Transfer The Draw Weight To Your Back Muscles - My Archery Corner

Transfer The Draw Weight To Your Back Muscles

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Three men shooting bows

Drawing and shooting a bow. Used under creative commons from: Daniel Wetzel

Watch out!
This step can be a bit confusing and hard to understand.
Still, it is important to know how to transfer the draw weight to your back muscles after you have drawn the bow and found your anchor point.

Let’s see how it’s done:

First things first!

Once again we should reflect on what we have done so far.
Before you transfer the draw weight to your back muscles you have to make sure that you are set up nicely.

  • Are you using one of the three stances?
  • Have you nocked the arrow correctly (is the index feather pointing away from the bow)?
  • Is the bowstring hooked in the first joint of your fingers (don’t use more than three fingers)?
  • Is your elbow rotated out of harm’s way?
  • Are your shoulders down?
  • Did you draw and find your correct anchor?
  • Is your body a “T”?

When you can say “yes” to all of these points you can proceed.
If not, you have to start from the beginning.
Remember to move your draw hand slowly towards the bow in order to start new.
Never shoot an arrow when you are not set up correctly!

Transfer The Draw Weight To Your Back Muscles

Perfect example of the T shape

Let’s get into it!

Like I warned you before, this step might be a bit hard to grasp. This is something you can’t see, you can only feel it:

When I told you how to draw a bow, I told you that it is mostly done by your back muscles.
In the beginning, you have to use your biceps, of course, but now is the time that you put almost all of the load to your back.

This is done by moving your shoulder blades even more together.
Try to really feel that your arm is not pulling so hard anymore. Actually, your arm can even relax a bit when it is done right.
Your hand and wrist have to stay relaxed as well. Don’t tense your hand suddenly.

The arrow and your arm have to be aligned at this point. Your arm looks like the extension of the arrow.
You can move your elbow up a little if it feels more comfortable for you, but not too much.
Like you know I really love to remind you to imagine the “T”.
When you find your “inner T” you know you are doing it right! 😉

Let’s move on!

This is going to be one of my shorter articles.
While it is an important step, there is just nothing more to say about it and I don’t want to bore you with it.

I don’t want to linger here too long, because there is only one more thing we need to do before the arrow flies!

You now need to learn how to aim with a bow.
I already wrote about how to aim without a sight and how to use a sight, but I will elaborate on this a bit more as a part of this training.

I hope you are as excited as I am because I know the great feeling of letting those arrows fly and hear the sound they make when they hit the target.
It’s just great!

Let me know what you think about this lesson.
Is it easy to understand?
If you have problems with it, let me know what they are and I will answer you, or even change something in the article to make it clearer.

Have a great day and happy shooting!

Moritz

>> Next Step: Learn How To Aim In Archery

<< Previous Step: Find Your Anchor Point In Archery – Most Vital For Your Success


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(12) comments

Mark

Ho Moritz – Another great article about transferring draw weight. You do however make it sound oh so simple. As on my previous comment I suspect its best to get an experienced coach for this type of training – would you agree?
This may sound like a dumb question – but on your header picture the bows have little wheels top and bottom – Why is this?

Mark

Reply
    Moritz

    Hey Mark,

    I am happy that you are enjoying my website.
    It would be a great advantage to have a good coach who will guide you and your daughter through this step.
    The thing is, that this is nothing you can see.
    If you were to watch me transfer the draw weight from my arm to the back, you would just see me standing still. 😉
    But it is an important step and knowing about it is the first thing you need to be able to conquer it.
    So when you go to the archery range, ask your coach about it to make sure, that they are going to give your daughter all the training she needs.

    I would love to hearing from you how that goes.

    The bow in the picture above is a modern bow, called “compound bow”.
    They use a levering system with pulleys to make it easier to draw and hold the bow in full draw.
    I wrote about compound bows here and I compared them to crossbows here.

    Have a great day!
    Moritz

    Reply
Randy

Hey Moritz
Interesting post. I didn’t know you should transfer the draw tension to your back. I can see where it would be useful if you had to wait for a shot as it would not wear out your arms and shoulders. It probably makes your shot more accurate too. I used to have a bow when I was younger but I never got very good at it. It is something that takes a lot of practice to get the feel for it. After you get to that point you could hit about anything. Good article

Reply
    Moritz

    Hello Randy,

    yes it is definitely an important technique everybody should use when shooting a bow.
    It does relieve your arm and shoulders but is mostly needed to be able to shoot accurately.

    Did you know that archery has several health benefits, too?
    It is a great sport for everybody.

    Cheers
    Moritz

    Reply
renan

Hi Moritz
Very impressive, I enjoyed of all the information you have in your site, especially about the T position easy to understand beginners like me. I hope can apply your training as you show in this post of your blog. Can you please tell me which anchor is the best to start ?.
renan

Reply
    Moritz

    Hello Renan,

    great that you found my training helpful! Means a lot to me.

    The “side of face anchor” is a bit easier and quicker to set up, but both anchors are equally good.
    I would try both as a beginner to find out what suits you the best.

    Cheers

    Moritz

    Reply
robert Lawrence

Hi,

Thanks for the great training. I was wondering if you think this would be a problem for someone with a shoulder injusry.

My shoulder is pretty strong now as I’ve been recovering for a long time. I just wonder how much strength this actually requires to complete.

Thanks very much.

Robert

Reply
    Moritz

    Hello Robert,

    thanks for writing in.

    When your shoulder has recovered for a long time, there shouldn’t be any problems if the draw weight of the bow is not too high.
    Try a bow that is easier to draw, before you go to the stronger bows.

    But since I am not a doctor, I would make 100% sure and talk to your doctor first!
    Better safe than sorry.

    Let me know how everything goes.

    Cheers

    Moritz

    Reply
Neil

Who’d have thought it was so important to transfer the weight to your back when shooting? I would have thought it was all in the biceps, just goes to show balance and body posture are really important as well. It reminds me of how you have to set up exactly right to make a good golf shot and the weight transfer is important also body posture for singing correctly. Great stuff.

Reply
    Moritz

    Hi Neil.

    I think this is what most people think when they didn’t really learn how to shoot a bow from a professional trainer.
    The archers strength comes from his back and from the right technique.

    Really like your comparisons to golf and singing.
    All those activities need the right techniques to become really good at them.

    Thanks!

    Cheers

    Moritz

    Reply
Don

Hi Moritz,

Thanks for sharing this great information 🙂
One of my uncles is a very good archer and he already won some national tournaments.

I am only a beginner, though, but would like to get started.
How much does an amateur archery equipment approximately cost? I can imagine that it is rather expensive.

Cheers

Don

Reply
    Moritz

    Hello Don.
    I am glad that you like my site.
    If you want to get started make sure to follow my complete archery training.

    To get a complete set that won’t fall apart after a few shots, you will have to pay at least $100.
    I reviewed a few bows already, which you can find under my reviews.
    First you will have to choose your bow type, though.

    Let me know when you have more questions about bows or archery in general.

    Moritz

    Reply
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