A longbow is a type of bow that is tall roughly equal to the height of the person who uses it; this will allow its user a fairly long draw. Longbows have been used for hunting and warfare, by many cultures around the world, a famous example being the English longbow, during the Middle Ages. A longbow is not significantly recurved, its limbs are relatively narrow so that is possible to receipt a good Dispersion.

A modern bow that uses a levering system, usually of cables and pullyes, to bend the limbs. The limbs of a compound bow are usually much stiffer than those of a recurve bow or longbow. This limb stiffness makes the compound bow more energy-efficient than other bows. The use of this levering system gives the compound bow a characteristic draw-force curve which rises to a peak weight and then "lets off" to a lower holding weight.