This is a 2 in 1 inquiry. I am looking for something I could carry around with me to work and such to work on pull weight strengthening, but I would also like it to be usable for an up and comer. My 10 year old has his compound setup to pull about 20lbs right now, but would like to start giving him something to help work on both his strength and control when holding a bow back.
Little off subject, Ferrari GTO 250 in the profile pic? And, I bought this and use it to warm up or just keep the muscle memory going. MD50gear.com
If you go to the gym, you can do a 5 pound weight in your support hand out like it’s your bow. Then using a band attached shoulder level or a cable machine set at shoulder level, go through your draw sequence for 3 sets at 10-15 reps. 1 minut rest in between. Lest rep of each set hold til you can’t. Don’t Recommend lifting for a 10 year old though Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Actually, it is a 1970 Marcos GT 3.0...British car. They had some pretty neat little hotrods back in the day...its where Carroll Shelby got a lot of his "persuasion" if you will. Those look like basically what I am looking for.
I do not go to the gym. Not that I am against it, just not alot to be desired for someone like myself to go. And definitely not looking to "weight lifting" for my son, just something to help with the muscle development as he starts to enter into that age.
And to follow up, I bought the smaller version for my 8 year old niece just to help with draw cycle practice and conditioning as well, she uses it frequently.
Awesome. That is basically what I am after. He is kind of a home body, but I think once I get him warmed up to shooting a little more with more control, he will have a lot more fun with it. Currently trying to set his arrows up more appropriately for his draw length. But figured if he isn't necessarily in the mood to go out and shoot his bow, at the very least could get him one of these while he's inside to work on control and such. His 2 younger brothers will more than likely get into pulling on it, and who knows, might end up with a small army of bow hunters in the house.
What I found to be the best to up draw weight is "lawn mowers" and push ups. You can also do it with a dumbbell and have 1 knee on a bench or chair
Right now it feels like I am doing lawnmowers everyday anyway...all this Texas Rain making the yards look lush HAHA. I'll turn that self propel off and get the "Upright" pushups and pullups going too while I am out there.
A lot of drawing the weight of a bow is technique as well. As he draws the bow more and more his technique will get better and this will translate to being able to draw more weight as well as hold it. I've seen this quite a bit with new archers. For example, my younger brother when he first started could only draw about 25 lbs. Within one week he was drawing 35 lbs. He didn't get that much stronger in only a week's time, his technique got better. New archers initially make some pretty impressive jumps in draw weight they can manage just through technique. So I guess I'm trying to say that beside's Bob's devices you got an example of, also make sure to simply draw/shoot the bow every day. Don't overdo it, but just 5-10 arrows a day will make more difference than you think. I would do it as form practice from only about 3 yards. Don't worry about group size, just worry about executing 10 "clean" shots with proper form. Two birds with one stone, muscles will get stronger and proper form will become second nature.
Awesome advice. Thank you for the information. Being rather new myself, I will say I am finding it difficult to teach form as I myself work on the form aspect. I have interwebs as much info as I could and feel like I have a pretty good grasp of what I need to focus on, but for someone who is still learning what kind of advice might you have, within the realm of form, for someone new teaching someone new?
I agree 100% with Fix. Have someone take your picture perpendicular to you at full draw and anchored. The picture should be from your drawing arm side with a full head to toe view, with a wall behind you. Even better if you put a leveled piece of tape across the wall behind you. Have your target you're aiming at at your shoulder height, not down on the ground. A lot can be analyzed from a pic like this. Stance, (open, square, or closed), equal weight on both legs around shoulder width apart. Standing up straight with no leaning back at the waist. If you hung a plumb bob from your shirt at the center of your neck it should go down the center of your pecs, directly over belly button, center of hips, and end up in the center of your feet's stance. Arrow is level with piece of tape on the wall, string just crosses corner of mouth and arrow nock (where it meets carbon) sits straight under your dominant eye. Position of anchor on face (varies depending on release type. Bow arm straight (not bent and not "locked"), shoulders in line with each other, drawing arm wrist and elbow level with each other or elbow higher than wrist (don't want elbow below wrist). Bow hand grip position. Another good picture angle is from directly behind you while drawn and anchored, but up a little higher such as 3' up a ladder. This picture lets you see your drawing arm position in relation to the arrow. They should be in line with each other, elbow should be parallel to the arrow and not pointing in or out from it. This pic view also helps to analyze correct draw length, the same as the first style of pic showing that your not leaning back at the waist, your drawing elbow isn't below your wrist, and the arrow nock sits right under your sighting eye. With all that being said, many folks shoot really well without having "perfect" form. The biggest things that affect how much my pin waves around are: Draw length, trying to draw too much weight, draw length, weight/balance of the bow, and did I mention draw length? Then its just a matter of "trusting your float" and getting a clean release without punching the trigger as your pin wanders by the bullseye. Analyze the pics and find the most obvious "flaw" you see. Perfect form means nothing if it doesn't improve your arrow groups. Work on one "flaw" you see at a time and see if your groups improve. Make sure to give it an honest go, if you already have shooting habits it'll take a bit for a change to not feel weird.
YOOOOO......loving the advice here. Definitely printing this post and seeing what I can do about it this weekend. I'll get both myself and my son and come back here with "evidence" for criticizing. I will say as far as the "one thing at a time" focus, I have been focused lately on the "pulling" trigger as opposed to "punching/slapping" it. I will say that one little piece has already felt like its making a difference. And as far as "perfect" form goes...I am approaching this in much the same way I do bowling. Everyone's body moves, reacts and shapes differently so I got to find what works best for myself and then improve on that. But having good base advice from much more experienced archers I feel is best way to get off the starting grid quicker.
A lot of this feedback is awesome I use tension bands and switch arms I keep them with me in the range back and have a set at my work desk. I also will do 30 second pulls when target shooting. Set a timer on your watch or phone and hold the draw until it goes off. If you have an iphone set it for 35 seconds and put it on repeat. gives you 5 seconds nock and draw again. I do this 5 times. rest, then regular shoot and repeat. I only do this once a week though. It has helped me immensely in steadying my shot more than improving my strength. Keep in mind that stretching is just as vital as strengthening. There's no point in gaining strength if the tendons and joints aren't also conditioned. Here is a link i keep on my phone of some workouts and stretches. https://www.outdoorhub.com/how-to/2020/03/30/archery-strength-exercises-increasing-draw-weight/
Smallest is a simple resistance band. There’s also a Bow Trainer Resistance Trainer on Amazon. It’s in the shape of a bow with bands of different strengths/ draw weights. It says it goes from 3-120lb draw weights. Might want to check that out.
I have the accubow which is nice, but definitely has its flaws. I used it to get back into shape when I wasn't hunting during the 2019 season due to moving states. Helped me keep my form but definitely did not help with shooting. Found out that when I was drawing it because of the phone mount it was making me start using my left eye(Right eye is dominant) to aim. Now I just use it with no phone and aim normally. Also is able to be dry fired. So I'm able to work on using my release in case I'm punching it. I managed to get it around Christmas time then and got a pretty good deal. not sure what they cost now. But the resistance bands are a great cheaper idea.
