Over the last few months a number of you have moved from the club equipment to your own and you should have settled in with those new bows over the later part of the indoor season. Now that we have moved outside, many of you will be striving to shoot longer distances and that often means more poundage or better limbs are required. As top end limbs are expensive, it is usually the poundage that is looked at first.
If you are comfortable with your current poundage and you are rock solid on the line AND you are using your back correctly to draw the bow (if not please ask), then now might be a good time to consider putting ‘half’ a twist on your limbs to increase your poundage slightly.
If you have already been doing this AND you have your limbs on an exchange plan form one of the retailers, please don’t forget to go back to your chosen retailer and discuss the options available to you. Lauren I left it too late and we were unable to take advantage of the Aim4Sport exchange plan, please make sure that you keep an eye on your time limits and consider moving up a couple of pounds on your limbs. Remember to wind them out to reduce the amount of extra poundage that you are pulling and then wind them back down as you get used to pulling the extra poundage.
Regular but small increases are better than opting to purchase stronger limbs (say 4lb more) and then finding that the extra poundage is just too much. Plus, if you have bought new arrows to match the poundage, then the extra expense simply compounds the mistake and makes it even more painful. Wind in the limbs you have first, buy new limbs when they are wound in suitably far and then wind out the new limbs to start the process again.
Remember – make small increases that you are comfortable with. You won’t be considered a hero by adding 4, 6 or even 8 lbs to make that far distance, only to pull a muscle or cause some other injury to yourself. If you find yourself developing a shake at full draw, reduce the poundage immediately as you’ve probably gone too far.
And just as importantly, don’t forget to undertake a good solid warm up before shooting and a cool down when you have finished. The Archery GB approved warm-up and cool down can be found in the new AoR Beginners Handbook. AoR members, please let me know if you would like an electronic copy.
Good Post.
also. Don’t forget your new limbs/poundage might mean a new set of arrows will be needed.