Building the wood arrow...Part 2. True draw length

       If it seems I belabor the issue of ingraining the Hill style of shooting a longbow...that fluid, smooth, relaxed and casual style...I am indeed.  The whole idea of this Blog about Hill style longbows and all that goes with them, is to promote the shooting style and equipment that has been somewhat obscured in recent years.  Now that we're diving into the ways of building good wood arrows, we need to realize how important it is to shoot with a consistent albeit fluid and dynamic draw, anchor and release.

      Many, many times over the years, when fitting a customer for a new bow, I have found that when taken to task, the majority of longbow shooters do not shoot their bows with the draw length they believe they have.  If I had to guess, I'd say over 85% of longbow shooters, when concentrating on a target they want to hit, and when using a fluid, pull-through, dynamic release with no hold at anchor, will shoot up to an inch shorter draw than they have when just drawing a bow and posing for a camera or bystander to measure their draw length. This is largely due to the natural inclination to compress and hunch the upper body in a state of heightened concentration.  The same thing happens if you ask someone to point their finger at an object across the room, their head and posture will be upright;  then ask them to align their finger with their dominant eye and point at the object while sighting along their outstretched arm.  The head lowers and goes forward, and the compression hunch happens.  This compression will shorten the draw length even if a perfect anchor and pull through release is done.  

      It is quite the topic of bow shooters these days to make sure they are engaging their back muscles and having a release that floats the fingers back to the top of the shoulder.  Hill and Schulz didn't teach those things.  I guess they thought if a person shot a bow long enough, they'd figure out eventually that drawing a bow using the arm muscles instead of the rear shoulder and back muscles didn't work very well and with a little practice, the correct muscles of the rear deltoid and scapula areas would start engaging without having to make it a teaching point.  However, it was very important to Hill and Schulz to keep the release hand alongside the face as much as possible.  This was a teaching point on which they were adamant.  With moving shots the hand could move more due to an accentuated follow through of the target, but that was it.  As I discussed in an earlier blog post, the release of the string happens as the fingers are passing into and through the first reference point at the corner of the mouth, on the way to a solid anchor of the thumb under the jawbone after the string leaves the fingers.  This kind of dynamic shot from draw to release does not stay at rest for long, if at all.  Trying to see the point at which the string leaves the fingers is sometimes hard to observe. 

      When the back tension never relaxes into a "holding" position, it never has to start back up to get a proper release.  If a person holds at full draw, then they have to re-engage the back muscles to an extent and start "pulling" through the shot.  This is where a clicker comes in handy.  However...the Hill style form is a constant drawing/pulling motion and the release happens during the pulling, so back tension never is lost and the release is always crisp and consistent. With a Hill style release, the hand is moving rearward while the fingers are moving forward.  The string leaves the fingers at a point very near the perceived anchor/reference point.

      However, to be able to make arrows of proper spine, we need to know the bow's draw weight at our specific draw length in which the string leaves the fingers.  Not where we're holding the string at full draw.  This is vitally important. This is not always the same point of reference for all shooters.  I've observed over and over, someone coming to full draw, and during the course of their "aiming" and focus on back tension, they will either let the fingers creep forward a touch or move rearward a bit before the string actually leaves the fingers.  Either way, the actual draw length is different than they perceive.  So how do we measure for our actual draw length?  

       I've heard of lots of techniques to measure one's draw length.  Standing at full draw anchor with a measuring arrow, having someone mark an arrow where it meets the sight window while holding at full draw, attaching a clothespin on the arrow and drawing until the clothespin touches the sight window, using a rubber band to mark the draw and I'm sure there are other ways not mentioned here.

      I've used a different system for many years, consisting of two parts, and it seems that if someone is using proper Hill style form, the two parts confirm each other most of the time.  Part one: place some ink marker lines (of varying colors) on the end of an arrow shaft, 1/2" apart starting 1" beyond what the shooter thinks is their draw length and coming down the shaft to about 2" shorter than their "perceived" draw length.  Then have a bystander watch as the archer shoots the arrow at a target that they are really concentrating on to hit.  Not just posing.  Go through all the proper Hill style shooting steps, be as fluid as possible, and shoot at a target at shoulder level, not at something on the ground.  Have the bystander note which line the arrow is drawn to the majority of the time.  The shooter must not try to stretch out the form, think about increasing back tension or anything form related.  They must shoot just as they would when shooting at an animal.  All concentration on the target. The multicolored lines help the bystander note more easily the actual draw length when the arrow ceases to move rearward and starts to go forward.  This is the actual dynamic draw length.  Part two:  hold a yardstick to the sternum, both arms reaching forward (not stretching) and see the measurement where the tip of the middle fingers touch.  No stretching!  Just keep the shoulders relaxed.  It's uncanny how this simple yardstick measurement, which takes into account the breadth of the chest as well as the length of the arms, is very close to the length of draw when someone is shooting in a fluid, relaxed Hill style.

       Of interesting note, when the bystander is watching the archer shoot, the arrow will usually be drawn to a certain line / draw length on a consistent basis, regardless of what the string hand is doing at the release.  The release hand will sometimes vary quite a bit, but the arrow is being drawn to the line almost exactly the same each time.  I watched Schulz shoot and realized his draw length when looking at the arrow tip coming back to the bow shelf was always the same, regardless of how his anchor looked.  His body had been trained for so long, that he instinctively knew what full draw felt like.

      Ok... after knowing at what draw length the string is actually leaving the fingers and the arrow is moving forward, we understand what our true dynamic draw length is and we need to weigh the bow at that length to get our true bow poundage.  Find an archery shop with a bow scale, or purchase a hand-held bow scale, or use a hanging grain/hay scale.   Any of these types of scales will give decent bow weight information.  A creeping release can sometimes hide the true draw length, as the bystander will see the arrow slide forward a bit and then quickly shoot forward from there. The point where the arrow moves forward quickly is the true draw length as the slow creep forward does nothing to help the arrow release.  Actually, knowing if a person is creeping at release or not will be immediately identified with this little exercise.  A creeping release is a bad one.  If you're doing it, work on that part of your form to ingrain a proper pull through release.

      Any of the other ways of measuring a draw length require a static motion.  Holding at full draw, drawing while thinking about a clothespin or rubber band, etc.  Schulz was adamant about extreme concentration on the spot to hit, so much so that one shouldn't even know if the arrow point has ridden up on to the shelf if using "net" length arrows, let alone knowing if you've drawn the arrow to a clothespin or rubber band.   There are archers who will use the broadhead touching the finger as a way of making sure their draw length is full, when shooting at an animal.  After having lessons from Schulz, and hearing his words and the way he delivered them, I feel confident he would say "if you are thinking about the broadhead touching your finger, your concentration on the target is not good enough".  I can say the same thing about marking your draw length while shooting. Don't put anything on the arrow that you have to feel. The marker line measuring arrow allows the shooter to perform the shot in a true fashion as possible to a real hunting shot to get the draw length, and that's what this is all about...getting a proper arrow spine group that will be forgiving of shooting errors during the pressure of a shot at an animal, arrows that will recover from archers paradox properly, which in turn will help you to...

     Shoot Straight.