The Importance of Draw Strength to Correct Form
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n my opinion, this is where most of the archers first start down the road to disaster. Unfortunately, not much has been written about the methods and importance of finding the correct draw length and its relationship to accuracy. It remains one of the unspoken mysteries of correct archery form. At least we now have a standard definition. It is defined by the Archery Manufacturers and Merchants Organization (AMO), now called Archery Trade Association (ATA) as—the distance, at full draw, from the nocking point to the pivot point (or most forward point) of the grip plus 13⁄4 inches. METHODS OF MEASURING DRAW LENGTH In the past, there have been many methods designed to determine proper draw length. Pro shops have “draw arrows” attached to ten pound fiberglass recurve bows. The customer draws it back and, without formal instruction on where to draw it to, their draw length is determined. This frequently results in a draw length that is much too long, because the customer can and will push the bow arm out as far as possible, lean back, and draw the string almost back to their ear. Another method is to stand straight up, put your fist on the wall and measure from the wall to the corner of your mouth. Unfortunately, this is not accurate either because there are numerous variations on how
much the shoulder is rolled, whether the head is upright, whether you are leaning back or forward, or whether you are standing with a straight stance, or an open stance. Draw lengths measured these ways can vary by as much as six inches. Without instruction on proper
by Bernie Pellerite ©2007
In the eleven plus years I’ve been teaching our Shooter’s School, we have had plenty of experience in determining draw length. Of over 2,100 students, I would guess that only 250 students had correct draw length. Maybe 90-100 had too short of a draw, which leaves a whopping 1750 students whose draws were too long. This is a critical observation because, in my opinion, draw length is tied directly to form and execution. The following is a formula I created that will determine correct draw length for about 95% of the archery population. DEFINING PROPER FORM First of all, the correct draw length will only be valid for archers using proper form. So, what is proper form? • The archer should be standing straight up, not leaning back, with his aiming eye directly over his belt buckle or navel.
posture, you will probably end up with the wrong draw length. A third method (passed down through the years by recurve shooters) is to put a yardstick end in the middle of your chest and stretch your arms up both sides of the stick as far as possible. Where the fingertips meet on the stick, is supposed to be your proper draw. There again, depending on exactly where you place the yardstick on your chest, the measurement could vary by several inches.
All elements of good form can be seen in this photo—the archer is erect with his body slightly open to the target because of an open stance. His bow shoulder is low, locked, but relaxed. His grip is low and relaxed and his draw forearm is above the line of the arrow. Archery Magazine August/September 2007 19