The Importance Of Arrow Selection
A key to good shooting is the type of arrow you use. Even though you may have bought a bow with an advertised IBO speed of 300 plus fps, those speeds won't be reached if you use a heavy fiberglass arrow. That being said, different arrows are made for different circumstances and you may need to use each type at some point or another.
There are three factors that are important in what makes an accurate arrow, namely weight, straightness and spine. Weight and straightness just about speak for themselves, but the spine needs a little more explanation. When we talk about spine we are referring to the degree of stiffness in the arrow as it is launched. An arrow with a high spine will not flex as much as an arrow with a low spine. The level of spine that an arrow has depends on the stiffness of the materials in the shaft as well as the geometery of the shaft. For consistent shooting you want this flex to be the same each time you shoot an arrow, but this is hard to achieve.
The key to shooting accuracy isn't so much in the brand of compound bow you use because they are all fitted with many of the same features. You will get your edge in a judicious choice of arrows, both in the materials they are made from and the quality of the manufacture. A suitability to the bow you are using is very important as is the fact that the arrows are straight. Your draw length will also govern the length of the arrow you need.
You usually buy arrows made of aluminum, wood, fiberglass and carbon. We will look at the advantages and disadvantages of each as well as the uses for each.
Wood was the original material of choice for arrows when bows were first invented and wooden arrows are still used today. Wood is an easy medium to work with, it's flexible and reasonably durable, they are also cheap. It has only been in more recent times with more powerful bows that wooden arrows have been replaced with other materials. They are good arrows for beginners to learn with. No matter how well made wooden arrows are they have flaws.
Carbon arrows are lightweight, strong and fast through the air. They are designed for modern bows that can handle the lighter weighted arrows. Although they are called carbon arrows, and pure carbon arrows are available, the most common kind of carbon arrow is an aluminum/carbon mix that gives the arrow extra durability and strength. Carbon arrows are not as long than aluminum arrows which helps make them fast. They are for shooting over long distances and maintain their shape well. Carbon arrows are more expensive than other arrows so it will become costly if you have to replace them regularly.
Fiberglass arrows are heavier than other arrows and are usually used as a training arrow. Although they are more durable than wooden arrows and can be made to differing sizes to match the archer, they still tend to break quite easily and people tend to prefer aluminum arrows. Fiberglass comes into its own through the fact that the arrows can be made more consistent from one arrow to the next making their flight more reliable.
Aluminum arrows are widely used for indoor target archery with most archers preferring the thicker aluminum shafts to the thinner carbon arrows. They are also used for archery tournaments. Beginner archers should use aluminum arrows due to their resilience if the target is missed. The aluminum arrows are cheaper than other types and easily replaced if they are damaged, lost or broken. There is also a consistency in their manufacture so you are less likely to get a bent or warped shaft and if the shaft is bent, it can often be straightened and reused. It's easy to replace the arrow tips in aluminum arrows which means you can keep the arrows for a long time.
One option to try, if you're not happy with the types of arrows available to buy, is to make your own. Each of the component pieces can be bought separately. You'll need an arrow shaft, point, nocks and fletching as well as various archery tools such as an arrow cutting saw, fletching jig, fletching glue and hot glue.
There is no doubt that choosing a compound bow is crucial when taking up the sport of archery, but as we have seen, it's just as important to choose arrows wisely and carefully. In fact the features of your new compound bow might be completely negated by the purchase of inferior or arrows that don't suit you.