Advice on achieving full draw on 90 lb ELB

[birdpointlightstring32]

 I currently use a Bear Grizzly recurve @ 55lb. I am able to draw and shoot the warbow only by drawing back while aiming sky high then dropping my aim down to the target. I have trained with this bow for the past 3 months and I am not able to draw regularly ( level instead of aiming sky high).If anyone has advice It would be very helpful. I train with it every other day and I have no gain with draw height only by pointing it sky high then pulling back I can achieve full anchor to corner of mouth draw. I hate to admit but yes I over bowed by self..  . I would love advice or a trade for a 45-55 lb long bow at least 69 inches long and a fps over 150. War bow is new and always unbraced after each use and never braced only while target shooting. advice or trades welcomed. Oh and yes this is my first post and yes If you trade you will get the trade as quick as I can get it ready with every detail of safety. Also may trade for a table vice that is the same design in the last PA magazine with the rotating jaws.

[Bevan R.]

You could get some rubber tubing and make a supper strong 'exerciser'. Use it to work on pulling. If you build your own, you can start out with a target weight then when that is easier, add another 'band' and so on.

[birdpointlightstring32]

Thank you Bevan

[Del the cat]

Interesting! That's exactly what I've been doing over the last 2 weeks.
Google 'bowyers diary' to see the last few entries.
Check out this video, you can see the draw almost stalls and then I get the right elbow to move down and back to get the last few inches.
http://s411.photobucket.com/albums/pp195/Del_the_Cat/websitevideos/?action=view&current=MRcopyvid.mp4
The next video shows how I struggled when I started.
http://s411.photobucket.com/albums/pp195/Del_the_Cat/websitevideos/?action=view&current=2shots.mp4
I started with 10 pushups night and morning and worked up to 20.
I've also invented a nice exercise for those last 2 inches of draw.
Stick you elbows out to the side and lean back into an open doorway with your elbows against the door frame preventing you from falling back.
Use your back and shoulders to lever yourself forward and backwards, move your feet further forward to make it harder.
Be warned shooting the 90# has made the knuckles on my right hand are sore and slightly swollen and I feel like I've been knifed in the right shoulder!
Some of the battle is psychological, once you know you can get that elbow back then it helps. I also found it easier to shoot high, flight stlye.
I start the draw low, breathing in as I draw, pull high and then come down again for the last couple of inches.
A couple of times I could feel my left elbow collapsing and found I had to almost lock it straight.
My regular bow is 50#, but I have an old Yew longbow which is 70# (actually68#) and was good for training up to the 90#.
I think the jump from 50# to 90# is too much unless 50# is easy.
The 70# takes a bit of warming up and I'd say 70-75 is a decent respectable weight to master first.
Most target archers increase weight by just a couple of punds at a time.
I shall probably only shoot the 90# a few more times to try for distance now I can get it back a full 28" before it goes to it's new owner.
Beware of thinking your normal draw length will apply at 90#, as there is a fair bit of compression in your body and 28" suddenly feels more like 30"
BTW... I just turned 60, so I have some excuse for struggling 
Hope this is of some help.
Of course the other answer is to take a few good scrapes with a scraper down the belly of the bow, it won't take muck to scrape 5# of it.
Del

[adb]

I currently use a Bear Grizzly recurve @ 55lb. I am able to draw and shoot the warbow only by drawing back while aiming sky high then dropping my aim down to the target. I have trained with this bow for the past 3 months and I am not able to draw regularly ( level instead of aiming sky high).If anyone has advice It would be very helpful. I train with it every other day and I have no gain with draw height only by pointing it sky high then pulling back I can achieve full anchor to corner of mouth draw. I hate to admit but yes I over bowed by self..  . I would love advice or a trade for a 45-55 lb long bow at least 69 inches long and a fps over 150. War bow is new and always unbraced after each use and never braced only while target shooting. advice or trades welcomed. Oh and yes this is my first post and yes If you trade you will get the trade as quick as I can get it ready with every detail of safety. Also may trade for a table vice that is the same design in the last PA magazine with the rotating jaws.

What kind of warbow is it?

[JW_Halverson]

Check out the link to his bowyers blog!  It's his own bow, copying the specs from bows on the ill-fated Mary Rose.  The rotted knot fix will boggle your mind.

[Ian.]

I too would like to know more about the bow.

As far as technique goes there is a lot of misconceptions out there. If you are shooting in the warbow style then copy a top archer who has a similar body shape to you. 90 isn't to much for someone of average build. Try to rotate the arm to engage your shoulders and back, then the rotation should force your elbow down lower than the arrow shaft, you will then feel your arms lock in position. Try to avoid drawing the bow straight as it puts all the force onto the relatively weak biceps.

Try searching for videos of people pulling 150+ you will see there are some common techniques.

[Peter-t123]

you need to be drawing to behind the ear rather than the corner of the mouth draw

[fishfinder401]

what i do is i have my pulling arm a little higher, and once i reach around 28ish inches, i open up my chest and drop the arm down, i find that its easier to pull heavy weight this way instead of straight back
here is a video of my doing this, i hope it helps a little
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqoZ8nO5V84&feature=g-upl&context=G2fa3bddAUAAAAAAAAAA

[birdpointlightstring32]

Thank all of you for your advice and help! It is a Rudder bows Tri-lam boo,ipe,hickory bow. In your opinion would this war bow be good in speed shooting or what style of bow and weight be good for just speed shooting getting as many arrows down range as possible. Is the warbow design and weight supportive of speed shooting?

[Del the cat]

... Is the warbow design and weight supportive of speed shooting?

I'd think the answer is a pretty obvious... NO
for speed shooting you need a bow you can handle quickly easilly and comfortably.
Del

[bow-toxo]

I currently use a Bear Grizzly recurve @ 55lb. I am able to draw and shoot the warbow only by drawing back while aiming sky high then dropping my aim down to the target. I have trained with this bow for the past 3 months and I am not able to draw regularly ( level instead of aiming sky high).If anyone has advice It would be very helpful. I train with it every other day and I have no gain with draw height only by pointing it sky high then pulling back I can achieve full anchor to corner of mouth draw. I hate to admit but yes I over bowed by self.. 

I suggest that you get a bow you can draw the 30-31 inches of a warbow arrow. That corner-of-the-mouth thing does not cut it for a warbow, and if you develop the habit, you will have a hard time to change it. I find a high draw helps with a strong bow, commencing the draw with the arrow at forehead level and lowering the hands during the draw. Koreans call this "going over the hill".

[Ringeck85]

Relating to this, at what rate should I realistically and safely set to increase draw weight?

I'm starting at a 55 lb. longbow (55 lbs. at 27"), and my idea is increasing by about 25 lbs. per year.  So by the end of this year, I'll be shooting 80 lbs. at 30"; the end of next, 100 lbs. at 30-31", and possibly up from there.

Is this a realistic goal or does it take longer or shorter to shoot a heavier draw weight?  Bear in mind that I am a lightweight (130 lbs.) and I'm not likely to easily shoot anything equal or greater than my body weight (but perhaps there are people who have the strength and technique to get around this obstacle?).

Best of luck to your continuing efforts, birdpoint.

-Jonathan