Speed Freak

It is a point of perpetual amusement when I encounter archers who seem to be chasing more and more speed/power. Granted I do on some level understand the obsession. When talking 3D a faster bow with a flatter trajectory will be more forgiving to errors in range estimation and when talking hunting a bow with more kinetic energy potential can compensate for poorly placed shots but on the whole this obsessive quest is completely unnecessary. When it comes to target archery, compound or recurve, a bow with a lighter draw weight that is appropriate to the archer will far and above out perform a bow with draw weight and speed specs out the roof. This is of course because a bow of appropriate weight can be more effectively controlled by the archer; maintaining proper form and preventing injury.

Denise Parker, 1988 Summer Olympic Games

My case in point is Olympian Denise Parker. At the age of 14 Parker competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games with a recurve bow that drew a whopping 28 pounds and returned with a team bronze medal. The 1988 Summer games used the double FITA round format and required shots from 70m, 60m, 50m and 30m. Now, conventional wisdom of the present day, informed by clever marketing, would dictate that she wouldn't stand a chance to reach the target, let alone medal; but medal she did.

Or consider the 11 yr-old  JOAD student (under the tutelage of Olympian John Magera) in Texas who recently earned her JOAD achievement pins for 40m and 50m using a bow that drew 16 pounds.

At the comparatively ripe old age of 26 and currently drawing 30 pounds at 27.5 inches I have to admit I was having some doubts about moving to outdoors this summer; to the point where I was considering shooting compound for the rest of the summer, but no more.

Let's go have some fun.