At 70 meters, in the final set of a World Championship match, with ten thousand eyes locked on the target, Brady Ellison draws back his Hoyt Xceed, holds his breath for a fraction of a second, and releases. The arrow flies true. This is not luck. This is the product of over two decades of […]
The Death Grip and the Wrist It Destroys If you are experiencing wrist pain after archery sessions, the most likely culprit is not your wrist at all — it is your grip. Specifically, the white-knuckle grip that many beginners (and plenty of experienced archers) apply to the bow handle, squeezing it as if it might […]
Tendinopathy vs. Tendinitis: Why the Distinction Matters For decades, overuse tendon injuries were called tendinitis — inflammation of the tendon. Treat the inflammation, the thinking went, and the tendon heals. The problem is that research since the 1990s has consistently shown that most chronic tendon pain involves very little actual inflammation. Instead, what happens is […]
The Rotator Cuff and Why Archery Stresses It The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles — supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis — and their tendons that wrap around the head of the humerus and attach it to the shoulder blade. Their job is to stabilize the glenohumeral joint (the ball-and-socket of the […]
What Is Lateral Epicondylitis and Why Do Archers Get It? Lateral epicondylitis — commonly called tennis elbow, but just as accurately called archer’s elbow — is an overuse injury that affects the tendons attaching the forearm extensor muscles to the lateral epicondyle, the bony prominence on the outside of the elbow. When these tendons are […]
What Is String Slap in Archery? String slap is the sharp, stinging contact between a bowstring and the inner forearm that happens at the moment of release. If you have shot more than a few arrows, you have probably felt it — a red welt, a bruise that turns purple within hours, and a growing […]
Most archers do not stretch enough, and many who do stretch are doing the wrong kind at the wrong time. A static quad stretch before you shoot is not warming you up — it is temporarily reducing muscle force output at exactly the moment you need it most. Pre-shoot stretching needs to be dynamic. Post-shoot […]
There is a paradox at the heart of finger training for archery: you need strong fingers to draw a heavy bow consistently, but a death grip is the most common cause of a ruined release. Understanding this tension — and training both sides of it deliberately — is what separates archers who make progress from […]
Archery looks like an upper-body sport. Arms draw the bow, shoulders hold it steady, fingers release the string. The core appears to be a passive observer. This is one of the most common misconceptions in the sport, and it costs archers accuracy they could otherwise have. Your core is the platform everything else is built […]
Most beginning archers think of drawing a bow as an arm exercise. Experienced archers know better: the back does the work. If your draw is powered by your bicep and elbow flexors rather than your rhomboids and lower trapezius, you will never achieve the consistent back tension that separates average shooters from accurate ones. Training […]