Complete guide to: Recurve Stabilisation
Andrew Smith weighs up your options
Despite all the technical papers on recurve stabilisation, when you ask top coaches and archers about their stabilisation set up and how they arrived at their current configuration, all will say that it was achieved through trial and error.
Today there are many companies making stabilisers and associated products, varying wildly in price. The price difference is down to the materials used, production costs and the cost of the research and development deployed to make the finished article. Most long and short rods are now made from carbon, or a mix of carbon and fibreglass as found at the cheaper
end of the market.
Adding any stabilisation to a bow adds mass weight; how fit you are will determine how much weight you can add and ultimately the correct stabilisation configuration for you.
Unquestionably, stabilisation helps to increase scores – it is why every top archer uses them and not to do so will compromise your results. Most Olympic riser manufacturers expect an archer to add stabilisation and design the balance and centre of gravity (hereafter referred to as COG) to allow for it.
A well set-up stabilisation configuration helps to iron out minor form errors that create unwanted torque and movement of the bow, affecting arrow flight and lowering scores.
Today the most popular configuration trends are either a light or heavy set up, and which one works for you will depend on your shooting form and your fitness.
Where to start
When selecting a stabilisation solution, there is a big element of seeing what works, because a stabilisation system suitable for you cannot be set up in isolation from your bow, physical abilities and shooting form.
If you watch a lot of the top archers
shooting or look along any shooting line you will see that the most popular configuration comprises of a longrod, v-bar, extender and two short rods with weights and rubber dampeners on the end of the rods. We will explore this in more detail later, but for the novice archer the best place to start is by adding a longrod. Most entry level rods come standard with a rubber dampener and a weight – if not, you will need to add these.
Using stabilisation will also require another piece of equipment: the finger or wrist sling. When most archers start out they grip the riser, this must be quickly unlearnt, and a better hand position is required that balances the riser in the hand, without creating any forces on it. Shooting with stabilisers, you do not hold the bow, so the sling stops it falling to the floor after the shot.
We will always create some forces on the movement of the bow, but the longrod will create some resistance against this. As you draw the bow back, the limbs also move the centre of gravity of the bow towards the archer making it want to tip upwards. The length of the longrod and the weight on the end will stop this from happening. All of this is important because any twisting or tilting of the riser after the release can interfere with arrow clearance and in extreme cases create arrow contact deflecting the arrow off-course.
Longrods come in different lengths, from 26 inches to over 50 inches. Ideally you do not want it to be unwieldly, so as a guide: for draw lengths under 26" go for a 26" longrod, up to 28", a 28" longrod and for longer draw lengths a 30" rod will be enough. With the addition of weights and a rubber dampener all the rods will end up being a bit longer.
At first, shooting with a longrod will feel strange as the balance will be different with the bow wanting to tip forwards. A mistake made by many is to add far too much weight to the end of the rod. This creates problems with the control of the shot and bow set up as it changes the balance of the bow and the pressure point on the bow hand, which has an influence on the nocking point position and tiller. At full draw you want the bow to feel settled, allowing the sight pin to hover over the gold and not feel like it wants to rotate downwards – or indeed, rise up – at any point during the shot cycle.
For beginners, a longrod will most definitely improve your scores, but it will also add mass weight to your bow. Care is needed to make sure your hips do not start to move forwards and the bow shoulder does not start to rise to compensate for this.
Once you have got familiar shooting with a longrod, you can start to consider adding a v-bar, extender and twin rods.
I suggest from experience using a 3" or 4" extender, as this will move the centre of gravity further forward without having to add lots of
MOST ARCHERS FIT INTO TWO CATEGORIES: A light OR A heavy SET up, And THEIR choice Of Manufacturer IS MOSTLY down TO SPONSORSHIP
extra weight to the end of the longrod to get the same effect. You will see many of the pros with slightly longer extenders; these are best tried when you have a bit more experience and full control of your shot.
Adding a v-bar and two short rods counteracts and balances some of the forward rotation of the bow so that the bow feels settled in the hand through the shot cycle. It will also reduce the rotation of the bow in the vertical plane so the bow will stay upright.
Most low-cost stabilisation sets these days include everything you need for around £80, although depending on hand position and accessories on the bow you may need to add an extra small weight on the short rod opposite to the sight fixing to balance the bow.
Once you have bolted everything to the bow, check to see if the bow has a good balance by balancing the extender on your finger with the bow upside down as shown on the right; this will give you a good starting point before you go and shoot. It is difficult to shoot and feel whether the stabilisers are working for or against you. This is where the help of an experienced coach, archer and/or your local pro shop can help. They will have the skills to watch you shoot and see how the bow is reacting, and make any necessary changes to your form and bow set up.