What’s The Relationship Between Draw Weight and Draw Length

Question:
I have a question for you. I bought my bow last year and have shot it very well at 74 pounds, except the draw length was just a little too long. I asked my dealer to shorten the draw but then the bow only made 70 pounds. Why did it drop in weight? The limbs are cranked all the way down. Did he mess up the bow? Are my limbs getting weaker? Is there anything I can do to get the draw weight back?

Answer:
Your dealer didn’t mess up and your limbs aren’t getting weaker. The bow lost draw weight because with a different string, the wheel is now rotated differently. In order to give you a shorter draw, there is less string wrapped around the wheel so when it is drawn it will hit the let-off sooner. At the same time you won’t be wrapping up as much of the cable, so the limbs are flexed less producing lower poundage. With your existing limbs there really isn’t anything you can do to get the weight back if your limbs are already bottomed. You can, however, to order heavier limbs. Your dealer can do that for you. Bows with modular draw length adjustments (elements are attached to the wheel) are designed so that the draw weight is not affected when the draw length is changed by swapping modules. But, even these bows will lose poundage if the string is twisted to shorten the draw.