The bows’ poundage in simple terms is how hard (measured in pounds weight of force) the bow is to draw (pull) back. All we want to concern ourselves with when starting out is that the bow is not too hard to draw. If it is, you are at risk of an injury.
Most bows will have their poundage marked on them which make look something like this 20lbs @28”. This means it take 20lbs of force to pull the string back to 28inches (distance from the bow and not from your brace height) which is a good weight for a youth. 23lbs would be a good weight of a bow for late teenagers and 25lbs would be good for an adult. These are all beginner weights for learning archery on and you may find that you quickly move to a heavier poundage bow. Remember, more poundage does not always mean better. How to test if a bow is to heavy poundage for you.
Take your place on the line. Draw the String back ½ of the way and then ‘come down’* again. Should you feel comfortable with that move onto next step, if not, STOP. Draw the String back ¾ of the way and then ‘come down’ again. Should you feel comfortable with that move onto next step, if not, STOP. Draw the String back to full draw of the way and then ‘come down’ again.
If you are comfortable with the bow at full draw, then the bow is fine for you. Never pick bow that that you can barely pull to full draw. You may be able to shoot 3 or 4 arrows, but you won’t be able to safely shoot 30 or 60 arrows without injuring yourself.
Please note that extra care should be taken with children with the bow poundage. Too heavy a draw weight for children can easily damage young bones and joints. As a good guide for children, find out their draw length in inches and then ¾ of that number should be the correct maximum poundage for them. This is only a guide and not a hard and fast rule. If they find the bow too hard to draw use a lighter bow.
*’Come Down’, mean that archer should slowly relax the string to its starting position without letting go of the string or shooting an arrow.