[Doc]

Did you make the same mistake 85% of shooters do? Did you remember to stretch thoroughly BEFORE and AFTER shooting? The thousands of archery related injuries can be prevented with a pre and post shooting stretch of the arms, back, and shoulders. If you are interested in some good archery exercises let me know.

 

[empty]

stretches

Doc,
I am interested. Please email to
[email protected]
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Peter Linton]

Me to

could you e-mail them to
[email protected]
Thanks

Pete

 

[jdoyle]

Doc,
Me to I had rotor cuff surgery a few years and I do all I can to protect mine.
Send to [email protected]
Thanks Jim

 

[stew575]

Shoulder hurts

Yes, Pre and Post exercise before shooting.

To properly pull your bow, it takes your back muscles. Your shoulders mainly hold the bow or the string back. The push - pull tension that everyone talks about is all in your back muscles. If you are pulling the bow string back with your elbow pointed down, then you are doing it wrong. With your elbow pointed down, your arm is doing all the work. In bow physics, your elbow needs to be pointed up so your back muscles are actually pulling the bow and not your arms.

An alternate way to build you muscles up is to practice swimming the crawl stroke. This stroke uses the same group of muscles that you need to bull your bow.

Next, check your stance. Open or close stance will determine balance and how much difficulty you will put on drawing your bow. There are several different techniques that might make it easier in helping you pull your bow. Check them out to see if they will help you.

 

[stew1tx]

ME2 doc, battling back from ac region seperation.

[email protected]

thanks

 

[LXRocker]

STRETCHING

Stretching before and after is ALWAYS a good idea-especially for us guys who aren't as young as we used to be. I keep a stretch band in my case. I also carry it with me at major events where alot of time can sometimes pass between shots. IBO events can sometimes get backed up. It seems to rain at every triple crown event. It doesn't take long for muscles to get tight and cramped in the rainy conditions we've encountered as of late. I find the band helps me to keep loose and use those back muscles to pull through the shot.

 

[Doc]

Due to the response, I won't email people personally, I am just going to post. If you have any questions, please let me know.

A quick (about 10-15 minutes per day) and easy routine to help is as follows: Note: The length and cycle number of exercise depends on the individual. I have just given suggestions for cycle number and duration. If you start feeling dizzy, light-headed, or pain, you should stop and consult a physician.
In order:

1. Stand with feet together (shoulder width apart if you have a balance problem or bad knees or ankles) and hang forward (until you feel pressure NOT pain) 3 times for about 30-45 seconds per time. This will loosen up your shoulders and back muscles for the following exercises.

2. Get on all fours and lift your right arm and left leg slowly and hold to the point where you feel pressure NOT PAIN for 30 seconds. Repeat this with the left arm and right leg. Continue this for 3-5 cycles depending on your conditioning level.

3. Take a light weight (barbells, hunting boots, etc.) and sit on a straight back chair or stand with you back against a wall. Place your arms at your sides palm facing the fall, and slowly lift your arms to parrallel with the floor. Hold for 20-30 seconds and repeat this 3-5 times.

4. Repeat Step 1 and you're done. Remember not to overdo anything and if you feel pain, STOP immediately! The above on a daily basis should get your back in shape for harvesting those X's and whitetails.

 

[Doc]

Stretches

Here is a good link for arm and shoulder stretches. This site has diagrams and text explaining each stretch. I think my post would be a mile long if I tried to explain these. These are taken from a book STRETCHING copyright 1993 by Bob & Jean Anderson.

http://www.soc.org/opcam/07_fw9596/mg07_saltman-a.html

Stretch 'em out, and shoot 'em up!