CHOOSING A RECURVE BOW SET UP Here at On Target Archery Products, I found fitting archers with their first recurve bows a very delicate task as there are many considerations to take on board. Getting the proper set up for the archer s strength, ability and aspirations is the role of the dealer but it is crucial that the buying parties (especially when they are none archer parents) understand how their concerns about performance, durability and budget are taken into consideration in the choices made. In this article I will try to give some guidance so that parents and archers can understand how choices can be made. Left & Right handed / Eye dominance. Because archery is a shooting sport, aiming is of great importance. It is usually recommended, if possible, to keep both eyes open while aiming. This allows for relaxed facial muscles and less strain on the eye muscles which is a big deal when we can shoot up to 144 arrows a day sometimes 2 or 3 days in a row However, when keeping both eyes open to aim at an object, one of our eyes will dominate the other and dictate the movement of our arm towards the object. This is why if you are right eye dominant we will recommend you to shoot right handed, left handed for left eye dominant. Hand dominance and eye dominance are not always linked and it can happen that right handed people are left eye dominant and therefore asked to shoot left handed and vice versa. Most archery coaches will try to entice you to shoot according to your eye dominance as it is the best possible situation for future archery greatness!! However it appears that some archers find shooting the opposite way of their natural hand a challenge. In which case, if agreed by your coach, it is OK to disregard eye dominance and shoot with your natural hand, however this obviously means closing the dominant eye while aiming. We also can disregard eye dominance when an injury or handicap prevents shooting the preferable way. To check your eye dominance, ask somebody to stand 5m away from you, overlap your hands in such a fashion that you can create a little gap/hole between your thumbs. Raise your arms straight until you can see the person in front of you through the hole. If the person sees your right eye through the hole, you are right eye dominant and vice versa. Shooting right handed means holding the bow in your left hand and pulling the string with your right. If you cannot shoot with both eyes open for any reason, then you will close your left eye and aim with your right eye. Draw length The archer s true draw length is the distance from the nock groove to the throat of the bow handle/riser at full draw. The AMO draw length also called bow draw length is the true draw length plus 1 ¾. Be aware that most coaches and archers refers to the bow draw length when using the term draw length, and it is also what we use to select a bow length for an archer. A beginner archer s true draw length is difficult to ascertain because it is very much dependant on how good and settled their form is. It is not wrong to assume that a beginner s draw length will increase by ½ to 1 ½ in his/her first 6 months of shooting (mostly due to the settling of the front shoulder and a firmer chin anchor). For youngsters it is compounded by the fact that they could have a growth spurt at any time, so that the draw measured today will be invalid tomorrow!!! Understanding how your archer s draw length can vary over time is an important fact when choosing bow length, limb poundage and arrow length.
Measuring your draw length You might have come across a method which suggests to measure your arm span and divide it by 2.5 to indicate your draw length. This method is very crude and should be used as a mere approximation only. It is recommended to have an archery coach or an archery dealer do the measuring while the archer pulls a bow to full draw, they can look at the archer s form and determine if he/she is pulling the correct draw length. Bow length The proper bow length for an archer is dependent on his/her bow draw length (See table below). If the bow is correct for the archer, the optimum limb tip curve is achieved at full draw which leads to maximum arrow speed and accuracy. If the bow is too long, the arrows will go slower, if the bow is too short the arrows will go faster but the archer will experience a stacking feeling at full draw and the limbs could sustain damages over time. As youngsters can grow significant amounts in short periods of time, it is tempting for parents to get longer bows for them to grow into. In our opinion it is OK to do so while the archer if still a beginner who will not be challenged at longer distances and as long as the consequences are understood by the buying party. In competition however, youngsters often cannot pull the necessary poundage which would allow them to consistently shoot the distances they should be shooting. In this situation, getting the proper bow size from which your youngster can safely get the maximum arrow speed is essential. 54" bow Up to 21" draw length Mostly beginner/wooden bows designed 58 60" bow 21' to 24" draw length for youngsters. 62 64" bow 23" to 26" draw length 66" bow 25" to 28" draw length Standard sizes. Most recurve 68" bow 27" to 30" draw length manufacturers (Hoyt W&W Samick 70" bow 29" and up Sebastien Flute ) Recurve bows are made of a riser and two limbs. Often there can be several choices in riser and limb lengths which can make up the same size bow. Most standard size recurve bows come with 23 or 25 risers but now even 27 riser are becoming available. Limbs usually come in short, medium and long sizes (See table below). In general it is preferable to go for the set up which has the shortest limbs as they often provide the fastest arrow speed. Riser Length Limbs Short Limbs Medium Limbs Long 23 64 66 68 25 66 68 70 27 68 70 72 Bow length: Bow length is the distance from the tip of the top limb to the tip of the bottom limb of a strung bow, measured along the length of the outside face. Limb stacking: when an archer starts to pull an appropriate sized bow,the weight loading on the fingers increases in a more or less constant manner until full draw. When pulling a short bow the weight loading increases in a linear manner at first but rapidly changes to increase exponentially close to full draw making it more difficult to reach full draw and potentially pull through the clicker. Draw weight (poundage) When choosing the right poundage for a young beginner, there is a fine line between what is necessary to allow them to develop their archery form, what is required for them to compete in their age group and what can hurt them physically. Total beginners buying their first bow without previous training
It is of utmost importance that beginner archers start with a light poundage bow which can allow them to develop their form. If they struggle with the poundage they will never be able to relax their upper body and achieve a posture conducive with good performance. At the local club, all beginners, including adults, are taught on bows which have 18 to 26lbs limbs. Beginners who have been shooting club gear and are buying their own Archers who have been shooting with club gear for a while have a better understanding of their physical limits, but often have been shooting fairly low poundage set ups designed to allow them to develop their form. From experience choosing a limb poundage equivalent to double their age (i.e: 20lbs for a 10 year old) is a starting point for most 9 13 year olds, many women start at around 26/28lbs and men at 30/32lbs. However one poundage does not fit all as two children of the same age or two adults can be vastly different in size and strength making it difficult to generalise. Here at the shop, we usually assess what poundage the archer seem comfortable with and then recommend to go 2lbs more as this should assure that the archer is not growing out of his set to quickly while not overbowing Competitors Getting set up for a bow with competition in mind or upgrading to competition gear has its own challenges. It pays to check what distances you are going to have to shoot in competition, and what poundage would be required to shoot that distance consistently/competitively. In most cases we would advise against increasing the poundage by more than 2lbs at a time, which means that it is essential to plan ahead if major poundage upgrades are necessary. How often can an archer increase his/her poundage depends widely on the overall strength of the archer, the amount of training the archer is putting in and the quality of the archer s form. Disregarding those can result in overbowing which leads to decrease in performance and injuries, the more common injuries being to the pulling shoulder. Getting your archery coach to advise on a suitable poundage is the best option. Here in the shop when looking for a suitable bow for an archer, we get him/her to draw the bow and we watch their bow arm, if it shakes while they are drawing or on anchoring, it usually indicates that the poundage is too heavy. Of course pulling the bow in a shop 2 or 3 times without even shooting an arrow is not even close to conditions when shooting 10 ends in a row, so listening and trying to understand how the archer is feeling when they try the bow is very important. Bow Draw Weight. The poundage of a bow is determined by the Strength of the limbs and the length of the bow and is by convention measured at a 28 bow draw length whatever the length of the bow. Manufacturers usually mark the limbs with 2 poundage ratings, one for a 23 riser and one for a 25 riser. Because of the laws of physics the rule is to subtract 1 pound for each inch of increased bow length. Hence a set of medium limbs which are rated 26lbs for a 23 riser (making a 66 bow) will be produce 24lbs if placed on a 25 riser (making a 68 bow). This means that if you are buying a second hand pair of limbs, be vigilant with the information provided. Those poundage ratings are not fully regulated and the manufacturers do not disclose on which risers the ratings have been done. When mixing and matching brands and products some discrepancies can occur between the stated poundage and the actual one. It is also worth noting that risers with International Limb Fitting have a 10% weight adjustment range, therefore the position of the limbs bolt will affect the pulling weight. Actual Draw Weight. The poundage rating is done at 28 bow draw length, however the chance that your bow draw length is also 28 is minimal. If you are using a bow that is in the right size range, the rule of thumb is to add or subtract approximately two pounds for each inch your bow draw length is over or under the 28. Here is an example: if you have a 68 bow with 30lbs limbs and your bow draw length is 27, then your actual pulling weight will be around 28lbs, if your draw length is 30
then you will pull 34lbs. Be aware however that if the bow is stacking (too short for your draw length), or too long, that rule is invalid. Riser and limb quality Budget archery sets: sets with wooden risers are great for the weaker and younger archers as they are much lighter than sets with aluminium risers. They are very competitively priced and make great beginner sets for all ages. They do, however, have their limitations in competition. Wood is greatly affected by ambient humidity and temperature and wooden limbs are not as efficient as other types of limbs. In general the keener the archer, the quicker they outgrow their budget set. Intermediate sets: sets with international limb fittings and glass limbs are a great introduction to competition and can suit your archer for several years, especially if the limb poundage is upgraded regularly. These sets offer the same tunability as high end set at a competitive price, however, it must be noted that not all limbs are equal. The ability of the limb to transfer its energy into the arrow depends greatly on its composition. In general terms wooden limbs are the least efficient, then Glass, then Glass/Carbon, then Carbon/Foam This property is sometimes used to compensate for lack of poundage, for example at 24lbs a bow with wooden limbs would reach 30m while a Carbon/Foam could get to 45m using the same sight mark. (This is an example only) There is often debate amongst archers to decide if it is better to buy the best riser possible and then upgrade the limbs or if to buy a reasonable riser and get better limbs. In our opinion, there are options covering different situations. If you are not on a restricted budget: buy the best riser suitable and start with entry level limbs. You can then upgrade the quality and poundage of your limbs as you become more bow fit and your archery improves. If you are on a tight budget: putting more money into the limbs rather than the riser will give you a greater gain in performance initially. If you are on a budget buying a second hand riser is worth considering as they usually stand well the test of time, for limbs however there is potential cracking or delamination, issues brought about by every day use, as well as the additional problem that you don t know how they have been handled or if they have been dry fired Arrows What type: For beginners who shoot short distances (<=35m) and are likely to shoot the ground or the archery stand, aluminium arrows are a perfectly reasonable choice. They are robust, perform well at short distances and are competitively priced. The better aluminium arrows are slightly lighter and have a higher straightness stringency than beginner arrows and are suitable for early competition. For competition however, the idea is to shoot the arrows at the highest velocity possible with the set up available. Using all carbon or carbon aluminium arrows is then a big advantage as the arrows are smaller in diameter and lighter giving you more speed (Be aware that lighter arrows can be more affected by the wind). Getting arrows which have the potential to fly faster can compensate in some extent to a lack of poundage. What size: Arrows come in different sizes referred to as spine. Potentially there is only one correct spine which will allow you to shoot the arrow straight out of your bow; all other spines will make the arrow porpoise and land to the left or right of the target. The correct arrow spine for you and your bow is very important for consistent flight and depends on your actual pulling weight and the length you want to make the arrows (! Not the draw length). What length: The arrow length which gives the best performance is, at an archer s full draw, from the nock groove to the place where the arrow contacts the most forward portion of the
arrow rest + 1. For archers who use a standard clicker this allows for the clicker to be aligned with the front of the bow. However, for fast growing youngsters and beginners with unsettled draw lengths using this method can lead to having arrows that become too short very quickly. Therefore, for beginners and youngsters who are not using a clicker, it is usually advisable to make the arrows between ½ and 1 ½ longer than stipulated above (potential added draw weight should be taken into consideration if the draw is to increase). Making the arrows longer than necessary means that the arrows are going to be very slightly slower. This is however a concession to make to allow for the arrows to last (potentially ) longer. For competitors using a clicker it can get a little trickier. Standard clickers have to click on the riser or the riser extension, restricting the potential arrow length. If longer arrows are still desirable, one can look into a magnetic clicker which self clicks or extended clickers which mount on the sight bar. The effect on arrow speed should however be carefully considered when looking at arrows longer than 1 over the recommended length. Arrow Spine: the spine is a measure of the amount a 29 arrow, supported ½ from each end, deflects when a 1.98lbs weight is placed in the middle Arrow Length: By convention, the arrow length is considered to be from the bottom of the nock groove to the end of the shaft (excluding the point). Accessories Rest: if you are a beginner or if you are getting your first bow, stick on rests with a hook style arm such as the Hoyt Super Rest are ideal. They cradle the arrow and offer a built in plunger/button and are of the highest standards. More advanced rests require a separate plunger/button and work better with a clicker. If you are not advanced enough to set your rest and plunger right, it will be of no advantage to use this set up. Stabilisation system: Eventually all recurve archers will shoot with a stabilisation system. Their purpose is to steady the archer s aim, create a better follow through, and to dampen vibrations. Adding a long rod as early as possible is definitely the better option so that the archer can get the proper feeling of the bow from day one. However for younger and weaker archers it sometimes pays to let them get used to the weight of the bow alone before increasing it with a rod or a short rod can be used instead of a long one for the youngest archers. All rods on the market can be tailored to do the first two tasks; more expensive rods usually have much better damping ability. V bars and side bars provide the bow with vertical stability and can be used to modify the way bow feel in the hand. They should be avoided by beginners as they risk masking technical errors such as canting. In addition, beginners often do not have enough shooting experience to decide which configuration is ideal for them. Clicker: every archery coach will try to keep you off the clicker for as long as they can!! Although clickers are there to make your draw length more reproducible and therefore enhance your archery, if used too early or in a phase of erratic form they can restrict the progress of the archer by binding him/her to the draw set by the clicker. For youngsters with growing arms it is of the utmost importance that the setting of the clicker is checked on a regular basis. Sling: finger or wrist slings are an essential accessory of the archer as they allow for the bow to move freely during the shot. Most recurve archers use a finger sling but your coach might have a different idea. Slings can be purchased or made easily with shoe laces. Although many beginners are taught without to simplify the first lessons, it is essential to learn to use one before bad habits sets in.