Warbow for a beginner?

[TheDukesArchers]

Hi fellow archers!


Well, I'm new to the sport of warbow shooting and am currently without a bow of my own, however I have maintained an interest in the 100 years war for a while, especially the battles of Crecy and Agincourt and the part played by the longbow. I'm pretty much on a budget at the moment as I'm still without a summer job , but I'm looking for a bow of about 80lbs-100lbs at 32. I personally think this should be a good starting point?


Cheers!


TDA

[killir duck]

what weight bow do you shoot now? it usually helps if you can start with a lighter bow and once you have worked into that then move up 5 or 10 pounds hevier keep doing that until you reach your goal

[paulsemp]

I do not shoot warbows but 80 to 100lbs is a lot of bow and don't know many that can even pull that back

[imar]

You need the correct technique, then 80- 100 lbs is not a problem.
But without the proper technique you will soon ruin your shoulder.

So you need to find a way to learn how to shoot medieval style, 'in the bow'.
Using your back muscles instead arms/ shoulders.

Best I think is to find someone who can teach you.

Imar

[TheDukesArchers]

Oh I know the correct technique, or the 'rolling loose'. I have this crappy ash self bow that  I bought a while ago; it pulls to around 34# at 60lbs, and it's like p nothing. Shooting a Victorian longbow or flat bow at 100lbs with standard technique would be near impossible!

[DarkSoul]

So what bow or bows are you currently shooting? What drawweight is the maximum you shoot? You are confusing me a bit with that crappy ash selfbow numbers...I guess it says:

34#@28"
60"

Right? That would mean it has a 34 pound drawweight, with a drawlength of 28 inches. The bow length would be 60 inches then.

If you shoot 34 pounds now (or even 60 pounds for that matter), it will be nearly impossible to step up to 90 pounds straight away. The difference from 70 to 80 pounds is significant. From 80 going to 100 is huge. Get a good technique first with a lower drawweight (up to 50 pounds). Then slowly work your way up.

[Ian.]

It would be helpful to know what your bow is at the minute, this sign '#' normally denotes weight. 

[Del the cat]

60# - 70# @ 28" is a sensible start but you'll want a bow tillered out to say 31".
once you can comfortably manage the 60- 70 at 28 you can start pulling it back further, that will give another 10# or so.
You can't jump straight into the heavy weights until you know you can handle something reasonable first and build up your technique.
Del

[toomanyknots]

"You need the correct technique, then 80- 100 lbs is not a problem."

Darn straight. Even light target bows should be shot with the correct technique not just heavy bows or warbows. Using your larger muscle groups like your chest muscles, kinda your stomach/core too, and back muscles (which are alot stronger than your arms), in effect makes it possible to shoot higher weight bows. Not saying that your doing it wrong now or anything. You should open up the bow with your chest muscles, which will require use of your back muscles naturally. Start with your drawing arm elbow up high a bit and bring it down at full draw, it is bad/hard for your arm (*I believe*) to force your elbow down during the draw if it feels uncomfortable to do so. Or at least it is for me. I could have a bad elbow and not know it but it does not feel right to me. Warning though, this can sometimes cause a little more stress on the lower limb of a bow. To me it is easier though to focus the strength of the pull on my main muscle groups when I put my drawing elbow up a bit during the draw and bring it down at full draw. In one complete motion. No bull, I am a puny small, 150 pounds, arms about as thick as a redbull can kinda guy, and after "teaching my body" a couple years ago I can at ease draw, hold at fulldraw as long as needed to aim, and shoot accurately (as much as I am with a light weight bow ) at about 30 - 40 feet up to 100# -110# at 28" - 30"... ...(as long as I can find a correctly spined arrow out of the pile of arrows on the floor...). So I am walking proof it is the technique not the man. I have seen and heard say that it is natural to stick your butt out a little bit too? LOL I don't know what thats all about but it seems to just happen.

EDIT: If your shooting 34# now, you will want to build up very slowly, as slowly as it takes. It is like playing an instrument, you gotta work at it everyday. If you slack off for a couple months, then you have to relearn some stuff sometimes. If you try to play a song that is to advanced for you, then it will just sound terrible and you won't be able to play it. The only way to play advanced songs is to master the simple songs first, that is the only way to get what you need to play harder songs. And then when you can play the harder songs, only when you can play them beautifully and perfect, then you can try to play the very hard master grade songs. So practice every day!   

[TheDukesArchers]

My first ever shot with a warbow was a 110lbr and I found it no problem after I was taught the correct technique. By just using my arms and drawing it in the traditional manner I could only manage about 28 inches, but by shooting in the bow I found 110lbs felt like nothing at all. Been hitting the gym for a good while though and I think those weighted pull ups and rows have built up the required muscle. But yeah, couldn't pull 110lbs to 32# by just using my arms and shoulder!!!!!