Technology is continually progressing, bottom line. No longer is it neccessary to shoot a 32" bow with a 4" brace height to reach what I call " smoking" speeds. The bows no longer rattle, vibrate, and bounce and feel like you' ve just shot yourself in the hand when reaching these speeds, yet still are capable of producing the energy and speeds we only associated with those " rat traps" of about a decade ago. You can now shoot a heavier arrow at a higher speed with far more kenetic energy than you used to be able to out of far more bows-- no-one is saying that anyone HAS to shoot an ultra light arrow at well over 300+, but the fact remains is that it is now possible with a variety of bows should they so CHOOSE. It is all relative no matter what arrow weight or poundage you desire, the bows will shoot infinitely better nowadays than bows of yesteryear, even tho they may have shorter ATA and brace heights. Don' t believe it? Look at the World Records that have been broken and the top scores being shot in every format nowadays compared to years past. I won a 3D title with a high score of 383 over a decade ago with a 41" ATA bow with a 7.25" Brace height. I can assure you I would not even come close to winning with that same score nowadays! They' ve had to " toughen-up" most target formats with smaller scoring rings, simply because the bows are now so much more accurate and forgiving due to better geometry, materials, and tighter tolerances across the board. And, faster to boot.

And so it will continue, just as it has since before any of us first picked up a bow.

The great thing about it is that we can all individually choose wherever we wish to stop along the line, and enjoy this sport with whatever equipment we want. Some still shoot longbows/recurves, some still shoot 48-50" compounds, some shoot the " rat traps" , some shoot todays' designs, and some of us eagerly look towards the future. Doesn' t matter! What matters is that we are all in the same sport, and are all flinging arrows to begin with and enjoying it. This is what we must pass on to our children and theirs for the future. We really need to stop the segregation and bantering about " mine is better" , and realize that no matter what type of bow or brand we shoot, we are all brothers in the sport regardless. Everything else is just " fluff" . Good shooting, Pinwheel 12