string hitting armguard

[snow leopard]

well, i did a search on this and came up empty, so--what is causing (or am i doing) that is causing the bowstring to scrape (hit) my armguard upon release? thanks for any help.

[moebow]

Where is your bow arm elbow pointed?  If the bony part is pointed down, you need to rotate it clockwise.  Your elbow joint needs to be vertical so if you bend your elbow while holding the bow the bow comes in front of you and not over your head.

[robtattoo]

Here's my reply to a similar question....

Originally posted by robtattoo:
You can rotate your shoulder to move your forearm out of the way. As you hold your bow-arm out, where is the inside of your elbow pointing? If you draw a line through your elbow joint, would bet that the inside is pointing to around 1 o'clock. If you rotate your shoulder, you can keep your hand in the same vertical or canted positon (canting alows for further rotation) & move your insside elbow position to 3 o'clock. This will then move your forearm out of the way.

Here's an exercise; Close your eyes & hold your bow arm out, as though you were shooting. Now bend your elbow until your hand touches your head or face. Where did it touch?

When I used to coach beginners & kids, 90% of them would bring there hand to the top of their heads.
What you're after is to get your fingers to touch your lips or nose.
If you start the excercise with your bow hand on your lips & then extend your elbow out without moving your shoulder you will end up with your arm fully extended, elbow locked & your shoulder rotated correctly, so that your forearm is out of the path of the string.      

[snow leopard]

yee, hah!! thanks to you both. i've been doing this for the last few minutes, especially rotating my left shoulder. i guess i wasn't aware of my elbow being vertical on occasion before. now i can focus on the shoulder rotation. thanks agin.    

[Stumpkiller]

That can also be a symptom of too low a brace height.

My coach taught us to rotate the bow arm elbow up.  VERY unnatural but it steadies the arm and prevents a string strike.