Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Fox on June 02, 2020, 10:10:01 am

Title: Short draws?
Post by: Fox on June 02, 2020, 10:10:01 am
Not sure if this topic belongs here or not.... but anyeay it seems my draw has gotten shorter slowly, i used to have a 26" draw and ive been shooting whole lot lately, and i re mesured my draw, and its now 24".... I'm 6 foot, should i make my draw longer?  Is there a downside to short draws? 

-Fox
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: gutpile on June 02, 2020, 10:44:12 am
your form has more than likely deteriorated.. hold bow vertical, draw to corner of mouth standing straight with a marked arrow on bow... you can have a slight bend in bow arm....no way 6ft with even a 26 inch draw... just saying...Im 5'8 and I draw 26... you are either leaning into bow and bringing head forward or you are bending your bow arm drastically.. you should be drawing around 28 or 29... IMO... gut
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Fox on June 02, 2020, 10:54:11 am
Alright gut,  thanks... i have tried to make my draw 28" but my anchor is at the corner of my mouth and to get 28 i had to draw past that and mt anchor has been at the corner od my mouth for years so didn't want to change. Ill langthen my draw to 26 again, and see how that goes.
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: mmattockx on June 02, 2020, 10:55:36 am
Not sure if this topic belongs here or not.... but anyeay it seems my draw has gotten shorter slowly, i used to have a 26" draw and ive been shooting whole lot lately, and i re mesured my draw, and its now 24".... I'm 6 foot, should i make my draw longer?  Is there a downside to short draws? 

-Fox

Is your bow too heavy? Lots of guys collapse their shoulders and anchor if they are struggling to pull the weight. I agree with gutpile, you should be drawing at least 28" unless you have t-rex arms. I'm 5'-9" with fairly long arms and I draw 28". Try a lighter bow and the upright form as gutpile describes and see what your draw looks like.

Drawback to a short draw is less energy storage in the bow, which leads to lower performance. If you're target shooting informally that isn't much of an issue, but it can be if you are hunting and need enough oomph to put an animal down cleanly. You end up needing a significantly heavier draw weight to get the same performance as someone who draws farther.

Can you post pics so we can see what you're doing?


Mark
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: bownarra on June 02, 2020, 11:40:07 am
At the end of the draw are you bringing your shoulder blades 'together'?
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Fox on June 02, 2020, 12:01:59 pm
Ill try to post picks at some point mark... bownarra yes at full draw i pull my sholder blades together.. i think i messed it up when i made a short 40"  bow that draws to 22" and shot that for a while...
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Fox on June 02, 2020, 12:24:46 pm
Okay i just set a clicker (i know not very traditional) and put it to 27" and that was really comfortable.... is 27 acceptable? .  Or should i really try to get comfertable with 28"?
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Del the cat on June 02, 2020, 12:25:59 pm
Downside to a short draw is you can smack yourself in the lip  :o ::) >:D
Del
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: gutpile on June 02, 2020, 12:34:19 pm
would love a video of your form... do you snap shoot too.?.. 27 26 25 24 any are acceptable... but at 6 ft you should be 28 easy... how heavy is your bow..?... gut
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Fox on June 03, 2020, 09:55:56 am
Can you post vidoes on pa? Ill see if i can figure out how... my bow  is 50# @ 26
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Tommy D on June 05, 2020, 10:20:59 am
Turn a short video into a GIFF on the free app GIPHY ... And then post that like a picture ... that will be the easiest. I am interested in this topic as I feel like my draw length can vary a lot if I am not conscious to correct it.
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: mmattockx on June 05, 2020, 10:25:05 am
Can you post vidoes on pa? Ill see if i can figure out how... my bow  is 50# @ 26

You can upload a video to a photo hosting site like Imgur and link to it from there.


Mark
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Fox on June 05, 2020, 03:25:53 pm
Okay figured it out... thanks... heres a video of my form this is my draw since i think I've fixed it... maybe? This is at 27" is this correct form? any suggestions would be amazing :).....

(click on the photos... there videos.. i think that works?)

-Fox
(https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/49974798056_78822dc752_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j96Unf)20200603_181920_1 (https://flic.kr/p/2j96Unf) by Livvydog (https://www.flickr.com/photos/141458655@N02/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/49975059902_fbac717d5e_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j98fcQ)20200603_182047_1 (https://flic.kr/p/2j98fcQ) by Livvydog (https://www.flickr.com/photos/141458655@N02/), on Flickr
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: TimBo on June 05, 2020, 04:29:45 pm
Form looks good - maybe try dropping your right elbow to get it more in line behind the arrow.  It looks like you have a bit of bend in the left elbow, which is fine, but probably nocks off a bit of draw length.  (I shoot with a bent elbow as well unless I am in Target Recurve Mode.)  It looks like you have a good dynamic (push/pull) release.  I wouldn't worry too much about thinking you "should" shoot a certain draw length because of your height.  The main things are consistency/repeatability, how good it feels, and how accurate you are.  There was a thread recently about this same sort of thing, and that poster got much better accuracy with a longer draw, but that has not been the case for me.  I seem to get my best results at 26" with a longbow/selfbow. 
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Fox on June 05, 2020, 05:16:16 pm
Thanks timbo... i have been bouncing around trying to find a method of aiming and draw langhts for a long time and i feel like im starting to get a consistency im more comfertable with... that video was the first time ive seen myself shot (lol) it is kinda strange...
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Ricardovanleeuwen on June 13, 2020, 03:26:37 pm
Not sure if this topic belongs here or not.... but anyeay it seems my draw has gotten shorter slowly, i used to have a 26" draw and ive been shooting whole lot lately, and i re mesured my draw, and its now 24".... I'm 6 foot, should i make my draw longer?  Is there a downside to short draws? 

-Fox

Is your bow too heavy? Lots of guys collapse their shoulders and anchor if they are struggling to pull the weight. I agree with gutpile, you should be drawing at least 28" unless you have t-rex arms. I'm 5'-9" with fairly long arms and I draw 28". Try a lighter bow and the upright form as gutpile describes and see what your draw looks like.

Drawback to a short draw is less energy storage in the bow, which leads to lower performance. If you're target shooting informally that isn't much of an issue, but it can be if you are hunting and need enough oomph to put an animal down cleanly. You end up needing a significantly heavier draw weight to get the same performance as someone who draws farther.

Can you post pics so we can see what you're doing?


Mark
now i Read your comment after reading the flightbow dimensions there raised a question. You say that a shorter draw give less performance. But in the flightbow design threat they say a short static recurve with about 23 inch draw. How could that be a good design as It have a short draw? Couldnt It be better to have a slight longer bow and 28 draw?
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: gumboman on June 13, 2020, 04:19:11 pm
Looks like nice form and appears to be in the Howard Hill style. I too think your drawing elbow is high. It should in line or very close to inline with your drawing forearm. Looks like a fairly heavy bow too.
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: DC on June 13, 2020, 04:34:46 pm
now i Read your comment after reading the flightbow dimensions there raised a question. You say that a shorter draw give less performance. But in the flightbow design threat they say a short static recurve with about 23 inch draw. How could that be a good design as It have a short draw? Couldnt It be better to have a slight longer bow and 28 draw?

I think it's that flight wants light arrows. If you lighten a 28" arrow the spine drops to low. If you shorten it you get your spine back. It becomes a balance between spine and length. The best compromise seems to be 23" ish. Short arrows also have less air resistance.
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Ricardovanleeuwen on June 13, 2020, 05:08:33 pm
But unles the threat starter is purely concerned about hunting his shorter draw wont really be a problem  right? Because he can use shorter and lighter arrows to compensate or Am i wrong?
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: bradsmith2010 on June 13, 2020, 08:01:34 pm
I am working on a short bow,, draw is 23 inches,,it is about 53 #@ 23 inches and will shoot a 417  grain arrow over 170 fps with fast flight
169 fps with b 55,,,
ok this is not amazing performance,, but it is deer killing performance,, I have read that the Siox average arrow was 23 inches,, I am assuming this was a good compromise in draw and performance,, and that they did not feel there was anything wrong with their form,,
a 23 inch dogwood shaft would be around 500 grains with tip,, or a hardwood shaft if you wanted more weight,, or if you wanted to shoot far,, you could go down in weight to a flight arrow,to impress your neighbor,, so I think they were on to something,, :)
   nothing wrong with shooting a longer draw  bow as well,, I think being able to shoot both and decide what you like best for the situation at hand,,different bows take different form,, no one form fits all,,
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: mmattockx on June 14, 2020, 11:49:16 am
now i Read your comment after reading the flightbow dimensions there raised a question. You say that a shorter draw give less performance. But in the flightbow design threat they say a short static recurve with about 23 inch draw. How could that be a good design as It have a short draw? Couldnt It be better to have a slight longer bow and 28 draw?

I missed this yesterday...

Yes, shorter draws store less energy for any specific draw weight. It is just a function of how energy is stored as the bow is drawn. The longer stroke from brace to full draw has more length to do work in, which is what increases energy storage.

Traditional flight bows (not the broadhead category) are exclusively concerned with shooting extremely light arrows at very high speeds. The arrow details dominate much of the design and it is simply too difficult to make a light, stiff arrow very long. If you look at the broadhead category (which I understand shoots a more typical weight/length of arrow) then you see longer draws and longer bows setting the records. I think selfbowman set his broadhead record with something like a 67" pyramid design, which is very conventional by most standards.


Mark
Title: Re: Short draws?
Post by: Fox on June 14, 2020, 03:18:41 pm
I like bradwmiths comment... "no one form fits all" as i am mainly concerned with hunting situations, and i often practice shooting sitting down crossleged... i can sit that way on the ground in the woods for hours wich i feel would be a effective way to hunt sitting against a tree with a small natural blind in front of me... now my form is going to be tottaly different while sitting crossleged then it is standing, kneeling, and so forth. Now of course sometimes you have a stave thats too short for a 28" draw, and you want to make it into a bow for yourself so you make a bow with a 26" draw... now i would  imagine shifting  between draw langths and stances would effect acuracy slightly... but im not plaining to be a Olympic acher, so im not worried about it and am sticking with my 26- 27" draw..

-Fox