What Is Tiller?
A bows tiller is the measurement from the sting to the bow, measured at the fade outs. The distance on the top limb should be slightly more ( 1/8 to 1/4 inch) than the bottom limb. This is known as a positive tiller and shows that the top limb bends a little more than the bottom and is therefore very slightly weaker. This is done to compensate for the fact that the arrow is nocked and shot from above the geometric center of a longbow. It is achieved in two ways. The easiest and most common way on production bows is to make the top limb slightly longer than the bottom. Our bows use a symmetrical tiller meaning that the limbs are the same length and the top limb weakness is built into the limb. An even tiller, where the limbs are the same strength is often used by shooters using a three fingers under release. By having their fingers lower on the string their draw is closer to the geometric center of the bow.
