Barebow as the name itself implies, is a type of recurve bow that does not utilise any additional aiming or stabilising equipment. A barebow consists of the riser, a pair of limbs and a bowstring, fixed weights attached on the bottom part of the riser are permitted. In terms of regulation the whole unstrung bow (limbs attached to the riser) must pass through a ring measuring 12.2 centimetres in diameter. Wearable equipment is identical to the recurve division, typically consisting of a finger tab, arm guard, chest guard and a bow sling.
During a normal shot process, the further the target is the closer the fingers are to the arrow, this concept is called string-walking, inversely the shorter the distance, the fingers are placed further down the string, increasing the distance between the fingers and the arrow. In the anchorage phase the index finger makes contact with the corner of the mouth, in this way the string is aligned with eye and aiming is done with the arrow.
Barebow is shot in both field and target archery, the major breakthrough came in 2020 when it was recognised in target archery together with the recurve and compound division.
Courtesy and with permission of World Archery