Setting up your bow for the first time can be a daunting task. Fine tuning your bow is an even more daunting task, and not for the faint hearted!
Our new archers who have completed one of our Beginners’ Courses will be sent a useful document upon joining the club – the ARCHERY REF GUIDE which explains the basic concepts and parts of a recurve bow and how to set one up.
The basics of a recurve bow set up, assuming you have a bow length, draw weight and arrow length suitable for you, is to correctly set up your nock point, arrow rest, button position, brace height and tiller. If you purchase your Archery Equipment at a physical archery store, ideally the shop staff will set all this up for you (and hopefully explain to you what they are doing so you can adjust it yourself later if needed). If you have purchased your equipment online, you will need to do this yourself (a brace height gauge will help to measure the brace height and tiller, as well as to position your nock point on your string).
Two UK-focussed YouTube videos that cover setting up your bow for the first time are from Red Frog Archery (based in Scotland, with online presence) and Merlin Archery (based in the mid and south of England, and with online presence):