Draw Weight Question

[Witchie Poo Cat]

Hello again guys

Sorry to pester you lovely chaps and chapesses again but I have a quick question.

When you are trying out bows of different draw weights how do you decide which one is best suited to you?

For example. When I was on my archery day thingy last weekend I started off with a 20lb bow. I shot a few arrows from it but it felt like it was a little too much effort and that by the end of the day my arm (cos Im a rookie and didnt understand about not using your biceps at the time) would be exhausted. I was then given an 18lb bow and finally settled on a 16lb bow. Not knowing a thing about archery I only settled on a 16lb bow because it felt easy and comfortable to draw and felt like I could shoot it all day and not get tired (which is what happened, no achey muscles until next day and even then only slightly).

When picking a bow are you supposed to pick a draw weight that feels totally comfortable or one that stretches you slightly? Im just not sure. My local archery club only has an 18lb bow for me to practise on and Im wondering if this will be too much or if Im just looking for the easy option (which is most likely!!).

Opinions from all you experienced archers would be much appreciated.

Thanks for your patience with me!

Witchie Poo Cat

[Tarkwin]

I would only select a draw weight that would be able to comfortably draw 144+ times in an afternoon.

Some of the nicer members at your club may be willing to let you try their bow, to see how the weight they use feels. Also your nearest supplier will be willing to let you try several sets of limbs to find those with which you are comfortable. If it feels like a struggle, go down in weight, bow limbs can be replaced.

My personal opinion is to buy cheapish limbs until you have settled on your ideal draw weight, then buy the ridiculously expensive Winsamoyt Q37s that are the current trendy limb.

Do not be tempted to get macho about draw weight when buying your first bow.

T.

[geoffretired]

What draw weight suits a person is one of the difficult questions to answer. Being comfortable is one of those expressions that is often used but it can be misleading too. If you use the biceps to do the pulling, you are using weaker muscles, so it is difficult to get the best from yourself.If you imagine that moving the elbow round, is the way to draw the bow, the elbow movement is created by the stronger back muscles and you will be able to handle a stronger bow.
By using the back muscles, the archer should be able to pull the bow so the string reaches the face. That may feel like hard work with some bows, but "hard work" may just mean it feels difficult;because you are not used to it. If you cannot draw the string to your face with a certain bow, and you are using the back muscles, then it is too heavy for you. If you can pull the string to your face and hold it there for five or six seconds without HAVING to let it go, then most people would say you were in the right region.

From what I can gather from your introduction, you are interested in field archery? The type of bow is as yet unknown. 18lb's seems like a good start for a lady archer. When you join an archery club you will be able to try lots of different draw weights etc. The stamina to shoot a recuve bow builds with time. Light limbs are great to teach good form. Wait till yiu join a club, then decide.

[Tobytoolbag]

Agree with all of the above advice - start at a low poundage, and then gradually increase draw weight, over a period of months or years, until you're drawing limbs that will enable you to shoot your maximum distance and you're able to comfortably shoot them, literally, all day.

As a novice, you're likely to see people at your club drawing recurves with draw weights in the high-30's up to high-40's (and compounds with even higher peak draw weights!), and assume that as soon as you've done your beginners course, you should be looking to get something similar. BIG MISTAKE!

You'll need to build up to that sort of thing, and, more importantly, maintain your 'archery fitness' in being able to draw those sort of poundages...

Having said that, you're probably more able to get away with more 'form flaws' with lighter poundage bows, since your muscles can more easily cope with the light poundage, even though your technique might not be remotely correct. So it's probably a good idea to aim to be drawing 20-24lb, and make sure you've got a coach on hand to help you employ the correct techniques...

[Rik]

The one point not touched on so far, is that the quality of the bow can have quite a large effect on the weight you feel comfortable drawing. So when you try out equipment, don't limit yourself to just trying weights close to what you're used to on a training bow.

As an example; I bought a cheap metal handled bow as a starter. Nominally (and measured!) the same weight as those 'experienced' members of the club were using. But the difference in the feel of that weight was dramatic.
Then, my wife, using an 18 pound trainer on her course went out to try bows and came back with a 28 pound bow which felt better...

[Kellog]

18lb should be fine, especially in your lessons which will only be a couple of hours long probably, which gives you a chance to build up muscles and stamina nice and gentley