Longbow - the easy choice ?

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
Yes, but it still comes down to a) the reason(s) a person is an archer at all & b) the reason(s) they choose the styles(s) they do. Modified by their psyche/character and their social & financial situation.

IMO that boils down to something as individual as a fingerprint, and trying to quantify the 'rightness' of ones' choices as futile as arguing about 'who has the best fingerprint'.

However a discussion such as this IS important, as it helps everyone to understand that there are many, equally valid, choices that one can make. Greater knowledge & understanding of 'the other' usually leads to less negativity, in just about every sphere of 'the human condition'.
 

mbaker74

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
Easier to set up and fling some arrows down the field, yes.
Easier to hit the target, no.

Horses for courses really, a good archer will respect how hard it is to get a decent score with a LB....
 

Corax67

Well-known member
Interesting collection of experiences and views guys, much appreciated.


I shot yesterday afternoon at a neighbouring club with one of their members who is a mate, two longbows amongst twenty odd recurves and we were out at 80yds shooting Long Nationals & having a good laugh knocking lumps out of the straw target in perfect conditions. Either side of us were foam targets at 80 with recurves who were mostly having a lot less fun.

One archer dumped his bow after a poor end, stood behind us and came out with a classic line about taking up a bow any idiot could shoot.

I bit.

I told him if he wanted to shoot an easy bow then be my guest - arrow is point on at 80yds (52# @ 28”) - and I put the bow in his hand.

Unsurprisingly he couldn’t even draw it despite banging on how he shot 40# limbs (I shoot 42# G3’s on my recurve) so I pulled out my lightweight (30#) indoor bow which I had with me having been demonstrating it to some guys in church that morning and we headed down the line to 20yds for which there is a sight mark ring on the bow where I shoot Portsmouth.

He could draw it OK but only got 1 of 24 arrows on the boss - you could see every textbook mistake in the book in his form; dropping front arm, head moving to meet the string, wildly varying draw length, back elbow alignment, pushing the front arm, etc, etc......

Then came the line “it would help if the arrows matched the bow!” - I’d purposely taken my matched set of indoor arrows with the bow to the target, visually identical to my other set but subtly different name labels - so being a tad annoyed I shot a full dozen in very rapid order with nothing landing outside the 8 ring.

By now my mate was on hand to haul me back to big boys distance and recurve boy’s target companions duly took him away too to continue moaning.


Cannot say I made a longbow convert on this occasion and shouldn’t have behaved like a child but it shows bad form will kill your shooting whatever bow you have in your hand.




Karl
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
Weird. You'd think that general experience during beginners courses would show that it's easier to score well with sights than without. By logic barebow is harder to get comparable scores. Therefore, logically, longbow is harder to score well with than Olympic recurve.
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
Hi Karl,
I don't think conversion was the point of the exercise. Heehee. I think you did the right thing.My guess is he won't be moaning about the simplicity of longbow in future.
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
Some people don't even realise they have put themselves in a bit of a spot!!heehee
However, if it happens again at least he will know( now that he has tried it) that longbow is an option for him to take up and enjoy the simplicity of it. It might require you to suggest as much; no one is forcing anyone into a bow style they don't want.
 

Emmadragon

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AIUK Saviour
You know, this kind of thing baffles me. I shoot Olympic recurve (not to Olympic level, sadly), and I love it, but I wouldn't dream of being properly rude about someone else's bow choice. I did a couple of FITA arrows this week with a compounder, and found the differences fascinating between both our bows. I think I learnt a lot, and so did he, about the other style. Admittedly, mostly I learnt about how easy it is to spend money on a compound and it's many and varied accessories, but still, it was deeply enjoyable. I certainly wouldn't think of standing behind a longbowperson and proclaiming how 'easy' it is. I've scored tournaments where longbowpersons have been 10 ends in before they've scored a 2, so I know how difficult it is (we did have a party in the scoring tent when he scored that 2, admittedly). Maybe a bit of good-natured ribbing with friends, but certainly nothing to someone I didn't know well enough to have a laugh with.
 

mbaker74

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
I think that's the point, my friends at the club I will take the mick out of for shooting a cheaty wheelie bow with telescopic sights then getting excited about 6 arrows in the gold at 50m, or the "bendy stick" gang who throw arrows randomly down the field but have strong backs from all the picking up, but then I fully expect to receive the same level of mickey taking. We all know there is a level of respect between us as I cant hit a barn door with a longbow, and definitely not 6 golds at 50m with a compound, and they don't shoot recurve.

Someone I don't know well I would never say anything about their chosen bow style.
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
Abso-lutely!

That's 'the vibe' we need to spread, on the firing line and in that other world we have to inhabit between shoots ;)

Luv your way of expressing it too - still sniggering & doing my best to commit it to memory, 'just in case'.
 

Timid Toad

Moderator
Staff member
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Fonz Awardee
Ironman
Firstly, a lot of people, and quite a lot of them archers, are grumpy, rude unthinking people and stuff falls out of their mouths before their brains kick in.
Secondly no one should ever, ever criticise someone else's bowstyle choice.
And what happened to "Union, Trueheart and Courtesie" ???

Sorry you've been unsettled by an idiot who was clearly having a bad day and doesn't know how to deal with that.
 

jerryRTD

Well-known member
Scoring wise once you have everything set up (which is a challenge in itself) compound = easy mode, recurve = medium, Barebow = medium/hard (depending on the style e.g stripped recurve vs. American flatbow), traditional bows = hard.
Please note this is just for comparing bow styles, of course there are different proficiency levels within each discipline, but for the sake of the example it's assuming all bows are set up and the archer is equally proficient in each bow type, note also the example is focusing on scores, not classifications.
If you think compound is 'easy mode' then you have fallen into the trap of thinking that Gold is good enough.
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
Scoring wise once you have everything set up (which is a challenge in itself) compound = easy mode, recurve = medium, Barebow = medium/hard (depending on the style e.g stripped recurve vs. American flatbow), traditional bows = hard.
If you want to be any good at these disciplines I would say: compound = hard, recurve = hard, Barebow = hard (any style e.g stripped recurve vs. American flatbow), traditional bows = hard
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
If you want to be any good at these disciplines I would say: compound = hard, recurve = hard, Barebow = hard (any style e.g stripped recurve vs. American flatbow), traditional bows = hard
If you just want good groups with minimum effort= compound. If you want to enjoy your shooting with little fuss= longbow.
If you shoot recurve= I have no idea what you want.
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
I have evidence that moving down to 3m -5m doesn't necessarily give best groups. I can't remember where that evidence came from but it was from a trusted source,:rolleyes: if I remember correctly.
 

English Bowman

Well-known member
Something I believe is that longbow takes the best physical technique to shoot well, but you don't need to have the same level of mental strength as a compound. The compound however, will let you get away with poor form (comparatively speaking) but the moment you let your concentration lapse you've lost it. I can shoot a bow quite well, but I don't have the mental strength to compete with a compound so I shoot in the longbow. The other styles seem to me to be on a scale, the more gadgets you add the more you move to the compound end. You have to find the bow that suits you. I don't think that one style is easier than the other, just different.
 
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