String hitting forearm

[nhbuck1]

My string has been hitting my inner middle forearm my brace height is correct so is my grip, it doesn't happen every shot, what can cause this?

[longbow fanatic 1]

One thing to do is to extend your bow arm out, then with your bow hand in it's normal position, rotate your elbow around/out. This should correct the problem, but not in all cases. I have a bow that hits my forearm even with that correction. I just wear an arm guard and shoot the bow without concern of hitting my arm.

[Draven]

You shoot recurve or longbow?
If it happens sometimes might be an alignment problem and the way you bring the bow up. If you have the tendency to follow the rule of keeping the bow straight when your body moves it naturaly canted up, you might push the elbow in the string line. There are many little things that can give a slap, and most of the time is bad form. If sometimes happens and sometimes not, try to figure out what provoqued it: fatigue due to shooting one more arrow than you can take because the  bow is heavy? Overdrawing to feel the back tension and forgeting to relaxe the string hand? There are a lot of factors imo and nobody can tell you what goes wrong. A wrist protection will help.

The string hitting the forearm is not necessarily an indication of a problem.

[Draven]

Originally posted by Jim Casto Jr:
The string hitting the forearm is not necessarily an indication of a problem.

I don't know, I shoot takedown, vintage and vintage fiberglass bows in 55, 45 and 50 # and no slapping. I use a guard just to keep the sleeves close to the hand. If there is a bow problem with too much flex in tips I think someone should say something to avoid that particular bow.

[McDave]

Many fine longbow shooters wear arm guards.  I believe Howard Hill wore one.  The lower brace height and low string tension at brace height on some longbows makes it more likely that the string will rebound forward and hit the arm.  I agree with Jim that this isn't necessarily a form problem.

If someone is hitting his arm with a recurve braced at 8", then it's more likely a form issue.  Could be gripping the handle too far into the bow, rotating the elbow horizontally, hyperextending the elbow, or trying to open the fingers rather than relaxing them.

[nhbuck1]

is it because i am to vertical shooting with a cant?

[nhbuck1]

i think its as im drawing my elbow is coming in, how can i stop this from happening?

[McDave]

It's kind of hard to speculate in a vacuum.  Best would be if you would make a video of yourself shooting the bow, showing the position of your bow hand, bow arm elbow, and shoulders as you draw and shoot.

[longbow fanatic 1]

Originally posted by nhbuck1:
how can i stop this from happening?

Originally posted by longbow fanatic 1:
One thing to do is to extend your bow arm out, then with your bow hand in it's normal position, rotate your elbow around/out.  

[nhbuck1]

seems to put alot of stress on the shoulder doing this

[longbow fanatic 1]

Please watch Arne Moe's video. At 3:00 minutes into it, he will demonstrate what I mean.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWSXWKuENDI

[nhbuck1]

its if im starting the bow to much on target? if i  bring it up to my right more and arrow points to left i draw and its a perfect shot im right handed

[longbow fanatic 1]

Perhaps as Dave suggested, a video of your shot may be the best option for helpful responses.

[nhbuck1]

i believe its my string hand not in line i believe i fixed it

[Draven]

Originally posted by McDave:
Many fine longbow shooters wear arm guards.  I believe Howard Hill wore one.  The lower brace height and low string tension at brace height on some longbows makes it more likely that the string will rebound forward and hit the arm.  I agree with Jim that this isn't necessarily a form problem.

If someone is hitting his arm with a recurve braced at 8", then it's more likely a form issue.  Could be gripping the handle too far into the bow, rotating the elbow horizontally, hyperextending the elbow, or trying to open the fingers rather than relaxing them.

As long as the answer to " you shoot recurve or longbow?" was not given, it's just speculation. And you can get a slap with a 7.5" too from a recurve. It's the nature of the beast type of thing when your elbow is on the string path, no matter the brace height and no matter what moves it there. 0.5" more or 0.5" less makes no difference.