What weight recurve do you draw (women)?

[StinkyPete]

This poll has been promped after a hot discussion at the club. Some people seem to think there is no point shooting more than 30lb, as todays arrow can get you 100 yrds with that. Other people seem to think that shooting a higher poundage will give you more accuracy, and should be done if you're capable of it. What weight do you shoot?

I've also done a poll for women, just to see if there is any significant difference between the two.

[clickerati]

I was shooting 25lb in my beginners' course, but they said I'd easily be able to shoot 30lb. Tried a 30lb bow when I was in the US recently and it felt good. </p>

[cecile]

Indeed, nowadays bows are really very efficient... But nonetheless the higher your draw weight the better grouping you will obtain, especially at long ranges.
Top-archer women shoot 38 lbs or more ! Why if bows are so good ?

[Barry C]

The best woman shoots 44 pounds.#

[secbridarchers]

I only shoot 28lbs cos I'm one of those old and grey archers, only joking Barry, shouldn't keep teasing you about your old and grey comments should I? Hope your birthday was celebrated in style

[Little Miss Purple]

My new limbs are 32lbs. I had thought 2 sets of limbs ago that if I got to 32lb I might stay at that and treat myself to really good limbs, but now after 4.5 months of shooting I have jumped from 26lb to 32lb limbs. I think I'll see how I improve over the indoor season before making any rash decisions!!

[Marcus26]

My wife shoots 44# and does so pretty easily. This gives her the advantage in tough windy conditions over other shooters shooting less. It also means she has to train more which is another adavantage. Last year our club had the top 3 women in the state and all three were over 40# and all three were training at almost 50#. It made a huge difference.

She shoots 60# compound as well and that's where she really sees the advantage. Most of her competition shoot 36-44# compound and are forced to really arc the arrows to the target. She can use a 350grain arrow and keep a flat arc with almost zero drift. None of our state's 1350 compound women shoot less than 52#.

Just making the distance is not enough if you want to take this game seriously. You MUST shoot a heavy projectile and get as much energy into it as possible. Those are the archers who will win the most events.

Of course maintaining technique is vital and foremost. However in my experience it is easy to build up to 40# by simply drawing and holding your bow at home each night. Within a few months even the smallest girl can be shooting high weights.

[*~L~*]

I shoot 31/32 lbs, i couldnt cope with it at first and found it hard but i find it really comfortable now.</p>

But last night i had a go at drawing Dave's bow and apprently i drew 40lbs, ha i was very suprised </p>

[jez]

I am shooting 34Ib on my coaching course but find it very very easy to draw...what weight can you go up to on recurve...i know compound is 70-80

[BowSurfer]

My wife has just returned to shooting this summer, after a 12/13 year lay-off due to the kids - I started again a few years ago, but we now have both boys shooting and we can all go along to the club and shoot together.
She used to shoot a wooden handled merlin with nominally 32# limbs (66" overall), but a draw length of only about 26".
I have just bought her a new Mizar riser, and at least for the time being, she is shooting the limbs that I got when I returned to shooting - Petron PS3 carbons at 36# on a 66" bow, but still with a 26" draw length. Even though she has only shot one 6 dozen round this season, she managed to get through the Club Championships yesterday, which was 9 dozen Windsor, albeit getting a bit tired toward the end.
With a winter season of 5 dozen rounds just starting it looks as though these limbs will do. The alternative would be to come down a coupl of pounds with new KAP carbons, but she certainly needs a bit more poundage than was available with the old bow which was really struggling to get 80 yards.
New lightweight arrows to go with it would be nice, but that's another 100 odd pounds and will have to weight for the funds to build up again.