# Bow weight- draw weight



## kawndn (Sep 20, 2011)

I have torn labrum in both shoulders, can't afford missed work to repair.. But want to keep shooting. I've reduced draw weight and was wondering if reducing stabilizer weights will affect hold and float. Or if reducing both will just make everything lighter and easier on shoulders


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## ILOVE3D (Feb 4, 2009)

Ouch, how did you ever do both, doesn't sound like fun to me. There is a formula some have figured out relating to draw weight relating to stabilizer and mass weight for what apparently works best. Bottom line is I believe you have to try reducing it and see how it effects your float and what works best for you. It's also going to effect your tune and possibly what arrow you use. Are you talking about 3d, indoor or hunting because each could be a different if you so choose for best results.


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## kawndn (Sep 20, 2011)

I've kind of given up on hunting for now, so trying to get things worked out for indoor 300, turned my Dominator down to 50# and taken almost all weight off bars, 30" up front and 15" on back.

The shoulders where injured with a slip on ice, not good, I don't bounce back up any more lol


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## RCR_III (Mar 19, 2011)

Reducing the stabilizer weights will probably help. The amount of weight I keep on my stabilizers will change if my holding weight changes, so since you lowered the draw weight then yes lower the stabilizer weight too. 

Your body doesn't have the same amount of force holding the string back now as it did prior so the bow will feel heavier with the added weight.


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## kawndn (Sep 20, 2011)

Thanks for the help and advice


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

I would start with a bare bow no stabilizers at all. Run couple rounds and see how much the arrows spreading. Then add a bare front rod only and repeat couple rounds then add bare side rods and keep shooting couple rounds. Don't expect to do all this in a single day but spread it out. ...try the feel and monitor how your pin is behaving how much your arrows narrowed the group, it is a good excersize as well, feel what your bow does want to tip forward or rear... After some time you start adding washers only instead of standard weights and eventually you will get to some comfort level. But hey, you are still shooting the bow  and...without the weights you will be paying way more attention to your form....


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## kawndn (Sep 20, 2011)

Great, I'll try it out.. Right now I'm struggling to get a full 60 arrow round in, could go to Vegas face and only shoot 30 for 300.. But yes will try without bars and work up that way. Thanks


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## Pete53 (Dec 5, 2011)

last winter 2014-2015 indoor season because of my shoulder problems and age ,i purchased a 30-40 lb hoyt target bow that was a 30 -40 lb.bow with spirals i did have to shoot triple x carbon shafts but i shot as well as anyone plus at state i shot a 299 46x with this 40 lb. target bow ,got 1st place in 1st flight too,sure i still have shoulder trouble but to be honest really 35-45 lb. is really all you need indoors. i now have a dst40 ok archery bow that i plan on using indoors set at 44lb.s the reason i went to a ok bow is it has less recoil .lets down easier,and is a double shoot thru bow so you do not have cam tork.good luck with your shoulders,Pete53


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## jozi (Oct 29, 2011)

hi, I am in the same situation. I have arthritis in my bow schoulder. I was stuborn and kept everything the same and could only schoot around 40 arrows, enough for 3d but not for target. Every shot did hurt. So I went from 45 lbs to 36 lbs ( I am not the strongest or the youngest)this reduced the pressure on my shoulder, ordered new arrows , made them as light as possible (240) and an foc of 12+.
Next as mentioned I balanced the bow without a weight on the front and no weight against the riser, shot and started adding weight at the front until I could hold it the best. Next I filmed myself and studied my draw. Noticed that I moved to much and draw now as follows. Raise bow up to around eye height wait for a second and while bowarm is still draw quiet back in a straight line to beside my shin. By doing this there is no movement in the schoulder and no pain. Now I can shoot over 72 arrows (fita)with reasonable speed without pain and I am enjoying archery more


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

The other thing I would suggest, have you folks ever visited accupuncture? Im not kidding here and I am not talking some younge student work from western medicine schools...
Here at my place we have a decent ethnic diversity from all over the globe, I am regularely visiting an older Chinese Traditional Medicine "doctor" and you would be amazed what they capable of doing with a broken down body...


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## Azzurri (Mar 10, 2014)

My experience stabilizer weight increase holds it steadier and gets better scores up to a crossover point where the weight gets too much and the scores go back down. Same is true of draw weight and some other variable items.

Reduced weight on the stab might make it easier to shoot. A trade off for lower score. But then if you're lifting much weight too long you won't be shooting period. So thinking about it in terms of trade off is perhaps inappropriate. You need it below a threshold period. Or no stab perhaps. A lower poundage bow might also be appropriate. For that matter, I also bought this bow which is simply a light riser:

http://www.lancasterarchery.com/fiberbow-6-3-recurve-riser-right-hand.html

1.2 lbs. I did that after getting tired and sore shoulders doing 900s. I am an older starter in the sport and try when I can to be protective.

Make sure the MD is happy with any shooting and if you do, shed draw weight and shed bow weight.


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## Cbfastcar (May 19, 2015)

What I would do is take the stablizers off and shoot bare bow for a while im shooting a prime alloy I have a 30 inch that I took off it was causing shoulder pain so I did it bare for a bit then put my hunting stablizer on and it is extremely stable bare and I look back when I was shooting Vegas 300 with the long stablizer i shot 292 with it and 289 with the short stablizer not much different but next season i will change everything get a v bar and I will be using a hinge instead of a thumb button but like I said before go bare for a bit and then try the stabilizers with no weight I would go bare for a bit just to let the shoulders have a chance at feeling better


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## chilipowder (Nov 1, 2012)

Maybe remove the back bar and the mount to reduce weight. Use a front rod only. Plenty of high scores have been shot like this.
If you still have trouble with bubble use 10 degree QD and rotate weight over to the left.


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## kawndn (Sep 20, 2011)

Just shot about 20 shots NO stabs. Holy cow lighter but no float more like waiver lol. I see I have a lot of work ahead. Thanks for all the help, and ideas.. As always the best bowman are on here..


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## kawndn (Sep 20, 2011)

Stabilizer with no weights a little better but still not the "float" I'm looking for.. Going to try and add a little up front, and leave back bar off for now


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## jozi (Oct 29, 2011)

hello as I understand it you were schooting with a front and side stabilizer. So you were used not fighting the buble. Without the side stabilizer your doing that now. More weight at the front will make it worse. My advise is put a side stabilizer on balance the bow and leave weight of front for now. Don't look at others forget that you need a lot of weight, your situation is changed, You have to find a reasonable float at a bow weight you can handle. Good luck


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## Dave V (Aug 13, 2008)

My wife is starting to produce exercises that might help. There's also a really good book called Archery Anatomy where an Engineer analyzes all aspects of the bow/body combination including force/draw curves and examples of bow weight as it relates to draw weight, and discusses finding the optimum balance that doesn't overload the shoulder.
http://www.amazon.com/Archery-Anatomy-Introduction-Techniques-Performance/dp/0285632655


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