Longbow sizing for tall 8 year old

[RichardH]

My son is 8 (soon 9), but is probably as tall as most 11-12 year olds. He's been shooting (longbow) for about 6-7 months now, and has worked up from a 14# @ 22" to a 20# @ 22" (club) bow. I would say that his draw length is probably around the 22" mark.

Just to stop him getting too cocky, I suggested he tried a 40# @ 28" club bow, which he drew easily, and then proceded to shoot really well with. He would be the first to say if a bow was too powerful for him, so I am sure that he's not pushing himself too hard.

Now as far as I understand it, you gain about 2# per extra inch of draw, so if you work backwards, he's drawing that 40#@28" bow to about 28# @ 22".

Bearing in mind that the club bows are probably not quite as powerful as stated, as they are getting on a bit and losing some of their power, I still think he would happily draw a 35# @ 28" bow (to his draw length of 22").

We have been intending to buy him a bow shortly, and had expected to buy a 20 - 25# @ 22" bow.

However, I was wondering whether a full size bow of suitable poundage might be a better option - for one thing I would expect it to have a better chance of reselling when he moves up in weight.

What are the downsides of him using a full length bow designed for a 28" draw? He's tall enough so as he doesn't drag it on the ground when shooting, but as we go to field shoots, it may be a bit more ungainly for him when shooting through obstacles so he will have to be more observant of his surroundings. I know a bow designed to "work" properly at 28" isn't necessarily going to perform at its best at a lower draw, but unless we had a custom bow made for him,. I'm not sure that's going to be too much of a concern.

[LineCutter]

Been there, done that, made the bows myself.
Taken simply he's going to grow bigger & stronger with time. You're looking for a bow that will take him maybe 4 years down the line. I've only just had to wean the largest kid off of the 54" bows - she's now got a full sized one a) 'cos I'm fed up with making new bows & b) she's now drawing 26(ish)" & still growing.
I've opted for light draw weight bows & shorter bow lengths, with upgrading as part of the strategy. Biggest now draws about 20-22#, which will do for a growing 13 year old IMHO.

So, I'd suggest buying a bow with a draw weight & length to suit the next couple of years & make it immediately accessible in all it's glory. (& face the fact that you're buying another one when this one dies or gets too small)

[Mad Archer]

Just a word of warning. I have been told that putting too much load on children's joints and muscles can have longer term implications. You might want to get some advice from the coaches in your club or locally.

Good to see juniors wanting to shoot longbow!!

[hawkeye]

Originally Posted by Mad Archer

Just a word of warning. I have been told that putting too much load on children's joints and muscles can have longer term implications. You might want to get some advice from the coaches in your club or locally.

Good to see juniors wanting to shoot longbow!!

Thats a very good point - When I was a youngster I competed at British level in Olympic weight lifting (and became British Champion at 13) That was all lovely BUT although I was capable of lifting the heavy weights (and I class 87.5kgs above my head at 13 years old heavy when I only weighed 36kgs) The long term effect on my joints is not as glorious as winning the British title I can tell ya that !!!

Thankfully archery does affect them bad ones!!

I'm not telling you all this to show off it's just a warning that although kids are capable it's not always a good thing to let them push themselves too hard.

However, my feelings on the matter of too much too soon is if he can use a 40lb bow comfortably all morning then he should be fine, but if he is getting fatigued or tired after 60 arrows then maybe its worth going for lower poundage.

I hope this helps in your decision and good luck to him !! Good to see junior longbowmen

[Ffish]

My 11 year old (boy) has only just taken up the longbow, having been shooting recurve for the past 18 months. So far he's only managed to shoot about 3 dozen with it due to the bad weather and tournaments that we've entered him for as a recurver.

He's quite tall for his age (about 5' 1") and he's drawing 24". His recurve bow has around 20lbs on the fingers, and the longbow is about 35lbs.

We (I) got his longbow from Steven Ralphs in Norfolk, who made it specially for him, and it's a beautiful bow, and will probably last him well into his teens. We opted for "his height plus 5 inches" as a measure of the bow, to give him capacity for growth with it.

If you're looking for a bowyer who isn't too expensive (bearing in mind he might not stick with it) and will give you excellent advice, I can highly recommend Steve's services. His web site is here. We paid a little over £200 for the bow and 12 arrows.

[RichardH]

Our club is longbow only (well - I think any one piece trad style bow would be accepted actually - the emphasis is on bows made with traditional skills). We have a range of club bows which are all Bickerstaffe reenactment bows (the self nocked hickory/lemonwood ones). We are fortunate in having a nice range of bows in size and weight (albeit of varying age and string follow in some cases). He can try bows for a morning to get a feel for the weight - I think the thing to do is find a club bow that he is happy with, then measure the weight he has on his fingers.

I completely agree re not wanting to overdo the weight of bow - but he's actually not a sporty type at all (which is why I'm so glad he (and my wife and myself) have got into archery). He would be the first one to moan if a bow was too powerful for him. A little while back he'd been using the club 14#@22 for a long time, and we were trying to get him to move up to the 18#@22, but he tried it and said it was too strong for him - so I think he's sensible (and wimpy) enough to say if a bow was too much for him.

I just measured his draw length this morning. 22" from back of bow to string when anchored at his mouth. He's about 4' 11" - on the tall side for a nearly 9 year old!

I guess the issue is whether we have a bow made to fit him exactly, or whether we find a "standard" 28" bow with the right weight on his fingers. I was thinking about resale once he's grown out of it (a 28" bow might be easier to sell), but then again a slightly smaller bow would be in the "ladies" size range, so I'm sure there would be a market for it once he moves up. I really do hope he stays keen, as he seems to be an excellent instinctive archer - he scored 434 on the Sunday of the recent Avalon field shoot.

Here he is in action at that Avalon shoot:

[Cimbian]

RichardH,

Please be very careful.

The bones of children consist of a higher percentage of cartilage than adults as they are still growing and cartilage is more easily compressed than bone.

A lot of the longitudinal growth of bones occurs around the Epiphyseal plates in the end of the bones and putting these under undue compression, as in drawing a bow, can reduce the growth. This is clearly understood as fact and is linked to the stage in development rather than physical size of the child.

The following is an excerpt from a paper explaining this:

In an X-ray of a bone, it is possible to see where cartilage is still present (At the Epiphyseal plates), these are the places where growth in length is still taking place, and it is possible to estimate a child’s age from the size of these regions.

Because children have a greater percentage of cartilage in their bones than adults, their bone structure is significantly more flexible than adults. This means that, in the event of a fracture, the bone will bend and splinter, rather than snap. In the case of exercise and sport, the bones must not be over loaded, or else longitudinal growth may be reduced, resulting in pain, and stunted growth in later life. Weight training should not be carried out by children until their development has slowed. It is not the age, or size of the child that is important, rather than their developmental stage.



Your son may not complain that the bow is too heavy for him, but he will not be aware of the potential damage to his bones.

Please also remember to have your son work both his left and right sides to prevent over-development on one side.

[provins]

Hi Richard
A 25lb bow should be all he needs to succesfully shoot field.
Remember juniors shoot shorter distances and you can use 1/4" or 9/32" arrows.
Always best to err on the side of safety where the young uns are concerned.

[RichardH]

Thanks for the further comments folks. Interesting point about excercising both sides - and point taken about not selecting a bow based on what he can just about draw comfortably - I'll take that on board and "take it down" a notch ot two.

By 25#, are we talking at 28" here?
I think I'm leaning to a "ladies" sized bow - so max draw probably around 26" -as I hope(!) that there might be some more bows around off the shelf at that sort of size. I know Bickerstaffe makes childrens' and womens' bows, but I also know there's a likelyhood of a long waiting list, unfortunately.

Any pointers to some likely suppliers? We would prefer to stick with english longbow (as opposed to american or flatbow).

[Ffish]

Richard - talk to Steve Ralphs at Albion Archery. (in my thread above)

<pasted> His web site is here. We paid a little over £200 for the bow and 12 arrows.

He's extremely knowledgeable, and will make you a bow to suit your youngster's needs. The one he made for my lad is beautiful. Since mine got his, he's probably only shot it on a handful of occasions due to the recent bad weather, but when he has he's always loved it and gets a real thrill from shooting with it.

Steve really does know his stuff, and he'll give you very good advice. Personally I'd advise against getting something off ebay (or wherever) as you might be onto a hiding to nothing.