Making the switch to recurve from compound

Marcus37

New member
As some of you on here know, due to injury I'm forced to switch to a different discipline away from compound bows to something with less weight in the bow hand.
I was going to go for trad but after trying a few things I have decided to switch to freestyle/Olympic recurve.

I have selected the SF Forged bow kit, as I feel this would be a good place to start with a 30# draw (my compound was set to 50#) which I will be collecting at the end of October. And for now I will be borrowing a club bow.

So I have questions for you experienced Olympic shooting guys and girls.

Is 30# going to be ok for making the transition between disciplines and learning the correct form and shot cycle?.

How will I know if I have my button pressure correct or not?

I will be useing Easton ACC arrows, what advantages would I get between spin wings and vanes?

Should I start shooting up close or just take a bit of a plunge and start at 30 yards?.

Also all words of wisdom on the subject would be appreciated.
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
Is 30# going to be ok for making the transition between disciplines and learning the correct form and shot cycle?.
No one can answer that question with any degree of accuracy. It will depend on your stamina and injury, although I would say that recurve is more likely to cause injury than either compound or trad but this is just a generalisation.
How will I know if I have my button pressure correct or not?
Set to mid position then bare shaft tune.

I will be useing Easton ACC arrows, what advantages would I get between spin wings and vanes?
Probably not much. But spins are easier to replace.

Should I start shooting up close or just take a bit of a plunge and start at 30 yards?.
I would start at 20 as you are already unsure of your shooting and go to 30 for bare shaft.
 

Marcus37

New member
No one can answer that question with any degree of accuracy. It will depend on your stamina and injury, although I would say that recurve is more likely to cause injury than either compound or trad but this is just a generalisation.
Set to mid position then bare shaft tune.

Probably not much. But spins are easier to replace.

I would start at 20 as you are already unsure of your shooting and go to 30 for bare shaft.
My injury is from holding to much weight up in my bow arm, my physical therapists says it will heal but not if I'm holding 8lb in the air all day 3 times a week.
 

backinblack

Active member
As some of you on here know, due to injury I'm forced to switch to a different discipline away from compound bows to something with less weight in the bow hand.
I was going to go for trad but after trying a few things I have decided to switch to freestyle/Olympic recurve.

I have selected the SF Forged bow kit, as I feel this would be a good place to start with a 30# draw (my compound was set to 50#) which I will be collecting at the end of October. And for now I will be borrowing a club bow.

So I have questions for you experienced Olympic shooting guys and girls.

Is 30# going to be ok for making the transition between disciplines and learning the correct form and shot cycle?.

How will I know if I have my button pressure correct or not?

I will be useing Easton ACC arrows, what advantages would I get between spin wings and vanes?

Should I start shooting up close or just take a bit of a plunge and start at 30 yards?.

Also all words of wisdom on the subject would be appreciated.
Draw weight wise you should be fine - 30lbs is my default option if I need to work on something or am working my way back into shooting but take a view: you might want to start with a lighter weight club bow so you get used to putting everything where you want it without wrestling the bow.

"Normal" button pressure is the medium spring set to the medium tension with a properly spined arrow and with centre shot a little left of the string (right hand archer). The key is to get bareshafts and fletched arrows landing together - in the vertical plane by adjusting nocking point height and I adjust draw weight for to bring them together in the horizontal plane. I then tweak button pressure so that the arrows land straight (nocks not left or right) and do a walk back test to check that there is no great variation left or right on a change of distance. What Kid Curry said: start at 20m just to make sure nothing is too far out of whack and then tune at 30m.

Spin wings are a bit lighter and so can improve cast, they get damaged more easily but, as was said above, are easier to replace. Vanes are more resilient but you have to naff around with a fletching jig and glue. There are probably no significant benefits in terms of accuracy.

Sorry about your injury and hope your switch works out.
 

backinblack

Active member
As some of you on here know, due to injury I'm forced to switch to a different discipline away from compound bows to something with less weight in the bow hand.
I was going to go for trad but after trying a few things I have decided to switch to freestyle/Olympic recurve.

I have selected the SF Forged bow kit, as I feel this would be a good place to start with a 30# draw (my compound was set to 50#) which I will be collecting at the end of October. And for now I will be borrowing a club bow.

So I have questions for you experienced Olympic shooting guys and girls.

Is 30# going to be ok for making the transition between disciplines and learning the correct form and shot cycle?.

How will I know if I have my button pressure correct or not?

I will be useing Easton ACC arrows, what advantages would I get between spin wings and vanes?

Should I start shooting up close or just take a bit of a plunge and start at 30 yards?.

Also all words of wisdom on the subject would be appreciated.
Draw weight wise you should be fine - 30lbs is my default option if I need to work on something or am working my way back into shooting but take a view: you might want to start with a lighter weight club bow so you get used to putting everything where you want it without wrestling the bow.

"Normal" button pressure is the medium spring set to the medium tension with a properly spined arrow and with centre shot a little left of the string (right hand archer). The key is to get bareshafts and fletched arrows landing together - in the vertical plane by adjusting nocking point height and I adjust draw weight for to bring them together in the horizontal plane. I then tweak button pressure so that the arrows land straight (nocks not left or right) and do a walk back test to check that there is no great variation left or right on a change of distance. What Kid Curry said: start at 20m just to make sure nothing is too far out of whack and then tune at 30m.

Spin wings are a bit lighter and so can improve cast, they get damaged more easily but, as was said above, are easier to replace. Vanes are more resilient but you have to naff around with a fletching jig and glue. There are probably no significant benefits in terms of accuracy.

Sorry about your injury and hope your switch works out.
 

Marcus37

New member
Draw weight wise you should be fine - 30lbs is my default option if I need to work on something or am working my way back into shooting but take a view: you might want to start with a lighter weight club bow so you get used to putting everything where you want it without wrestling the bow.

"Normal" button pressure is the medium spring set to the medium tension with a properly spined arrow and with centre shot a little left of the string (right hand archer). The key is to get bareshafts and fletched arrows landing together - in the vertical plane by adjusting nocking point height and I adjust draw weight for to bring them together in the horizontal plane. I then tweak button pressure so that the arrows land straight (nocks not left or right) and do a walk back test to check that there is no great variation left or right on a change of distance. What Kid Curry said: start at 20m just to make sure nothing is too far out of whack and then tune at 30m.

Spin wings are a bit lighter and so can improve cast, they get damaged more easily but, as was said above, are easier to replace. Vanes are more resilient but you have to naff around with a fletching jig and glue. There are probably no significant benefits in terms of accuracy.

Sorry about your injury and hope your switch works out.
I have just got back from our Sunday morning shoot, and I have been loaned a club bow, it's a 68" which is a little short but it's ok for learning form etc, with a 25lb draw weight that feels fine no excessive shake etc,
I spent most of the time with our clubs recurve captain who helped me tune the bow/ my own stabilisers etc to suit me, he also helped me with form and hand position as I was holding it like my compounds which was causing issues.

By the end of the shoot about 45 minutes ago I was getting a average 4 out of 6 in the gold @ 20 yards but I still make mistakes which requires a lot of practice to sort out so I can build consistently.

He told me about walk back tuneing etc but also said not to worry about that to start with, as my form is the most important thing to work on even after I get my own kit for a few weeks of heavy practice, which is the same as when I was learning compound.

One observation is that with recurve I can really tell when I make a mistake and what it was, ware was with compound I found it harder to diagnose my mistakes.

So far the switch seems to be quite easy, as I already have a understanding of archery, and some things cross over, stance, body alinement etc from compound and traditional, but the under the chin anchor feels strange at the moment.

And the best part after about 70 arrows no shoulder pain at all.
 

Marcus37

New member
Ok so I have been shooting Olympic for a few weeks now, and have gotten a feel for it quite quickly, but I need to work on my release as I often pluck the string causing a wide shot.

I have been scoring my self for 36 arrows each time and my scores are climbing steadily from 247 for my first recorded score to today's 306 all shot at 30 yards.
This is still useing a club bow, as I'm yet to have the time to go get my set up.

The funny thing is I'm no ware near as good with recurve as I am with compound but I am enjoying it more... go figure :D
 

Corax67

Well-known member
Good to hear things are improving for you - hope the recovery continues well.

Recurve is a weird one for me too - it's the first one I learned on as do the majority of us & I progressed rapidly before hitting a mental wall that saw my form collapse. At the same time illness stopped me coping with the weight of the bow and I dropped into longbow by chance. I've not looked back, longbow is my favourite by a country mile then barebow & I have just started compound which I love.

Of all these styles my Recurve is my weakest - no idea why but it just is - maybe it's the combination of weight, sight, clicker, stabilisers and all the associated adjustments available combined with the vagaries of shooting off the fingers that render it more unforgiving than the other bows or a mental block in my case :)




Karl
 

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
Sorry to hear about the injury; I worry a bit as a lifelong shoulder dislcator but so far so good.
 

Marcus37

New member
Good to hear things are improving for you - hope the recovery continues well.

Recurve is a weird one for me too - it's the first one I learned on as do the majority of us & I progressed rapidly before hitting a mental wall that saw my form collapse. At the same time illness stopped me coping with the weight of the bow and I dropped into longbow by chance. I've not looked back, longbow is my favourite by a country mile then barebow & I have just started compound which I love.

Of all these styles my Recurve is my weakest - no idea why but it just is - maybe it's the combination of weight, sight, clicker, stabilisers and all the associated adjustments available combined with the vagaries of shooting off the fingers that render it more unforgiving than the other bows or a mental block in my case :)




Karl
I agree longbows are fun and fulfilling to shoot and there is not set way of shooting them so they are one of the most interesting disciplines over all, the only reason I don't have one for my chill out bow if there is such a thing is transporting them, due to the length it's just not practical for me.

I'm used to having a lot of toys on my bow from shooting compound so all the adjustments normal for me, it finger realese that's unusual but I'm getting there.
 

TJ Mason

Soaring
Supporter
Fonz Awardee
American Shoot
My injury is from holding to much weight up in my bow arm, my physical therapists says it will heal but not if I'm holding 8lb in the air all day 3 times a week.
I actually went the other way - recurve to compound - because of shoulder trouble. The problem in my case is in the joint tissue rather than the shoulder's supporting structure, and the let-off of the compound made it possible to hold at full draw. Go easy on the stabilisation. or the weight felt at the shoulder will be no lower than with the compound.
 

Marcus37

New member
I actually went the other way - recurve to compound - because of shoulder trouble. The problem in my case is in the joint tissue rather than the shoulder's supporting structure, and the let-off of the compound made it possible to hold at full draw. Go easy on the stabilisation. or the weight felt at the shoulder will be no lower than with the compound.
That's the plan, I'm going to keep the stabilisation weights to the minimum required to do the job. I also don't plan on adding top or bottom riser dampers to reduce weight further, I will use stick on dampers on the limbs as required once I go get my own bow again.
 
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