[Ffish]

Hopefully one of you can provide an answer to this?

My son has a desire to take up the longbow, which personally I’m all for, as it gives him a bit more variety in his archery and he’d probably stand a good chance of winning something at tournaments as not many kids of his age shoot that discipline. He’s also really keen to do some field shoots too, so we’re booked in on a couple later in the year.

The bow that has been recommended for him (by both the guys at Flybow and Pip Bickerstaffe) is what is known as an American Longbow, rather than an English Longbow. The difference being a shelf just above the grip which is used as an arrow rest. Apparently this is better for kids as they won’t cut themselves on the arrow fletchings and won’t have to wear a glove on their bow hand to shoot. Other than that, the bows are almost identical.

My question is – is this bow then classified as an American Flatbow, or does it still fall into longbow category?