Competition bow wheight.

[John 4]

For those that shoot a lot of competition.
Those that go to win as opoused to just having fun.
What bow wheights do you shoot.
I'm currently shooting 45lb, but I'm considering dropping 5lb.
This is so I become less tired by the end of the course and also because I feel I'll be able to maintain solid form better with a lower poundage bow.
I don't have any problems shooting hunting bows to 65lb but I'm trying to find every little edge I can for competition,,,and what's holding me back a little now is fittness by the end of a round,or in some competitions," 3 rounds in the one day.
If any of you guys are shooting low 40's how do you find the bows performace at these levels ?
Thanks.

[Tom A]

What type of competitions?

[John 4]

3D and FAA Field.

[Tom A]

Depending on the distance your shooting I think you can be very competitive in 3D with 40-45# as long as you drop arrow weight to keep you bow in the 185 or more speed range. I dont know much about field.

[X2]

A lot depends on you and the type of competitions you go to.  The bow you can handle and shoot comfortably is going to be the bow you are most accurate with.  As said above you can do very well with a lighter bow and arrow setup.

[longbowguy]

John:
I depends a bit upon your draw length. 40 pounds at 29" is a lot faster than 40 pounds at 27". Say your brace height is 8". With a 29" draw your 'power stroke' would be 29-8= 21". With 27" it would be 27-8=19". The longer power stroke is about 7.5% greater, a significant amount in a middle weight bow.

Here in NorCal we shoot longish 3D and a lot of field archery to 80 yards. And 40 pounds from a recurve with aluminum or carbon arrows will easily get it done. As little as 30 pounds will, marginally, with light arrows and a reasonable draw length.

Longbows are a bit different. Hereabouts we must use wooden arrows. With 5/16" shafts and 70 grain points you can get pretty good performance but the longer distances can be a bit of a reach with the 3 fingers under hold. With the split finger hold they will reach.

I disagree with the post that says you need 185 fps. I believe a lot of archers do good work with about 160 fps. I have a longish draw and actually add arrow weight to keep my arrow speed down to about 170. Faster than that and my midrange gaps (35 to 45 yards) become too large for accurate aiming.

Finally, most of the top hands hereabouts shoot 45 pounds or less with the 3 under hold. Cheers, LBG

[John 4]

Thanks for the relpies all.
My current longbow is shooting 170,and my recurve 185.
The point about 5/16 shafts is well taken,I was thinking about that already.
Thanks again,
John.

[Tom A]

Longbowguy the 185 is just a number I through out there. Not a requirement. In the 3D class I shoot in (IBO TRD) most guys are averaging speeds from 170 to 220 fps. This class allows super light  carbon arrows and has some of the best 3d shooters in the world competing. I would really feel at a disadvantage shooting 160fps.

Back when I shot in the longbow class with wood arrows some of my best scores were with 160fps longbows.

John4
The 5/16 cedar shafts do work well for lower poundage bows. You can even taper them to 9/32 to make them lighter and get better FOC.

[longbowguy]

Tom:
Some like them faster and some don't. As John is dropping weight I just wanted to assure him that moderate speed is OK for target competition. Cheers - lbg

[String Tracker]

for 3-D i use 50# cuase its my hunting set-up

for my medevial group i shoot a 40#.  lighter weight to hold and aim more percise.

[Curtiss Cardinal]

First off if 45# is tiring you by the middle it is your physical conditioning that you need to improve. A jagged little pill but better swallowed and get on with it. Do some weight training and daily hiking. Also practice every other day with a bow 10 pounds heavier that you'll be shooting in competition. Be sure to stretch before and after shooting and be sure to draw the heavier bow slowly and deliberately and exercise as perfect a form as you can to prevent injury. Also start by shooting only a few arrows and increase the umber of arrows each week until you can shoot 30. On the other days shoot your regular weight bow and shoot twice as many arrows as a competition will require. So this will be like weight training. First day train power, next day train endurance. Always as you shoot train to shoot accurately as well and with proper form. This is how we did it in Olympic training, well a simplified version.
 As far as how much weight to shoot for competition. Shoot the lowest weight bow that allows you to obtain proper back tension and still deliver arrows with enough speed that the trajectory of the arrow is flat enough to compensate for slightly misjudged distances.
If you want to win at competitions you need to work.

[JC]

I shoot what I hunt with: 57-65#@27" with hunting weight arrows. I go to win, but won't bring my weight down just to win. I know I could pick up a few percentage points if I dropped down a few #'s but I want to be the best with what I hunt with. If I was concerned with winning as my primary goal, I personally would shoot around 50# or so...that's as low as I can go and still get a decen release.

I agree with C2: I know when I one the TN state trad championships with weights in the mid 60's, I was in excellent overall shape and it made a big difference in how I performed overall.

[NoCams]

What JC said.....

nocams

[John 4]

C2,
Try reading my whole post.

[Curtiss Cardinal]

I read your whole post. I answered your question regarding decreasing fatigue. The advice I gave would give you a dramatic improvemnt in competition. To give you the "edge" you were looking for. There is no need to be rude.

[mike g]

I'm with JC....
I shoot the same bow and Arrow set in 3D that I hunt with....
And I agree with C2....Here in CA a typical 3D shoot is 84 Shots....So practic shootin up to 150-160 arrows and then the 84 is a piece of cake....
About mid way thru a shoot I just get warmed up. you have to shoot the last arrow as good as the first....

[String Tracker]

wow 84 shots?   here the "norm" is 30

[Chris Wilson]

My usual 3D rigs run 41-45#.  I currently have a Hoyt that I'm considering using this Spring that pulls 48#.  It sure doesn't feel like it though and it feels SOOOOOO nice on release.  I keep arrow weight in the 8-9 gr/# range depending on how the bow feels.  

84 shots in a 3D round?  That's quite a course.  Most IBO and ASA courses are 40 targets and you get one shot per target.  On a crowded day, it can take several hours to get through that.  I can't imagine the time it would take to walk and shoot an 84 target course.