More poundage for my recurve - when?

wintellect · More poundage for my recurve - when?

Ok, so I'm loving archery and want to go as far as I can. My questions relate to me shooting a recurve bow

1) When is it right to get higher poundaged limbs? As soon as my body can take the higher poundage comfortably?
2) When do I stop increasing the poundage? When I finally hit 50lbs (seems to be the limit of most ILF limbs)

Thanks - I look forward to your replies

Mjollnir

The lower the poundage you can get away with to reach the target you are aiming for the more control you will have over your bow.

Ok there are some caviats with the above statement, but it is basically true.

It is not a competion to see who can pull the most, but who can hit the target every time in the same spot to score the highest score.

So my advice to you is don't worry about what poundage your limbs are unles you are having problems reaching your target.

and then only increase poundage when your body finds it easy to draw the increased weight, or you will introduce bad technique as you are straining to make the shot.

Happy shooting.

Onewackybow

Mine are at 34lb... the furthest I currently shoot is 40yds and dont see that dramatically increasing beyond 50/60 anytime soon.

Andrew

Well i have done archery for around 2 months now, and i have been using a bow with 20Ib draw. It's more important to get the technique right from my experience.

I can shoot the arrow and it will hit gold quite often, this is considering i am not using any stabilizers and my sight isn't top of the range. Even some people with the higher poundage find it hard to hit gold, even with stabilizers!

So basically get the technique right first before moving into a higher poundage

Onewackybow

Crawl, walk, then run!

Mjollnir

Berniethebolt

I agree with Mj on this one. I pulled a 22lb bow for about 6 mouths when I started and that was indoors when I went outdoors and had a go my coach said I needed to up the poundage to reach the 30 MT target, I tried differant bows at differant poundage till I got one that suited me shoot it for a year and then moved up poundage to reach the 55 mt target now I'm on a 34 lb bow and I think that will be me, it took me 2 and half years to get there so don't rush things and try out other bows in the club before you buy too.

Bernie

Onewackybow

Mjollnir

Onewackybow

Liam

Dont concern yourself with getting up to 50lbs I know very few archers who succesfully shoot recurve over 45lb, I'm a big lad and at 38lb (more like 42lb actual weight at full draw) i could could go no further and was hitting things at 70+ yards.

If I were you I'd steadily increase to somewhere around 36-38 lb

fred

Selwoc

If it helps in any way, I can reach 90 metres comfortably with 38lb limbs. I have also had a go to see how far the arrows would go, they reached 240 metres.

Dawn

All good advice here wintellect

Shoot the poundage you are comfortable with, and if you can reach the 40 - 50 yard target there is no advantage in making a change

wintellect

I appreciate all the feedback. I've been shooting comfortably with 32lbs since I started, using PlatinumPlus arrows. This results in my bow struggling to reach the 80 yards distance.

I'm going to try some 36lbs limbs with ACCs. My intention is to reach 100yards so I can at least attempt trying a "Bowman" score (I have been fortunate enough to have obtained my "first class" at 80 yards).

Mjollnir

I assume 32lb is your limb poundage, what is your draw weight? failing that draw length? Just that I find it hard to believe you can't make the target. as I have seen similar bows shoot well over 100m, admittedly not caring about accuracy as they were seeing who could shoot furthest, but still.

unless you have loads of money to waste I suggest not going up to ally carbons until you have settled on a poundage you are happy with, other wise you'll be buying another set every time you change poundage limbs.

Allys are more than good enough to learn with, remember the allys around today are better than the allys top end pros used to shoot as little as ten years ago.

wintellect

My draw length is 28.5"

Mjollnir

so your draw weight is a little over 32lbs probably about 33lbs

so you are putting the best part of 15Kg of force into the arrow

Now the initial velocity of the Arrow can be found using

V=(Ft)/m where F= Force t=time of acceleration m = mass of object

Assuming your arrows are about 20g (this is about average and without knowing exact details of you arrows I cannot be more specific. and assuming release time is about 1/3 second

Therefore initial velocity is (15*0.3)/0.2 = 22.5 meters per second

We can calulate range of the arrow using the path equation

R = (uCosX (2u sinX)) / g where u is initial speed, and x is release angle and g is gravity (assumed to me 9.5)

45 degrees is the theoretical optimum release angle so I'll use that

therefore the theoretical best range of your bow is

*drum roll*

59.3 meters

OK forget it I think I have made too many assumptions to be accurate, cause that does seem a little low

Onewackybow

That looks like a weapon of maths instruction...

fred

Is he joking you are talking to a beginner he has enough problems without stiking quantam physics in

Mjollnir

It is merely A-lvl Maths. but I think my memory is not what it was, I seam to be about a factor of 2 off. so I reckon I have miss remembered the path equation

Onewackybow

I have an eye-level grill...

Chedawan

Just to throw my 2p in... If you have a set of bow scales at your club, it is definitely worth getting your draw weight 'on the fingers' measured (this was proabably done when you got your arrows... but may well have altered as your technique improves and alters your drawlength) you may be surprised. Various imperfections in your limb pockets etc could make the poundage higher or lower, equally, not all limbs marked at the same weight draw exactly the same. I draw between 29 and thirty inches, and my first set of limbs were marked up at 32# but I was holding 38# which is a piece more than you would expect from just that draw length increase. Worth noting also is that I believe on the riser you have, you have eccentric cams in the limb pockets, which can be 'wound up' to give you a couple of extra pounds if you feel the time is right (generally in the 10% range). My advice though if you ever intend to do this is please take it to a shop where they know 100% what they are doing, I've seen several decent new starters practically give up the sport after they've set to with a set of allen keys to do this, and got tiller, limb alignment, and any number of other things out of place, basically leaving them miles behind the scores they were previously getting no matter how well they shoot technique wise.

Onewackybow

I had my limbs "wound down" a couple of pounds to make the jump from the trainer bow a little easier. That will then give - i believe - around 4lb that I can crank them up when I'm ready...

Or maybe I just dreamt that

For me I would rather concentrate on 20/30/40 yards/metres and work on my technique and improve my scores steadily than worry about shooting 80/90/100 and getting classification scores.

But that's just me and each to his own ambitions.

Walk, crawl, run...

geoffretired

Wintellect,
Bow poundage and the archer's form go together and grow together.
Learn a good technique with a lighter bow, if you learn with one that's too heavy, you learn how to be a weight lifter not an archer.As you get better at pulling the weight, you get worse at shooting.
If your current bow is quite light, you should have developed a good posture etc. If that is the case, the more your posture has improved over the months, the better able you are to draw even more weight.
If your posture has improved,and your form has developed over the months, the scores should reflect that. I would try heavier limbs; note "try". How much extra you can control will depend on your situation, Try different weights and see what you can CONTROL not just pull back to your face, once!
Can you borrow a clubmate's heavier limbs, or bow, and shoot it? Can you get to an archery place and shoot several dozen arrows from different weight limbs?
There are advantages to be gained from heavier bows. The arrows get through the wind better, especially at long range. The string is less easily deflected by a sloppy loose. A sight adjustment error is less drastic at the target. Too heavy, brings loss of control and losses in scores and usually in interest.
Try before you buy.