The Infamous Hyperextending Elbow

     Everyone at some point in their archery experience has been slapped in the arm with the bow-string which ultimately results in a very painful bruise. For Some people, it's lack of proper form, and others it's something they just can't help. A part of the problem is that lots of people, primarily females, have natural hyper-extending elbows. A hyper-extended elbow happens when your joint (elbow) is able to extend, more than it should. It's not a bad thing, unless it's causing you injury.

     The first thing you should do to prevent yourself from getting a bruise on your bow arm is to wear an arm guard that covers up any and all of the potential damage area. Wearing an arm guard is for the case in which the bow string does come into contact with your arm, but you should have good form so that the string doesn't hit you in the first place.

     To have proper bow arm form, your arm must be completely extended and your elbow must be parallel to the ground, Just like demonstrated in the following picture, please ignore all the additional writing in the picture, it was the best example we could find.



If you do both of these things, you shouldn't have a problem with the bowstring! If you are confused, please contact us and we will try to explain in a better way.