When I started shooting a recurve about 5 months ago I bought a nice set of PO cedar arrows. I broke most of them the first month and the remaining 4 are so crooked now that they don't shoot worth a da*m anymore. I now shoot aluminum arrows.

For a beginner I recommend going the aluminum route - they are cheaper, hardier, easier to spine, and are more consistent than woods. That said, someday when I grow up as an archer, I'll probably go back to wood.