There are many different bow manufactures on the market today, all are reliable and offer great bows. Depending on your desire of the sport you should start by selecting the type of bow you feel you are going to shoot, a traditional bow, a recurve, or a compound bow.

The first step is to determine eye dominance. There is a very simple one minute test that will determine your eye dominance and any archery shop can assist you in this test. A right-handed person is not always right eye dominant. If you are right handed and left eye dominant you can still shoot a right handed bow you will just need to close your left eye in order to view your sight properly and the same goes for a right eye dominant person shooting left handed.

The next thing to be considered is the draw length of the bow and its draw weight. This is another one of those things that a local archery shop will help you with, it is important to have your draw length determined by an experienced professional. Whether you shoot a compound or recurve, your draw length is critical information to know before you proceed to purchase a bow. Eye dominance, draw length and draw weight can all be determined in about 30 minutes during one trip to an archery shop.

Select a bow that has a comfortable draw weight for you. Don't make the mistake of getting an over powered bow with hopes of growing into it. Most compound bows and some recurve bows have a draw weight adjustment of about 10 lbs so you may choose to get one that can be adjusted down to you draw weight and then adjust the weight up as your muscle tone increases. An overpowered bow will result in bad shooting form along with bad habits that will be hard to break in the future. In order to determine what draw weight is comfortable for you allow yourself to shoot many different bows set at different draw weights. Consider how the bow feels to you, the grip, bow vibration, actual weight of bow, noise etc., all things being equal, the individual "feel" of the bow will make a major difference in the way you shoot it. Once you know which eye is dominant, your draw length and have decided on a comfortable draw weight you are ready to start shopping for a bow. Visit many different bow shops to determine what bow you are really happy with. Different archery shops carry and cater to different bow manufactures, you owe it to yourself to try as many different brands as you can.

If considering a traditional bow, or a recurve bow, for an adult male a bow within a 50 to 60 pound max range is usually more than enough to do a good job and not too much for one to handle. A compound bow consideration might be a 60 – 70 pound range for an adult male. Generally speaking, if you can handle a recurve of a certain weight, your compound should not be more than 10 pounds more weight than a recurve due to the let off that is part of the design of a compound bow. If you have a 50 lb. Recurve you draw and hold 50 lbs., if you have a 50 lb. compound you will draw 50 lbs. but once you get it past the break point you will only hold 15 to 20 lbs. Depending on what percentage of let off.

If you are considering a compound bow, you should look for one with a higher brace height (the distance from the string to the riser or handle of the bow) and longer axle length (the distance from the center of each wheel or cam). Bows of this nature tend not to exaggerate shooting form errors quite as much as the shorter brace height and axle length bows. For a new archer they are more forgiving which makes them a better place to start.

Gary Miller

Team AZOD