Drawing Archery Bows
First up, check the condition of your archery bow, making sure it's safe and that the string are properly waxed. If you have a compound model, also properly wax the cables. More on waxing here: String & Cable Waxing
Local Archery Club
We recommend going to a local archery club to get proper instructions on how to draw your archery bow. With these types of bows it's very important to have the right posture, as repeated incorrect usage and posture greatly increases the risk of injuries.
General Steps
- If you have a right handed bow, hold the bow with your left hand and position your right hand onto the string. If you're left-handed, just do the opposite. The bow should always be held by the non-dominant hand, with a somewhat relaxed grip.
- Adopt a stable stance and straighten your body. Your feet should be a bit apart, at almost shoulder width. When drawing the bow, it's important that you draw it back in a straight manner, keeping your elbow level.
- Select a specific anchor spot: the place you consistently draw the string to, such as your chin or cheek.
- It may be sensible to first hold your bow while looking at a mirror and mimic the way you intend to draw the bow. This can help you spot issues with your posture before feeling the issues.
- Onwards you nock the arrow by clipping it onto the bowstring at the nocking point and rest the arrow on the arrow rest. Hold the bow in a relaxed grip as you raise it.
- Once the bow is properly raised to roughly shoulder height, pay special attention to how high your elbow and shoulder are. Reposition them if needed.
- Slowly draw the string in your preferred method.
- We don't recommend one method over the other: there are several types of finger techniques to draw a bow, we recommend testing them in a regulated environment so you can safely discover which type of technique works best for you. Make sure you draw the string back in a smooth straight line, with your elbow level or a little above the arrow.
- Pull the string to your anchor point, such as your cheek or under your chin, while making sure to focus on the target and adjust your aim if needed.
- Once fully drawn and aimed, release the string in a manner fitting with your finger technique and let your drawing hand move back naturally. The bow may recoil a bit, for which we recommend using a bow sling.
Recurve vs Compound Bow
A compound bow is usually a bit more forgiving when aiming, especially for beginners. Compound bows create a different type of tension when drawing them: When using a compound bow, the draw weight of the bow is heaviest at the start of the draw and levels out during usage, with it disappearing nearly completely at the let-off point. For recurve models, the draw weight gradually increases as the string is pulled back.
Some argue that compound bows are inherently more accurate in usage, but the skill and techniques of the archer themselves have a big impact too. We recommend trying both types of bows to figure out which feels best for you.
Right Accessories
There are a lot of accessories for archers that can make drawing the bows a safer and more pleasant experience. While in theory one could pick up a light bow and start out like that, we often recommend using the following accessories:
For protection use an arm guard, a chest guard, as well as protective glasses. These things help with your basic safety as they decrease the risk of injury. For example, if you accidentally draw the string too far to the side on a compound bow, instead of drawing it straight back, the string can derail and move in unpredictable ways. An incorrectly drawn string might lash across your arm on its way back, and a derailed one could fling back into your face. While these things are generally preventable when using your bow in a proper manner, it's always best to stay on the safe side and be prepared for what might happen.
For beginning archers we also recommend using a bow sling and a finger tab (until they get a good feel for it). While bow release aids are very convenient, they are very sensitive too, so they're generally not recommended for beginners. If your preferred finger style is without an aid like a finger tab or a release aid, we recommend using a shooting glove for protection.