Compound Equipment (Freestyle)
The compound bow first appeared in the mid 1960's and quickly gained acceptance and popularity into the archery world.
Archery Australia officially recognised it for competition in the mid-1970s although it was not until the late 1980's that FITA (now World Archery) accepted compound bows for international competitions.
Compound bows are now shot in all competitions, with the exception of the Olympic Games.
Like all bows, compound bows store energy in their limbs, which are compressed as the string is drawn back. When the string is released, the limbs attempt to return to their original position, transferring the potential energy into acceleration of the arrow.
The primary feature of a compound bow is the use of one or two wheels (cams) to help compress the limbs. Not only do the wheels (cams) magnify the force applied to the string by the archer, they also provide an advantage known as "let off." A standard recurve or longbow increases in holding weight (energy) as it is drawn to full draw and requires as much force to hold it at full drawn as it does to draw it back, making aiming difficult.
On the other hand, with the compound bow, once the string is about 80% drawn, the cams rotate introducing a mechanical advantage, reducing the amount of force required to hold the bow at full draw, The reduced weight (let off) can be as much as 80% of the maximum draw (peak) weight.
At full draw, it takes less effort to hold the string back, providing the archer the ability to have a steadier aim.
Additionally, sights (magnifying), stabilisers, rear peep sights and mechanical release devices are used to increase the level of consistency and accuracy.
