Draw length?

[jt85]

Last night I had a friend over who is thinking about getting into traditional archery and he wanted me to check his draw length. Well after I checked his I decided to check mine since I haven't checked it since I started shooting 2 years ago. I drew my recurve to 27" last time I checked it was 28 1/4 on my longbow last night, is that normal to gain that much or is that just the difference in the bows?

[jt85]

I forgot to mention that it was a hybrid longbow that I checked with last night.

[nineworlds9]

Yes your draw length can grow that much since you started depending on how your form developed over time.  AMO draw length is measurement to deepest part of the grip at full draw + 1 3/4".  Longbow to recurve can be confusing since the riser shapes are different.  Also, grip 'wrist' height can cause you to close up or open up your draw depending on your biomechanics and what feels comfortable.

*In summary, DL is a very personal thing.  Many folks open up their draw on a recurve with a medium to high wrist grip, many keep a bend in the elbow and close up a bit on a lower wrist longbow, but this is not a hard and fast rule.  Your personal form will dictate what you do with any given bow.

It would be easy to gain 1.25" of DL from first starting shooting to 2yrs later, if your form was not so good at first and has greatly improved since.

Bisch

[old_goat2]

Draw weight, physical conditioning and form can all greatly vary draw length.

[jt85]

Thanks for the replies. I think I may have been showing out a little cause I checked it twice yesterday and hit 27 3/4 both times.