Sports Archery

Challenge is the reason that competitive sports are initiated and when archery (bow and arrows) were devised men had to try their prowess to shoot longer and more accurately then others, thus archery competition was started.  The bow started out as a straight piece of wood with the string to pull it in a curve and the hand was placed in the middle of the bow to position the arrow.  With the competitiveness of man, archery equipment was improved by the user and those who wanted to profit from selling improved equipment.

The movie business was one industry that profited from and helped create a strong interest in archery through films set in the middle ages up to the old west.  Comic books also cashed in on the popularity of archery by creating many heroic archers, such as the Arrow, Green Arrow, Golden Arrow, and others.

The bow kept developing with the English longbow being used by on-foot armies and the recurve-bow being used by the Tarters which fought on horseback where they needed a shorter, more powerful bow. With the use of stronger and more flexible woods and strings they became more accurate over a longer distance. The compound bow involved a drastic change by using strings & pulleys to decrease the pull weights and increase the power & accuracy of the arrow.

Archery was created as a method for hunting and war as it gave the user an advantage to hit a target at a much longer distance then he could hit or throw.

As archery requires upper body strength to draw the bow, hand/eye coordination to direct the arrow to the target, and focus on the aspect of directing the arrow into the bull’s eye.

Bow lengths, draw weights, and draw lengths vary considerably. Bow lengths vary from four to six feet.  Draw weights, amount of pressure required to pull the string to fire the arrow, vary from 10 pounds (for children) to 100 pounds (not recommended for any one but can be used by a tall, powerful individual).   Draw lengths, the distance the string must be pulled back to obtain the proper power to propel the arrow, vary from 26 inches to 30 inches for the average adult person. Draw length is figured by stretching the archer’s arms out to the side and measuring the distance between the tips of the index fingers and dividing that by 2.5 to achieve the proper draw length.  Bows are generally more efficient at, or near, their maximum draw weight.  The ideal bow is one where the bow length, draw weight and draw length are comfortable without putting a strain on any part of the body.

Additionally, the following draw weight guide can be utilized to assist in fitting an athlete to a archery bow: children under 10 years should use a 10 to 15 pound bow, 10-12 year olds should use a 15 to 20 pound bow, women and teenage girls should use a 20 to 30 pound bow, and teenage boys and men should use a 30 to 40 pound bow.  A 45-pound bow is usually recommended for hunters.

Once you’ve chosen a bow you can take up the challenge of archery yourself.