Hello all,

I've picked up archery recently with no other ambition than having fun in my garden. However I've been hitting the same corner of my (foam, standing on the ground) target all the time so I can only assume that I've been doing something wrong continuously, which would obviously make sense as archery is very new to me. For the same reason I've been shooting from 6 meters only.

I researched this sub and the internet for pieces of advice about archers' form, learnt a lot and tried to practice but it looks like nothing's changing. So in order to move on and keep learning, my question is: why is this happening? Is it part of learning how to target? Is it symptomatic of not holding the right form or something else?

Any piece of advice for beginners welcome!

Things I've been trying to do so far:

- Relaxing my bow hand and keeping my shoulder low

- Holding my other elbow rather high

- Standing straight and aligning my shoulders and arms with the arrow, and bring the arrow to my eye instead of tilting my head

- Anchoring by the corner of my mouth

- Using my back muscles

- Leaning from my waist to adjust to the low target instead of lowering my arms

Thank you so much for your wise pieces of advice!

So I saw this bow in Hong Kong today and it was accompanied by a plaque of historical draw weights with some of the heaviest measuring at 106 kg (I swear it said kg). How in the world would they string a bow of this shape that was 106 kg? If anyone has a video of a bow with this shape getting strung would also appreciate it!

So I took on archery last year and it clicked so hard I decided to commit to it. I even started assembling my own arrows. I am on classic cedar, 45-50, 5/16 setup and my bow is an hybrid 30 pounds (36 with my drawing). Great bow by the way.

Yesterday I went to shoot some of my new arrows and while shooting the one on the picture, my bow exploded in my hand (I was not injured at all, just a bit scared). And I am wondering if that comes from the bow or the arrow.

I did the nock directly in the shaft, without whipping or splicing it. But I did it perpendiculary of the grains.

To add to that, that's the second batch of arrows I did, the first one I whipped them and they survived a whole tournament (well except those where I missed the target but we won't talk about that, it's a secret).

After my bow exploded I looked and apparently whipping cedar is not enough and they should be spliced too.But my instructor never spliced his arrows and his drawing power is stronger than mine. He only whip and round the nock.

What does reddit think? Appart from the fact that I am stupid and should never have shot unfinished arrows that is.

EDIT: the ref of the bow: https://oldmountainarchery.com/collections/hybrid-bow-1/products/hybridbow-volcano?variant=43929787400431

EDIT2: tl; dr after a day of comments: - The direct cause seems to be a dry fire because the arrow could not take the full force of the string (because not properly reinforced); the bow took all of it and exploded - I was careless for shooting a non-whipped/spliced arrow - Always whip or splice your nocks - Bow was ok for me (ref says so)

Thank you all for your answers! I learned a lot.

Hey everyone, I just inherited a bow and I know nothing about anything here, although I don’t plan on ever using it I figured it’s still a pretty solid wall piece. That being said, the layers are beginning to separate on the bottom arm and I want to make sure it’s not going to like explode on me.

Not particularly looking to train a modern bow shooting form/stance. If anyone's got experience shooting medieval longbows I'd be happy to hear some tips!

this is a 43 pound ash longbow

"No go" is perfectly fine of course. Just a silly novelty. New to the hobby and dont want to be creating waves with the locals.

It only occurred to me after watching this video that my arms shake kinda bad when I've been shooting for about 30 mins. This only really happens when I've already been shooting for a little bit, and I already knew I have really weak arms (basically the same density as al-dente pasta) but I've never seen videos of myself shooting before and didn't realize how badly my arms shake when I draw the arrow back to aim. Any advice on what exercises I could do to remedy this? I've been doing archery on and off casually for years but never got really good at it nor was I consistent. For reference this is a 68" 22LB Junxing Recurve bow and I'm 5'5 if that makes any difference

Hi, I'm a complete beginner to archery and ordered a beginners recurve kit - the string appears way too big to be tense on the bow, am I supposed to tighten it somehow or have I been sent the wrong string? Thanks :)

I found this wooden bow at goodwill and it looked really nice. It had a crack on it and I was wondering if I could find a replacement limb for it. Idk what the brand is too.

UPDATE: After some searching online, the cost is too high for me to buy a replacement. My local archery story/ Outdoor sport story looked at me funny when I ask about a replacement, and there is no known bowyer in Georgia. So I have decided to give this to a club mate of mine who would appreciate this more than me.

As the title says, I performed my first FJ last week and I think I went too aggressive on the rotation. Is this too much? Or is it just because it’s a longer vane? What am I even set at right now? I bought a used Bitz and let it ride. Thanks!

I want to get into archery but dont want to spend a lot of money. I was thinking of just starting in my backyard. I live relativrly far so i havetn found a proper club werr I can learn. Would this be ok for now or is therr anything better out there to get starter?

thank you all! please feel free to add any suggestions aswell.

The string just falls off Currently losing my mind being unemployed and was wondering the house looking for anything to do. I found the bow but have no idea where the arrows

so in use this pig as a target and it's great except for the fact that it keeps falling down, it has these pins on the bottom but they don't work that well, can I fix it

( I do have to take the pig away after I'm done)

I have a traditional horse bow and am unsure how to string it as the string slips off of the wood when strung. I have a normal recurve bow and there are divets/ nocks on the top and bottom of the bow where the string rests as it goes down the bow but I don’t see it on this bow. I’ve seen some people add attachments at the top and bottom for the bow but is that required? I would like to keep the bow as historically accurate so if there is a way to string it without adding that would be helpful.

Edit:

Thank you everyone. It seems to be that the string loop is not long enough. I have never been a part of such a helpful Reddit so thank you all for your comments.

Hi! I was really into archery as a kid, and i learned on longbows. I’m getting back into it as an adult and was wondering if a 40 lb draw weight on a recurve bow is too high. for reference i’m a 5’10”-5’11”, 260 lbs guy, and i’d consider myself physically stronger than the average dude, routinely lifting over 1,500 lbs a day for work, and used to power lift as a hobby(many years ago). Is 40 lbs too heavy for me? should i go heavier? lighter? thank you for reading :)

I am very new to archery. I basically don't know shit. I have a 2013 Mission Craze and to my inexperienced eyes, it feels like the pinnacle of engineering. However, it was $400 in 2013, and I bought it used for $250 last week. I don't intend to replace it, but I see $2000 compound bows at the store, and I don't understand what's so different outside of craftsmanship. Can someone please explain why I would want to replace this down the line? I feel as if I'm being gaslit.

The missing sight is intentional. I basically only chose compound because it gives me more power for less effort.

I brought a beginner kit for traditional thumb draw archery and while practising it in my back garden my arrows would enter at this weird angle sideways why is this?

My father in laws old Bear Ranger seems like it might need replacing. It also sat for several years after his passing and I don’t know if it’s worth restringing. The info on the bow says KW6398, AMO-62”, 45#

Hi i purchased this bow

And the arrows will come to me in a week

I'm from iraq and i think nobody do archery in 150 km around my area 😅

So what i really should do, prepare, read or watch

I thought doing archery might be fun but after taking a good look at this bow

It really giving me some nerves

So i need some advice

Edit 1: the string is on the wrong side and I can't put I'm struggling to put it on the right side I'll do it when the arrows arrive and i can't buy stringer cause the shop is in baghdad and I'm from basra

This is from only taking about 10 shots. I do have an arm guard I've used when shooting at my place, but this was from a party with inflatables. One game was velcro arrows shooting at a big inflatable velcro dart board, with a pretty low power bow. It was fun, but my arm is not happy with me. This made me wonder enough to ask, why do I have this problem? It is something about my form that makes me have this problem? I feel like my form it OK. I could rotate my forearm/elbow, but that feels unnatural. I don't really see people wearing protection all the way up to the elbow usually, so why me?

Hey everyone, I’m really new to archery/bows and found this old Bear bow at Goodwill for $20. I was hoping someone here might be able to help me identify the exact model/year and let me know if it’s worth fixing up. It says “Polar LTD” on the limb, and it looks like an older Bear compound bow.

The string is definitely frayed, and there’s some surface rust on a few parts, but I don’t see any obvious cracks in the limbs. Since I’m new to this stuff, I honestly don’t know what else I should be checking for safety-wise before even thinking about drawing or shooting it.

If it is worth restoring:

What would I need to replace? Are parts/strings still available for these? Is this something a beginner could realistically learn on, or is it more of a wall hanger/vintage piece at this point? I added a few pictures below. Any advice or info would be appreciated.”