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Smack my controversy Column

Archery has always been a sport where art meets science. Everything, from the curve of a bow limb to the fletching on an arrow, is a delicate dance of physics and intuition. But in recent years, one feature has captured the imagination of archers everywhere: speed. The faster the arrow, the better the shot—or so the orthodoxy would have us believe. High-speed arrows are the holy grail, the silver bullet that will bring greater accuracy and longer range, and the slight satisfaction of being at the cutting edge of modern technology. But is this fixation on speed as simple as it appears? Or have we, in our drive for velocity, lost the niceties that make archery an art? It starts innocently enough. Announcing a new bow: higher feet-per-second (FPS) than the last. Archers come on pilgrimage to try it out, amazed at the raw power of an arrow hurtling through the air. Manufacturers brag about…

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