Chest Slap

[YosemiteSam]

After shooting a short recurve for a while, I picked up my 62" again.  Suddenly, I'm slapping my chest/armpit area a lot.  I used to get this on occasion but now it's pretty consistent.  After flinging some arrows yesterday, I now have a 1" strawberry & bruise.  I use a clicker so I don't think my draw length has changed much.  Are there any other potential causes I'm missing?  Does some clothing do this more than others (thinner fabrics)?  Or does clothing simply show or conceal this?

[McDave]

How is your form and consistency otherwise? It is not unusual to see top notch archers wearing chest protectors, although not too common in traditional archery.  I would look at your shoulder alignment and release hand followthrough, and make sure you're not overgripping the bow.  If everything checks out, you can certainly decide to open up your stance a tad, or to wear a chest protector.  I suppose it's possible that you could have been hitting your chest before and not noticed it because of the clothes you were wearing, but the important thing is that you have no doubt that you are hitting it now, and have to do something about it.

[YosemiteSam]

How is your form and consistency otherwise? It is not unusual to see top notch archers wearing chest protectors, although not too common in traditional archery.  I would look at your shoulder alignment and release hand followthrough, and make sure you're not overgripping the bow.  If everything checks out, you can certainly decide to open up your stance a tad, or to wear a chest protector.  I suppose it's possible that you could have been hitting your chest before and not noticed it because of the clothes you were wearing, but the important thing is that you have no doubt that you are hitting it now, and have to do something about it.

Good thoughts, McDave.  Now that I think about it, I changed my grip from touching my index & thumb together to touching my middle & thumb together.  I was able to more easily keep a consistent grip this way.  I'll try switching back & see what happens.

[moebow]

We need to see!!  If you are getting a slap that high up, something is wrong.  But we need to see!
Arne

[alaninoz]

Have you changed your stance? Closing your stance will make you more prone to this.