I shoot a D type long bow and the BH is 61/8 ".I shoot well @ this BH but I know the string is slapping my arm some what.Will string slap effect arrow flight?

Either raise the brace height or turn your elbow out. I'm sure string slap won't help anything...

If the string slap was on the two outside the dot I would say yes. ;)

It can effect both flight and accuracy.Even with just a tee shirt my 68" longbow slaps my arm a little.Not bad but enough to justify wearing an arm guard.Doesent happen with my 64" longbow or 62" recurve.For that reason I use a little more fletch length/profile.

How did you measure brace height? If it affecting arrow flight, only you can answer but that is a good group. Jawge

I measure from the grip. I know that release is key but sometimes it just goes off target for no rhyme or reason. The shot sequence seems the same but the results are off.In tuning the bow the BH @6 1/8 seems to give best results. Guess I will try to rotate the arm outward more.

Just a thought the best shots I have ever seen wear arm guards.

Twist up the brace a little and see if it goes away. Arm slap is often from low brace.

Ive seen arm slap come from folks who were over-bowed. When they draw it forces there arm to turn inward causing slap. Brace height is often blamed, but not always guilty. Grip plays just as big of a role.

People often post pictures of targets without any indication of the distance...if that group was shot at 50 yards it is a great one...if it was shot at 10 yards not so much

DDave

Had the same thoughts Dave...

I was shooting my 68" 1959 Kodiak Special this past weekend. I started getting string slap on my upper forearm. Never had that happen before.

I DID put some vintage string silencers on the bow. They looked like soft rubber washers, about 1" diameter and 3/32" thick with slight spokes/slits in them. They came off an old string on a bow a recently purchased, and I figured I'd try them. That was the only difference, as I normally didn't have any silencers on this bow.

I couldn't figure it out, as I started shooting and it was fine. 20-30 shots later, sting slap. It turned out, the lower silencer slid up the string about 4-6 inches. I slid it back down about 10-12", and slap immediately ended.

I removed those "silencers."

Anything on your string that may have moved, or recently added/removed?

If your on any blood thinners you should be wearing an arm guard. You can take the advise of Kent. I'd leave brace alone maybe just check it if you know what to do next.

Looks like a shotgun blasted the target are these the 2 best in the center black dot out of these 5 arrows. Had there not been any other holes in target then I could see you were trying to duplicate and had 2 arrows to left and 1 to right of the 2 in the black dot? Looks good enough to get ya a critter maybe. Just how far was the shooting?

Not sure the group in the picture is the topic. He asked what causes string slap, not whether his group was adequate for the TG panel of judges.

If you are slapping your arm you might be gripping to tight or not enuff most times when you hit you wrist its a griping issue. Most times when I start hitting my wrist or arm I'm chocking the grip too much so I relax a little and that usually takes care of it for me. Bad thing is we all shoot different. Good luck.

Opening your stance will move the string farther away from your arm.

Your brace height seems too low, IMHO.

Is the brace that low to get a weak spine to fly good. Just asking

First, how long is the bow? That' VERY low even for a Hill style bow.

If you are hitting your arm you are doing something wrong. That could be brace height, or it could be form.

Yes, hitting your arm, or your clothes, or anything else will affect arrow flight.

Will it affect accuracy? Apparently not much as all Olympic archers and most of the rest of have found the need to wear armguards. Howard Hill did and Oetzi the Iceman was wearing one with his yew longbow 5000 years ago.

Hitting your arm, string slap, is normal, especially with longbows. - lbg

Because a person wears an armguard fella's is no indication that they regularly hit their arm. Truth be told, many of us wear an armguard to keep our sleeves out of the way. I rarely wear one in the summer when I'm in a short sleeved shirt.

Hitting your arm should actually be LESS common with a longbow if a person shoots with the ever popular bent bow arm. Your forearm should be well out of the way unless you have your hand way inside the grip.

Regardless, if the bow string hits your arm, it will affect arrow flight and accuracy. And if you don't do it every time, the shots will be different when you do, and when you don't.

Just another thought , I wonder why strings have enough serving to allow for said slap.

Not sure what you're asking there Matt. The only serving that my strings have on them is what's needed to nock and arrow, and place my fingers.

So you make your own strings? If you order one it comes with enough serving to cover that. I was wondering why they would waste serving material for the occasional brush with the arm. Thats what I was asking. Hope this helps.

I do make my own strings yes. And when I have to buy ne, and sometimes I do, I replace the serving if the string is going to stay on the bow.

I ACTUALLY can't answer the question as to why the serving is so long to be honest. Sure doesn't make the slap hurt any less in my experience.

I've heard several conflicting theories on string slap, as with most archery related questions. Some say there should never be any, others say if you're not stinging yourself on occasion you're probably short drawing/not extending your bow arm enough. My limited experience with D bows leads me to believe hand position at the grip and a slightly bent elbow will minimize string contact with forearm. Trying to adopt a recurve type hold on a straight handled longbow usually doesn't work out. Once your hold for a bow is established, a grazing buzz should be the most you feel, as heavy string contact with your bracer will certainly rob your shot of energy, at the least. As others above have mentioned, 6 1/8" seems a bit low, even for a straight stick. Good luck, hope you figure it out!

Old Korean instructor, "push the mountain, pull the tail". I was playing with some new fletching last weekend and wanted to see its flight, looked up as I shot and the bow arm was not pushing away, and it slipped to the side-slapping my arm. It may not just be brace, or loose-it way be your bow arm is unsteady. a thought.

Fortunately I have never had an arm slap problem. I don't know why but I like it.

...I think straight and dished grips need to find their way into certain of your handbones so shouldn't be fought with your muscles.

Could be grip/pressure on the handle.

Easy way to check Messure current brace heigth then put a few twists in the string see if it helps or hurts Id shoot atleast 10/12 arrows to makesure Personaly id pick it up 1/4" at a time see what happens depending on factory recomended brace heigth min to max Then you can slove the problem or eliminate the heigth question

After posting my last, I took out my pronghorn at 54 pounds and got slap. This was after using nothing but my Liberty English for a year. I took a look at eh grip and slid my hand so that my thumb knuckle, not the web was in the saddle-it disappeared. I will confirm that tonight, but it may be your grip or hand placement on the riser. just a thought.

If you are talking a Schulz or a Miller longbow, 6 1/8" is in the ball park on the bottom end of the range. That is where mine were as well. If that same bow has a B50 string some arm slap is the norm. If the string is hitting the arm guard lower than the brace height, it will not effect accuracy. Now, if you hook the bow string under the armguard up by the elbow, that could change things a bit more. Unless you have a very unnatural grip that is putting your arm in the path of the string, I would not change your form around too much. Hanging a longbow out away from the base thumb joint can cause problems for the joint and getting out to the middle joint of the thumb is not a stable position. Hill allowed the grip to settle low for stability and with most longbows that keeps the limbs in time as well.

I am with Dean, shooting off the knuckle is asking for it. My point is to change your grip slightly. In my case, I can put an artificial layer on my grip to settle my hand where it does the most good. sorry, good catch, dean

If the string is hitting the arm lower than brace height the arrow is still on the string at that point, it still affects accuracy, and possibly more so. The arrow doesn't leave the string until the string stops moving forward.

I can tell that you have not shot a 'D' style longbow much.

I've shot them for years dean. And it makes no difference what kind of bow you shoot, recurve, deflex/reflex, compound, straight end longbow, or a crossbow as long as the string is moving forward, the arrow is till being pushed unless it falls off the string.

The arrow can't out accelerate the string because it is being pushed. The arrow doesn't leave the string until the string stops moving forward.

I shoot low wrist and bent elbow, and shoot 6 inch BH, usually I don't have any problems with wrist slap. It can be a lot of things when you do. BH is not the thing. It can be a clutching release that sends the string in your direction; a grip that is showroom friendly and rotates your hand towards the string; A bad grip that is not on the low torque point and is rotated towards the string; incorrect arm position.

I shoot a Jet Bison 66" long bow with a 3/4 " back-set.The DW is 52# @ 26" DL.I have tried to adopt the Arnie Moe style of shooting and so far I do okay. Sometimes the groups @ twenty five yards are good and sometimes I just scratch my head and wonder. I know tuning is key and I'm there,just fine tuning. There is not to much left to adjust.When you hit on that magic moment and groups consistently group I hesitate to change,but I did adjust the BH up to 6 1/4" after the string settled down there was less slap and accuracy seem to suffer a bit. Will raise it to 6 1/2 and see. Thanks for the help.

John Schulz said the string hits the arm guard on every shot, it did with Hill as well. They shot pretty good even though the bow string contacted the arm guard. Of course, with non stretch strings that does not happen as often. An off line grip or torque will have more effect. That can also cause more arm contact, so then one needs to ask was it the torqued grip or the contact that caused the minor miss?

I think best grip has to do with the different structures of our different hands... but for me the best allows most weight between the two heels of my hand and secondarily the fingers holding adequately but not hard. Job #1involves the heels of the hand. In other words, I don't want to torque the bow.

Okay 6 1/2 looks good plus no arm slap.

PS do no drink cold beer while adjusting BH LOL

Beats warm beer!

I'm avoiding this thread like the plague. But it has been good to read. Kinda like watching comedy central,lol.

In the above pic, it appears that the top two arrows may have crooked nocks. Just kidding. The first pic is also no proof of anything either, perhaps it was a picture of a tight group and fly wanted to post it. There is a difference from sliding on the arm guard and blasting it. Without an arm guard a modern string material is harder, just a vibration of the contact can leave a red welt after a while. Personally, I find that always trying to stack arrows gets boring. Earwigs, little grasshoppers, flies that like dog poop, mud wasps, or anything else that lands or crawls on my big white target are much more fun to shoot at.

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