Elbow pads for fullbore shooting?

[North Star]

We have just finished our provincial shoot which took place on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (bank holiday), but by the end of the competition my left elbow was quite tender! I wear a long sleeve 'wicking' undershirt then a Sauer shooting cardigan followed by an Andrew Tucker double canvas shooting jacket on top of an Andrew Tucker shooting mat. I have been shooting prone for 17 years and have had a tender elbow a few times before after 3 day matches, but how on earth could I compete in the Canadian Nationals or the Imperial meeting which last a week or more? Do any of the seasoned target shooters have a cure for this? Elbow pads perhaps? I'm sure David Calvert has a calloused elbow like a rhino's arse, but what do us mere mortals do to avoid this?

[phaedra1106]

Elbow pads are just the thing, not much use to you as they're here in the UK but here's the pair I use, http://www.henrykrank.com/index.php?mai ... ts_id=5642

http://www.midwayusa.com/find?userSearc ... elbow+pads

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/Hunting-/7301/i. ... elbow+pads

[Dougan]

Quite a lot of TR shooters suffer from this - It's not the pressure from the weight of the rifle, but the friction burn caused by recoil...

...most, including myself, wear a simple neoprene support which does the job...something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RDX-Neoprene- ... 2ec9b7dc6d

[breacher]

Have a look at the 5.11 Tactical TDU Shirt.

It has built in foam elbow pads.

Very thin foam so does not feel strange when not shooting - yet really makes a difference when prone.

[Dougan]

The thing is; that it's usually caused by friction - This is often due to a jacket not fitting properly, or not having as many layers on as usual (you need to be able to get it on in the winter with more layers on) - So whatever you're wearing, if the layer next to your skin (even if it has inbuilt padding) moves against your skin it'll still get sore...a tight neoprene sleeve hardly moves so reduces the friction.

[Les]

We have just finished our provincial shoot which took place on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (bank holiday), but by the end of the competition my left elbow was quite tender! I wear a long sleeve 'wicking' undershirt then a Sauer shooting cardigan followed by an Andrew Tucker double canvas shooting jacket on top of an Andrew Tucker shooting mat. I have been shooting prone for 17 years and have had a tender elbow a few times before after 3 day matches, but how on earth could I compete in the Canadian Nationals or the Imperial meeting which last a week or more? Do any of the seasoned target shooters have a cure for this? Elbow pads perhaps? I'm sure David Calvert has a calloused elbow like a rhino's arse, but what do us mere mortals do to avoid this?

Have a look at some of the airsoft gear. I got some really good elbow pads a while ago and I've never looked back.

Something like this:-
http://www.amazon.com/Airsoft-Tactical- ... B008HUE4S4

[rox]

Do any of the seasoned target shooters have a cure for this? Elbow pads perhaps? I'm sure David Calvert has a calloused elbow like a rhino's arse, but what do us mere mortals do to avoid this?

I feel your pain. I've broken my left elbow twice, experience bursitis, and regularly shoot the kind of 10-day-plus meetings you talk about. The strain from recoil on top of supporting the rifle builds-up and can be agony, destroying your performance.

I use a four-pronged approach.

1) I have a pad which was originally sourced from USA. The inner (latexy) part is great, but the outer fabric part that held it to the arm was rubbish, so I cut open a crappy kick-boxing pad, removed the useless foam inner, and replaced it with the USA sourced latexy material. It is awesome. If you're interested I will try and find out the source for you. You could also look at the material found in some laptop 'jackets', which feels soft until you squeeze it, then it firms-up. I'd like to upgrade to this material if I can find one on the shelf. As it is, the best one I've found belongs to a client, and I haven't been able to 'borrow' it yet.

2) Outside of the above pad I wear a stretchy 'athletic support'. It's a fairly tight stretchy tube with 2 latex pads each side of the elbow, which seems to help hold things together.

3) During a long meeting, or if things get painful, I use an anti-inflammatory gel, which I get from Belgium. There's probably an equivalent available anywhere. It's a bit like the 'deep heat' cream I remember from my school days, but less stinky, more effective, and less sticky.

4) If the pain gets too much I'll start with anti-inflammatory tablets; ibruprofen or diclofenac (under prescription here).

Finally I'll leave you with a picture of one of my team-mate's elbows. He had a great Imperial shooting on this, and is currently kicking-butt at the USA & world championships in the build-up to the Palma match.



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[rox]

I should just add that the pads above can not be used under ISSF rules - in that case I use the thickest mat allowable and take the pain (not inconsiderable after 60 to 70 shots). Other medications should be checked against the WADA database (or applicable rules).

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[North Star]

Thanks for all the replies! I initially thought that the pain was caused by pressure due to rolling around on the mat getting in and out of position, but the comments regarding friction caused by recoil make more sense. After all, the left hand is jammed up agains the handstop so a lot of the recoil is being sent straight through the left arm and elbow. I have found a local company that are into athletic supplies and they have a lot of different types of elbow pads and supports. If I can find something suitable I will try it out at the next 3 day competition in Saskatchewan at the end of the month.

[Dougan]

If I can find something suitable I will try it out at the next 3 day competition in Saskatchewan at the end of the month.

Let us know what you settle on and how you get on with it.

Good luck in the comp