I just got back into bow shooting and hunting. I'm experiencing some pain in my left elbow and left shoulder in my left arm (the arm that holds the bow, I'm a right handed shooter). Any advice on what to use to minimize the pain in these two areas or ways to treat the pain? Any help would be deeply appreciated. I'm currently shooting a new Mathews Switchback. I never had any history of a bad left shoulder or elbow. I think I over did it the first day I got my bow (I shot 80 arrows the first day I got my Switchback). Right now I'm resting the arm (I'm taking at least two days off from shooting my bow).

Take Care and God Bless!

Ed

80 shots :doh: yep you over did it some. I would turn the bow down abit and cut your shooting session a little shorter. 25-30 shots every couple of days and increase with time. Gotta build them muscles up abit first. Then gradually turn your bow up to where you can hold it straight out and draw it back. If you have to cant the bow into the air, your probably pulling to much weight.

Archery is just another form of excersie, You wouldn't get up and run a couple of miles off the bat, wouldn't be able to walk in the morning. Loosen up and work up to your goals.

You wouldn't get up and run a couple of miles off the bat, wouldn't be able to walk in the morning..

heck some of us here would be dead, myself included.......

And at what weight is the bow set on? Whatever it is ti's more than your body can handle right now. Take some advice. Don't let testosterone get in the way of common sense.

I recently got back into bowhunting and have had to deal with shoulder pain(it sucks getting old). I agree with what everyone has already said. I reduced my poundage and also took a week off of shooting. My shoulder was very painful even to the lightest touch. That has totally went away and now I only have some muscle soreness sometimes. Now I really pay attention to the least bit of pain and stop practicing.

I'll also recommend doing some stretches before you shoot. Do a search on yahoo and you'll find some. Also maybe try some light weightlifting to develop all of your arm and shoulder muscles.

For your current pain, take either some ibuprofen or naproxen any brand or off-brand. They will help with the pain and inflammation.

chris

I've been dealing with tendonitis in my bow arm elbow for over a year. Don't take this lightly or you will pay the price with a lot of pain down the road.

First the old joke "Hey Doc, it hurts when I do this." Doc replies "Well, don't do that!"

Seriously, if it hurts quit doing it. I'm not saying to give up archery, but don't shoot until the pain goes away. This is especially important for shoulder pain. The small muscles of the rotator cuff are easy to damage.

There is a great article at http://www.thehuntdoctors.com/Bow_pull.html

Also, google "tennis elbow" and there are some good exercises for that on several websites. Tennis elbow is about the same as archers elbow.

It's hard not to shoot a new bow. Archery is fun! Unfortunately, it's easy to over do it.

When you go back to shooting, be sure to stretch and warm up before shooting and ice down your elbow and shoulder immediately after shooting.

Good luck,
Allen

80 arrows in one day is alot. My advice would be to start shooting 20 or so arrows a day at a lighter weight and work your way up. You have to start working that muscle slowly or else you could do some serious damage. Also try doing some basic arm streches before you shoot. I have found that if i loosen my arm up before i shoot i want be in pain at the end of the day.

Hope that this will help you,
Peter

and besides how many times is a deer and deer going to stand there long enough for you to shoot 80 shots at it.......:noidea:

I shoot in indoor 300 leagues and i only shoot 70-75 arrows a night (60 for score 10-15 for warm up) at 55lbs and by the end of the night elbows are sore......

and besides how many times is a deer and deer going to stand there long enough for you to shoot 80 shots at it.......:noidea:

:laugh: My 1st bow hunt, I shot at the same deer 3 times. I shot, it trotted off, came back, I shot again, it trotted off again, came back again and I shot a third time. Finally had to leave and go buy more arrows and broadheads:doh: But the next day I took that skinhead, and who knows it may have even been the same one. That was 11 years ago and I have been hooked since.:biggrin1:

:laugh: My 1st bow hunt, I shot at the same deer 3 times. I shot, it trotted off, came back, I shot again, it trotted off again, came back again and I shot a third time. Finally had to leave and go buy more arrows and broadheads:doh: But the next I took that skinhead, and who knows it may have even been the same one. That was 11 years ago and I have been hooked since.:biggrin1:

had to leave the woods to go get more arrows:laugh:

had to leave the woods to go get more arrows:laugh:


Not only that, it was a 30 mile drive to the nearest Wally World.:biggrin1:

Not only that, it was a 30 mile drive to the nearest Wally World.:biggrin1:

wait you bought your arrows at wally world???:tape:

was a grouse involved.......

was a grouse involved.......

wait arent you like 17......dont you have school in the morning???you need to go to bed little boy.......

wait you bought your arrows at wally world???:tape:

:crazy: :crazy: Only defense to that is, It was my 1st bow hunt. But the bow didn't have a WB on it:biggrin1:

:crazy: :crazy: Only defense to that is, It was my 1st bow hunt.

we will let it slide.....have you graduated to KMart yet????:biggrin1:

we will let it slide.....have you graduated to KMart yet????:biggrin1:


:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

wait arent you like 17......dont you have school in the morning???you need to go to bed little boy.......

are you stalking me how do you know i have school in the morning, and how do you know my age??????????

are you stalking me how do you know i have school in the morning, and how do you know my age??????????
He must be sleepy.:bored:
You told us in the other post when you outed your aspirations of MALE MODELING.

are you stalking me how do you know i have school in the morning, and how do you know my age??????????

in the everyone please post you gave that info about being 17....remember thats how the male model thing came out:eek: and being 17 and living in NY,unless you are a genuis than you most likely have school in the morning......next time try to keep up....o.k.

He must be sleepy.:bored:
You told us in the other post when you outed your aspirations of MALE MODELING.

silly me..........i'm just messing with bowman!!!

dont mess w/ the self proclaimed best......you will get mopped up like the rest.....:biggrin1:

dont mess w/ the self proclaimed best......you will get mopped up like the rest.....:biggrin1:

BIG TALK FOR A little man!!!!!!!!!!

in the everyone please post you gave that info about being 17....remember thats how the male model thing came out:eek: and being 17 and living in NY,unless you are a genuis than you most likely have school in the morning......next time try to keep up....o.k.

please dont make fun of me, i was told that even though i ride the short bus i'm just like everyone else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

please dont make fun of me, i was told that even though i ride the short bus i'm just like everyone else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey Chris i am really gonna need that banner and the sooner the better.....

About ten years ago I shot a lot. 4 times a week and 80 arrows in a day was not unheard of. But I also worked myself up to it. I suffered the tennis elbow thing and it was quite painful at times. I ended up using a very tight fitting elbow wrap to assist me. It worked, it took a lot of the pressure and made my arm feel better. I always wore it to a shoot and somedays when I was sore just from normal activities I wore it to help the pain. Unfortunately I tore my right shoulder in 1998 in an unrelated to archery injury and had to lay off the bow for that year. Getting back into it but not as much in 1999 to 2002 I avoided too much shooting due to the rt shoulder injury and fear of tearing it worse. I had no more pain due to the cotizone shot but the fear was in my head. In 2003 I tore the sholder even worse in another unrelated to archery injury. That ruined me for another year. In 2004 I was still shooting a 28 inch PSE Mach 8 but I coldn't hold a group for the life of me. The pain would just make it impossible. I had to go to a lower draw weight and shorter bow with a solid wall. That year I boght a Mathews FX 26 inch at 55lbs. I finally started getting confidence back in my shooting and was able to enjoy the shooting again, just not as many arrows and not as tight as I once was. My next bow I was able to use a mathews 27 in 60 lbs Switchback. I am up to 65 pounds on an Elite E force, but the Switchback is my favorite shooter right now.

Check your draw, you may need to crank it down a little and shorten it up a bit. That seems to be the cause of shoulder pain. The elbow I believe is from too much shooting. Good Luck stay with it just ease yourself into it. Remember you are using body parts and muscles that you never really use.