Bow ProShop
Arrow Speed
Arrow Speed

It seems that every where you go archers are talking about bow SPEED. "How fast is it?"   Speed
shouldn’t be your the only reason for selecting or setting up your bow.

Bow Design: This is a really broad category with a number of major and minor effects. A deflex
riser is the slowest type and as the riser becomes more and more reflexed the faster the bow gets
(due to a lower brace height and, therefore, a longer power stroke), but the bow also becomes more
sensitive to bow hand torque (more or less). A shorter bow is usually faster than a longer one. A
lower brace height is usually faster and the cam type can have an effect on compound speed.
Increasing draw weight also will increase arrow speed. A longer draw might find more speed, but as
suggested by many experts, most folks would probably benefit from a shorter draw.

Arrows:  The lighter your arrows are, the faster they will be. And shorter means lighter and therefore
faster. Pretty simple here. Within reason, longer fletches make for slower arrows (due to increased
drag). However, be sure to check with the Manufacturers Arrow Chart before choosing your arrows.

Arrow Weight vs. Speed:  The rule is—a six grain change in arrow weight will equal about one foot
per second of arrow speed. This means that if your chosen shaft weighs nine grains per inch
trimming an inch off will make about a 11¼2 feet per second difference in arrow speed. In fact
switching from a 100 grain point to a 70 grain point will increase speed about 5 feet per second.
What this means is once you select a particular arrow shaft you will have to make some pretty
drastic changes to that arrow to affect the speed, with all other factors being equal. The original
shaft choice has the greatest bearing on an arrow's potential speed with a given bow.

Draw Weight vs. Speed:  The rule is—one pound of draw weight will equal two feet per second.
This has a greater effect than changing arrow weight, but means that a 10 pound increase in draw
weight will move the arrow speed up approximately 20 feet per second.  With speed comes a price
and you need to decide if the price is worth paying. A bow designs with shorter bows are faster, but
can be more uncomfortable to shoot. If you have a 30 inch draw, a 66 inch recurve might be the
fastest option but your fingers might suffer from the added "pinch" at the nock. A more reflexed riser
might be faster but you might find it more difficult to control bow hand torque and your groups might
open up left and right.

A harder cam might be faster, but harder for you to draw, as it is with increased draw weight.

A lot of guys spend countless hours and dollars trying to get 10 more feet per second out of their
bow?  Unless you are talking about a pretty major speed increase (20+ fps) there is little to be
gained. And since the idea of target shooting is to shoot as accurately as possible a good shooter
would be remiss if he or she were to ignore the factors other than speed.

Speed is not all that matters. Given a particular bow and arrow combination, tinkering might get you
a 10 percent increase in speed. A 10 percent increase in speed just isn’t worth taking a good setup
and tearing it apart. In fact it might be worth taking a speed setup and slowing it down to help find
some accuracy. There is no shame in having a slow bow (especially if you are winning trophies with
it!).

Above all else, when considering which bow to purchase, Do Your Homework. Look over
Manufactures websites and compare bows. Then, find yourself a Pro Shop that will let you shoot
their bows, so that you can determine which bow actually feels the best to you. Each shooter is
looking for different things when shooting. Make sure you are comfortable with the bow. Make sure
the Pro Shop you are purchasing from measures your draw length & sets the draw length to fit you.
(Dloops take up 1/2" or your draw length. Releases either add to your draw length or take away from
it.) A good Pro Shop will inform you of all of these things. Make sure your arrow rest is laser tuned
and paper tuned to insure that your arrow will fly straight out of your bow. Arrows: the Pro Shop
should put you in the arrow that fits you and your set-up. Arrow Manufacturers have Arrow Charts
for determining the correct arrow.
Archery Library:
Correct Arrow Length
Discusion on Arrow Length
Arrow Speed
Measuring Draw Length
Discusion on Draw Length
Selecting Draw Weight
Eye Dominance
Tuning LongBows/Recurves