Long rods etc

Gemms · Long rods etc

Ok I have my nice shiney new recurve bow and have been shooting with it for a couple of weeks.
Its a Hoyt Nexus 25" riser with some cheap KAP limbs to start with.

My question is, What do i need to consider when looking for the stabiliser rods. At the moment I am using just a single long rod that a club member lent me but would like to have all my own equipment.
How do i determine what lenth of rod I need and if I need the short rods.

I have been looking on the net for some sort of definative answer but am struggling to find much info on this.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Selwoc

Gemms, there is no hard and fast rules about stabilisers, it is all about what feels right for you. What may work well on someone else's bow, may have a completely different feel on yours.

I would suggest, if you can, borrow different longrods from club members and see what feels and shoots best for you. Start with perhaps a 26", or 28" single rod.
Do the same with v-bars, and short rods, while most freestyle recurve archers do use a full set up, quite a few just use a single longrod.

Jabberwocky

Hi Gemms,

Unfortunately there is no easy answer on this one. It all boils down to personal preference.

What I usually advice people to do is not to rush out and buy lots of stabilization but buy it a little bit at a time. That way you will get to learn what each bit is actually doing. If during the process you feel happy with the setup you are using and getting the results you expect then stay with it.

The order I usually suggest for people to try is
Long rod
Long rod with two short rods mounted top and bottom (straight rod setup)
Long rod with a v-bar
Long rod with a v-bar and a short rod or dumpy type shock absorber by the top limb
Long rod with an extender, v-bar and a short rod or dumpy type shock absorber by the top limb
and if you are still not happy you can still add an extra rod to the bottom limb after that.

There are other combinations but that covers the most common ones. The thing to watch out for it that you do not go too heavy as this will cause you to drop your bow arm, leading to a whole host of other problems. The very last setup could have enough mass on the bow to change the orbit of a small moon.

What most people are looking for is a setup that is comfortable and easy to control and aim, absorbs excess vibration well and allows the bow to turn in a controlled and smooth manner without letting the bottom limb kick up. I could get into the more technical side of this subject, but in truth most people decide on their setup purely from feel, just be careful not to put too much weight on the bow too quickly.

There are dozens of different makes out there so choice can be very confusing. The best thing you can do is get to a shop and have a look at the various makes, their prices, what you like the look of, etc. and assess what the best option is for you from there. Shops will very often let you try different stabilizers there, but if not and your fellow club members are fairly friendly you can always ask to quickly try their stabilizers to try for a couple of ends to get the idea of the effect they may have before spending your hard earned cash.

Hope this is of some help.

Mjollnir

Ok I'll answer the questions as best I can.

First off I personnally wouldn't start using one too soon, remember the weight of your bow is a turning force around your shoulder, and with all turning forces Mass = Weight X distance. and any weight of your long rod will be a whole extra meter from your body. So until you have built up to using stabiliser rods I would steer clear. I certainly wouldn't go for the whole hog in one go.

Ok assuming you are at the stage to start using stabilisers. To answer your questions on length etc, we need to answer. What are they and what do they do?

First off long rods are just stabilisers, they do a little pre-shot, but most of their work is post shot. Therefore if you can't shoot without them you can't shoot with them. Also it is worth noting they won't make a huge difference to your grouping until you are shooting 30m plus.

To give you an idea of what the long rod does, take a plastic ruler, hold it between two fingers at one end, now hold it out at arms length and wave the ruler about like a sword (not your arm), note how easy it is to move. Now take your ruler, and at the OTHER end stick a Lump of Blu-tack to it, and repeat what you did before. notice how much harder it is to swing the ruler about. And this is what a long-rod does, It makes the bow more resistant to horizontal and vertical turning forces. A little bit while aiming, but more crutially in the split second after the shot, to allow the arrow to fully clear the bow before the bow starts to move (assuming a correct loose grip). As to the length This is a personnal preference the longer the rod the more the resistance to movement, but the more force this applies to your shoulder and therefore the more shakes you could send into the bow.

Short-rods, These do a few jobs. Like long rods they resist turning forces in this case the twisting forces from your wrist, but being shorter as there are less forces here. They also help to bring the center of balance back to the hand, by counter balancing the long rod, but as a result add more weight to the bow and hence introduce more force at your shoulder. Finally, upon shooting they flex outwards to resist the forward motion of the bow, allowing a little more force to go into the arrow, this effect can be improved upon by fitting inline some configured TFCs. Again length of these is down to preference, and how much you want to compensate the long-rod etc.

So with the above information in hand, my suggestion is to go out to your local shop, and try different lengths and combinations, till you find one that suits you. Equally I would say tht as it is winter and you are no doubt shooting indoors, and therefore short distances, I wouldn't bother with a long rod until spring and warmer weather.

I hope this helps you out

Mjollnir

wow I took so long typing that two peeps got in first lol

Onewackybow

I have the complete MAC triad setup but I'm not using them at the moment. We're only shooting 20yds indoors and outside at the moment and I'm focusing on my technique and don't want to add extra into the equation.

I bought them when I bought the bow and had the spare cash (and Stu369 persuaded me).

A couple of people at my club who have been coaching me have said that its time to consider using them. So next year when the distances are up a bit.

Gemms

Thanks for all the help guys. I certainly understand a bit more about what the rods are doing now

Think I will follow your advice and keep resisting the temptation to buy untill I am a bit more experienced. The guys at the club will probably be willing to help me out/lend me some rods but I dont like to keep pestering them

I am still shooting indoors at approx 20m and with the weather we are having am unlikely to get outside for the longer distances any time soon.

Onewackybow

Keep pestering them... they're a great source of help and information!

vince

i trie loads of different rods, and ended up buying the longest one i could, 42" i think, beiter, to try it as i got it cheap, i am very tall and have a long draw and find it very stable now, but the idea i had was, as it was cheap, i could slowly cut it down till it suited!! but i shoot well enough as it is, i am now going to try v-bar and shorts just to see what it does for me!!

its the biggest thing i have learnt in the last 3 months, just try everything you have access to and buy later on!

Steve B

Steve Ellison who maintains and put together Tenzone has very interesting information on his site. If you are wanting more info have a look Here. There is lots of other information that may be of assistance as well.

Ratfighter