Beginner Archer - Recurve first, trad later?

[Komier]

Hi all,

I am currently in the middle of my beginners course with my local club <so a VERY new archer> and i have definitely got the bug, and will be joining my club after the course. Deciding where to start with my own equipment is going to be the problem.

I have a strong interest in learning to shoot traditional style bows, particularly English Longbows and even more so, Asiatic recurves (or horse bows if you prefer).

My question is this, seeing as i am a total beginner to archery on the whole, should i go with a standard recurve bow, sight, aluminium arrows, for say a year or so, until i have good form and basic techniques under my belt. Then buy a horse bow or longbow and start to learn to shoot one of those.

Alternatively, because barebow "seems" so much different to recurve archery, should i just go with what i want to shoot from the start, and learn as best i can, perhaps suffering a little more frustration, but also a bit more satisfaction from shooting something i am very interested in.

I should probably mention my local club is a target archery club, with the majority of people using recurves, though a few do have longbows, so i will have a couple of people around to give me guidance, and also later on i want to join a Field Archery club that is approx 40 minute drive away to go to maybe once a week.

Any opinions or advice would be appreciated.

-Komier

p.s I know it's important to get a feel for different types of bow, and once i complete my beginners course i intend to go down to Quicks and talk to them and try a few different bows, but at the moment i'm just looking for general opinions on what the best idea would be for the beginner archer. thankyou

Great forum by the ways! Learning a whole heap just browsing, and alot less smack talk and people talking about murdering animals than on archery talk

[Kellog]

Longbow is a lot of fun

My coach wouldn't let me pick up a second style until I'd got to 520 on a Portsmouth, and I'm still not at the level set to be able to convert completely (540)

A lot of the longbows I shoot with will tell you that even if you're only interested in longbow that you need a years recurve shooting and coaching before you convert to longbow full time.

So IMO get a training bow, and do a years recurve then branch out into the world of traditional bows

[Macbow]

IMHO shoot whatever style of bow appeals to you. Bow choice is a personal thing and aesthetics are important - if it doesn't look or feel right to you then you will not enjoy using it. If you want to do the trad thing then go ahead and shoot a longbow or a horsebow as you are doing archery for your own satisfaction.
The principles of good form apply to any bow although some aspects of target shooting form (under the chin anchor, straight bow arms and vertical stance and bow positions) are not always the best approach for some trad styles. With traditional bows I honestly believe you get what you pay for and good bows don't come cheap so if that's what you wish to pursue I wouldn't be spending money on a training recurve and matching arrows unless you're minted of course. Surely your club has cheap training bows you can use until your course ends? Do your homework before buying any tradbow and get one that is made for you after discussing your needs with a good bowyer. Same with horsebows - the sub £200 bows I have tried including Grozers and Kassais are nothing more than fibreglass wrapped in leather and their performance was pretty poor. There are some specialist horsebow sellers but be prepared to spend serious cash if you want to do it properly (I'm not even including the price of a horse ) Good luck with it.

[Karen]

Find someone who knows about shooting barebow recurve and then spend six months or so getting your technique consistent with this (Don't learn the 'under chin' anchor point that the archers with sights use, but get comfortable with anchoring in a sensible place for barebow shooting) Then do a few of the target competitions barebow (will raise a few eyebrows, but I think now in the uk it is a little more accepted than it has been ) and also get off to the field archery club as soon as you can - is it just the gnas field or is it 3d etc? Don't be afraid to talk to anybody and everybody about what you want to know - most barebow archers are quite different from the standard recurve archers and are happy to tell you anything to help.

Listen to them all, read a lot, (magazines, internet, etc) and then think hard and decide for yourself and experiment with it all. Whatever suits you then stick with it - then you apply the same thinking to a change of bow style. Do your homework and it will repay you.

Good luck - and if you're ever in France come and shoot with us - we shoot four different disciplines of field shooting here - 3d, 3d international, Tir nature(paper animal faces) and tir Campagne (targets in the field like in the uk ) ALL under the umbrella of the fita-affiliated FFTA, our equivalent of the GNAS.

Maybe the GNAS is missing something here ?

[alanesq]

Hello,

I am in the same position as yourself
i.e. I have just joined a target club but I wanted to use a longbow (no one in this club uses anything but recurve and compound)

After completeing the basic training on a recurve I bought myself a AFB (for reasons you can see at http://www.alanesq.com/longbow.htm) and despite my technique is no doubt completely wrong and I struggle to hit anything at all I can tell you one thing - I have a big smile on my face all the time I am using it :-)

Hi Komier,

What a great question. Difficult to answer though as a lot epends on how commited you are to shoot longbow etc. It would be a shame to spend money on a recurve just for the sake af it just to go through the motions. It may also be quite a shock switching from recurve to a longbow as the longbow will feel quite awkward and basic in comparison.

I have shot all three of the bow types, ie recurve, compound and longbow, and it's been a great learning curve.

In your case I would be tempted to beg, borrow or buy a training recurve bow. You can shoot it without a sight too. Shoot that for a while and then buy the bow you realy want.

[Komier]

Thanks for all the replies guys, any input is great, although it doesnt make the decision any easier, archery seems to be such a personal sport thats it's very hard for other people to say what the right thing to do is.

Although all of the disciplines share similar principles, i think the differences are enough that it's going to be a shock and a steep learning curve whenever you switch. Although the standard recurve + sight may be excellent for training, as you say, when switching to longbow, a simple stick, longer bow, no sight, different form, higher anchor points, different aiming technique altogether, it is going to be quite a shock regardless of what i have been shooting, or not been shooting as the case may be.

If it was purely a matter of picking a bow i love for the history, and the "feel" it would without a doubt be a Grozer or Kassai asiatic recurve, probably one of the trh laminate ones. However because i am so new, i don't want to get one, and find it so challenging, and able to get so little help with that style of shooting that i get too disheartened early on, but, likewise i don't want to spend good amount of cash on a recurve only to decide i HAVE to buy a longbow or horsebow in 6 months time and never pick up the recurve again.

Still you guys have given me alot to think about, and although it is a dilemma, it's a nice dliemma. Keep the replies coming, helps me think Much appreciated.

-Komier

[wingate_52]

Shoot what you want to shoot. Basics are basics. Get a good longbow made to your specs. The only problem being a beginner is the poundage. To hit 100 yards and clout you need a bow in excess of 50# at 28" draw. You may need to build up with a trainer bow, or cheaper longbows.

[Windknot]

Hiya Komier,

Good to see you found AI- have you been to Quicks yet? They might be clearing their stocks of Ragim Impalas- decent little field bow, and it's a T/D, so you can get different limbs- I think you can get them up to 50#

If you're ever near Brizzle and you'd like to try some field archery let me know.

Jakes

[English Bowman]

I see that you're in Southampton. If you fancy a trip down the road to Portsmouth, then you're welcome to come along on a Tuesday or Thursday to Fort Purbrook, where I shoot. I shoot and coach Longbow, and also have experiance with Asiatic recurves and thumb-rings. There are 3 people who have these in our club, and several longbowmen. I am sure between us we have a bow you can have a go with once you have finished your course at your club, and chat to the people who use the various bows to get their opinion. PM me if you want more info.
I am in the get used to a modern recurve before moving to a different style camp, but this does depend on what sort of shooting you want to do.

Daniel