Compound technique

From Netherhall Archers

Thoughts about compound technique.

Is it really 'boil in a bag' archery?

What is different about compound archery

While on first glance the compound bow many appear as a high-tech modern machine, the truth of the matter is that it is based on the same principles as other bows. There are limbs which flex, there is a string, there are arrows, and the skill of the archer is the dominant factor in the sport. But of course there are many technical differences too.

The compound bow uses wheels or cams as a kind of 'block and tackle' [1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_and_tackle) to alter the 'draw force curve' [2] (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/joetapley/dforce.htm) [3] (http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm#forcedraw) of the bow. The main idea with a compound bow is to shift the hardest part of drawing the bow into the middle of the draw, and to require less strength to hold the bow at full draw. In contrast a recurve bow gets harder to pull the further one draws it. This decrease in draw force on a compound bow is called its 'let off'. Compound bows typically have somewhere between 65% and 80% letoff depending on the design of the cams. This means that a compound bow with a peak draw weight of 45 pounds, only has around 15 pounds of force applied to the archer's body at full draw. This allows an archer to hold the bow at full draw for longer and reduces fatigue. Less fatigue can give the compound archer a steadier aim which translates into tighter groups and higher scores. What doesn't change is the fact that the archer still needs to be able to pull the maximum draw weight of the bow with the muscles of their back and shoulders. There is no magic here. If one shoots comfortably on a 35lb recurve bow, chances are that they will be most comfortable with a 35lb compound bow.

The sport of compound target archery falls into two classifications: unlimited and limited. Compound limited restricts the use of additional aids and the bow is shot with the fingers. In compound unlimited, pretty much any gizmo that isn't electric or that mounts the bow either to the ground or the archer's body is legal. This includes the use of stabilizers, sights, magnifying scopes, mechanical arrow rests, and release aids. All of this makes the sport of compound archery all about extreme precision shooting. Top compound archers can reliably hit a 10cm spot at 70meters.

What does all this technology really mean though? For me shooting compound is all about finding stillness in myself. The reduced force of the bow at full draw means that I'm not struggling with my muscles to hold 35lbs steady, but instead I'm only holding around 13 lbs. The stabilizers change my small muscle vibrations into slower oscillations which I can more easily see and control. The sight and scope magnifies these muscle motions so that I can see how 'un-still' I truely am. But in the end the more I become an immovable centre, the less I think about what I'm doing, and the more I let the bow draw me, a pleasant side effect is that I tend to hit the centre of the target.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_in_the_Art_of_Archery)

So yes, the technology of the compound bow does make it easier to hit the target, and it does give one a bit more self confidence off the start. But the stakes are higher in the sport of competition compound archery and one must become ultra precise in their shooting to compete. But if one is interested in perfecting their own art of archery, hitting the target isn't really the point and the compound bow is just another way to finding one's stillness.

-Jessica Severin