Form better = Longer draw??

[Chain2]

I have been drawing 31" or so I thought. I've been cutting my arrows 32" or 1" in front of my riser. I have been nursing a shoulder (bow) in injury for 18 months or so and a wrist (drawing) injury for a year. Things seem better now than in a long time. I had Sue mark my arrow yesterday and the mark is 1/2" in front of the riser. Same thing tonight. Is this normal as form improves? Thanks guys

[Rough Run]

It was true for me, as a recent beginner.  I built my first set of arrows myself.  As I read, learned and practiced more, and as my form and shooting improved, my arrows got shorter!  I think learning to draw through my back and having a consistent anchor made a difference.  I now have to make my arrows 3/4" longer for proper, and safe, clearance.

[fnshtr]

I've changed form more than once and it usually changes my DL.

[damascusdave]

A friend and I have spent a lot of time talking about and measuring our draw length...one conclusion we have come to is that a "posed" draw length and a "shooting" draw length are two different things...start cutting your arrows a half inch longer for broadheads (you will be fine with field points) and just forget about it

DDave

Better form can result in a longer DL. It all depends on what part of your form you improve on though.

Bisch

[Michael Arnette]

I recently shortened my draw length about an inch to 28 1/2-ish and noticed a huge improvement in my accuracy. I think most traditional shooters will see a slight draw length increase with proper form mostly due to the fact that the most common flaw in early learning is short drawing.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Any Change in form has the potential to change the draw length.  But It does not always result in better form = Longer Draw length.  in fact sometimes, the opposite is true.

[McDave]

Originally posted by Cyclic-Rivers:
Any Change in form has the potential to change the draw length.  But It does not always result in better form = Longer Draw length.  in fact sometimes, the opposite is true.

+1

Since you have been prone to injuries in the past, look for the alignment that reduces stress on your body, which may or may not be the classic stance.

[Yellow Dog]

Attend one of Rod Jenkins clinics. Odds are you'll be shopping for longer arrows when you're done.

[Don Stokes]

A longer draw length comes naturally as your muscles strengthen with practice, which is a good thing as long as your accuracy is there. A longer draw is as good as a stronger bow. Quillian believed that adding one inch to your draw was like adding 10# of draw weight, but that may be stretching it. Above all, accuracy comes first, and a longer draw means you may need a stiffer arrow to compensate.

[Pine]

Interesting thing , Howard Hill was about 6' 4" tall and he had a 27" draw length .
He actually worked to shorten his draw length so as to be able to shoot stiffer arrows .
I have noticed over the years that some people for some reason think they need to draw a bow clear back to there ear . ???
Those people are usually not very good shots as a result of that extended draw .
The best archers that I have known , all had a stance that had them more facing the target with the ancor point around the corner of there mouth .
So in my opinion , I think proper form would in most cases , shorten the draw length .
But I will add that not seeing you shoot , I have no idea what you're form looks like now .

[Chain2]

I used to probably draw shorter but getting a second anchor point took some practice. Now that I'm comfortable with the second anchor point I seem to be drawing farther.

[Don Stokes]

Hill had short arms, and a longbow like he used has a smaller handle than most modern bows, which also shortens draw. He was also quoted as saying he wasn't good enough to shoot a recurve, which was probably a joke that got legs.

He shot a heavy bow, but POC shafts were probably the only thing available then for arrows, which are hard to get in higher spines. It's logical to think he shot the shortest arrow possible to maximize the dynamic spine.

However, I don't think that 'proper form' will shorten your draw, unless you've been doing it wrong. We are all made differently, and what worked for Hill, or me, or you, may not work for someone else. If you can draw at least to your mouth and get your eye over the shaft while keeping the arrow, your string hand, and your forearm aligned comfortably with your personal geometry, you should be able to achieve accuracy with carefully matched equipment. Draw length is secondary to that.

[WVbowhunter]

Hill didn't really have short arms, he shot hunched forward with a lot of bend in the bow arm to shorten to a 28 inch draw. He did shoot wood arrows nor because they were the only thing available but because he prefered them over the alloy shafts available at the time for nostalgia as he explained  in his book Hunting the Hard Way. As far as him not being good enough to shoot a recurve he was talking about under hunting conditions as he could shoot them quite well at targets, under hunting conditions the recurve proved too unstable and misbehaved for his taste. But keep in mind that this was not the glass laminat recurves of today but rather wooden static recurves. As to if proper form lengthens draw length I would say not necessarily, when I corrected my form it actually got a half inch shorter.

[Chain2]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the help. Trying to tune myself to a razors edge. Elk camp in 8 weeks.

[Longtoke]

I think like Bisch stated it depends on the part of the draw stroke you improve. The problem i struggle with most in my draw is getting my elbow tucked back that last little bit to get full back tension, so im my case improving this flaw did increase my draw a tiny bit.

In the end your arms are only so long and there is only so much you can do without getting crazy and pulling back to your ear or something like that.

[elkhunter45]

I have increased my draw from 27" to 28" without notice until yesterday. For 36 years I have shot 29" length arrows which gave me 2" broadhead clearance on my 27" draw. Just yesterday I was shooting good and I had my arrow showing 1" instead of 2" past my riser. So for me at least proper double anchor form increased my draw length from when I was a snap shooter.

[trasher]

After realising how backtension works, I get 1" more.

[Mitch Edwards]

I taught myself to shoot so never really knew what proper form should feel like. I shot in a hunched over collapsed fashion and was on the edge of snap shooting. I got the masters of the bare bow series and within a few weeks went from 27 to 28 1/2" draw. I used to like short bows but now I find that my kmags and my 54" bw kb are just to short for me to comfortably shoot. Shooting a 60" super kodiak now and love it

[TSP]

I'll second Don Stokes' post, there's alot more to good and repeatable shooting than draw length.  Correct form is the one that works for you, and every one of us is different.  Get your alignment down properly and draw length won't matter as much as some may lead you to believe.

BTW, drawing to the ear is commonly done with English longbows...and it works quite well.  Again, results depend on the shooter's ability to achieve good alignment, which to some degree depends on physical makeup and to some (lesser) degree on bow design.

Bottom line...tweak your own form to suit your own needs.  It is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing.