Hill longbow, but then I say that to everybody.

[Boomerang]

Originally posted by pavan:
Maybe you need a Hill longbow, but then I say that to everybody.

LOL, I've got one of those too.

[Boomerang]

Originally posted by pavan:
Maybe you need a Hill longbow, but then I say that to everybody.

LOL, I've got one of those too.

Really, with Hill shooting rhythm, if one can have a reliable anchor, even if it is not held or maybe just pulled through, it is considered good. I would not call that TP. Actually, TP is phycology problem and can come on for some when they are trying to do things that get them frustrated because the emphasis is misplaced.

[Dogboy900]

I get it too even with light draw weights. I think I do let my shoulder lift which stops the bone on bone support, but even when I concentrate on trying to achieve bone on bone alignment I seem to still get it. Strangely I don't remember getting this with a compound when I shot those?

I have just decided to ignore it and shoot, my accuracy is pretty good I think despite the shakes.