Archery Injury Prevention: Prevent Draw Shoulder Issues Avoid Impingement from Shooting Archery 

I can’t believe it, my old club up in Qld Australia teaches the high arm draw, from beginners right through to advanced. And I can still remember a number of club members complaining about sore shoulder and the only solution to lessen this problem was to lower the bow weight, sheesh I’m so glad I saw this vid, thanks Jake!

YT suggested a video with many thousands of view recommending the high draw. He didn't seem especially qualified. Less than 2 minutes in, I read a comment recommending the exact opposite, and mentioning this video. Thanks for making this video.

This applies to modern style olympic draws, but does not apply to most asiatic traditional styles. These all start with the high draw postions but draw through a very different travel arc than is being demonstrated. The "old method" you refer to was not for gravity but to generate the "pull down draw' which fully engages the back for the draw and uses longer draw to ensure the shoulder opens and settles correctly. There is a still a vibrant ELB heavy war bow community and a growing Asiatic heavy war bow community.

The number one way to avoid this sort of positional error across any activity is training of the rear head of the deltoid muscle. Not only does it help posture and help to ensure the overall health of the rear shoulder, but it avoids a person relying on the strength of their mid deltoid when pulling backward. This is often why someone would end up in that awkward posture you’re advising against. They are leaning on the more developed part of their deltoid to initiate and stabilize the draw before their back is fully positonally engaged.

For war bows/trad shooting, we don't use gravity, it's like a pull up and we use our lats. It feels nice. But thanks for this video, it'll help with my free lessons.

Thanks Jake. You’ve just described almost exactly how I was shooting a couple of years ago. A lot of time off and many visits to the physiotherapist later I’m going through the arduous process of changing my form to protect the shoulder. Wish I’d known a few years earlier.

I have started to injure my arms, now recovering with correct advice... Thanks

THANKS Jake for this video - Perfectly describes my problem ...I've just come off a couple of months resting a Subacromial Bursa & Supraspinatus Tendon Impingement....my ultrasound report identified both and your video explains cause and remedy extremely well. Honestly, Thank you for imparting your wisdom across the planet of Archers..your gifts in understanding, communication, and skill sets are all next level.

I have never been a Patreon supporter before. You are the first and only channel I support on Patreon. I want to encourage you to continue to put out great content.

I see a lot of the more experienced archers shooting like this at my club, even being coached like it (younger archers that shoot competitions). I've never thought it looked right.

I keep seeing coaches telling intermediate archer's to draw in that improper position . I always thought this was wrong . I'm so pleased to see you explaining this method as totally wrong . Great video again Jake . Well done 👍

THANK YOU JAKE. Great advice as always and so well explained.

These two videos are helping my team avoid injury and making their form so much better. Having a ref at Set Up and draw is also really helpful for the intermediate archer trying to improve their form. Thanks!

Perfect timing on this video , I was yesterday just working on form and noticed shoulder discomfort because of me trying a high draw technique . I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge of the sport of archery and the proper techniques . Being 68 years young and getting back to traditional archery I believe it's more inportant than ever to learn proper technique to build strength and avoid injury. Thanks Again

I just started archery this week. I have some limitations physically due to an autoimmune illness back in 2013.I am right handed. I will have a few private lessons soon, but I wanted you to know I find your channel very informative and easy to follow your guidance. I am glad you showed that the anchor points should fit the individual and not be standard across the board as It is hard for me with my physical limitations to get a point higher than near my chin. I was trying near my cheek and eye, but it was uncomfortable, and I found that I anchor about where you do and have had better results, and it is much more comfortable. Thank you for your content.

Thanks so much 🥺 I’m dying from this pain!! And the answer was so simple ❤️❤️❤️

I did my shoulder in last year just as you are saying. Thank you for allowing me to get back into the sport by showing the proper draw.

Thanks Jake. I see lots of people doing this in our traditional club. The club has no coaches, it‘s just archers who like to shoot 3D. What many people do is kind of preaim, they try to allign the arrow with their strong eye towards the target before they draw the bow, wich raises their bow and draw hands like you demonstrated. Also that gives them a strange angle in their drawing hand in the beginning of the draw. I only have a bit more than half of a year experience in archery. It‘s very easy to find wrong posture examples around traditional recurve shooters, especially on youtube. I watched and subscribed lots of archery channels with „experts“ in the beginning and it was very confusing at times, because lots of people do the same thing in very different ways. I‘m glad i found your channel. It‘s my reference channel to learn about now!

Helpful, clear, correct description of impingement and busitis problems and how these can be triggered/made worse by poor technique. As someone who suffered a severe shoulder injury from motocross and is now (4 years later) returning to archery (with my daughter's bow!), I'm desperate to avoid further injury as you describe. I shall analyse my technique and follow your advice. Great to have advice like this from someone who knows archery, physiotherapy and the desire to train and importantly can communicate it. Thanks. Subscribed.

Thanks for these helpful videos.

How come I did not found this video... I have been having impingment for 3 years. I have consulted a physiotherapist but he is not familiar with archery at all. The condition was better when I am not shooting for a year. But it is worse when I start practising. Then I found that I have the exact form which you told us not to... I can't wait to try you way in the next practice. Thank you! I really appreciate your videos.

Extremely helpful, thank you!

Thank you for your insight! Much appreciated

Thank you for this video. I didn't do high draw but still injured my shoulder and as I write I'm in pain so I was looking at some videos trying to figure out what did I do wrong and found another video teaching hight draw to avoid injury. I was thinking to try that if I recover, but I was so sad thinking I won't be able to continue archery at all. So you prevented me from making a mistake and gave me hope it's all just part of the sport and I'll be able to continue. 😊

Great advice... Thank you!

Thank you man.. been shooting traditional archery for a while now and just started developing sharp rear shoulder pain. I follow brace height until I’m set up on the bow so I’m definitely rounded forward. You saved me. I’m going to take a rest for a week or 2

Thanks boss. Great advice

I wish that this video had been around a couple of months ago! I decided to try using the high draw, and I've now got pretty bad pain in my draw shoulder. Thankfully I'm working with Christian from Archery Strong and we're getting the issue resolved.

This is eye opening. Wish to had this Video earlier. Im shooting since one year with hurting shoulder. I make everytihng wrong to this.

I think a lot of people do this because similar technique is used in Japanese style of archery but that is very different from the way people normally shoot. Another person comes in mind is 'Survival Lily.' But in one of her video she mentioned that she had a shoulder operation and this is way she feels comfortable drawing her bow. But it doesn't mean it's gonna work for everyone.

As a learner myself im finding youre channel to be my go to for advice and knowledge. Your doing such a great service to us bigginers, thankyou so much for putting in the time and efforts into these to make them easy to understand. Youre a true legend.

I'm not used to leave comments especially on RU-vid but I have to now because your work feels amazing, respect, humbleness and kindness despite the great expertise and background you have. Thank you very much. Cheers from France.

Ergonómico and ergonomics lessons are fantastic thank you

So that’s what I’m feeling 😳 I don’t lift high, but I do draw from brace height 🤷🏻‍♂️ but not from now on 👍🏼 Thank you 🙏🏼

Damn i used to draw like this years ago before I stopped shooting... Now I'm planning to go back and this is an eye opener. All your videos for that matter

I am absolutely a beginner. Been shooting for 2,5 months and I do pretty well on 60 meters (50+ years) I am actually not sure how I draw, but I do suspect that I have a high elbow. Will certainly be aware when I shoot next Friday. Thanks for all the tips you have on your channel. Very informative!

Appreciate the information.

Thanks for this great information

Great information brother 👍😎

Kyudo brought me into Archery. High draw is the Kyudo standard and got me pain when I took it to shooting modern recurve

One good piece of advice Jake gave in another video is that drawing a bow is like starting a gas lawnmower, and you don't do that up high.

Sitting out of a competition this weekend because of a shoulder injury - I'll be looking closely at my form when I get back to it, thanks!

Just stumbled onto this video. I find it intriguing because there is a handful of top notch compound guys (who will go unnamed) who promote the high draw in their RU-vid content. I've tried drawing that way thinking it was correct because of their notable reputation, but I find when drawing their way, I feel a nasty pinch in my shoulder and elbow - to the point where sometimes, I have to let down..... Now I'm back to the "Dudley" draw straight back method. Thanks for the vid and information!

Jake, have you seen the Way of Archery's videos on traditional draws? He talked about the push down draw, as he called it, I think it's a good name... It's kind of a gravity assist, but not really... You're actually supposed to keep the arrow pointing roughly at the target as you push down draw. I think the point is actually to engage core muscles as well as back when drawing the bow, or something. Anyway, he claimed it was the strongest method, and thus best for highest weight bows.

Hi Jake! I am struggling with exactly that shoulder injury at the moment. And the biggest pain is in my elbow. Great advice, and I am definitely keep an eye on that from now on. Great work Jake keep up doing this RU-vid channel. It helps a lot and it is a great resource. I definitely recommend it to everybody! Regards from an Austrian 🇦🇹 guy who lives now in South Africa 🇿🇦.

I’ve been drawing the survivor Lilly way for a couple of months now because I have tendinitis in my bow shoulder (nearly healed), but it was getting stiffer and stiffer over the last month. Even with exercise and proper warmups and cool downs. Now I know why. Wickedly useful video! Taking two weeks off shooting to heal, then I’ll start practicing that draw you’ve suggested.

awesome information .here is another thing i worry about especially shooting in a neighborhood where houses are all around you . everyone always start by aiming at the sky while drawing ,then come down to target .i have a problem with this ,if you let go the string by accident before coming down to target ,the neighbors house behind the target could get hit , and what if someone is out there walking around ? .NOT GOOD AT ALL !!!!! ...... ITS HOW I RECOMMEND DOING IT NOT IN THE OPEN FOREST OR WOODS BUT IN A CLOSE KNITTED RESIDENTIAL TYPE ENVIROMENT . accidents can happen , you catch a cramp while drawing , your fingers gives way ,your release malfunctions , etc. , so many things can go wrong ! I ALWAYS tell people to aim at ground while drawing and then raise it to target level .its how i have done it for a few decades ! if you let go string pre-maturely , the arrow lands in the ground , not someone else or house and properties !!! REMEMBER THOSE WOODEN 6 FOOT PRIVACY FENCES ARE NO MATCH FOR A SCREAMING ARROW WEIGHING 350 TO 500 GRAINS OR MORE ! this technique also makes you draw your bow with proper form i think ,your arm is way under your chin when drawing back . i value your honest input on this so please reply , YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE , THANK YOU ALL KINDLY IN ADVANCE FOR REPLYING !!!

Thanks lot for the video, we learn much to avoid this old mistake..

I tore the labrum in my shoulder shooting a bow with improper position. Granted it was a compound, but I still wish I would’ve had someone explain this to me prior to the injury and subsequent surgery. Great video!

Yep, after COVID-19 I got a lot weaker and started doing this and am having shoulder pain for the first time after 2 years of shooting

This is how our club coach keeps insisting I should draw, I never found it comfortable or shot as well after they kept making me change. I drawing much lower like you showed, and keep trying to going back to it. Nice to have a bit of expert back up I was not doing something that wrong! 👍

Just sent a first thank you donation and did not know how the process worked, so adding to my comment. After years away from archery, enjoying getting back into the sport with our daughters. Do not have anything yet, and want to gain knowledge before investing. Using rentals at a local range until we can prioritize. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with everyone that we can in turn share and benefit! The beginner's series with Heather is great and very relatable. Please keep up the good work and I hope many will support your investment of time! Planning to buy the book for our family for Christmas.

When I first started archery back in the day I was a bit over-bowed and so I fell on a sky draw to get my back muscles engaged easier, didn't know any better and used it for years! Luckily I ditched that a few years ago before any impingement issues. But in doing a quick check in of my current form my elbow is still not back far enough in setup and draw so I will start making this adjustment... Thanks for saving my shoulder!

I suffer from shoulder impingement and my draw arm is usually at my eye level. I will try your method and hope it can help my injury.

Great videos keep it up!! would be cool to have some explanatory images, for example the muscles while you talk.

Hi Jake! Very useful video...as always btw! Could you please make a video on how to to use the front shoulder properly to prevent injuries? Dealing with some problems a long time now and seeking for a solution. Thanks and have a good time.

This is how I draw my bow, OMG...

And I ordered the book. I already have draw shoulder pain, so this video couldn't have come at a better time. I suspected I was doing something wrong. I also went down to lighter limbs to focus more on proper form. Thank you Jake. :)

Jake, great video. Any advise for a sharp pain in the middle of the draw shoulder deltoid when letting the bow down fast?

Jake great video info my problem seems to be with my bow arm any suggestions or do you have a video on that

There's a video from Chris Hill Archery regarding the linear draw, which teaches this movement, which may be the cause of the rise of this type of movement

I like this video, helps with my barebow draw. What do you suggest for compound shooters since it’s a little difficult to start the draw cycle as you’re lifting the bow?

Thanks Jake! I won't do it AGAIN, I promise! I recently realized I'm doing something wrong, I was not sure exactly what was it and how to fix it. I start raising my arms because it was easier to lock my bow shoulder in place and keep it down. Fixed one problem, created another one. Lack of knowledge = pain

Great video, than you. Please make a Kindle version of you books.

Thanks so much for your focus on injury prevention! Question: do you have any videos or information about the proper position for the opposite arm that holds the bow? This is where I am struggling right now; with my bow support arm my shoulder wants to collapse inward when I draw, and I don't want any potential impingement issues on that side either.

Shot sorta like this for 20 year’s without any injury. Modern times... But actually when raising the bow my right hand is already aligned with my chin, so this arm never moves, I only lower the left arm and I’m anchored.

Drawing so high is often caused by a too high draw weight too soon. At least, this was the case for me because I was afraid to off set the weight with my hips and be low. Correcting the bow weight made all the difference and my draw became straight in without body distortion.

Thank you for posting this video. I've seen many new archers and even some RU-vid hosts doing the improper form. Seems like they are trying to imitate some of the stuff they've seen in movies or video games. ;) Appreciate you sharing such helpful information. Love your channel.

Wow, thank you very very much, Jake! I'm a beginner archer and I was wondering why is that pain in my shoulder. Unfortunately, here in the UK they taught me that set up position should be at eye level...

Holy moooley! Drawing the bow seems easier doing it the wrong way! I better follow Jakes recommendation!

I have a feeling these postures are very linked to the finger force distribution. I started to use like 30-40-30% in draw hand fingers. And my shoulder position are low and feels very unstable and gives continuous shoulder pain. Recently I changed to 40-40-20. A higher arm position is way more stable and not more shoulder pain. It almost feel like the oppersite, no more pain and I can feel the muscle are fully stretched.

Thanks!

Wow, thanks for this ... I am a 60 yr old ex pro wrestler with terrible shoulder problems tore all four of my rotator cuff tendons in my left are. broke my right shoulder, and never had it fixed, just kept wrestling, and elbow injuries including a complete hyper-extension of my left elbow that required surgery to remove a bone chip that locked the joint up ... all due to sports, years of heavy weight lifting, and a bad car accident. I can't even lock out either arm straight. To show how bad it is, I'm 6'5" and only have about a 26 - 261/2" draw when I should be able to pull at least a 30" or more!!!! Anyway, I just started archery a month ago and love it, just hoping despite my injuries I can get half decent as a target shooter just using a recurve bow! I will certainly try to pull the way your showing ... I certainly don't need to add to my shoulder problems ... Thank you for this!

Thanks

WOW!!!!......you must have been outside watching me only five minutes ago, I may have to increase my patron amount. Thanks for your content Jake.

The moment he said "no one in their right mind would shoot even close to that range " ( of weight near 60 pounds draw weight ) and im like burning with desire and aspire to reach that level of consistent and confident ease of killer bow handling lool ... No hard feelings, its ok.

I think the problem is not the pull down draw but rather using the pull-down draw together with the short draw length-to the cheek draw. Just drawing to the cheek makes your chest not fully expanded. Thus making the draw shoulder in a improper position. Considering other archery type but not olympic recurve, the pull down draw is one of the most effective and safe way to draw a bow. Especially heavy bows, I’m talking 100lbs++ here. And those bows often most of the time drawn further away, some to the ear, some even to the shoulder. So the technique itself is not the problem, just that you are using it incorrectly.

Thanks Jake :-) 👍 (the info I was looking for: 7:00 --> 7:34)

"Nobody in their right mind would shoot that weight." Mauro Nespoli: "Hold my beer."

Hmmm, i don't know. All Kyudo style archers have to lift the bow very far, since the time of the samurai and I don't believe they all have messed up shoulders🤔 Anyway, good video as always!

Hi Jake, how is this different from how An San draws her bow?

How does this related to compound bows … I see them most pulling with high elbow as recommendation. Also to prevent hitting your face when it comes to equipment failures …. Asking as recurve shooter with an additional compound ordered.

Danke!

I was taught to draw this exact way and guess what? I nearly tore my rotator cuff. Extreme shoulder pain that went from the space between the shoulder blades and spine, the shoulder, to the bicep. I’ve gotta take 2 months off to recover

We've just been taught to bring the elbow up (Not necessarily the whole forearm) before lowering it to the shooting position, I prefer to keep my T shape throughout from bringing the bow up onto the draw and shoot, but please can you tell me, am I right to do that Jake, or should I be bringing up the elbow?

Do you have any advice on elbow injury? I feel like I'm straining a tendan at my right elbow....shooting right handed. Any advice?

Working on an impingement

I know that yumi shooters, Chinese English warbow do that for decades. I don't see hows that any different. If the elevated draw causes impingement at lower draw weight then the heavier bow would exacerbate it . But that is the way people able to draw warbows

I had impingement in the bow shoulder a couple years ago, noticed it near the end of season. Had to drop to a 60lb bow to finish season. Probably bad form on my part. No issues now.

Is the technique similar for compound? Thing is you cant avoid following the brace like a recurve, and the shoulder is abot forward at the starting position...

I found that the high draw eliminated pain that I was getting in my *bow* shoulder, which had pre-existing injury from swimming. After watching Chris Hill’s video I tried it and was amazed that the pain just vanished. Could it be that the high draw keeps the force on the bow arm more aligned - I.e., there is less force pulling the arm to the side as you move to set-up position? It seems to me that no matter what you do, as you move from Set to Set-up you are starting with your drawing shoulder in an impingement prone position. So the question is how to get from Set to Set-Up with the least damaged to both shoulders. After that, they are basically the same, true?

I just bought my first bow, a samick sage recurve #45 a month ago. never been shooting bows before, and i love it, but my problem is that i got pain in the shoulder that i hold the bow with

According to Average jack, putting your elbow up in the air is the "correct" way. I tore my rotator cuff last Jan. It was a bad tear. Its still not healed all the way. I thought I would never shoot a bow again. But, for the past month I have been able to draw 60 lbs. I used to shoot a 74 lb draw. But 60 is good enough. And Im shooting 600 grain arrows now with 275 up front. They hit like hammers. . Unfortuneatley I have to draw toward my chest though to get it back. Its the only way I can get it back without it hurting.

Hmmm.. Im nursing an impingement injury at the moment.. I wonder if Im doing this without realising it. Ive also been shooting with a slightly open stance.. I wonder if this rolling my bow-shoulder forward?

How about push down draw like gao ying technique and english warbow archer?

Hi Jake, I am now suffering with a shoulder injury. Its a bit scary to go to hospitals nowadays due to the pandemic, so I opted to take a rest hoping that it will heal by itself immediately. You mentioned that you had some injury yourself in the past, how did you recover? Did you went through some rehab, took some medications or supplements?

Wow wish i would of seen this sooner. I'm having shoulder issues for the first ever time and couldn't understand why all a sudden I was getting pain. I think too much poundage and not shooting for months before hand certainly didn't help. Did you have any grinding/like tenden rolling popping with your injuries? I have full mobility but man I overdid something for sure.

I wonder if kyudo technique differs from that 2:09, how they are avoiding injury?

should you feel burning in the bow shoulder at the land 2 location as well? that area burns more than any other

Brady commented he dropped his draw weight and found he shot much better. Went from 50to54 or so down to 44to46