Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Should I correct this...

I'm not much of a bow hunter but my 7 year old has really been getting into shooting in the back yard every evening after school. He's started doing this funky thing where his dominant elbow is pointed almost straight up at the sky when he's at full draw, looks uncomfortable and counter-productive but he's a lot more accurate that way. He's only been doing it the last 2-3 days so I don't think it's an ingrained habit but I'm also not sure if I should try to correct it or just let it be.

Something is not right.

Does his bow fit him well...draw length wise? They grow so quickly it’s hard keeping their form good and bow fit to their specs.

If his draw length is good and his anchor is solid I’d leave it alone for a while. I remember struggling with a lot of my baseball coaches when I was young trying to “correct my swing”. It was far from conventional but it felt right for me. Typically I led the team in batting average.

. I think his draw length is fine but the poundage may be a little light now as he'd gotten into a bad habit of bending the arm that was holding the bow when he was at full draw. Got him to stop that and now it's the new thing.

His anchor point looks ok, what's got me is that as he's drawing back he keeps turning the elbow more and more up until at full draw his dominant elbow is even with the top of his head. He says it comfortable and he's more accurate that way, but I just wasn't sure if long term it was going to hurt him.

Kids are limber are you exaggerating how much his elbow is pointing up?

Is he shooting fingers or release?

Not exaggerating how how the elbow is. It looks awkward as hell. he's using a release

I am not you, but if I were I would correct that.

I would correct him now while he's young.......

Take him to a competent shop and have them give him a few pointers. Best to get it corrected ASAP

he is only 7 years old let him experiment and let him just enjoy archery ,maybe go out there and shoot with him.let him watch some those pro`s shoot in the big shoots like Vegas,Nationals,even Lancaster on the computer,let him ask the questions about archery. Don`t push him ,let him have fun that`s what i have done with some kids and my son too as a coach, best to let them learn slowly with lots of fun involved,i mis the days when my son dominated cub,youth and young adult in my home state , but when he decided college, girls and beer were more fun i did understood ,but before he quit 300 55-60 X`s were a every day score for him,that i never did make happen much for me .

You can correct a kid without not making it fun. Experimenting is one thing. A potentially dangerous form is another. But hell what do I know?

Maybe start him with the correct grip. It should fix the elbow issue.

Is he hitting?

I would get this corrected ASAP and getting him shooting with the proper technique. It's easier to break them of bad shooting habits at a young age, then it is when they get older.

There simply is no way he will be able to do that as weight increases. It will put huge strain on his wrist, also seems to pull the shoulder muscles as you raise your elbow, again under increased load as weight goes up. Also it "must" be putting upward pressure on the string/release connection which will cause accuracy issues.

Fix it.