University of Birmingham Archery Club

Bow Types

This page should give you an overview of the different types of bow most commonly used at our club.

Recurve

The recurve, as used in the Olympics, is the most popular type of bow in the UK and the type we train novices to use. They are made up of three main parts: the “riser” (handle) and two “limbs” which slot or screw into the riser. The riser can be made of wood or metal and the limbs can be wood, fiberglass, carbon fiber, or ceramic — all offering different types of shot.

Normally, a “sight” will be attached to the riser to help with aiming, and a “long rod” and “v-bars” may also be fitted to stabilise the bow (see the Equipment page for all the gory details). A recurve without a sight is known as a “barebow”.

Compound

Invented in the United States in 1967, the compound is the most technically advanced form of bow. Compound bows have much stiffer limbs than recurves so a levering system of cables and pulleys is necessary to make them bend. They are typically more powerful and accurate than recurves and, when fully drawn back, require less strength to hold than a recurve with a similar draw weight. Compound archers are also allowed to use some extra bits, like “telescopic sights”, “peep sights”, and “release aids”.

Recurve archers will tell you that compound archers have gone to the Dark Side, but you didn't hear that from us.

Longbow

Used for hunting and as a weapon of war in the middle ages, longbow archery became popular as a sport in Victorian times. Longbows are roughly the same height as the archer and can be made of a single piece of wood (called a self bow) or, more commonly, several different types of wood glued together. Being traditional bows, they do not have sights, arrow rests or any other magical bits and pieces used with recurves and compounds.

The longbow is often referred to, especially by recurve and compound archers, as the “stick” or “broom”.

News RSS

New Committee

Published: 1st March 2012

The club AGM was held last night (29th February) at the Gillett Centre. Two motions to change the structure of the committee were passed, resulting in Vice Captain being replaced with Team Captain and the creation of a new non-executive Alumni Officer position. The committee for 2012-13 will be:

  • Captain: Andrew Cottrell
  • Secretary: Joe Ingledew
  • Treasurer: Eloise Cornish
  • Team Captain: Alice Fawdrey
  • Equipment Officer: Dan Cross
  • Tournaments Officer: Jos Sarsby
  • Social Secretary: Em Coop
  • Press Oficcer: Matthew Jenkins
  • Alumni Officer: James Leeson

Congratulations and good luck to all of them!

BUCS and BUTTS

Published: 1st March 2012

The BUCS Indoor Championships were held at the Telford International Centre on 18th February. Birmingham’s experienced team (Sarah Russell, Jack Bryant, Allan West, Mickie Green) were one point shy of 2200, finishing in seventh place (out of 41 full teams of four) and bringing home BUCS points for the university. This was a great improvement on last year’s 11th place finish with a score of 2164. The novice team (Allan West, Eloise Cornish, Andrew Cottrell) shot a score of 1523, giving them a fifth place finish. Individual medals were picked up by Sarah Russell (Experienced Ladies Recurve Bronze), Jos Sarsby (Experienced Ladies Barebow Gold), and Allan West (Novice Gents Recurve Gold). Meanwhile, Nottingham put an end to Edinburgh’s decade-long domination of BUCS, setting a new team record of 2298 and a new experienced gents record of 591 for Andrew Randall. Six of the top seven experienced teams were from BUTTS League clubs, once again showing the exceptionally high standard of the league.

The fourth BUTTS Leg was held on 25th February, with Birmingham playing host to Warwick, Loughborough, and Derby. Individual medals on the day went to Jack Bryant (Experienced Gents Recurve Silver), Mickie Green (Experienced Ladies Recurve Gold), Sarah Russell (Experienced Ladies Recurve Bronze), Eloise Cornish (Novice Ladies Recurve Gold), and Alice Fawdry (Novice Ladies Recurve Silver). Birmingham’s experienced team (Jack Bryant, Mickie Green, Paul Griffin, Andrew Iles) scored an impressive 2204 to finish in second place amongst the teams at Birmingham and fourth place overall. The team are in fifth place in the league, separated from fourth and sixth place (Loughborough and Cambridge) on aggregate score. The novice team (Eloise Cornish, Alice Fawdrey, Joe Ingledew, Andrew Cottrell) fared less well, shooting a season’s worst of 1876 to finish in fifth place. They have now been knocked off the top spot in the league by Loughborough, and Cambridge are close behind. The BUTTS Indoor Championships will take place on 17th March, with all teams competing at Loughborough.