Advice for a beginner

Bigfellalixnaw

I was thinking about taking up archery, but I don't know where to start in the line a equipment. I know that there is going to be an Archery society starting up in my college soon enough so I would like to be prepared for it. My main concern is what type of bow should I get to begin with? I am not expecting anything fancy, just something to introduce me to the fundamentals of archery.

brianzilla

Hi there,
You are not alone, many of the recent threads on here cover this topic. The same answer comes up time and time again, Buy nothing and do a beginners course! Most clubs host beginners courses throughout the year.

Kasspa

Don't buy any equipment until you have tried it first, there is a couple of factors you need to know first, eye dominance, draw length, draw weight, from them you can figure out what size bow will suit you, are you right or left handed? even though eye dominance comes into that as well, check online about eye dominance in recurve archery and how to check yours, it's simple,http://www.discoverarchery.org/equipment/what-is-eye-dominance-why-does-it-matter-for-my-first-bow/ check how to find a rough draw length, http://www.huntersfriend.com/draw-length-weight.htm

fenris

The temptation to hit the "Buy" button can be very strong!

This is seriously one of the times to resist strongly though as the early stages of the beginners course is as much about physical development as it is about form.

We teach you correct form that will allow you to progress and avoid injury, shoot consistently etc. your body then figures out how to draw a bow effectively for your limb length, musculature, physical quirks etc.
Until that happens you have a high probability of at best developing bad habits that will hold you back or turn you off, or at worst injuring yourself.

There is of course an outside possibility that you will be able to top literally thousands of years of archery practice and find a better way of doing things

Think of the course as giving you a base to develop from, at the very least you will be a safe archer, you also get exposure to other archers and can see different bows types, disciplines, shooting styles and dip in as your fancy is tickled, you will find that archers are very happy to talk at great length about their particular discipline!

If you cannot wait for the college club to start, check out you local club, courses typically take about 6 weeks.

http://archery.ie/site/ has a lot of info that may be useful.

maughantourig

I agree with the three above. If you want to get an idea of how much you might be spending in the future, visit:

www.quicksarchery.co.uk

It can be a bit expensive, but if you take care of your equipment, it can last you a very long time.

(I'm hoping to be in the IT as well. Look forward to seeing you there )

..Brian..

Definitely find a club and do a beginners course first. There's so much more to shooting a bow than pulling and letting go of the string. I started one last October and recently just bought a full recurve set up. Your talking about €300 including shipping. That was for bow (riser and limbs), arrows, quiver, case, finger tab, bow string, arrow rest, plunger button, strong nock (more bow parts) so it is a bit of an investment but it will last ages.

But absolutely go and do the beginner course first. You can use club equipment until your ready to buy and see if you actually like it, what sort of style you wantto shoot etc.

breebutterfly

maughantourig wrote: »

I agree with the three above. If you want to get an idea of how much you might be spending in the future, visit:

www.quicksarchery.co.uk

It can be a bit expensive, but if you take care of your equipment, it can last you a very long time.

(I'm hoping to be in the IT as well. Look forward to seeing you there )

Merlin archery a lot cheaper and some archery shops in Ireland that will offer good deals also. I get my arrows etc from shooting style. Brilliant