Bow draw length question

[Pep]

A friend of mine watched me practice and decided he was interested in looking at bows. I didn't know he was going to do this but he went to Cabelas. They measured him and got a 31.5" draw length. They talked to him about packages and then gave him a G5 they had in stock to try. They told him they could lengthen the draw length from the standard 30" max the bow had to his draw length by putting on a longer string. He shot the bow and on the very first arrow he got a nasty string slap on the forearm. Thankfully he had a long sleeve shirt on so he didn't lose any skin. But he has a wicked bruise about 7" in diameter.

I confirmed his draw length with the measure wingspan divide by 2.5 guideline and he is in the 31 1/2" range. But my question is can you really increase max draw length on a bow by putting on a longer string? I am not sure that makes sense to me. Why would you have different draw length modules for the cams to stop on if that worked? Unless it was just to facilitate changing draw lengths easier?

Now my friend sort of knew to keep the arm out of the way but he might have forgotten and actually had his hand bent the wrong way putting his forearm in harms way. Of course if the Cabelas guy was watching a newbie properly he should have been helping him with form as well to minimize this happening so either way I am not impressed. My friend told me he was a younger guy for whatever that's worth. But I am wondering if the longer string deal had something to with it. Any thoughts appreciated on this guys.

[russ]

well putting a longer string on will increase the d/l BUT it also increases the maximum draw weight, usually quite a bit. IIRC, to increase the d/l 1.5" would require a 3" increase in string length. Honestly, I can't see how the mechanics of the bow would take this sort of a change. The cam(s) will no longer be in it's (their) optimal position and the result is a loss in efficiency. Not sure about the string slap, try shortening the draw length, have an expert/instructor analyze your friends form and get some pointers etc. BUT - IMHO, it would be better if he had gotten a bow designed with his draw length in mind. They're out there, not super common but they exist.