Just a friendly warning to all

[artjr338wm]

Just wanted to let every body know some thing most of us archers are probably aware of already. I had not shot my bow for any large no# of shots for over four months, and I ignored the advice of a top notch PHY therapist I know about warming up before you shoot your bow if you have had a looong period of inactivity since your last shooting session, and if like me your at a high draw weight of 68 or more pounds worming up becomes a absolute necessity .

Well you probably already know where this is headed, I tore up the mussels that make up my rotatore cuff. I was surprised just how many archers are my Dr. patients all with much the same injury and the same cause there of. I d**n well knew better as I have read about archery induced injuries like mine many many times in the past on the net. I even have a power band specifically designed for warming up before you shoot and it sat unused gathering dust next to my other bows.

I must also be honest in I am shooting more draw weight than was practical for starting out, and looking back now I was simply asking for trouble.

So don't let your self fall into the same trap warm up before you shoot especially of your draw weight is above 60-65lbs, and if you have not shot for long enough for the mussels in question to have lost some strength or elasticity, you might want to consider reducing your draw weight until your shoulder mussels are back in shape.

Sure wish I had fallowed this advice myself. On the bright side my Dr. seams to think the tears are minimal and easily fixable with surgery, but I am bummed because no bow hunting till I get fixed, unless I want to risk making it much worse, and I won't.

Not looking for sympathy in any amount what so ever, simply want to let people know this risk exists, because if I can tear up my shoulder anyone can. Been shooting bows set at a draw weight of 65-68lbs for over 20yrs. I am about 99% certain the fact that I use to shoot year round until I got married and my first son was born 9yrs ago and over the last 5-6 years my shooting has been cut in half so my shoulder mussels have no doubt lost a considerable amount of strength and elasticity as a result all this combined to cause my injury I am 99% certain.

Be well and keep this in mind,

Arthur.

[wilmsmeyer]

good points. Hope you heal up fast

[dougedwards]

NEWSFLASH!!!......As we get older our joints don't behave as they did when we were younger!

Another point is that today's bows at 50 lbs will shoot almost as fast as bows manufactured 10 years ago at 70 lbs which is certainly fast enough to kill a fragile whitetail.

I have been dealing with shoulder pain for a couple of years and warming up does help. The bad news is that it won't get better but with some use of common sense it might be something I can deal with.

Arthur, I hope that you recover quickly but don't take it too fast. If you let things heal properly you may be better off than before the surgery. I hope

Doug

[sw]

Arthur, I also wish you a speedy and successful recovery. Just a thought. A 60# bow will shoot as fast and flat as a 70# bow if the same grains per pound is shot. After 42 years of exclusively hunting with a bow, I now use a MLer and a x-bow ( still use my recurve for some bow hunting, 48# ); but if I went back to compound hunting, I'd likely shoot about 55#.
Have a speedy recovery!

[Deleted]

Its not nice it just sux getting old Art and I'm feeling it everyday at 46,I'm wanting to throw a baseball like I used to.....
Thanks for the warning , I hear the younger guys are stretching more to avoid injuries........GOOD ADVICE FOR ANY AGE.....
Greenhorn

[sw]

Feb 28, 2012 20:27:48 GMT -5 sw said:

Arthur, I also wish you a speedy and successful recovery. Just a thought. A 60# bow will shoot as fast and flat as a 70# bow if the same grains per pound is shot. After 42 years of exclusively hunting with a bow, I now use a MLer and a x-bow ( still use my recurve for some bow hunting, 48# ); but if I went back to recurve hunting, I'd likely shoot about 55#.
Have a speedy recovery!

A correction: I meant, "if I went back to compound hunting, I'd shoot #55, and #45 with a recurve". Still shoot my #48 recurve regularly .

[timinator]

You made me get out my practice bands and start up my strength training. Hope you heal up. FWIW, I switched bows to Elites last year and that has done wonders for my shoulders and arms. I'm 55.

[mshm99]

I TORE MY RTR CUFF ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO ON A COLD OCTOBER MORNING. I WAS IN GOOD SHAPE. I WAS DRAWING 70# HOYT SUPER SLAM,AFTER A 5 HOURS SITTING STILL. A NICE DEER GROUP WITH A GOOD BUCK IN TOW WAS COMING AT ME. I STOOD TODRAW AND GOT DRAWED HALF WAY BACK AND THEN SEARING PAIN AND A POP.

SO I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. I WAS ABLE TO PT MAY WAY BACK. I GOT A BOW WITH SOFT CAMS AND LOWERED THE MACHO MAN POUNDAGE.

THE PT STOPPED HELPING AND I'M GOING UNDER THE KNIFE JULY 29. BUT I PUT IT OFF FOR A WHILE AND SUGGEST YOU DO THE SAME.IT'S NEVER THE SAME AFTER THEY CUT ON YOU. PUT IT OFF AS LONG AS YOU CAN STAND IT. I'M ALMOST 63 AND GOING TO A CROSSBOW.

GOOD LUCK, MIKE

[gunny]

56 and looking at a crossbow!

[quillen52]

I am 62 and bowhunted for many years. I particularly enjoyed hunting elk during the archery season. Like you I grabbed my bow and started shooting without properly warming up and immediately tore my rotator cuff. I have not had to have surgery but my compound bow days are history and I now hunt with a crossbow. My surgeon recommended that I not have surgery at this time and although my pain has subsided with PT I still do not have the strength I had before. I wish you the best of luck with your surgery and a very speedy recovery.

[sw]

A problem we have as we get older is that though we may not loose as much muscle , we do have weakened ligaments and even somewhat weakened joints. So we can pull more that our structure can handle. Then we break. When we were younger we could pull as hard as we could and our joints/ligaments could stand the strain: now, we can pull harder than our joints/ligaments can handle. Judgement is in order. My wife says my judgement is deficient .

[quillen52]

Strange SW my wife says the same thing. Uncanny how women are so much alike!