Draw length??

[JD619er]

So a couple months ago I picked up my first trad bow a bodnick slick stick 45lbs at 28 inches. I am pretty much hooked at this point I bought anoth bow a Kota badlands 58 lbs at 28 and it's gonna sit on the shelf until I feel I'm ready for it. So I fletched some arrows that were close in spine and just started shooting the slick stick and researching and learning and practicing my form. I've been shooting everyday for three months and recently decided it was time to tune my arrows. So I bareshaft tuned then I bareshaft planed to my fletched arrows and I feel really good about where I'm at. I'm second guessing myself on form now though. Reason being I had a 28.5 in cam on my Mathews And now after measuring my draw length with my trad bows I keep coming up with 26.75 in. From the deepest part of the nock to the deepest part of the handle and add 1.75 in. When I have my wife take pictures or I look in the mirror everything looks in line and my back gets a good workout from shooting all the time. So I feel like I'm pulling through with good back tension. I do keep my bow arm bent a little I have some plates in the bow arm wrist and it doesn't feel very good to lock it out. So I guess my question is should I be alarmed and concerned about my form just because of these numbers? I know I'm new to this forum and to trad bows but any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[justinspicher]

You'll lose about an inch of draw length going from compound to Trad, on average. If you are consisteny drawing to your anchor and get a solid anchor using your back tension to achieve good and accurate arrow flight, I wouldn't mess with anything.

 

[JD619er]

Thanks man any words of encouragement are great lol

 

[Beendare]

I shot my compound with a bent arm but just couldn't do it with stickbows...I was pushing that bow all over the place. My DL actually went up with sticks.

If you have perfect alignment like the form clock on Tradgang......you are good. If you can take a picture from above you...that gives you the best snapshot of your alignment.

Without going from that extreme....if you aren't losing any arrow left or right...you probably have pretty good alignment.

 

[smoke]

I'm 6'1" and draw right at 27 inches - and that seems kind of long for a lot of guys so you are probably in good shape.

 

[Jesse Minish]

Have you tried measuring your draw by just going from the deepest part of your nock to the front of the arrow shelf? You could use a long arrow or dowel and have your wife mark it then measure it. It is much easier that way for me.

 

[tater]

Nock an arrow. Clamp a clothespin on arrow at front of shelf. Draw bow to anchor with eyes closed (this prevents the visual cue to overdraw).
Let down, and measure where clothespin is from valley of nock.
Do this three times to ensure that you are consistent in the measurement.

Be careful of the "trad form police". There are a lot of individual variables that make up square bone on bone form. If you look at a lot of images of "traditional" shooters, a good portion of them have poor back tension, and short draws with a lousy anchor point. I am only 5' 10", but my draw with an ASL is 28 7/8", and on a more pronounced recuve style grip is 29 5/8". I have had some trad guys comment that my draw is "too long", but if you look at it from above like Beendare mentions, i am in as perfect alignment as my body can be.

The test of good form is what happens at full draw. Can you hold the weight squarely due to back tension and bone to bone contact?

 

[Superkodiak38]

Good advice on the clothes pin, or a blank shaft measured and marked. I draw 31 with a recurve but I am 6'5". Like Tater said stay away from the "keyboard experts" the most important thing IMHO is to be consistant, as long as you do the same thing over and over you will get the same results. Everyone's facial structure, length of arms, torso etc. is different. If you look at me shooting the first thing you will see is a "hi elbow" I have heard it a million times but if I drew my bow until my arm aligned with the arrow I would be pulling about 34" in draw. Take video and study it to diagnose problems, one is to and watch the point of your arrow, if it starts to creep forward just before your shot you are not holding proper back tension. It has been my personal experience that guys loose 1-1.5 inches of draw goign from a compound to a recurve or longbow. Keep after it ! Kill some critters !

 

[JD619er]

Wow guys thanks for all the advice! Since posting this I have done the clothes pin thing and continually get 27 inches and I also had my wife take numerous pictures and a few videos and actually took some myself and I feel pretty good about my alignment so I think I'm not gonna stress to much over the draw length and just keep practicing consistency! I'm gonna try to post a picture of my alignment to see what y'all think

 

[JD619er]

View attachment 49056

 

[JD619er]

Idk if y'all can see it well. It got blurry once I posted it for some reason