Welcome

This section aims to explain what all the bits of the bow do, and give some guidance to what all of the available options are. Any opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and not necessarily of SWAC Ltd. Let the webmaster know if you spot anything wrong or want to add to anything here!

This is the central body of the bow which the limbs attach to, with the hand grip and arrow rest. For some bows the riser and limbs are made from a single piece of material, i.e. longbows, flatbows and other one-piece bows, but usually the riser and the limbs are separate. Unlike limbs, which you'll initially be changing quite often as you move up in poundage, a good riser will last you many years. So if you want to spend extra money somewhere when you're starting out, buying the best riser you can afford is usually a better investment than buying the best limbs straight away.

Recurve risers can be made of several different materials, namely wood, aluminium or aluminium- carbon fibre composites. Generally speaking, introductory recurve risers are made of wood or plastic, while more advanced bows are machined to high tolerances from forged aluminium or composite materials, and have more flexibility in terms of limb adjustment, stabiliser weight fittings, inbuilt vibration dampening etc. However, there are also some amazingly engineered and crafted wooden bows out there, so it shouldn't necessarily be assumed that metal and composite bows are always best!

Each riser will feel very different in how it shoots, the shape of the hand grip etc., so riser choice mostly comes down to personal preference in how the bow feels. Another consideration is the weight of the riser. Metal and composite risers are usually much heavier than wooden risers, which gives more stability especially in the wind, but may cause issues if you're struggling with the weight. There are also a few almost pure carbon fibre risers, which are extremely light and feel very different to shoot.

Compound bow risers are almost all made of aluminium, with a few carbon fibre models. As for recurve risers the differences between different models mainly come down to strength, weight, balance, vibration dampening, and most importantly how the bow feels when you shoot it.

These are the parts of the bow that bend when you draw. The power of your bow is primarily determined by the strength of your limbs, which is measured in pounds. The strength of the bow, also known as the 'draw weight' (not to be confused with how much the bow physically weighs!) controls how much power goes into the arrows when you shoot, but also how much effort you need to exert to pull the bow back. Limb poundages start at around 12lb for junior bows, or 16-18lb for adult bows, and can go up to 60lb or higher. The strength of a particular bow or pair of limbs is written on the limbs, normally the lower limb.

No matter what strength the limbs are rated at, the actual poundage you will hold will depend on how much you pull the bow back at full draw, i.e. how long your arms are. All stated limb poundages on adult bows are given assuming a 28" draw length (the distance between the nock of your arrow at full draw and a point on the riser - see the arrow section for a full definition of draw length and arrow length). If you have a longer or shorter draw length, the poundage you actually hold will increase by approximately 2lb for each extra inch of draw length, and decrease by 2lb for each inch less. On many risers, you can also adjust the poundage of the limbs by a small amount (usually +/- 10% of the stated poundage), so the value written on the limbs is really just a guideline. If you really want to know the exact poundage of your setup, you can measure it using some bow scales.

Higher poundage limbs will enable you to shoot longer distances more accurately when shooting field or outdoor target, but only if you can hold the poundage. Getting too powerful limbs too quickly can completely ruin your technique so make sure you move up in poundage slowly and can comfortably control your draw and aim.

Recurve limbs generally come in 3 different lengths:- short (making a 66" bow with a standard 25" riser), medium (making a 68" bow) and long (making a 70" bow), with shorter length limbs available for junior bows. Suitable length limbs will depend on your draw length, i.e. how long your arms are. As a general rule of thumb a suitable length of bow is roughly your arrow length plus 40", so a 68" bow would be suitable for a 28" arrow length, but there is some flexibility. Most people will get on well with a range of suitable limb lengths, depending on if they prefer a more forgiving or a more powerful bow. The longer the limbs, the easier it will feel to draw as you won't be bending each limb as much. This makes things more forgiving as it will smooth your shot out, but the limbs will recoil slower and you'll be getting less power transferred to your arrows. Shorter limbs will feel less smooth to draw as the limbs will need to bend a lot more and may start to stack (suddenly get a lot harder to pull as the limbs near their bending limit), but the limbs will recoil faster, transferring more power to your arrows. The added 'punchiness' will also make things less forgiving though, so a slightly dodgy release may send your arrow further out wide.

Limbs can be made out of many different materials, ranging from laminated wood and fibre glass, to carbon fibre composites with carbon or wood cores. The more advanced limbs use hi-tec composite materials, designed to feel lighter and smoother to draw, and less prone to changes with temperature or the British weather. They'll also give your arrows a bit more speed compared to basic wooden limbs of the same poundage, but as the limb quality increases, sadly of course so does the price!

This is the string between the two bow limbs that transfers power from the limbs and launches the attached arrow. The point where the arrow attaches to the string is marked by a "nocking point". This can be a brass ring clamped to the string, so the arrow attaches just under the ring, or as a lighter weight alternative some thin thread tied round the string. It is important that your nocking point stays in a fixed position as this will affect the flight of the arrow (see the Bow Tuning section for info on how to set your nocking point!)

Bow strings can be made of many different materials of different strength and weight. More expensive string materials are designed to be more light-weight and more resistant to stretching over time or changes with temperature or moisture. You can buy pre-made strings or just buy the raw string materials and make your own custom strings with a few simple tools.

A bow string will consist of several strands of material all twisted together to form a single cord. The more strands you have, the stronger the string will be, but it will also be heavier and slower. The number of strands needed will depend on the poundage of your bow setup and the strength of the string material used. Every brand of string will have a recommended minimum strand number for different bow poundages to avoid the string breaking when you draw. When buying a string make sure you get one with the required number of strands for your bow.

Strings will also come in a range of different lengths, depending on the length of the bow it's for. The string length can be further adjusted by putting more twists into the string to shorten it, and undoing some of the twists to lengthen it. The distance between the arrow rest and the string when the bow is strung gets larger as the string is shortened. This distance is called the "bracing height" of the bow. Each bow will have a recommended bracing height range, i.e. between 9 1/2 and 10 1/2 inches for example, and you can adjust the string length to change the bracing height within this range. Any bow setup will usually have a particular sweet spot of bracing height where the bow string transfers the maximum energy to the arrows or according to the archer's preference of how the bow feels on release.

As the strength length alters how the bow performs, it is very important to keep the string length the same each time you shoot. As a bow string is twisted, it will naturally untwist if left loose and the bow string will be a little longer next time you shoot, potentially altering your sight marks. You should therefore always tie the two ends of your string together when packing your kit away, as shown in the video.

Even if you always keep your string ends tied together, each time you undo your string, you may add or remove one twist as you put it onto the limb. If you're lucky and do the opposite next time you string your bow, the change will be small, but if you happen to twist it the same way several times, you may start to change the length significantly. A bracing height gauge (see the acessories section - coming soon) can be used to check the bracing height each time you set up your bow and make sure it stays exactly the same.

For barebow archery styles, you aim using the point of the arrow or a point on the bow, and adjust your aiming point according to the target distance, wind direction etc. For other archery styles, a sight can be attached to the bow to use as an aiming point. The position of the sight can then be adjusted and recorded to account for different distances and weather conditions. This means that you can set your sight in the correction position and can then aim the sight at the centre of the target. This is generally a lot more accurate compared with aiming in different places, sometimes far away from the target, for barebow shooting.

Basic sights generally consist of a moveable sight block on a slider. The block can be untightened to move it to a different position on the sliders scale. Basic sights can sometimes shake themselves loose with the vibration from the bow, and should be checked after every few shots to make sure everything remains tight. More advanced sights are more robust and manufactured to higher tolerances, making them less susceptible to vibration. Advanced sights also give you much finer control, with precision adjustment to move the sight up and down and left and right.

The part of the bow that holds the shaft of the arrow in place as you draw, aim and shoot. Basic recurve rests will have a fixed plastic arm that is stuck on to the riser. More advanced rests will have a metal arm where the position of the arm can be adjusted to improve the support on the arrow as you shoot. Many metal rests will also spring back in towards the riser after you shoot, avoiding the fletches catching on anything as they pass through.

As you release the string on a recurve bow, the arrow will always flex and bend a small amount as it leaves the bow. A button is a sprung metal arm that attaches to the riser just by the arrow rest to control this flex.

As the arrow flies past the rest, the tension in the sprung arm supports the arrow and controls the flex, helping the arrow to end up travelling straight when it leaves the bow. If you can visibly see your arrows flexing wildly from side to side when they fly, a button may help to improve your arrow flight, giving you better grouping and slightly increasing the arrow speed.

The position and the spring tension on the metal arm can be adjusted, and will need to be altered according to the diameter and the flexibility of your arrows. Adjusting the button to match your arrows is an important part of bow tuning. 

Clickers can be used on recurve bows to help the archer pull the bow string back exactly the same amount each time. However, they do take some getting used to and not everyone gets on with them. They certainly shouldn't be tried until you have a good controlled technique, and can anchor the string firmly on your nose and chin.

A clicker device is a sprung piece of metal that the arrow goes underneath when you load it onto the bow. As you aim at the target and pull the string back, the point of the arrow clears the clicker, allowing it to spring back towards the bow. The sound of the metal hitting the riser is then the signal to immediately release the arrow.

A kisser is a device that helps you to pull the string back to exactly the same position on your face, making sure that your anchor point stays exactly the same. A small plastic disk or other marker on the string is designed so that you feel it touch your mouth when you pull the string back to full draw.

A rod, attached to the front of the riser, can be used to move the centre of mass of the bow forward. When you release the arrow, the bow then falls quickly down and straight forward, rather than bouncing back up uncontrollably towards the archer which can affect the arrow flight.

Having a long rod on your bow will also make it feel more stable with less tendency to twitch from side to side when aiming at the target. Most long rods are made of carbon fibre and many are designed to additionally absorb some of the vibration from the bow when you shoot.

Long rods come in a range of different lengths, styles, and stiffnesses, some are designed with a flat profile to catch the wind as little as possible. There are also a range of weights that you can add to the end of the rod to adjust the mass. Each longrod configuration will make your bow react slightly differently on release, so it's good to try as many different options as you can before buying one, and choose something that suits you.

Short rods are about 1/3 of the length of the long rod. They can be fixed to the bow to add weight and therefore make the bow less twitchy to hold and aim. They are sometimes attached on the front of the riser in place of a long rod, but more usually mounted on either side of the bow using a V-bar attachment

A V-bar attachment mounts to the riser and contains two connectors pointing diagonally out to the side to attach short rods to. The long rod then mounts to the riser through the V-bar. Having short rods pointing out to the side of the riser balances the bow, making it less susceptible to tilting sideways when aiming, but will also bring the centre of mass back towards the bow. This can be compensated for by extending the length of the long rod, adding more weight to the end, or using an extender attachment. An extender attaches between the long rod and the riser, moving the long rod further away from the bow and therefore moving the centre of mass forward again.

In summary, once you're comfortable shooting with the basic set-up, there's a wide range of options for stabilisation, vibration dampening and controlling the bow's movement on arrow release, have a play!