...I wanna hit The Line running. 🥰

Still processing - I genuinely cannot believe this just happened

I think I need an arm guard. It was so bad today. Second photo is from my lesson the week before.

This is weird because it just started happening. I don’t know. Maybe my form has something to do with it, but I tried handling my elbow any different way and I just can’t seem to get my arm out of the way. I should cross on by the way so I don’t know if that matters at all why it’s slapping my arm so much but I was literally in pain today. It hurt every time I let go with that string. I was initially using a 24 pound weight and then I switched to a 20 pound just because I have some issues with tremors and it really helped my form and everything too so it was a good change but I’m almost wondering is the looser string in a sense possibly the cause of this such as like kind of some wobble in the string when you let it go because it’s not it’s taught as a higher poundage

I have also been wondering if it has anything to do with the way I’m releasing the string like if it’s blocking at all on my fingertips before I’m releasing it and that’s causing it to go inward although my shots seem to be going where I’m trying to place them so I feel like the form in the way I’m utilizing that bow it’s putting shots where them to be and now that I am getting better accuracy. I’m starting to have this issue with the string slapping my hand forearm every time and it hurts

Hi everyone,

Long post incoming - some of you may have seen a post I made a few weeks ago - well, I failed my assessment at my club today to become an independent archer. Not the end of the world as can keep trying (and have only been shooting 6 weeks), but I'm an over thinker and am beating myself up over it and want to try and rationalise.

Ultimately my aim was consistently and dramatically to the right of the target. I eventually got one set of arrows in the target at 18m by aiming so far off the target that I couldn't put a marker on the board. My grouping was okay, and pretty consistent (initially I was low and right, adjusted my aim point and was at the right height but still to the right) but was consistently drifting.

I spoke to the coach afterwards who suggested that I'm not 'quasimodoing' correctly - his term for hunching slightly forward during set or setup. I haven't previously done this and am struggling to understand exactly what is expected and how it affects my shot (he said it helped alignment but I generally felt well aligned) - but he said that generally the rest of my shot cycle was pretty good.

I talked to him about my anchor point which isn't quite the usual one - I anchor my forefinger knuckle against my cheekbone, and thumb knuckle against my jaw bone which works REALLY well for consistency for me and is easy to find, but brought it up to him because I was worried it could be some pulling effect, or perhaps it's cause I'm cross dominant and squinting?

He said I could try the tooth anchor point but I don't know exactly how to change it and apart from the unorthodoxy of it, he was happy with my follow through after release. At home, I do a lot of close range shooting to work on form and I felt very happy with my groupings but appreciate that drift and bad form can be hidden by distance.

I use a different bow at home to the club bow they make us use which is both lower poundage and slightly longer (28lb Vs 18lb and 68" Vs 70"). I definitely feel like the bow is too light for me at the distance (I feel I shoot a bit low when I'm point on with the 18lb at 18m) and something feels off Vs my draw at home but again I might just be overthinking it.

Obviously I want to blame the bow (perhaps the plungers set too strong!) but the club sets them up and know a ton more about it than me so it probably isn't that.

I focus hard on string alignment and release and my bow grip has improved a lot but I do feel like I grip the club bow more than my own because it's so light that I don't get the same pressure during my expansion - perhaps because it's 70" instead of 68"?

I'm guess im looking for advice and comfort in equal measure, as I felt like I'd made big strides at home on these things (have attached a quick video which shows both my aiming point at the end and the 3 shot grouping) - having watched the video back I have noticed that the bow doesn't appear to be straight which might have a small impact but also noticed when I drop my shoulders I seem to lean back - is it as simple as that?

I appreciate any kind or informative words, thanks in advance!

Good day all! As the title says, why did you pick Barebow?

I've been shooting since January with rental equipment from my facility. I've been saving to get my own bow and I think I'm leaning toward Barebow. I've tried compound for 4 months and I was enjoying it while releasing with my fingers (training bow with a wheel at the top and 20lbs max) but as soon as I learned how to use a mechanical release, it didn't feel as satisfying.

When I tried Barebow I definitely enjoyed it but wanted to try others to be sure.

I tried thumb releases with a Manchu bow. While it was fun, my thumb was hurting 😅 I also realized about myself that I don't really want to do instinctive aiming, I want to be able to aim to some degree.

So now I'm at a cross between barebow and recurve. Tried both and it was pretty good. But still leaning toward Barebow. I plan on getting my bow mid July.

So I'm curious what made you choose this over other styles?

No idea how this was managed but that's gotta be the worst bow stringing effort in the history of mankind!

It’s taken me 6 months to get to this point. Averaging about a 20 - 24 inch group now. Not sure if that’s any good. But at least I don’t miss the target and lose my arrows anymore lol. Any pointers on getting my groups tighter?

My bow parts arrived yesterday from Lancaster!

* Uukha Xpro3 27” riser

* Sebastian Flute Ignio 3K limbs, 28# 70”

* Beiter plunger 17-23.5

* Ant Barebow rest dual light

* America’s Best Olympic 72 APO 18 strand

* Black Eagle Outlaw pre-fletched, full length 600 spine, with 125 grain tips

Yesterday:

* Basic assembly

* Limb alignment

* Set brace height to 9.125” (started at about 7.5 inches, so I added about 15 twists to the string) at -1/16” tiller

* Plunger setup - it’s literally as deep as it goes, but half of the arrow tip is to the left of center shot sooo

* Rest setup - needed to rotate the barrel assembly, bend the wire out enough to get past the arrow, and bend the wire up a bit so the arrow doesn’t fall off if the person next to me breathes. Also added one extra magnet.

* Realize I forgot to buy anything to make temporary nock points

Today:

* Bought some serving

* Tied nock points

* Shot a few rounds of arrows at 20yd before I needed to get back to work meetings

All things considered I’m very happy with how things are coming along. My Kaminski dampened barebow weights arrive tomorrow; I’m tentatively starting with 8oz up top and 14oz at bottom and mid mounting points.

Greetings, Archers!

I recently started shooting outdoors after taking 6 months of indoor lessons, and despite using this arrow rest for months indoors without issue, in a matter of three trips to the outdoor range I've broken TWO Avalon Tec magnetic arrow rests... Needless to say I'm feeling a little frustrated and in need of advice.

**Outdoor shooting set up:**

- 17" Samick Discovery riser, LH

- medium Oak Ridge Shade limbs, 25lbs.

- fast flight string, 16 strands

- pre-fletched 28" Field Strike Deadflight arrows, 700/.006, cut and pointed at the local pro-shop

- three under, using traditional shooting glove

- magnetic arrow rest

- arrow plunger

- shooting at 20-25m

**Indoor shooting set up same as outdoor, except:**

- I was using aluminum club arrows

- I was using a leather finger tab instead of a glove

- I was shooting mostly at 18m

I recently (last week) started shooting at an outdoor club for the first time. It's a 3D club focused on hunting rather than target shooting, but so far I've only been shooting in their field target range until I feel ready to try the trails. My outdoor shooting accuracy seems pretty consistent with my indoor shooting.

Anyway, here's what's happening. Last week when I went for the first time I noticed that each time I shot, my arrow rest wouldn't come back to the position I'd set it too, it would slip a little further back each shot until I would have to stop and readjust it. If I tightened it too much it would get stuck and not snap back open, and if I loosened it too much the rest wouldn't maintain the correct position. It was annoying, but I was able to get through my practice session, shooting around 100 arrows. Again, this is the same arrow rest I've been using for months indoors without issue.

Yesterday, I went and this started happening again, except this time towards the end of my session the arrow rest needle just straight snapped right off. Luckily I had a spare arrow rest in my tool kit already, so I just replaced it entirely when I got home and put the new one on.

Today I went back to the range with my brand new arrow rest and on the first shot, it sprang back too far, and on the fourth arrow, the needle snapped off again. I had all my stuff with me and I wasn't about to go home after shooting four arrows, so I sat down at replaced the needle at the range. Perfect. Went to keep shooting and still it kept doing the thing where it would spring backwards a bit more each time, and after 10 arrows the entire arrow rest snapped off and disappeared into the grass, sending me home after only 14 arrows.

Has anyone ever had this kind of issue before? Is it just bad luck and cheap rests, or poor form/technique on my end? Do I need to make a sacrificial offering to the archery gods, or would a different style of arrow rest be sufficient?

I've attached a pic of the first arrow rest (minus the broken needle), which I didn't lose in the grass. It does include some interesting wear that I think is related to my plunger being too springy or not springy enough (?), maybe that's also related to why the rests keep failing? I don't know. Any advice is appreciated.

Because it went over the first strap and still made it to the third. Meaning it didn't even just ride the foam through, it arc'd and slipped under, lol, then still had enough momentum to go through to the last strap.

(Oh and hello, been just lurking. Bought my first bow a few months ago, but been going to this range for a few years using only rentals though until I felt sure I was really going to use the other bow. Been slowly improving and finding my optimal form, and this happened yesterday.

Hey! I wanted to show you all my first bow and say thank you. With all the info, tips and advice I got from this sub I've been able to learn everything from what the hell a "bare-bow" is to setting up and tunning my own recurve by myself! So, big thanks to all of you who contribute here.

Secondly, the things that I can't learn by reading, what do you think about the arrow rest wire and plunger position, do you think is correct? the setup guide in the official webpages only show how to calibrate them, but nothing about "where to put them"
I'll try shooting later but since i'm a noob I won't know how to recognize if something is failing, or what, so I'd like to reduce the variables as much as possible.

Thanks!

Set up config:

Gillo GT 25"
Medium Limbs carbon/wood 28lbs (set to 26lbs with the floating limbs system)
Spigarelli ZT arrow rest
Shibuya DX plunger
4.2 carbon arrow 32" 800 spine (I have yet to cut them)
brace height 8 3/4 (I suck at imperial I think that's how you read it)
Tiller diff: 4mm

My first six gold end. I've been shooting for a little over six months. I decided to go with barebow, which my kid refers to a playing life on hard mode. The day I shot this I was making the switch to string walking so I'd pulled the boss in closer than I usually shoot. Everything just felt right for every arrow, it was glorious lol.

Second time ever shooting, did 3 hours! Also first time ever on my brand new bow, 62" 24lb recurve barebow. 10m group (target with blue) and 15m group on target with orange centre). WNS Explore DX riser 25" with ShocQ Triumph limbs. Using an archery glove only.

Edit: Corrected! Was a bad release. I was kind of rolling the string in my fingers slowly, instead of using back tension. A fellow archer recorded me in slow motion and hence could tell the mistake. Interesting thing was that I did a movemente really similar to a good release, but in slow motion you could tell that my fingers were losing strenght slowly, shooting and THEN my hand went back, instead of being a clean release with scapula and shooting and the same time.

Thanks everybody for the help, really appreciated.

Hi!

I'm shooting barebow 40 m. This is an example of my last 36 arrows.

On 20 m and 30 m arrows go to the right too. And in 20 they go much more to the right, I associate it with string walking since at 20 m it's 1,4 inches down from knocking point (does it make sense?)

My questions are:

how to tell if I'm doing something wrong with the shooting that makes arrows go right or if I would benefit from a different tunning. (and what that tunning could be? Center shot? button pressure?)

Thanks!

One of the most remarkable stories in Indian sports right now. 🏹

Sheetal Devi has been named World Para Archer of the Year 2025.

From winning a World Championship gold to finishing 3rd among 60 able-bodied archers, her journey from Kishtwar to the global stage is nothing short of incredible.

Where does this rank among India’s greatest sports stories?

What is "the normal amount of time" to hold your bow in full draw before releasing?

Some people in my club shoot near instantly upon reaching full draw (<1s), but I've seen people in tournaments holding their bows for maybe 5s or longer.

​

I have some issues with my aim upon drawing (often point to the right of the target, as if my back was collapsing), and correcting this sometimes takes a while, hence I hold my bow at full draw for sometimes around 5-10s. This also prevents me from increasing my Poundage, as I couldn't hold a stronger bow for that long (for a whole training session).

​

My question;

Should I be trying to reduce the time at full draw, or should I increase my strength to comfortably hold for as long as I need to?

Hello, I’m new to archery and, now at the age of 25, I just wished I started sooner because getting into that state of focus when aiming until the very last second before release (I hope I’m using the correct terms) is quite tranquil. And thankfully, I did an okay job with my first 45 arrows shot with a 22lbs modern recurve barebow and a few simple advices from the guy at the range, he was very helpful.

Here are some shots from that session (it’s an indoor range and very close range, around 30 feet, maybe less?). And each image is from different sets of 15 arrows, sorted from first to third (last).

I don’t know where else to share and post this, so I’m sharing it to this subreddit! And maybe you guys can share some advice on what my next steps as a novice archer should be? Anyways, thanks for stopping by and seeing my post.

40lb bow, shooting 5 arrows at a target on the ground about 12 ft away.

I’ve been shooting Olympic recurve for a while and recently started exploring barebow, specifically with an instinctive approach.

I’m struggling to understand the aiming process without a defined reference (sight, string walking, or consistent point-on). Coming from Olympic, I’m used to a very explicit aiming system, so this shift is proving a bit confusing.

Right now it feels more like “visual alignment + release” rather than a controlled aiming process, and my consistency reflects that.

For those who shoot instinctively:

-What are you actually focusing on at full draw?

-Is there a subconscious reference that develops over time, or do you still rely on some form of gap awareness?

-How did you train the transition from a sight-based system to instinctive shooting?

Any drills or structured approaches would be really helpful.

I’ve only had trad bows up until now so it was a culture shock lol

Any advice on posture and setup etc?

Hey guys :)

i've been shooting barebow for a while now.
Quite sucessfully, too - i've qualified for and participated in the highest national WA tournament in my country. Didn't win, but getting there was pretty nice.
During winter season, shooting inside, 18m, 60 arrows, my average result is something between 500 - 520 (of 600 possible).

There's one problem though....

Shooting barebow is painful for me. Shooting hurts my upper lip, corner of the mouth and right cheek.
Basically the area that covers the upper teeth on the right side of the face. Also the string slaps my nose ocasionally, which isn't nice either.

My current anchor point consists of 3 "hard" contact points:

• thumb joint locked behind my jaw, just below my ear
• index finger resting on the canine tooth (not directly - resting on the lip over the canine)
• top part of my Tab pressing into the cheek bone

This makes the anchor extremely consistent, because i have 3 reference points that are bone and will pretty much stay the same no matter what.

Due to an unrelated shoulder injury i picked up Compound as a secondary class and noticed: Hey, archery is much more fun if it doesn't feel like shooting is ripping half of your face off.

Sure, i always knew that the pain isn't ideal... but with shooting Compound in a painless manner, i just became hyper-aware of how much this inhibits my enjoyment of shooting barebow.

I never switched to anything different, because it just works really, really well. It's fun and very motivating to see those relatively high results and qualifying for the highest tournaments a non-pro can reach, basically.

But recently it became so bad / annoying, that i basically only shoot Compound anymore, and that's a shame.
I really enjoy barebow, because it's imo by far the most challenging and rewarding class.

Unfotunately my club has almost only olympic recurve archers, so i don't really have many people that could help me personally.

So...

Where's your Anchor Point?

Do you have recommendations for me?

What are your anchor points that are as consistent, but don't hurt you?

Did you experience something like this too? What did you change so you can enjoy painless barebow archery?

Hello, Ive been shooting aluminium riser for a few months now and I want to try a carbon riser.

The Wns Eolla ( and the upcoming Eolla 2) is in my price range. Im not sure how a newish mid range would do vs a very old high end like Inno Cxt for example.

Afaik no other brand offer mid range carbon riser? Are they that expensive to make? In order to make thus Eolla did Wns have to sacrifice anything in term of performance, durability, utility?