How do you draw a high-weight English Longbow?

[adb]

I can draw to 30" no problem. 31" on a good day, up to 100-110#. However, 32" becomes a physical limit... my arms just aren't long enough.

[WillS]

That's no excuse.  Use that excuse in medieval England and you'd be whipped man!

Start hanging from window ledges.  Twice a day, for an hour.  You'll have longer arms in a week.

[adb]

That's no excuse.  Use that excuse in medieval England and you'd be whipped man!

Start hanging from window ledges.  Twice a day, for an hour.  You'll have longer arms in a week.

 

Seriously though, the vast majority of the arrows recovered from the Mary Rose were 30.5", so I think a 30" draw is very historically accurate.

[Cameroo]

...so I think a 30" draw is very historically accurate.

Isn't that what they made these things for...people with short arms? 

[adb]

WRACK HIM!!! Oooh... that looks nasty. 

[meanewood]

I think I read somewhere, the idea that the longer arrows on the Mary Rose may have been 'Fire Arrows'.
This does make sense because in a naval battle fire arrows would have been a very effective weapon so they would have had plenty of them. The shaft of a fire arrow would be longer than normal for obvious reasons!
I know many Warbow archers today can draw 32 or 33in but I doubt that this was common in Medieval or Tudor times.
An arrow will travel farther if you draw that extra 1 or 2 inches but its easier to increase the strength of your bow rather than over extend yourself!
If a Tudor archer could draw a 180lb bow and be expected to loose a 100 arrows in a short period of time, drawing 32 or 33in would be remarkable.
I can draw a 130lb bow 32 inches but after about 5 or 6 arrows the lactic acid starts to build up and I'm lucky to finish the set of 12 at 30.5 inches which is my realistic draw length and I'm 6ft 1 inch tall!
Having said all that, we are all different and have different capabilities>

[toomanyknots]

I think I read somewhere, the idea that the longer arrows on the Mary Rose may have been 'Fire Arrows'.
This does make sense because in a naval battle fire arrows would have been a very effective weapon so they would have had plenty of them. The shaft of a fire arrow would be longer than normal for obvious reasons!
I know many Warbow archers today can draw 32 or 33in but I doubt that this was common in Medieval or Tudor times.
An arrow will travel farther if you draw that extra 1 or 2 inches but its easier to increase the strength of your bow rather than over extend yourself!
If a Tudor archer could draw a 180lb bow and be expected to loose a 100 arrows in a short period of time, drawing 32 or 33in would be remarkable.
I can draw a 130lb bow 32 inches but after about 5 or 6 arrows the lactic acid starts to build up and I'm lucky to finish the set of 12 at 30.5 inches which is my realistic draw length and I'm 6ft 1 inch tall!
Having said all that, we are all different and have different capabilities>

This makes so much sense.

[llkinak]

For me, being 6'5" helps up to a point.  I have a 120# laminate that I can get back to 32 no problem.  In fact I have some longer arrows (34") but I worry about shooting them at full draw for fear of damaging the bow.  I bought the longer arrows, rather rashly it seems, for a 150# bow I just got.  (Great bow by the way)  I can't get it to 32" yet, maybe next season, but I doubt this year.  Getting to my point, even though I'm tall and have long arms, and never felt "compressed" much by the 120, I can feel the 150 really squishing me up. I'm sure I'll get it to 32" but I'm not positive I'll ever get it back to 34.  I guess that's OK, since I've seen the bow on a tiller at 34 and this will give me a little bit of a safety buffer.

As far as drawing goes, I tend to start out at about forehead level or so and really try to roll my elbows down so I can use my lat muscles as much as possible.  I've seen the rolling loose quite a bit, but am worried I'd fall over and skewer myself if I tried it.  I've found warming up is vital, or my left shoulder (The one which belongs to the arm which holds the bow) tends to be pretty sore.