by Susan Shea-Gerson, originally published in WOMA
Having only shot a bow for the first time several months ago at the NRA Women’s Wilderness Escape, I found myself immediately rapt and instinctively knew this was a sport I was keen to explore further. So with equal parts enthusiasm and naïveté, on New Year’s Eve I visited Extreme Archery in Mamaroneck, New York, to select my first compound bow.
Shortly after arriving at the shop it became abundantly clear to me that the Genesis™ Compound Bows (the official bow of the National Archery in the Schools Program–NASP) we had used at WWE were the equivalent of a bicycle not only with training wheels, but also supported on both sides by mom and dad. When the amiable salesman handed me a beginner’s bow, loaded an arrow and then instructed me to draw the bow string back to shoot, I could not. Please do not misunderstand, I did not just struggle a bit to pull it back into proper shooting position, I was unable to draw it back more than a couple of inches without extreme grimacing (apologies for the pun directed at the archery store name). I thought some sort of cruel joke was being played on me, but the sobering reality was that the beginner’s bow had a standard draw weight of 40 pounds; a weight that my upper-body state seemed woefully unprepared for. I would like to note for the record that I am no waif; I am 5’10” tall and attend Pilates sessions three times a week. To say that I was taken aback and suffered a bit of awkward embarrassment is to put it mildly.
Acknowledging the indisputable fact that women have far less upper body strength than men, I have since learned that the Genesis™training bows I initially used have a very light, adjustable 10-20 pound draw weight range. I feel confident that the draw weight on the models we used at WWE could not have been set any higher than 10 pounds, if that. Little surprise that shooting them was such a joy and a pleasure!
After the young man assisting me made several adjustments to the bow in the back of the shop, I was eventually able to not so comfortably draw the bow back at 30 pounds, and comfortably at 25 pounds. Once my ego begrudgingly accepted that this would take a bit of training, I inquired as to how I might improve my draw strength. Turns out there is a clever product called the Bow Trainer™, which simulates draws in a full range up to 130 pounds, thereby improving accuracy, and increasing strength and stamina.
I ended my visit by purchasing a Bow Trainer™ and ordering a new bow, which I shall describe in detail in my next post once they have notified me that it is ready to collect. In the meantime, I plan to try and suppress those dichotomous images of the carefree novice archer standing under the glorious, open skies of New Mexico and the hesitant, bewildered woman standing inside the archery shop in New York battling to draw the bow string back on a beginner’s bow.
Who knew archery would turn out to be an exercise in humility as well as a physical challenge? I’m just relieved that archery has evolved from a form of tool to sustain human life to a global sport that allows someone like me to take my time training without fear of starving to death.
Source: WOMA
