Add - less - steady

[arda]

Hi,

I have got a Martin Jaguar which the Draw weight can be adjusted up to 60# (at the moment I'm shooting about 45#).

Should I work on the poundage (to get higher and higher(in other words get stronger)) or should I just keep it 45# but focusing on the shooting first?
Which way is a better way?

I know that the end goal should be better score, but I would like to know that I'm doing the right thing.

Thank you

Arda

[Eberbachl]

Personally I don't think poundage is necessarily conducive to good shooting.

I would be concentrating on developing excellent form as a priority over developing strength.

Strength will come with time and training, and so will the poundage - but without excellent form you can have all the poundage you like. It simply won't help.

:wink:

[Eberbachl]

Personally I don't think poundage is necessarily conducive to good shooting.

Some of my best scores have been recently whilst shooting at ten pounds lower than my normal weight due to a shoulder injury.

I would be concentrating on developing excellent form as a priority over developing strength.

Strength will come with time and training, and so will the poundage - but without excellent form you can have all the poundage you like. It simply won't help.

:wink:

[Eberbachl]

Ooops......no edit function :oops:

Could we please edit posts in here???

[arda]

Thank you for your input Eberbachl.

Arda

[robbo]

I have to agree with Luke.

Much better to work on your form with a weight that you can easily handle. :D

[clever_guy]

Depends on the type of round and distance you are training for. If you are looking to shoot FITA 1440 and have to shoot 90m, you are better off conditioning and getting to say 55lbs (depending on DL and arrow weight), so you can actually have decent equipment performance which will increase your overall performance. If you are shooting indoors or shorter distances outdoors, you may be able to stick with 45lbs.

-CG

[Eberbachl]

Getting to 55lbs won't help your 90m game at all if it effects your form adversely. :wink:

I do agree that in certain circumstances higher poundage is an advantage of course, but surely the priority is to retain great form as you develop your strength, and not just get strong and allow your form to suffer in order to get a longer distance or faster arrow flight..

:bday:

[clever_guy]

"Getting to 55lbs won't help your 90m game at all if it effects your form adversely."

Increasing your conditioning to increase your draw weight from 45lbs to 55lbs for a compound isn't a big deal. If it is going to impact your form then you are in pretty poor shape to bigin with, which is even further indication you should be increasing your conditioning.

Form is a moving target, a lot of archers spend far to much time obsessing about "perfect" form when it changes over time. If you are a shorter darw archer, then understand the basic physics of what is required for the round you are looking to shoot, then choose the appropriate equipment/tuning, and then work to condition yourself to perform well with that setup. Having "perfect" form won't do you any good if your arrows are floating al over the place at 90m in the wind, and moving to a heavier draw weight at a later date is going to cause just as many potential problems as moving sooner.

If it was 45#'s to 55#'s (or even 50#'s) with a recurve what you are saying would be more valid.

-CG

[Eberbachl]

OK - fair enough....

So - can we agree on:

"Conditioning to provide sufficient strength to maximise arrow speed and minimise wind drift at longer distances is important, and should be encouraged as long as proper technique and good form is maintained"

?

:wink:

[clever_guy]

Sure, but if you have to sacrifice "good form" for a few weeks while you build up your conditioning to a higher draw weight, it isn't the end of the world. Your holding weight on a compound isn't increasing excessively, so at worst (everything else being the same from 45-55#'s, such as drawlength) they are going to see an initial reduction in the volume of arrows they can shoot in a session with the higher draw weight and more "shake" in the dot/pin/ring. Both of these problems will disappear when the archer matches their conditioning with the new higher draw weight. After all you are effectively increasing the holding weigh ~5lbs...

-CG