Advice for a newbie

[alanfw]

I have just bought a bow for my 10 y.o. son. It is a recurve, Cartel limbs 20lb. He did a course at a club a year and a half ago, so has some idea of technique but will need lots of help at the club (which we intend visiting soon) but in the meanimie he has been shooting at home.

He has been using a set of cheap kid

[frommy]

but will need lots of help at the club (which we intend visiting soon)

Might I respectfully suggest sooner

Although he may have had some instruction at a club before, bad habits are easy to acquire by a young person, using the bow that is.

Get to a club. If it is a reasonable club then they will also be able to advise on arrow shafts (get rid of the fibreglass crap for a start) and the string problem.

A recurve needs an arrow reasonably tuned to a bow, but from what you have described I would recommend a very cheap set of carbon shafts, like the Carbon Flash. They will be good to get a better performance than the fibreglass shafts, inexpensive, and will be destroyed as your son progresses, and then move on to more expensive shafts.

Although not a recurve shooter, a very general starting point for string length is that the string should sit in the limb tip grooves with a small amount to spare, and the brace height (distance from strung string at rest and bow centre) should be in the vicinity of about 9 inches. This can vary depending on limb/riser combination.

Shooting at home. One of my pet subjects and thanks for asking. DONT DO IT UNLESS SURROUNDED BY BRICK WALLS. Well, at least a substantial one to the front, or an area with a long potentially safe overshoot area.

Alan, it also helps when giving advice on this forum to know where the poster is located. Welcome to AF, and I hope that the collective knowledge here can assist you. But please go into your User CP at the top left of any page and post your location in the fields provided.

Hope this might be of some assistance to you.

Brian

[Jay.G]

1: What arrows should he buy? Will it be a bad thing to use arrows suitable for a 50lb bow on his 20 pounder? Does the "quality" (cost?) of a set of arrows affect their accuracy?


When you get to a club all of these questions will be answered properly but might as well answer them since you've asked, lol:)

Arrows, for starters I'd just get some cheap aluminiums like Easton Jazzs or whatever brian has mentioned but I've never heard of it... only cheap carbon shaft I know is Carbon impacts which are reasonable for beginning.

Yes it would be a very bad thing if you buy arrows for a 50lb bow on his 20lb bow, arrows would be virtually useless since it won't tune to the bow at all and I doubt your 10 y.o would shoot a 50lb bow anytime soon...;) and You'll learn more about tuning and stuff if you go to a club.

Yes Quality/cost does effect an arrow's accuracy but I don't think for a beginner you'd notice much difference shooting say Brian's 'carbon flash' to an top of the range arrow, Easton A/C/E or X10, IMO. Bascially you'd get what you pay for but its not wise to buy very very expensive at the start as they'd be only temporary since its only for a 10 y.o. and since he's a beginner they'd get damaged very easily from missing targets and hitting rocks or finding metallic objects on the ground/target...:) and also he'll definitely grow in draw length thus they'd need to be replaced.

[Hannah]

[QUOTE=alanfw]I have just bought a bow for my 10 y.o. son. It is a recurve, Cartel limbs 20lb. He did a course at a club a year and a half ago, so has some idea of technique but will need lots of help at the club (which we intend visiting soon) but in the meanimie he has been shooting at home.

He has been using a set of cheap kid

[alanfw]

Thanks for your tips. I'm from Hervey Bay (profile now updated). Have almost an acre of back yard, so for short range, we are nowhere near boundaries. But yes - I should check local regulations - I hadn't thought of it being illegal.

[frommy]

Thanks for your tips. I'm from Hervey Bay (profile now updated). Have almost an acre of back yard, so for short range, we are nowhere near boundaries. But yes - I should check local regulations - I hadn't thought of it being illegal.

Alan

I am fairly sure that you would be quite legal in Qld shooting at home, although I am from NSW. It depends on safety margins of the range and the perceptions of neighbours and the local police. Perceptions by others are more important than you may realise as very few people, including Police, understand our sport of archery. If another party feels threatened by home archery, a complaint lodged may not be pleasant to deal with.

The main problems in the past have arisen from people shooting in small home blocks, particularly a very sad fatality in Vic a few years ago on Christmas Day from a "whoops" of a quite experienced archer which penetrated a boundary fence.

Get your son down to a club, mate. ;)

Brian