Arm stretch, length of pull....your opinion

[New Hampshire]

OK, Ive been getting varied opinions on the relationship of pull length and arm stretch.  What Im talking about is that nasty habit of your string slapping your forearm and how to eliminate it.  My buddy shot bows as a kid.  His father, for lack of a better term, is as "expert" as it probably comes to bowhunting.  They say that the length of pull should be set so that there is an eeeeevvvveeeerrr so slight bend in the elbow.  Just enough to cause your forearm to be pulled out of the line of your bowstrings travel.  Another guy says to cant the bow so it is at a slight angle from top to bottom which causes your wrist to move out of the way.  Im more inclined to believe my buddy and his father as, at least to me, the second way means that now your pin sight is also canted and does not seem to be very accuracy friendly.  I ask this because the bow I have, which is not sized for me yet, is set at 30 inches.  At full draw my arm is stretched completely.  I know that this current position means the bowstring will slap my forearm becasue (and let me state with capitols that it was an ACCIDENT) I accidentaly dry fired my bow and the string slapped a good 3 or 4 inches of my arm red.  I figure that dropping down to 28 inches should put that slight bend to my elbow and eliminate this problem and any need for a wrist guard.  So what do you all think?
Thanks,
Brian M.

P.S. Ok, Im sure your curious about the "accident."  Well Ive learned something important even before Ive shot a single arrow from a bow.  Keep your finger off the release when drawing!  Yup, I was resting my finger on the top of the release, but my finger must have brushed the trigger and THWAP!  Now I keep my finger  BEHIND the release trigger and hold it there firmly.  So thats that.

[Thomas Krupinski]

Brian,

Different strokes for different folks, but I would prefer to avoid pain.  So my friends and I all shoot with a bend to the wrist backward so that your elbow is slightly bent.  That way the string does not slap your forearm.

I don't understand what you mean about pin alignment being canted.  Also don't grab the bow tightly, just enough so that you are making a y with your thumb and finger for the bow to rest in while you draw and shoot.  Then after release put a little tension on it after it has moved forward.  

Hope that I have said that correctly and what I said was what I was meaning to say.

[New Hampshire]

Thanks TK, you come through again.  What I meant by the sight be canted is, if your holding your bow and you cant it so that the top is slightly out towards your right and the bottom towards your left.  Now since your pin sight is fixed vertically up and down when you cant your bow the way described it would seem to me that now your pin sight is also canted.  At least you think it would be, right?  Dont know if this makes sense but Im not sure how to better describe it.  Im just gonna go with my gut and listen to what my buddy and his father say.  Im gonna get the pull set to 29 inches so that the gentle bend is there in my elbow.  One slap is enough for me, dont want that EVER again.  Seems to me if you need a wrist protector regularly something is wrong.
Thanks,
Brian M.

[Thomas Krupinski]

Brian,

If you are canting your pins, your are torquing your bow.  I don't think if you grip your bow in a web of a Y made by your thumb and pointing finger (with no pressure or contact with your other fingers) you will not have any canting of the pins before and after release.  However it would be possible to cant it by torquing your release and effecting it from that end when at draw.

To help with that and to accomodate heavier clothing for cold weather I would suggest that you consider a bit shorter draw length than you are thinking about.  I am not talking about the number you cited, but just think about making it a little shorter than what you would have considering.  Less chance of torquing the release when you are that far back and it will allow the extra bend to let you shoot without slap on thick clothing that will make noise and scare your target.

You can always adjust from too short, pretty hard to grow and adjust to too long.

[Scottyluck]

I would suggest you wear an arm guard until you learn proper form if you're not into pain. It can still happen even with a bend in the elbow and shorter draw.
If you're just starting out, concentrate on your form above all else.  Shoot close to the target so you don't miss it completely but don't worry about your groups. Worry about your form, grip and , very importantly, your follow through. If you develop bad habits early on they will be hard to break.  If your form is good the tight groups will come with practice.
As far as the grip goes, the "Y" method works for me. The only part of my hand touching the bow is the "valley" between my thumb and pointer finger. try to keep the rest of your hand very relaxed.
One other thing, keep the poundage on the lighter side for now. If you're stuggling to draw the bow it will wreak havoc with your form.

[longwinters]

Watch the pro shooters.  A compound is never canted it is always held as near perfect vertical as possible (that is why some of them have a bubble level on their sights).  Also your arm should be straight not bent.  If you are getting string slap on the inside of your forarm it is because you are getting too much of your hand into the grip.  The grip should never cross the crotch of your hand (the line that runs vertically between the thumb base and the rest of your palm.  Also you should always shoot with a loose grip.  Open hand is even better.  If you worry about dropping your bow, use a bow sling.  If you have correct form you should only have to wear an arm guard to hold clothing in.  People that wear it because of string slap have bad form period.  One final opinion, for a steady hold break your wrist so that the grip only touches the meat on the base of your thumb.  The crotch thing is for traditional shooters who need to point their bow hand as part of their method.  If you break your wrist so that your fingers are actually pointed out to the side (at about 10-11 oclock) you will have a much steadier and solid base.  The crotch method will allow movement all over the place.  A pro shooter showed me this and he is absolutely right.  He was and still is a pro shooter that made it in the big time . . . not just a pro shooter who gets a new bow here and there.

long

[Arrroman]

A bow does not need to be gripped as if it were a .44 magnum pistol. If you were to grip a bow that tight you would most likely torque the bow throwing the shot to the bow hand side of where you wanted it. The pressure of the bow should ride on the meaty part of the bow hand below the thumb, this type of grip automatically rotates the forearm away from the bowstring. You will also find this a more relaxing way to shoot. The forefinger and thumb should be sufficient to hold the bow. Good luck hunting!

[New Hampshire]

Longwinters, that about sums up what I thought, that the way he does it is plumb stupid.  As a matter of fact, as irony would have it, I was reading an article in one of our Hunt/fish papers about shooting form.  The guy who owns a archery Pro shop wrote the article.  He said exactly what seems to be the consensus.....slight bend at elbow.  IN FACT, he said, a straight locked arm causes severe wear on the elbow and causes the shooter to unconsciously pull the bow to the side when fired.  I knew already about not gripping, rather cupping, the bow grip.  I will still wear the wrist guard till I get used to shooting, just in case.  But if things work out right I shouldn't need it eventually.
Again, thanks guys.
Brian M.

[longwinters]

Oh yeh,  the best place for your trigger finger is behind the trigger  :lol:

long

[Ditchdigger]

Personally I use a straight arm,elbow rolled down,a armgaurd,and a wrist strap.I have a old Jennings Carbon Extreme that I use with a 32" drawlength, 32" 2514 arrows chron'ed at 296 with 125gr. broadheads. If I pratice alot it will group 1.5" at 60 yds.But only with a straight arm and a broken wrist. The trick to shooting accurate groups is to have the arm straight with the body to the point where you are not using any power to hold the bow steady from right to left. Once you have found the balance point the bow will not torque right or left so easily. Also the hand should be opened wide with the hand centered exactly the same way every time. I've seen some shooters tatoo a dot on the web of there hand to aline with a dot on the bow. After you master your form,move out to 80 yds. and pratice your shooting. After a couple of sessions like this you will be at a 3.5" group,and the shorter distance shots will be a piece of cake. Hope this helps.  Digger    ( The bent elbow will work, but only with lots of pratice to get the same exact hold every time)

[SingleShotShorty]

When pulling your bow, push with your bow arm and pull with the string arm and your elbow will rotate out of the way of the bowstring when you fire the bow. The only time I use an armguard is when shooting my longbow or when hunting to keep my camo out of the way of the string.

[pete w]

String slap on the arm is a sure sign of the draw length being to long.
Most novices end up trying to pull to long and run into this problem.Shorten up a bit and things should improve.

[willis5]

shorten it up and bend a little at the elbow.

many people are shooting bows with too much weight and too long on the draw. the combination of both can cause inconsistancy and a slap or two.