[ELI5] why is dry firing a bow so bad for it? Does the arrow really make that much of a difference in that regard?

Question

[ELI5] why is dry firing a bow so bad for it? Does the arrow really make that much of a difference in that regard?

In: 2366

Answer 1

It’s simple physics: Energy transfer.

Pull a bow, fire an arrow, energy gets transferred to the arrow, very little to the bow(limbs).

Pull a bow, fire it empty, energy’s gotta go somewhere, bow’s the only viable path, thus most of the energy gets transferred to the bow(limbs). Do that often enough, it goes kaput.