Question about bow design for the linearly challenged

[JohnHV]

I have a short 26" draw length and have played around with bows of all designs to see what is the most efficient for a short draw.  I think I've found what works best for me, but I thought it would be fun to ask the experts here to see what your thoughts are on designing bows for the linearly challenged (i.e.) short armed.

So the question is, if you had someone come to you with a 26" draw and asked you to make them the best bow design for this draw length, what would you recommend?

[Joey V.]

Far from an expert but....  I have no real suggestion from a design standpoint but how about I give you my two cents on a shooting option?  Where do you anchor on your face when you draw?  You might think this is crazy but I have played around with anchoring at my ear. I literally pull past my face and put my index finger in my ear hole.   When I do this I can get a 31 1/2 inch draw and a ton of speed out of a bow.  At first you will not be able to hit anything because where you need to look for the shot changes slightly from what you are used to but in about 10 arrows you will be breaking knocks again.  Give this a try before you dismiss it because a couple extra inches of draw gives you a big return on speed and energy lbs for lbs.  The reason I tried this is because I had to use a trigger release due to a spinal cord injury for a while.  My draw length lost a couple inches because of the trigger and loop lenght when I tried to anchor my hand to my check bone so I anchored at my ear and could still shoot just as well.  I still have to use a trigger for bows in the 55lbs range but for the 43lbs I can manage fingers.  My 43lbs bow drawn to 31½“ will shoot as fast as my 55lbs bow drawn to 28” I chrono-ed it.

[JohnHV]

Thanks Joey.  I've tried similar anchor adjustments in the past but didn't get very good alignment.  Maybe I will try that again..after all it worked for the old English longbowmen!

My question is a more technical question I guess. To optimize performance at the shorter draw lengths can you simply make a shorter straight limbed longbow or is a recurve or radical hybrid the only way to go.

[Joey V.]

Far from an expert again but...  From that standpoint a recurve should give you better performance at any draw length in an apples to apples comparison to a longbow.  Even my reflex deflex Longbows are a touch slower than my recurves, not much but a little.  

From the standpoint of limbs being strait up and down as opposed to having say a 10 degree or more slant you will not gain any significant draw length or performance. IMHO!  Your issue and all of our issue is draw length.  If a guy that has a 32” draw could make it a 42" draw he would have a rocket for a bow at the same pound pull.  I wish I did have a better design breakthrough I would be very wealthy man...  Again, I think the whole performance thing is why recurves took off a long time ago.  They are simply a faster more compact design.

[Swissbow]

I don't consider myself as an expert, but i think the more the limbs of your bow are reflexed, the more energy is stored during the draw. So i would suggest either a recurve or a d/r-longbow with a nice reflex, depending your preference. Due to your short draw length the bow can be built shorter and therefore be more aggressive.

And lets not forget the arrows that have to be matched to your actual draw weight ( maybe the most important point of all... ).

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Andy

[John Scifres]

Watch people shoot sometime when they don't know you're watching.  Lots of folks have "short" 26" draws, me included.  There are too many variables for a straight answer but generally, I don't change anything but the length of the bow for different draw lengths.  For a 26" draw, I'd make an osage selfbow 60-62" with a slight R-D tillered in.  For a glass recurve, a 58" bow is nice.

[JohnHV]

Andy and John, that's the kind of answer I was looking for.

Thanks!

[Jason Scott]

I would recommend anything with a higher preloaded fdr curve. The swoopy fdr curves do not seem to benifit a short draw shooter because you will be in the lesser perfomance returning portion of the shot stroke. With higher preload the limbs will return proportionatly more of that stored energy in the later part of the shot stroke instead of the early portion of the shot stroke where only longer draw shooters benifit most. That being said everyone benifits from more preload. The string tracks straighter back to brace on the shot too which can increase forgiveness.

Early preload is generally accomplished with reflex. But, whichever bow it is the tips should be opening up to their design at the end of your draw to get the most efficiency. This means the string angle at full draw should reach its designed angle. If it is more accute than design then there is some performance left on the table and if it is more obtuse that means the limbs are overworked and become less efficient. When the tips are the right stiffness and open up at the right time that means the stored energy goes all the way down to the fades like it should without overworking them. It is a crap shoot unless the bowyer really knows his design really well. Come 7 or 11, 7 or 11, baby needs some new shoes.  

[JohnHV]

Interesting Jason.  That makes sense to me.  I'm guessing that some of the shorter hybrids would fit that description as well as a properly designed recurve?

[Roy from Pa]

What does deflex actualy do to a bow? As in when you d/r a bow? Is it for hand shock?

[Swissbow]

Deflex gives the bow stability during the draw, thus making the bow less nervous. It has nothing to do with handshock. There has been another thread about attaching the limbs of a take down at the belly. That will have the same effect.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=004106

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Andy

[walkabout]

deflex is also used to make some drastic recurves easier to brace, as well as adding smoothness to draw as swiss said. also as john said, 60-62" should be fine for 26" draw, and if you can get the design down you could make a short "horsebow" or performance recurve, in the range of 48" for the main limbs and a 3.75" siyah. ive seen this design made on another site and is good out to even 28" draws, using all wood design and relatively inexpensive woods.