What's up with Korea?
The world leaders are in trouble. By John Stanley.
As a quick guide, your stabilisation at full draw should allow your sight to float over the gold and not want to drift away in any direction. Secondly, as you draw the bow back the longrod should not want to tip upwards. This is where a degree of trial and error is required with the adding or removing of weights, as everyone's draw is unique.
There are many variations to the above mentioned 'standard' configuration. The most common include not using an extension bar and attaching the v-bar to the back of the riser either in line with the longrod or further down. Others will use an adjustable v-bar that allows you to change the angles of the short rods. All of these are examples of trial and error by the archer and their coach - everyone is looking for those extra points. However, for the novice archer it is best to keep things simple. You can then use the time you would have taken fiddling to practice your form.
upgrading your system
Anyone browsing on the internet will quickly notice that the choice is vast – along with the wide range of prices.
I am often asked: will a £150 longrod be better than one that costs £30? In terms of the primary function of a longrod to reduce hand torque, the answer is no. But it is not as simple as that. We now have a multitude of materials used, different diameters and even shapes. All of these add secondary benefits such as help with bow vibration, how the rods react during the shot, stiffness, the look, and even their wind cheating properties.
A popular trend is for stiffer and stiffer rods. This has big benefits for archers that like to pile lots of weight on the end of their rods, the stiffness reduces the flex and keeps the bow stable. On the downside you can end up with a harsh or 'dead' feeling bow lacking in feedback, which can also be quite critical to a poor shot due to the lack of flexibility in the configuration. You will also have to be very fit to shoot with it.
Rods are also generally getting thinner in diameter, to lessen the effect of the wind, although for most club archers, the wind affects the archer more than the rotation properties of the stabilisation.
Most riser manufacturers produce stabiliser systems to match a riser model, usually colour co-ordinating with the risers. But in most cases, they will transfer and work on other manufacturers' products. There are also a handful of dedicated manufacturers specialising in everything to do with
stabilisation. Which you choose is a personal choice; ideally you should try before you buy. But these days it is becoming difficult to find everything in one place as dealers are stocking less with the internet becoming more prominent. I always recommend that at the very least try the longrod on your setup as this has the biggest effect.
What do top archers use?
Most international archers fit into two categories, a light or a heavy set up and their choice of manufacturer is mostly down to sponsorship.these days, overall, a lighter set up is favoured by most international archers. You will notice that the configurations are quite simple, with a rubber dampener and a small amount of weight at the ends. This configuration does not require the very stiff rods, just enough to not bend or flap around with the weight added. Perhaps the biggest benefit is the ability to have more control in the wind, because when you are against the clock and the wind blows you off the gold it is easier to drift back. An added advantage of a lighter set up is that it reduces fatigue as the shot cycle can be quite quick.
A heavy set up, with lots of weight on the rods, feels very solid and stable keeping the sight pin hovering over the gold. Archers shooting this type of configuration need to be very fit and have a very definite, slower and controlled shot cycle.
Accessories WEIGHTS
Manufacturers will make weights to complement their designs, the threads are typically 1/4" (some stiffer rods us 5/16"), most are between 20g-40g and about a centimetre long. This is fine if you have a light set up, but when adding lots of weight they do get rather long, the alternatives are heavier, bigger diameter weights known as disks, as used in most compound archery setups, which are slimmer to keep the overall length manageable.
Typically, a top archer's lightweight set up will have around 140g on the longrod and 115g on each twin rod. A heavy set up could start at 300g and 250g respectively.
V-BARS
There are 2 types of v-bar, fixed or adjustable.
Adjustable v-bars allow you to set the vertical and horizontal positions of the short rods allowing you to get the bow rotation just as you like it.
Fixed v-bars are a solid bar in metal or carbon with no adjustment, so you buy the one that is suitable to your requirements. The most popular is a 0 x 45, where there is no vertical angle on the short rods, and they are set at 45 degrees to the riser. Others range from 30 to 40 degrees and 11 degrees down.
Top rods
A short top rod fitted just below the top limb pocket creates further resistance to the riser twisting, usually from 5" to 10" long. Many top archers describe adding this as much for 'feel' as anything else.
Riser weights
Risers these days come with a multitude of bushings to allow you to add additional mass weight to the riser, so if the riser is not heavy enough more weight can be added. Typically, barebow archers, who are not allowed stabilisers, can add weight to the riser to help with the vertical balance and stop the bow tipping backwards, usually by adding weight to the bushing close to the bottom limb pocket.
Ultimately, time is required to find what best works for you, or if time is at a premium you cannot go far wrong by imitating the lighter setups favoured by most top archers – for example, the Korean international team. But if you aspire to tighter groups, adding the correct stabilisation to an Olympic recurve setup is essential.