Although having your own equipment is not a requirement for our JOAD program, it does give you a better opportunity to improve your skills. So if you want some guidance on purchases take a look at the below info.
Archery Youth Hardware Purchase Recommendations:
As far as buying a bow… There is a lot that goes into this choice and very few of the options worth buying fall short of the $200.00 dollar mark. If you are spending less than $200.00 you are likely wasting your money. Here is a list of bows that I recommend and why. A persons “Handedness” is less important than their eye dominance. All of the bows recommended below link to right handed bows but each can be purchased LH or RH. To determine eye dominance watch this video. Left eye dominant left hand bow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIVayKuQGG4
Compound bows: You cannot buy a decent compound bow for less than $300.00. Compound bows are the most popular and have the greatest number of participants especially for local clubs and tournaments. Recurve shooters are always welcome at club tournaments there just isn’t typically the same amount of shooters.
When looking for a compound bow for youth you'll find nearly every manufacturer has a decent option. What you want to look for is a high level of adjustability for draw length. Most offer the ability to set the bow from 17" of draw length all the way out to 28" and the limbs will increase in draw weight as you increase the draw length. the range is typically 20 to 60 pounds depending on draw length. If the bow you are looking at doesn't have that sort of range of adjustment please keep looking. If you buy a bow that doesn't have adjustments, your child will quickly outgrow it if it ever fit at all. The one caveat is if your student is 16 or older an you believe they have stopped growing in that case and adult bow is a great choice. If the bow you are looking at sells normally for less that $300.00 then it's not going to be worth purchasing. Those ultra cheap bows you buy at the box stores are crap and should be avoided. We use genesis bows for the club bows but I do NOT recommend them for individual purchases. Their benefit is that multiple people can shoot them without needing to adjust them. This makes them good for clubs but when you are trying to improve your skills you want a bow that fits you specifically and not a one size fits all solution.
Hunters Friend is a great website for info, I highly recommend their pre-configured packages.
http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowpkg2-youth.htm
Rather than providing too many links that may not be current I suggest you take a look at all of these manufacturers they all have great offerings.
PSE -Fever, Miniburner http://pse-archery.com
Diamond- Infinite Edge, Atomic http://www.diamondarchery.com
Bear Archery -Apprentice http://www.beararchery.com
Martin Archery -Explorer http://www.martinarchery.com
Hoyt -Ruckus and Ruckus Jr http://www.hoyt.com
OK, I get it, you don't want to compare and contrast you want me to just tell you what to buy. OK fine these two are excellent choices from a reputable manufacturer and available at hunters friend, though you may need to call to be able to get the Atomic.
For the under 4 foot teeny weeny crowd Diamond Atomic
http://www.diamondarchery.com/#/productBreakdown?r=products_products&i=42
for the 11 or 12 year olds and above the diamond infinite edge is a great bow.
http://www.diamondarchery.com/#/productBreakdown?r=products_products&i=42
Recurve bows:
Basically recurve bows are for those folks who like the traditional look or who have Olympic aspirations. The Olympics only allow recurve bows. As far as length goes it’s better to go larger so I would recommend 66 -68” bow. Draw weight you should start out light perhaps 16-25 pounds or even lighter until they have developed good form and then they can crank up the weight or buy new limbs.
I tend not to get to wrapped up in bow length instead choosing to err on the side of an overly long bow if you want to have a general rule of thumb you can take a look at this.
http://www.learn-archery.com/proper-bow-size.html
Starter recurve bows:
Plastic\metal riser lightweight easy to hold up and inexpensive
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/las-rolan-66-recurve-bow.html
Wooden riser inexpensive an light weight for that traditional look and feel
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/samick-polaris-66-takedown-recurve-bow.html
Aluminum riser for a very stable platform with a little extra weight and accuracy.
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/pse-optima-66-recurve-bow-rh.html
Plastic\metal riser lightweight easy to hold up and inexpensive
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/cartel-triple-66-takedown-recurve-bow.html
Intermediate Recurve bows:
The most common standard system for mounting bow limbs to bow risers (the handle) is called the International Limb Fitting or ILF. When ever possible I encourage parents who can afford it to buy an ILF riser and limbs. They are better quality and hold their value better. ILF bows are typically sold with the riser separate from the limbs. Make sure you ask for a string when you buy the two together.
What is ILF video
Lower end International Limb Fittings ILF:
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/pse-summit-g2-recurve-bow.html really low end and my least favorite option
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/hoyt-horizon-25-recurve-riser.html
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/samick-avante-25-recurve-riser.html
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/cartel-fantom-25-recurve-riser.html **** My Recommendation ****
Limb recommendations:
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/w-w-sebastian-flute-axiom-plus-recurve-limbs-27800.html **** My Recommendation ****
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/samick-privilege-recurve-limbs.html
Arrow recommendations:
For bows 45 pounds and under I recommend these:
(Spine should be at least 600) Point weight a good generic weight would be 100 grains for all of these google for the best pricing, but they are all available from LancasterArchery.com
Beman hunter Jr.
http://beman.com/products/ics-hunter-junior/
Gold Tip makes a decent youth \ budget arrow called the Lightning for a little bit more you can get the Falcon 34's
http://www.goldtip.com/productdetail.aspx?ptid=27
Victory V-Force V6, are durable and straight a great beginner shaft. and they also have the V-Force Jr.
http://victoryarchery.com
Intermediate to Advanced Arrows:
For the more discriminating archer who wants the very best quality of shaft read the Carbon university information it will give you all you need to know.
http://www.huntersfriend.com/carbon_arrows/hunting_arrows_selection_guide_chapter_1.htm
As far as actual recommendations
Easton Carbon one *** Highly recommend ***
http://www.eastonarchery.com/products/arrows/carbon-one-shafts
Victory VAP V3
http://www.victoryarchery.com
Carbon Express Medalion XR
http://www.carbonexpressarrows.com/archery/target-arrows/medallion--xr