Sure SPEED matters, but not nearly as much as placement. And if you are buying your "FIRST BOW," I think you'd be well served to go and SHOOT as many as you can, and look at something with a 7.5" braceheight or longer, and a forgiving speed closer to 300fps IBO. Jumping into this w/ a SPEED BOW will probably leave you a frustrated archer, wondering "Why in the $^Y& did I get into this in the first place????" Just my $.02 though.