Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Boondocks on December 09, 2022, 09:26:11 PM
-
I’m still pretty new to shooting a recurve. I have finally (after almost 2 years) gotten where I can shoot well as far as consistency. I can group within a tennis ball out to 18yds and occasionally that group is dead on. However, when I miss, it is ALWAYS left. It’s only 4 to 8 inches and every time I’m shooting left it’s consistent for the day. I can usually put my fingers around my group of 4 arrows but I have no idea why I am shooting left. Can y’all help? I shoot a 64” SWA Spyder XL. 44# at 29”. My compound draw length is 30.5” but it looks like I’m only drawing 29” on my recurve. I have 34” Black Eagle 400 spine arrows. 125 grain field points. Bear traditional hair rest and I shoot a tab. Thanks in advance for any help for this newbie.
-
Something in your form could because you are making the arrows go left. Sounds like you have it most times, but then lose it at others. Maybe not hitting anchor.
When testing arrows they go left if they are stiff. the same 4-8 inches like you.
It could be also, that your arrows are borderline stiff and that's making any tiny deviation in your form is throwing them left.
I'm sure others will be along to give you some other things to think about.
Best of luck!
-
The shafts are too stiff. Fletching goes a long way to straighten out the arrow, but it can't keep an overly stiff arrow from going left for a right hand shooter. A 400 spine is about 78#@28 inches. You could load up the front end with another 100-150 grains. That might bring them around. However, if you want to keep shooting a 125 grain point, you will need to drop down to a 500 spine shaft.
-
I agree with above posts, too stiff!
-
Not an expert on carbon arrows.But a 34 inch arrow is super long and is gonna reduce the spine of a 400 arrow quite a bit.I would think at that length they would act more like a 500 or 600 spine.If they are too stiff you could add point weight to soften spine.
I think most guys are shooting 500 600 spine with bows at 44 #s at 29 inches draw and a Shorter arrow than the 34 incher your shooting.Point weight varies alot with guys shooting carbon.Some guys front load alot with brass inserts and heavy points.Some not so much.Many fine tune their approximate correct spine for the poundage thier shooting by adjusting insert and or point weight or both.
Form could be an issue on shots.Nobody has perfect form all the time.I should know.Most times when I miss left my allignments off and my drawing elbow is not in line with the arrow nock.Directly behind it.I am coming up short on my draw or full rotation of the back muscles.Sometimes the back muscles are not fully engaged like they should be.Using the arm too much on the draw instead of isolating the back muscles and getting that alignment that I and you may need as well on the left hits.
-
I found the video that Trevor Fielder of TTT Archery put together entitled, “Why do we “cant” a traditional bow? very helpful in eliminating torque in my bow hand, particularly when using a bow quiver. Reducing torque may help to narrow down one aspect of form that causes grouping to one side.
-
This may help you also.
But I think your arrows are too stiff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j6fcVAZWNU
-
You may well have an arrow spine problem. I agree with those who say you should probably be shooting .500 spine arrows cut back to 30-31” if you want to continue shooting 125 grain points. Even then, you may find that 145 grain points work better, and you should keep your mind open to that.
However, spine is not what is causing your occasional left misses, at least not on a fundamental level. Spine errors can make arrows more touchy, and react more to form errors than well tuned arrows would.
But you are almost certainly doing something to cause these occasional left misses. You are changing something you are doing, or not doing, when your arrows are grouping. You didn't mention whether you are a RH or LH shooter, and the causes of left misses can be very different for each.
These are the most common causes of left misses for a RH shooter:
Not coming to a consistent anchor: movement of the anchor by 1/8” on the face results in a 6” change in POI on a target 20 yards away.
Not coming to full draw, which leads to the drawing elbow not being behind the arrow: the arrow will tend to follow the direction the drawing forearm is pointing at the time of release.
Shoulders not in alignment: the arrow will tend to fly in the direction the shoulders are pointing at the time of release.
Torquing the bow or the string, as was mentioned.
Arrow not beneath the dominant eye. Have you checked your eye dominance? You can force yourself to aim with your non-dominant eye, but your dominant eye will occasionally take over. Or, this could be a subset of an anchor problem. One anchor could put the arrow under the dominant eye, while an anchor 1/8” away, or tilting your head inconsistently, could put the arrow to the right of the dominant eye, causing occasional left misses.
String grip problem: having an inconsistent hook, or a hook that relaxes the longer you hold it, could cause occasional left misses.
Not transferring at full draw to the hold position. This really is just another way of saying that your shoulders are pointing to the left of the target at the point of release, but more specifically that you are not transferring the weight of the hold from your arm muscles to your back muscles by rotating your shoulders into correct alignment as you expand.
There are other potential form issues, of course, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head that would be most likely to cause occasional left misses.
-
Quote:
"Arrow not beneath the dominant eye. Have you checked your eye dominance? You can force yourself to aim with your non-dominant eye, but your dominant eye will occasionally take over. Or, this could be a subset of an anchor problem. One anchor could put the arrow under the dominant eye, while an anchor 1/8” away, or tilting your head inconsistently, could put the arrow to the right of the dominant eye, causing occasional left misses."
Be sure that the above is absolutely not the problem before you mess with your arrows. The back of the arrow has to be consistently beneath your eye. If that is not consistent, it will show up in your shots.
-
I didn't catch if you are right or left handed. My bro shoots left at times and says he is sure he is plucking the string. Dumping the string instead of letting it slip off fingers.
My misses are right but never group, because I don't follow thru and they go low right.
We are both righties...
-
Kenny you are correct, he did not say if he shoots righty or lefty.
Here is some more use full tuning info, especially the bare shaft testing method of shooting a bare shaft and a fletched shaft and compare how they GROUP, not which direction the nocks are pointing..
https://www.fenderarchery.com/blogs/archery-info/basic-tuning
-
It may be a spine issue, but I'm guessing not. I'm thinking by how you describe the group movement there are times when your being lazy and not holding a strong bow arm for a clean follow through.
-
I wasn't going to get in this,because I'm no expert,but I have had this happen as well. I would bet you are stiff,but when it happens to me the arrows are flying true. With me it's usually with certain bows,and I'm drawing them a little further than I should and the grip for me invites torque,and when I release I my wrist seems to give. Just figured every little insight may help you.
-
The shafts are too stiff. Fletching goes a long way to straighten out the arrow, but it can't keep an overly stiff arrow from going left for a right hand shooter. A 400 spine is about 78#@28 inches. You could load up the front end with another 100-150 grains. That might bring them around. However, if you want to keep shooting a 125 grain point, you will need to drop down to a 500 spine shaft.
This would make sense if he was grouping left. But he isn't.
-
It may be a spine issue, but I'm guessing not. I'm thinking by how you describe the group movement there are times when your being lazy and not holding a strong bow arm for a clean follow through.
My thought as well. I call it flagging. As I release my bow arm pulls left.
-
It may be a spine issue, but I'm guessing not. I'm thinking by how you describe the group movement there are times when your being lazy and not holding a strong bow arm for a clean follow through.
My thought as well. I call it flagging. As I release my bow arm pulls left.
Yep, being out of alignment can cause that, lack of back tension... Seek for the "Magic T".......
https://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?topic=109531.0
Have a laugh, that's the best I could do in 2007. :biglaugh:
-
I am right handed. I went up to the club range today and tried some 150 grain points and it didn’t have much of an effect. I don’t have any 500 spine arrows to try. I did really tuck my anchor into my face and that seemed to help a bit. I noticed one phenomenon though. I shoot way better at the club range. I think in the backyard I am worrying about missing the block and hitting the fence and my wife getting mad but when I get where I don’t have to worry about what’s beyond the targets I shoot noticeably better. Have any of you ever noticed that? Thanks for all the replies.
-
You certainly dont want to be distracted.The wrath of your wife with holes in the fence could be an issue.Is she a husband beater.That might add to the distraction :)
Might just build up the area around your target to stop the errant arrows.Haybales etc.
-
You may be pulling your head out a little bit just right before release to watch arrow flight . If you have your bow arm locked out will also result in left shot.
-
Dave, buy the wife a bow and get her shooting.
Oops, maybe ya better not, incase she starts out shooting you:)
-
You could save all the troubleshooting and just aim 4" to the right ;)
-
Anything that increases the psychological pressure will have a negative effect on your shooting until you figure out how to deal with it. Perceived pressure is a very personal thing, and what causes pressure for one person might not for another. The most common advice I’ve heard is just load it on until it doesn't bother you as much anymore. People have tried other things, like chewing gum, slow breathing in between shots, getting a new wife, etc, with varying results.
I remember years ago when I first started shooting at my club I had the opposite reaction. I had become an “expert” shooter in the limited confines of my backyard, and I was all set to become club champion before ever setting foot on the place. The terrain there was so different from my backyard, plus the pressure of shooting with other people for the first time was so intimidating to me that I regressed to the point that I wondered if I would have any arrows left I lost so I many. But it's all part of the fun of learning to shoot the bow.
-
I can group within a tennis ball out to 18yds and occasionally that group is dead on. However, when I miss, it is ALWAYS left. It’s only 4 to 8 inches and every time I’m shooting left it’s consistent for the day.
Yep, that's why I'm leaning form, and borderline spine could be thrown in there.
-
I think the problem is in your form it is not consistent. Pay attention to your anchor, head position, last but not least, just before you release your quitting pushing with your bow arm very important. Keep your release close to your face and back towards your shoulder after release. Remember, push and pull through the shot do not move your bow arm. I think if you work on this you will see your left hits disappear. Good Luck!
-
Boon,
I am no expert! Just old. I can only tell you what makes me miss left and I am a right handed, right eye dominant shooter.
1. I miss left when my right (string) hand does not make full anchor. My anchor is where my right middle finger tip is resting on my right canine (eye) tooth with my thumb out of the way behind my neck and my right little finger touching my throat. This anchor puts my right hand flat to my face. If I fail to make anchor my arrow hits left.
2. I miss left if my left arm elbow is locked. I seem to need for my left arm elbow to be ever-so-slightly flexed when I release. At the instant of release my bow moves slightly forward, towards my target. It seems that when I allow the left elbow to "lock" my bow will move a little off to the left, resulting in a miss-to-the left.
When I draw my bow the little elf sitting on my shoulder whispers "back, flat, break, stay". Draw back until you feel you shoulder blades snug together; right hand flat to face, left elbow unlocked, stay on target until the arrow hits. When he gets to "stay" the finger of my right hand snap open.
It seems to work for me. Maybe this will help you.
Best Regards,
JMC
-
I have this issue if I literally “push, pull” through the shot. Pushing and pulling through the shot shouldn’t result in any actual movement during the shot. To clarify your pushing the tension towards the spot you want to hit on your bow side while squeezing your back muscles hard into your spine on the string side. You shouldn’t feel like anything is moving just like your squeezing harder with your back while everything else slowly relaxes. It’s kinda like flexing a muscle then flexing it harder without moving it.
-
I didn't read thru every thread so not sure if anyone posted this BUT,,,, how are you're first 3 arrows? you're muscles and body might be getting tired. get your least favorite arrow and cut the feathers off and shot that to check or see the tuning,,,, once that bare shaft is perfect to your bow keep that in the quiver and if you start shooting like crap shoot the bare shaft and it will tell you what you're doing wrong.
-
Keep your bow arm still on release. Jawge
-
I had problems shooting left also I took a narrow stick painted it white and stuck in the ground in front of my target and shot at it, it cured my tendency to shoot left .