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Almost everybody who shoots a bow for the first time, especially without professional advice, will wish he had used an archery arm guard!
They most likely will come away with some nasty bruises on their forearm.
What happened?
When you draw the bow, a lot of energy gets stored in the bowstring. This energy get transfered to the arrow when releasing the bow to make it fly forward toward its target.
The bowstring moves quickly forward and passes by the arm that holds the bow.
If your arm is in its way, the string will hit your arm with strong force. You most likely won’t even feel it first, because it happens so quick.
But after a short time, you will notice pain in your arm and upon examining it you will find out that the string gave you a nice souvenir of your first archery lesson.
How To Prevent Those Bruises?
There are two ways how you can stop this from happening.
The first is to use the correct technique.
I explain this as a part of my archery training, when I talk about how to raise the bow and extend your bow arm.
The trick is to rotate your arm out of harms way:
Rotate your arm like it is shown on the left side.
The second way is to invest in an archery arm guard.
Even with the right technique the bowstring might touch your forearm, depending on the bow and arrow rest you are using.
It is sound advice to get an arm guard to spare you the pain.
As a beginner, I would get an arm guard that covers the whole forearm, later you can use a smaller one, but that is completely up to you.
Now, let’s have a look at some types of arm guards:
Martin Archery Leather Armguard
This arm guard is made of leather to suit the traditional archer, who likes the look and feel of a great looking and hand crafted arm guard.
It features adjustable straps and the leather is very tough, so it will serve you well for a long time.
Get this awesome looking arm guard directly from Amazon.com.
Ultra Light Weight Archery Arm Guard
If you care mostly about the functionality and not so much about the look of your arm guard, then this one will fullfill its purpose in a great way.
It also has adjustable straps and fits forearms of any size.
Get the Ultra Light Weight Archery Arm Guard from Amazon.com.
Molded Arm Guard
The Allen 4200 Archery Molded Arm Guard is one of the toughest arm guards you can possibly get.
If you are a hunter, then this is the right one for you. Its camouflage colors will blend in perfectly with your hunting jacket.
Like the other guards, this one has adjustable straps, too. So, it can be worn over jackets as well, if it is cold where you are shooting.
Get the Allen 4200 Archery Molded Arm Guard from Amazon.com.
Get Your Arm Protection Before You Get Started
This is really something I want you to do!
Nothing can ruin your fun and archery experience as much as when you hurt yourself when you are just getting started.
You might lose all interest in archery when this happens, so please listen to me and take my advice seriously.
Archery arm guards are cheap and can be used for a very long time.
But what they do to protect your arm is of great value.
Believe me, you will regret it, if you didn’t use one and come home with big black and blue bruises.
What Are Your experiences?
Let me know in the comments below how you feel about this topic.
Have you made bad experiences and hurt yourself?
Do you have any questions?
Drop me a line and I will come right back to you!
Have a great day everybody!
Yours,
Moritz
