Advice on unstable bow arm!?

[Matt Easton]

Hi chaps,
I have a recurring problem at the moment with my bow arm (left arm, as I'm right-handed) kicking to the left or the right (mostly the left, but not always) when I loose. I have this problem with whatever bow I use, whether it's my 85# warbow, my 70# longbow, 60# hungarian recurve or a 30# beginners bow! And it doesn't happen all the time, but with regularity. For example, I'll make one good straight shot, then one will kick to the left, then one will kick to the right, then another straight one. I never used to have this problem.
Any ideas why this might be? Is it something to do with my stance, do you think? I note that I can cancel the problem by tilting my bow to 45 degrees...(so using bigger muscles to stabilise the arm), but I don't want to do that all the time.
Any observations or advice appreciated!
Cheers,
Matt

[Schme1440]

Sounds like your not pushing towards the target with your bow arm. Holding your arm straight is not enough. You need to have some forward muscle pressure. Its hard to descirbe. You need to push forward with out the bow moving too much. That is the main reason I can think of. Next time you shoot true pushing towards the target. This should (he hopes) solve the problem. I had the same last year.

[geoffretired]

Matt, when you say the bow arm kicks out to the left when you loose, I take it you mean as the arrow is being pushed by the string or perhaps later; not while you are on aim and about to loose.
If I've got that right, you need to know what the bow arm should do at that part of the shot. Which should it do, go left/right/or straight ahead??
If you make a loop of wool so that it is big enough for you to put one hand inside each end and draw to you normal full draw position. Adjust the loop, if necessary, till the loop is pulled tight when you are at full draw.
Then pull a little more, as if drawing the last little bit with your bow, till the wool snaps. Watch where the bow arm kicks.Repeat if you miss it. The effect is similar to loosing a bow when the follow through is natural and unrestricted, and not forced.
For the bow arm to kick right, you are probably anticipating the loose and losing back tension just before, causing the bow to pull your bowarm across your body.
A bowarm going right is using chest muscle or the tension in the bow with back muscles relaxing. Quite often, the draw elbow anticipates the loose too and it collapses, showing up as a forward loose.

[steve58]

Recognise the problem from bitter experience! Bow arm pressing into the target is the cure that works for me. The feeling is a bit like pulling the bow apart along the line I want the arrow to travel. When I am having really bad problems I get my light bow out and shoot at very close range in the back yard, isolating different parts of the shot (loosing by pulling the string hand back keeping the bow arm static and then doing the opposite) and then trying to put them back together so I get the push-pull working.

[geoffretired]

Yes Steve, pulling the bow apart is a good description; nice one. If you pull the loop of wool apart, you get the feeling of what it's like after the loose, too.

[Matt Easton]

Thanks guys - useful stuff. I'll let you know how it goes - I think my problem is increased by gripping too tightly as well.

Matt

[teddybear]

i have it with my recover some times,
reasons i have found.
holding bow to tight.
bow not in center of my pram.
not using my shoulder muscles to pull the bow,not releasing with shoulder muscles.
pulling my releasing hand back to hard knocks bow to the left.
and last not taking brakes on the Sunday shoot so my arms are tired.
i dint push at the target with my bow hand i have never had any luck with it

[NobleKnight]

Here are couple of thoughts

1. Control your pose before your begin to pull
2. Pull the string VERY slowly and control every bit of the movement
3. Use your back muscles to make your pose stable
4. Keep your left shoulder as low as possible
5. Find good tutor, not novice like me )

[Stylisht]

Don't push with your bowarm.

Push with your armpit.

[Rhys]

Is this the idea that when you do this reaching without a bow, you'll feel it between the armpit and elbow on the underside of your arm?