Draw length reality check

[mec lineman]

I'm 6' tall with broad shoulders and for years claimed to be drawing at least 28 when I hit anchor.  With the arrival of my new Mohawk I've been playing around with different spines and arrow length.  I took a yard stick and pressed against my sternum and with my finger tips touching straight out it read 26 3/4". I have always wondered how all these folks on here have these 29 and 30+" draw lengths. Makes since now as why my arrows are always on stiff side.  Has anybody else been surprised to find out how short their natural draw length is?

[Vesty]

I'm 6'2' and have a draw length a fuzz under 27". I shoot a hill style longbow with a pronounced bent elbow. I also cant my bow quite a bit and lean into my shot like when shooting a shotgun.

[dnovo]

I'm used to be 5' 10" but aging knees have decreased that a little. I used to claim a 27" draw length, but the last few years as I dropped 10 lbs in draw weight and improved my form my draw length has actually increased to almost exactly 28". Now if I did the test like you and held it to my chest and held straight out to my fingertips I would measure 26". I think the difference is in form from one person to the other.

[Orion]

I'm 5'11, wide enough in the shoulders and with fairly long arms. On a good day, I get 28 inches with a recurve, usually about an inch less with a straight gripped longbow.  

Was a time when I thought my draw was longer.  Then I had someone watch me shoot and measure it.  Draw length is sort of like draw weight.  The tendency is to overestimate each.  

[ron w]

The yard stick on the chest gives me 28 1/2", I have a cedar arrow marked out in 1 inch increments and when nocked and drawn to anchor I get jus a shade over 29". I'm just and average guy and many question my draw length. I have had many say that no way can I draw 29", even when I had Chad Holms build me one of the many bows he has made me he doubted me......then checked and said, yep looks like 29"

[ChuckC]

It is what it is, and it changes with every bow.

Depending upon where and how you anchor, whether you shoot with a bent bow arm or not, how wide (front to back) the bow grip is and maybe how you hold your tongue, it changes.

Using my RER, with relatively high wrist and stretched formal shooting I pull 30.5 pretty regularly.  Using my ASL I pulled about 28.5 and with my new ASL with a handle about 3/8" less wide, you guessed it, closer to 28".

[Bladepeek]

Agree with Chuck C completely. That yardstick test will tell you how long one side of the triangle is which is formed by the yardstick, 1/2 of your chest and one of your arms.

It will be only a rough approximation of your actual draw length. That's a lot like resting the butt of a shotgun on your bent arm to measure your length of pull - often not even close.

It's no more difficult and far more accurate to draw to your anchor and have someone mark the arrow at the back (as opposed to belly) of the riser.

[mec lineman]

Yea,put a clothespin on arrow and drew 28 with my recurve in 2005. I often try to stretch out my draw in back yard. But I think for me it all comes down to my natural draw when drawing on game. Thanks fellas

[Red Beastmaster]

It is rare to see anyone draw as long as they claim to. Lots of short drawing out there.

[YosemiteSam]

I'm about 5' 10" and started with around 26.5" draw.  With more strength and experience, I widened that out to about 27.5".  Then I started getting more string slap on my clothing so I shortened that to about 27".  Bow grip can shorten or lengthen my draw, as can shooting position.  I hunt from the ground so I do a fair amount of shooting from a seated position (on the ground, bow canted only about 30 degrees from horizontal), which can also shorten my draw if I let it.  A clicker has become one of my technological compromises to make sure I'm consistent from shot to shot.  I've considered shortening my draw a bit more to make those seated shots that much easier.  I've heard some people say that they have a natural draw check -- a point at which they can't draw any further.  I feel like a draw length is something far more flexible -- more like a compromise between what you want (more speed) for what you need (more consistency).

[pescarconganas]

It's easy to short-draw and I work to ensure that I don't; as my shooting really suffers if I do. Part of my draw cycle includes feeling the arrow point, either field tip or broadhead, touching the knuckle of my index finger on my bow hand. My arrows are 29.5in long, I'm 5'11".

[MnFn]

Pavan clued me in on this. Standing on the ground, 28".

But shooting down, as in from a treestand,
Odd angles, etc not so much. I could not maintain a twenty eight inch draw length in all directions.

Do the clothes pin thing and try it from a variety of positions.
 Far better to err on the weak side of spine, I think. Or an arrow that shoots well at an inch or so shorter draw.

I found that out the hard way this fall. I retrieved my buck, but was disappointed with my shooting.

[scrub-buster]

I'm 5'6" on a good day.  With my T-rex arms and habit of short drawing I'm lucky to hit 24"

[damascusdave]

I like the way a long time bowyer friend puts it...your draw length is whatever feels comfortable at the moment...if having a consistent draw length was important to me I would switch back to wheels

DDave

[Terry Lightle]

6-2 With a 27 1/2  inch draw.Have guys at the shop all the time claiming 29 to 30.Had one 2 weeks ago,said he was a 29 inch draw.Gave him a measuring arrow and low and behold he was a 25 3/4 draw.
Terry

[Learner]

Originally posted by mec lineman:
Yea,put a clothespin on arrow and drew 28 with my recurve in 2005. I often try to stretch out my draw in back yard. But I think for me it all comes down to my natural draw when drawing on game. Thanks fellas

This is a GREAT tip, and I learned it here on TG.

I take a spring clothespin, clip it about a foot from the tip of my arrow, and have it sticking out to the right side.

As I draw my bow, the clothespin hits the back of the riser, and then slides along the arrow until I reach full draw.  Then I let off and measure the distance from the clothespin to the arrow nock slot to get an accurate draw length measurement.  It's very easy and precise.

I have also taken this a step further:  I use the clothes pin and a mirror to help me perfect my draw.  I know that I can draw 28" or more, and if I start getting less then I know that my shooting frame is collapsing, or that I'm messing up somehow with my form.  So I use the clothespin trick and stand in front of a mirror to see where my form is collapsing.

This works wonderfully, and has helped me lengthen my draw and make it more consistent.

I'm 5'7".  When I started shooting trad about 5 months ago I could only get to a 27" draw if I struggled.  My actual draw was more likely about 26.5".  But since adopting this method of checking my frame when drawing (and learning how to set my back frame properly), I can now get to 28.5" at maximum, and 28" repeatedly, with both my 40 and 50 pound bows.

[Jim Wright]

I never tried it before but I just put a yard stick against my sternum and reached out with both hand's and checked the measurement to my finger tips. It was the same as when I have had someone observe when I draw back a graduated arrow, 29 inches. I have measured the same draw length this way with high wrist recurves and my Toelke Super D, I can't figure how some guys get such a big difference in draw length between different types of bows.

[katman]

After taking Mr.Rod Jenkins class I learned to get into my back and get full expansion, went from 28" draw to 29 1/2. No more hunched over curved back self taught style. I am 5'11" average build.

[JR Belk]

6'2" and broad. I do shoot a 30" draw. That's measured with a check arrow and natural shooting conditions for me. It's actually about an inch short of my math measured draw. Most short drawing is from bad form. It's just that simple. This stuff isn't magic

[dnovo]

So you guys made me curious. I haven't done the clothes pin measurement in a while so I thought let's do it again. So I just did it and on 2 different longbows it measured 28 1/2" .
Either I've got long arms or some of you tall guys are really hunched up