If I had to teach someone to shoot from the ground up I would have to start them with a recurve, why? I think because of the mass involved they are more stable in your bow hand, most being cut past center are a little more forging on arrow spine etc, You may ask what I shoot now, I shoot a longbow, and with the proper arrow they make a great hunting tool, light,quiet, and frankly I haven,t noticed a drop in performance. I feel you can may more mistakes in a hunting situation and the longbow will forgive you. If you focus hard I belive you could shoot a longbow hanging upside down,from your belly, lying on your back etc. targets the recurve wins, hunting the longbow wins depends what you do I guess