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A few days ago, someone asked me what the best compound bows for women are.
I was rather surprised but gave it some thought and decided to write a little article about the differences between male and female archers:
What Are The Main Differences?
To be honest, archery is one of the sports where women can compete with men easily.
In archery, we don’t run, jump or use a serious amount of muscles that could give men an advantage over women.
But still there are a few differences I need to mention:
- body strength
- draw length
- stamina
Body Strength:
Men are often considered to be stronger than women.
Of course, this is not always true!
I am personally not the strongest guy, so I know that there are women stronger than me, as well as there are women weaker than me.
The thing is, that when someone is stronger, he can use a bow with a higher draw weight. This will make the arrow fly with more power, which will make the archer capable of shooting on longer distances.
Draw Length:
Similar with body strength, men are usually taller then women and have longer arms. This gives them a longer draw length.
How does this effect your shooting?
The longer the draw length, the faster the arrow will be when it leaves the bow.
Faster arrows can travel further and are usually more accurate than slow arrows.
Stamina:
Archery can be exhausting when shooting for a few hours, depending on the bow strength/draw weight.
Your stamina comes into play and if not in a good condition, your accuracy can drop or you just can’t draw your bow fully anymore.
Just like the other differences, I can’t simply say that women have less stamina than men.
It all depends on how fit the archer is.
Many women can outshoot their male contestants easily and every day.
What Are The Best Compound Bows For Women Then?
I think you already know where this is heading.
The truth is that women don’t need special compound bows!
They can shoot exactly the same bows as men, as long as the draw weight is correct.
Nobody needs to build up a strong biceps, as the real strength of an archer comes from the back, like I explain in my training.
The PSE Stinger Compound Bow can be used by women, but they need to be able to draw at least 50 LBS, which can be difficult for men, too!
Another great compound bow for women (and men) is the Bear Archery Apprentice III (the last bow set I review on that page).
I would even go so far and recommend the Bear Archery Apprentice III over the PSE Stinger Compound Bow, as its draw weight can be set from 20 LBS up to 60 LBS.
This compound bow grows with the archer and you never have to worry about your bow being too difficult or too easy to draw.
Man Or Woman, Who Wins The Battle?
It is clear now, that archery is a level field for all archers.
It doesn’t know differences between men and women at all!
One man can be stronger than a woman, but then another woman will be stronger than that man.
And, like I said, it is not all about strength or other physical attributes.
Archery is a lot about focus and experience.
I can outshoot my brother-in-law every day.
His body builder strength will not help him a bit on the archery range.
There is another thing why I love archery so much:
My first trainer was sitting in a wheel chair!
As long as you have control of your upper body, you can become a great archer.
I love watching the paralympic games for that. Those archers are fantastic!
What Do You Think?
Let me know how you think about this topic.
Are you with me and believe that men and women are equal in archery?
Write me in the comments below!
Yours,
Moritz
