How To Measure Draw Length On A Recurve Bow

Nothing is as frustrating as trying to shoot a bow and arrow with the wrong draw length. Using the wrong draw length on a bow is not only irritating but can be fatal to your accuracy and embed bad techniques. It can even lead to injury. Modern compound bows use a let-off which means that the strength required to pull back is reduced by 70 to 80 %. This means at the back wall of your pull the draw weight is lighter. For this to work, you need to be shooting at the correct draw length as the let-off will happen at the back of your pull. Your draw length is determined by your Bows cam system, these can be adjusted to suit your particular draw length. Your draw length and the draw length of your bow needs to be the same for you to be shooting accurately and comfortably.
Unlike modern compound bows recurve bows don't use specific draw length as they don't have a let off.

Draw length usually ranges from 23 to 29 inches. A draw length of a bow is the distance between the nock of the arrow (center of d-loop) to the neck of the grip. The draw length of a bow and the draw length of the person shooting the boat should be the same. An archer's draw length can be measured by taking your wingspan in inches and dividing it by 2.5. For example

72 inches ( 6 foot ) ÷ 2.5 = 28.8 inches – Should be close to my draw length

What is draw length

The bow's draw length is more or less the distance from the knock of the arrow to the throat of the grip. With compound bows, this will usually be close to the length of the arrow. Recurve or longbows are designed to be pulled back at nearly any distance. Compound bows, however, are different, they are specifically designed to draw back at a specific distance. This is your draw length. A draw length makes it possible for a compound bow to use something called a let-off this allows the bow to reduce the amount of strength needed to pull back the string which in return means you can pull a higher weight and you will then be able to shoot a bow at greater speeds. Draw length range from anything from 23 inches to 29 inches however some bows are made to be bigger or smaller. A larger person will use a bow with a bigger draw length whereas a shorter person will use a bow with a shorter draw length. As mentioned earlier your draw length is the distance your bow will start to give let off. Your personal draw length is the distance that you would feel comfortable holding the bow fully drawn. This means that your spine and arms are perfectly aligned in a good shooting posture. Finding your perfect draw length can be difficult, even though there are methods to get close, you will have to shoot and see what is comfortable for you. Even though there is no way to perfectly find your draw length there are ways to get close we will be covering this further down in this article.

What happens when you use the wrong draw length?

Using the wrong draw length can have multiple effects on your shooting. It will affect your posture, accuracy, the rate of getting tired and overall performance. It is very important that you use the correct draw length. Using a bow with the wrong draw length can have multiple implications. Firstly, a bow and cam system is designed for you to be able to pull back a big amount of kinetic energy, which means it utilizes specific muscles at specific places in the drawing process, in other words, the cam system is designed to go into a state of let-off at a point where you need it. When the draw length of your bow is set too high you will not be able to get the cams into a let-off position as you will not have enough space or power at the specific position to pull it all the way back. This means you will tire quickly, won't be able to pull back the bow or might even injure yourself.

On the other hand, using a bow with the draw length that is too short can I have just as many implications. If a bows draw length is too short your posture will be affected as well as your accuracy and consistency. If the draw length is too short you will not be able to extend your arms all the way causing a bend in your elbow as well as your body being in a strange position.

It is very important that the length of your arrow matches the length of your draw. When using an arrow that is too short it can cause serious injury. Imagine the arrow sliding off of the rest while you are fully drawn with a 70 lb bow and impaling into your hand with no one around to help you this can be very painful and could end your days as an Archer.

What is full draw

Full draw is when you are at the peak distance of your bows draw length. You will feel this as your bow will have a let-off caused by the cams. This means that at full length you will only be holding 20% of your draw weight. If your bow is configured correctly full draw is where you will have the perfect posture for archery. This means your bow arm is straight and your string is at the perfect position on your faces anchor points. You will have no problem finding a lock position on your face with your string-hand.

When at full draw you should be comfortable and stable, you will need to be at full draw before you will be able to start aiming this means that when at full draw you should be able to hold it for a certain amount of time which means that full draw needs to beat a comfortable body position. This comes back to the correct draw length. When you've got the correct draw length your full draw position will be stable and you will be able to hold it there for a long time while getting your site in the right position. Once you've set up your full draw length perfectly then you will be able to find the position for your peep sight as your draw l

ength will change your locks on your face which in return will change the position of your peep sight.

Draw length and peep sight

For you to be able to shoot your bow comfortably everything needs to work together this means your peep sight needs to be in the correct position. Adjusting your draw length will change the position of the peep sight. If your draw length is too short the distance between your eye and the peep sight will be too big, restricting your view of the sight and target. This will also mean that it does not block out the surrounding objects that will draw your attention away from the target. Your peep sight needs to be at the perfect distance from your eye which means your draw length needs to be perfect as well. If your peep sight is too close to your eye, meaning your draw length is too long, your field of view will be blurry and this will make your aiming more difficult and your shots less accurate. Your peep sight needs to be covering the sight circle perfectly.

The position of your peep sight will be greatly affected by your draw length. When at full draw you will have to find the lock points on your face and then position your peep sight. As with most adjustments to your bow, y

our peep sight and all around sighting will change when you change the draw length you will have to move your peep sight up or down depending on which way you are just the drawings this will mean you will have to resight your Bow.

Getting your draw length through your wingspan

One way of finding your draw length is through your wingspan. Your wingspan is the distance from the tip of your middle finger to the tip of your other middle finger when your arms are extended completely. The easiest way to find it is to stand with your chest against the wall spreading your arms and then getting someone to mark these two points. When you have your wingspan you can get your draw distance by dividing your wingspan by 2.5. This is not 100% accurate but can help you get close to your perfect draw length. Once you've got this distance, which should be between 23 and 29 in, considering you are normal length human, with a normal wingspan, you will be able to find your draw length to suit you exactly.

Your wingspan should be close to your height although not hundred percent accurate as some people have longer arms than others. A 6 ft person should have a draw length between 28.5 and 29 inches. A 5 ft 7 person will have a draw length between 25.5 and 26 in.
A lot of people set their draw length too long to get faster speeds from their bow. This can result in accuracy and a painful string snap to the forearm.

Draw length and speed

When it comes to archery people can get a little obsessed by speed. Speed means your arrow is moving faster which means the trajectory of the arrow will be straight up this also means that an error will have more connected energy when it hits a target. Shooting a bow with higher speeds also Grant you some words of bragging rights. A bow that shoots and arrow at 300 feet per second is considered to be fast. A lot of things affect the speed of your bow namely the poundage the draw length and the arrow.

The longer your draw length, the more time you're bow will have to exert a force onto the arrow. This means it will increase the speed.
Draw length greatly affects the speed of your bow. Generally, 1 inch of draw length equals 10 feet per second. Which generally means that if your bow is supposed to shoot 300 feet per second at a 30-inch draw length, dropping it down to 27 inches will mean a loss of 30 feet per second.

The fact that your draw length affects the speed of the arrow means that a lot of people will overextend their draw length to shoot faster this means that they are less accurate and in the end will worse off.
Don't be that person. A few inches will do a lot more for comfort and accuracy than it will do for speed. 10 feet per second won't make as big a difference as missing your target will.

D-loop adding to draw length

The d-loop does not add to the draw length of your bow. The draw length is measured from the knock of the arrow which is in the middle of the d-loop to the base of the grip. The length of the D loop is usually half an inch, this is the standard size of a d loop. The length of the D loop will change where you anchor your hand on your face this will be coupled with the type of release you are using.

For you to shoot comfortably and accurately the draw length is of utmost importance. Shooting with a bow that has a draw length that is too small will greatly affect your accuracy and comfort. The same thing with a bow that has a draw length which is too long. Don't try and make your draw length bigger than is comfortable for you to increase the speed of the arrow or to say that you've got a bigger draw length. At the end of the day, it is important to get the arrow in the center of the target no matter at what speed or at what lengths you are shooting. You will know when you get that perfect draw length you will feel comfortable and you will shoot consistent and accurate once you know your draw length remember it as it should stay the same if you are not growing anymore