[Warbow] Warbow Bow Arm Wrist Position

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
The front shoulder can be a problem for many archers. Generally it is because they aren't aware what their shoulder is doing, as they concentrate on other matters, like aiming or thinking of the draw elbow etc.
Try this simple exercise so you will know for yourself what is going on.
Stand up straight with arms by your sides. Shrug both shoulders up as if trying to reach your ears, and you will find they stop some way short.
If you do this in front of a mirror you will see them rise up and close in towards your neck.
Then drop them deliberately and see the difference.
Repeat the shoulder shrugging; but this time with both arms out at shoulder level. In front of the mirror you will see the shoulders rise and move closer to your neck, just as before.Then drop them, leaving the arms out at shoulder level.
Next, do a few shrugs with arms by your side and mix in a few with arms out at shoulder level.
With a mirror you will see a difference at your shoulders, and without the mirror you should feel the difference too. There will be less movement with the arms out at shoulder level.
The final part is to raise your arms out to the side at shoulder level and shrug both shoulders up then let them drop with the arms still out. Then try to get the shoulders lower down and notice you have to make a slight effort as they naturally stay a bit high with your arms out.( as the bow arm would be when shooting.)
Once you can feel what is needed to get both shoulders down, you will be able to mange that just using the bow arm out to the side....... Shrug..... Allow to drop...... Press a little further to ensure it is low as possible.
So, when you lift the bow, the bow shoulder needs to be down at the start and down at the finish and you need to be pressing it down all through. If it starts high it will just get higher.
 

dgriswold93

New member
I was able to get my shoulder lowered with a light bow with your advice geoffretired, so thank you. I have yet to try my heavier bows, we'll see how I do. What are the advantages for a lower shoulder? Better alignment?
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
If you draw your light bow a few times and know you held the shoulder down, then try on the heavier one straight after.
It is getting the shoulder right before drawing that helps more than anything.
 

dgriswold93

New member
Alright gentlemen, here's a bit of an update. I have worked to get that front shoulder down. Here is a picture of me pulling my 56 lb flatbow next to me pulling the 80 lb longbow. As you can see have have mostly got the shoulder down, but the wrist on the longbow is still funky. I think I need to lower my elbow a bit, that seems to be the difference between the two pictures. Any thoughts on that? The flatbow does have a very very slight pistol grip which could be helping me achieve a better (or at least more aesthetically pleasing) wrist position. I must say it is more comfortable as well.

 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
Looking at both pics, the flatbow bowarm is bent, the longbow one is straight. With the heavy longbow, holding the weight on a bent arm would be more difficult and I think that is why you have ended up with it straight. On the lighter flat bow you can get away with the bent elbow. That is why it looks lower, but I don't think that is a good thing.
When we do press ups, we bend the elbows to get our chest to the ground. Coming back up the elbows straighten a bit. IF we are coming up and want to stop for a rest, with the chest well up from the floor, we adopt a straight elbow and let our weight be held by the bones. Try stopping in the half way down position to see how difficult that is.
Your hand position is different on the different bows, partly because the shape of the bow grips are different. BUT the bent elbow on the flatbow also adds to the change in hand position, specially at the wrist.
IF you adopted a straight bow arm with both bows ,you would see how alike the two pictures become.
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
The easy way to sort out the bow elbow angle is to find out what happens when you bend the elbow.
If , when you bend the elbow, the hand moves across from side to side, then all is well. If the hand moves up annd down, the elbow is rotated the wrong way..
If you have your arm out straight, as if holding your bow at arm's length, then try to move the forearm side to side, the elbow is well sorted Try the arm out straight while moving the hand up and down and it will be 90 degrees out of position..
There is no doubt when doing this. It is proof without grey hairs wondering if......you are looking at things from the right point of view.
 
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