Ok I took a nasty fall at my cabin last werk and partially tore my rotator cuff. The surgeon did not recommend surgery because of my age and the fact that I was not required to work over head . He said the post op would take a year. I do need physical therapy if I want to shoot a bow soon. I only shoot 52 lbs but might as well shoot 100 lbs as I can not get that to full draw now. I have shot instinctive since taking up trad archery in the late 80's.,I realize I could be a better shot by learning to judge distance and shoot 3 under and gap shoot or do that fixed crawl thing but I want to be able to just look at what I want to hit and shoot it.,will that still be possible with a 40 lb bow? I can pull that back now but not many times.,what do you guys think?

You should do just fine. I have friends doing just that with bows drawing in the 30's and even 20's with no problem whatsoever.

One year I tore a tricep muscle, working out and lifting weights so i could keep up my strength to shoot my upper 80 and 90 pound bows. I shot through a large doe with a 37@26 Hill longbow. You may want to slow down your shooting tempo at first, but long holding times won't do your injury any favors. I would say don't radically change what you do, just do the same thing with careful reserve with the lighter bow.

I got a device called the Bow Fit. It has rubber tubes of various weights that can help a lot.

At 40#, you'll have to think more about your broadhead and arrow weight and shot placement. On some of those big hogs you have, you might have to be real careful to stay away from the hard stuff, but you need to do that anyway.

Good luck with your recovery.

TMBB

Yes.

WADR, do not even touch a bow until your physical therapist and your doctor give you the okay. You'll need to build up all the muscles around the injury to compensate for the damage and stabilize your motion.

Grabbing some arbitrarily lighter bow and shooting is not therapy, it's just risking further damage.

Yes, you will adapt to the lower poundage bow.Maybe shoot 10 yds first ,then 15, then maybe 20.

Been there, done that, somehow the brain makes the proper adjustments.

Once your brain reprograms to the new trajectory of your arrows you will be fine.

You can shot split finger instinctively. My girlfriend shoots a 29# GN Bushbow and she's a very good shooter all the way out to 40 plus yards. The key is a properly tuned arrow in a lighter weight so you have a flatter arrow trajectory.

I am more of a gap-stinctive shooter but I have shot my 35 # bow and my 55 # bow in the same practice session and I have always made the adjustment within a few shots. You will be fine.

I do. Why would poundage matter? Regards

Of course you can....whether shooting is good for you at the moment is a different question

Just take your lightest bow and work it and then move up or not as you strengthen. You don't need gimmick's or gizmos. Use what naturally comes to you the things we use.

Nothing foreign is required. Do push puts off the wall or door or isometrics to get stronger.

Poundage don't mater its form and tech neck and relearning after if you have to lay off for a while.

What spine arrow and tip weight are you shooting now?

What does the arrow weigh?

What DanaC said

This isn't JR's first rodeo, he's been bow shooting a whole lot of years and knows how to tune...even if he sometimes casts a line or two here. Sorry to hear about that shoulder there Bud. You will be just fine and it's very easy to adapt. We used to do it all the time going from heavier to lighter bows from hunting to field archery back in the day. Stay safe and don't overdo it.

You don't have to learn yardage estimation to gap.

Bowmania

If you stay in same gpp range your trajectory shouldn't vary too much from your current set up. In other words, if your two bows are close in performance, trajectory will be comparable for a 50# shooting 500 gr arrows and a 40# shooting 400 gr arrows.

Of course you can. If you shoot the same GPP of bow weight the trajectory will be near identical. Good luck with your rehab and don't rush it. >>>----> Ken

The two above posts are right on the money, a.400 gr. arrow out of a 40 pound bow will shoot the same as a 500 gr. arrow out of a50 pound bow.

Why not, if you are shooting the proper arrow for the bow, proper length etc, etc.?

Jimmy, I have not yet found the right arrow. I am in the process of doing that now. I want to shoot Easton axis and guess will start to tune those. I have been cleared to shoot this lower weight bow as it does not effect me as raising my arm above my head does. Since it is hunting season I will not be shooting much. Just a shot here and there if I am lucky. I was more concerned about having to learn this new bow again but what you guys say makes sense. Not sure what the final arrow will weigh. I only shoot 125 grain field points and broadheads because I have lots of them . I don't shoot competition and my hunting shots are close. We will see what happens. Thanks for the advice e.

yes

You can get your new bow shooting somewhat similar to your old bow with proper arrow selection, I've done that.

I had a slight tear in my left rotator cuff which made it really painful to shoot right handed. I was able to shoot lefty and did so for my deer season. After about 10 months and physical therapy, I was back to shooting right handed.

Crossbow time Babysaph! LMAO!!

Dr. J.R.,

Where I was going with my questions was answered by Therifleman. If you keep the same gpp, you won't notice any difference in the way you've been shooting for the past 40 years.

Good luck to you.

btw... GDS is right, Dr. J.R. does like to throw a line in the water now and again and we all know that. What most of you probably don't know is, he can out shoot about 95% of us who frequent this place. :^)

It seems to me that when shooting instinctive style, it doesn't take much to pick any bow up and shoot decent with it. I would warm up/work on form with my bear Grizzly 45lb. Then go back to my Wallace Partner 56lb (65lb @ 31") with no problem.

Yes, you can, babysaph. Sorry about your accident. Jawge

Fortunately as someone mentioned earlier it was my right shoulder that was injured. Actually this was a blessing because I could not shoot a left handed bow because I can't lift my right arm very well to do that. I can pull the lighter weight bow back enough to hunt. Different muscles. I am currently shooting 500 spine Easton axis. Do they make 600 spine? I guess I'd have to go with that to keep the gpi the same.

A lot of 600 spines available that won't break the bank. I use the low-end Victory V-force 245's for winter indoor and they work fine. Standard S-size components, 5/16 heads.

http://www.lancasterarchery.com/victory-vforce-245-sport-v6-arrow-shaft.html

Babysaph...yours is a poster child scenario for the primary benefit of using "big hook/super recurve" type limbs.

My 38# Covert Hunter preforms like a 50# conventional recurve and Borders ain't the only ones making big hooks these days...something to consider.

I like those big hooks. I have always been the kind of guy that just got a bow and shot it until I got good with it. I don't know the numbers on my current 52 lb bow but I shoot it well. If I can get a lower poundage bow that perform well enough for me to shoot 90 lb deer at 15 yards then I'm all for it until I heal.

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