What Is Draw Length?

Draw length is basically how far back you pull a bow string in order to shoot an arrow.

To be more specific, the common definition is “...the distance from the nock point to the throat of the grip plus 1 3/4″

Of all the factors that go into choosing a bow, picking one that can be shot at your draw length is by far the most important.

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Why Draw Length Matters

Having a bow set up to the correct draw length is the foundation of accurate shooting.

Without your bow being set up correctly, you can’t use good form, and if you can’t use good form, you won’t be able to shoot consistently or accurately.

That’s why when you go to an archery shop to get a new bow one of the first things they have you do is figure out your draw length.

Once you know what your draw length is you can find a bow that fits that draw length.

For compound bows, knowing your exact draw length is even more important because once it’s set up it can only be shot at that specific draw length, unless it’s tuned and adjusted at a bow shop.

The good news is that most compound bows have around a 6” range of draw lengths they can be adjusted to.

So as long as you get a bow that your draw length falls under, you can have adjustments made in the future to get it dialed into your shooting form.

With recurve bows, it’s a bit of a different story.

Because recurve bows don’t have let off, they are under tension through the whole draw cycle and can be shot at any point in the draw cycle, so knowing your exact draw length isn’t as important.

The biggest thing is that all recurve bows ultimately have a max draw length, if you go past this the bow will eventually break.

Most adult recurve bows are made to work around the 28” draw length because that’s the standard draw length for measuring the draw weight of a recurve bow.

Some manufacturers will list a max draw length on recurves, but for the most part it’ll say they are built around a draw length and you can go past that 2”-3” safely.

If your draw length is a little further than the suggested length, keep in mind that as you go past the ideal draw length, the draw weight increases too.

A general rule of thumb is that for every inch past the suggested draw length, the draw weight increases 2.5 pounds (~1 kg).

Other than figuring out what bow you can use, your draw length affects other parts of your archery set up.

The most obvious thing that is affected is your arrow.

If you have a 30” draw, you can’t shoot a 28” arrow.

And your arrow length can affect the spine of your arrow (stiffness) as you cut it down from its original length.

Your draw length can even affect the length of bow you use…

The Relationship between Draw Length and Bow Size

For most archers, the length of your bow isn’t going to make too big of a difference.

If you have a draw length of 28” or less, bow length will almost never be a factor for you.

But for all of the big archers out there, with longer draw lengths, bow size can be critical.

At the base of it, bow size and draw length matter because of how tight the arrow string is at the nocking point at full draw.

If the angle of each half of the bow string is too tight, an arrow can’t stay nocked.

Once draw lengths start flirting around the 30” mark you start having to look at bigger bows, both for compound bows and recurve bows.

With compound bows it’s still easier, because the bow will say what the draw lengths are and most manufacturers will have one of their flagship bows in a longer Axle to Axle (ATA) length.

Recurve bows on the other hand can get a bit trickier because they have a wider range of draw lengths and manufacturing specs.

Again, 30” seems to be the magic mark, if you have a 30” draw or less, in most cases you can use a bow that is 60” or 62” long and recurve bows of that length are fairly common.

Once you go over that, you have to start looking a little harder to find a bow that fits your draw length.

With a 32” draw length for example, you’re going to need a bow in the 66” - 68” range.

If you can, I'd suggest testing some bows out at your local archery shop, but it still may be hard to find any in that size.

Related: Samick Sage Recurve Bow Review

Finding Your Ideal Draw Length

There’s a few different ways to find your ideal draw length and they all work to some degree, but this is the one that is most common.

Start with your back against a wall and raise your arms straight out to your sides until your hands are at shoulder height.

Next, have someone measure your wingspan by measuring the length from the tip of your middle finger to the tip of your other middle finger. (make sure the measuring tape is straight and flat)

Once you have that measurement, divide that number by 2.5.

That’s your draw length.

Now this isn’t your end all be all draw length, there’s wiggle room with this, but it will get you a close enough number that you can get a bow.

Then once you have a bow and start shooting with it, you can make small adjustments as needed to get your shooting form dialed in.

Adjusting Draw Length

When you first get a bow, you need to shoot it a handful of times in the beginning to get the bow string broken in before you start setting up any sights.

This is also the best time to make any adjustments to your draw length if you need to, here’s why…

Shooting a bow involves getting multiple different things working together seamlessly to shoot accurately.

Making any adjustments throws the entire system off balance, and requires more adjustments to make it accurate again.

From the weight of your broadhead, the size of your vanes/fletchings, arrow spine, even what release you use…

All of these adjustments require you to shoot hundreds and hundreds more arrows, to get everything re-dialed in and accurate again.

And the biggest adjustment of all is your draw length.

With a recurve bow, there isn’t anything you have to do to the bow itself to adjust the draw length, you just have to pull further, but it still affects the flight of your arrow.

Compound bows need a bow press in order to adjust draw lengths, which for 95% of archers means going to a bow shop to get adjustments made.

That’s why it’s easier to get any adjustments made up front, before you get everything dialed in.